Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb20010610.htm
SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY (ORGANIZED BIBLE KNOWLEDGE)
Part V: Anthropology
A. Man At The Creation
- Introduction
- Secular humanism has conditioned modern Americans to think man is one with his surroundings so the endangered species of whales, spotted owls or elephants are man's "brothers" in need of deliverance!
- Also, capital punishment is viewed as an evil since "two wrongs [deaths] don't make a right!"
- We now view the Biblical account of man's origin to answer these concerns (as follows):
- Man At The Creation (I am deeply indebted to L. S. Chafer's Systematic Theology, vol. II, pages 125-202 for the basic format of this lesson.)
- Man was created "from the dust of the ground," Genesis 2:7. The material part of man is entirely consistent with the chemicals found in the earth's crust.
- God then "breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul," Genesis 2:7b. Thus, when God formed man, he was not yet alive until he had received this breath from God. This means man did not evolve, but came to exist by way of special creation. Other Biblical facts confirm this:
- The first woman was made from the first man's rib, Genesis 2:18-23. Since there was no other possible mate for Adam besides this woman, he could not have evolved as a species before Eve was created, meaning man was created directly from the earth.
- According to 1 Corinthians 15:20-22, man did not experience death until he sinned in Adam's transgression. Since there was no death for man until then, he did not experience the survival of the fittest en route to becoming man as Darwinian uniformitarian evolutionism proposes. Thus, man was created out of the ground directly.
- Man's immaterial part consists of two parts: he has a soul (psychological part) and a spirit, the part which communes with God, cf. Heb. 4:12; 1 Thess. 5:23; Gen. 2:7b with 3:8 (after the fall)(cf. also Gen. 2:17).
- Man was made in the "image of God," a statement described as follows:
- The "image of God" must be more than the physical form as Genesis 1:27 implies both human males and females who vary in physical formation both belong in the "image of God."
- Also, capital punishment is instituted in Genesis 9:6 since man is in God's "image," and it would be impossible to rule out such punishment for murder if it were committed by women!
- Thus, the "image" of God is a figure of speech detailing the way man is different from the other creatures on earth: man is a moral, intelligent being who can fellowship with God, and who is given superior authority in relation to the other creatures on earth, Genesis 1:28-30.
- Man was created as a person:
- Man has intellect, Genesis 2:19-20.
- Man has will, choosing what to call the animals in Genesis 2:19.
- Man has sensibility, being able to be tempted to like what is desirable, Genesis 3:6.
- Man was created with a conscience, knowing that he was to obey God regarding not eating of the forbidden tree in the Garden of Eden, Genesis 2:16-17; 3:1-3.
- Man was created for a specific purpose:
- The man was created as the woman's head, and the woman to be her husband's helpmeet, Gen. 2:18-24
- In relation to the earth, man was to rule it and subdue it through delegation of ruling authority to his children who arrived by way of procreation, Genesis 1:28-30.
- In relation to God, as God's vicegerent on the earth and of its contents, man was responsible to answer to God and to fellowship with Him, Genesis 1:28-31; 3:8-19.
Lesson: (1) Man must not view animals as his relatives -- man was created as a separate creation and given the rule over the animal kingdom which is BELOW his order. (2) Capital punishment is not an evil because it requires a second death of the guilty: rather, capital punishment is required by God to punish one for debasing the "image of God" in another human being who is made in God's image. The guilty must have his own earthly life in God's image forfeited for debasing God's image in another person. (3) Man did not evolve, so he is responsible unlike the animal kingdom for his morality.