Christianity 101: 20 Basic Christian Beliefs Chapter 7 What is Man?

Transcription

1 I. Introduction: a. Where did man come from? Christianity 101: 20 Basic Christian Beliefs Chapter 7 What is Man? b. Why did God create man? c. What does it mean to give God glory? II. Created for God s Glory: a. What is the value for us in giving God glory? b. How can we glorify God? III. Created in God s Image: a. How is our morality in the image of God?

2 b. How is our spirituality in the image of God? c. How is our knowledge in the image of God? d. How is our fellowship in the image of God? e. What has sin done to our image of God? f. How is God restoring His image? IV. Responsibilities as Creatures in God s Image: a. Why did God command Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth?

3 b. What does it mean to subdue the earth? c. Why do we have hope and respect for all people? V. Questions for Review and Application: a. Why were we created? What are some specific examples of ways we can fulfill the purpose we were created for? b. What does it mean to be created in God s image? How does that affect your view of yourself? c. What are our responsibilities as God s image bearers? What are some ways you and your church can fulfill those responsibilities?

4 Appendix: Anthropology (Dr. LARRY PETTEGREW, TH.D.) I. Implications of the Biblical Teachings on the Origin of Man (Culver, 230ff.) a. Man is the crown of God s creative act. i. H. C. Leupold: Taking the verse [Gen. 1:26] as a whole, we cannot but notice that it sets forth a picture of a being that stands on a very high level... of singular nobility and endowed with phenomenal powers and attributes, not a type of being that by its brute imperfections is seen to be on the same level with the animal world, but a being that towers high above all other creatures, their king and their crown (Genesis, 92). b. Mankind is like God c. Mankind was created male and female, with no distinction being drawn between the degree to which each sex shares in the excellencies, privileges and duties involved. d. Human beings have the privilege and duty of dominion over the rest of God s earthly creatures. e. Human beings have the privilege and duty to subdue the earth. f. Human beings have the duty to multiply their species by natural reproduction. g. Human beings have the privilege to use the fruit of the earth for food. h. Mankind has affinities with the earth (Cf. 1 Cor. 15:47). (returns back to dust) i. Mankind has affinities with other living creatures. Formed from earthy substance, animate life, etc. j. God has the highest purposes for mankind. II. The Original Moral State of Man a. Adam and Eve were not morally neutral i. Some argue they were, but that is not supported by the Bible ii. They were however created for good b. They were created without positive holiness i. True knowledge of God ii. Likeness of God iii. They were very good iv. Treated as morally responsible v. Fellowship with God / obeying God c. They did however still have the possibility to sin, what we can call Uncormfirmed Creature Holiness Gen. 2:19 19 Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. Genesis 3:8 8 They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. d. Adam and Eve possessed a holy nature but not a confirmed holy character

5 i. Adam had a holy nature by virtue of his creation by a holy God. 1. A holy character is an acquired tendency to do right. 2. He had inherent holiness but he needed acquired holiness or a confirmed holy character, through moral experience ii. Adam therefore had what has been called unconfirmed creaturely holiness: an untested moral purity and tendency. iii. Adam was able not to sin, but God wanted to bring him to the place where he would not be able to sin. 1. Adam was similar to redeemed sinners today 2. The tree was to confirm them, not to get them to sin 3. Through the test of obedience, God wanted to grow/sanctify them and us III. THE IMAGE AND LIKENESS OF GOD IN MAN (See Erickson, pp. 498ff.; Stephen Hines, The Image of God in Man: An Analysis of the Biblical Concept ; Anthony A. Hoekema, Created in God s Image; Steve Oldham, The Image of God in Man. ) a. The Importance i. The problem of man has therefore become one of the most crucial problems of our day (Hoekema, p. 2). ii. Self-esteem, artificial insemination, test-tube babies, abortion, chemical control of behavior, euthanasia, genetic engineering, racism, equality of women and men, etc. iii.... the common notion among Christians that sins of the flesh (like adultery) are far more serious than sins of the spirit (such as pride, jealousy, self-centeredness, racism, and the like) stems from the view, implicit in scholastic anthropology, that evil has its roots chiefly in the body (Hoekema, p. 4). b. Man as a Created Person I have called this the central mystery of man because to us it seems deeply mysterious that man can be both a creature and a person at the same time. Dependence and freedom seem to us to be incompatible concepts (Hoekema, p. 6). i. Gen. 1:27 Man is a creature man doesn t exist autonomously, but as a creature of God who is under His authority Nehemiah 9:6 6 You alone are the LORD. You have made the heavens, The heaven of heavens with all their host, The earth and all that is on it, The seas and all that is in them. You give life to all of them And the heavenly host bows down before You. Acts 17:24-25,28 24 The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; 25 nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; 28 for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, For we also are His children.

6 Rom. 9:21 21 Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? 1. It s foundational for theology that we maintain the distinction between the Creator and the creature. ii. Man is a person, just like each member of the trinity is an individual person 1. We can make decisions, set goals, and have relative freedom 2. God and man live in different realms: Creator and Creature a. But we can have similar thoughts if we mimic His 3. Implications? a. For the Fall i. Means we have a responsibility to God ii. Man had a choice b. For redemption i. Means we need redemption because we are responsible ii. Free Will c. For sanctification i. Spirit of God ii. Choice / Freedom 2 Corinthians 7:1 1 Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. d. For Perseverance i. Creatures: God must preserve us: Romans 8: For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. ii. Person: Responsibility 1 Corinthians 16:13 Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.