The Doctrine of Man

(Most questions have been taken from “Knowing God’s Truth” by Jon Nielson)

Prayer:

We have looked at the doctrine of Scripture: Here are a few of the highlights from that discussion:

There is a difference between General Revelation and Special Revelation. The Bible is the Inspired Word of God. The Bible is inerrant in its original language. The Bible is Authoritative. The Bible is Clear. The Bible is truth. Because of all these things we should not only read it but we should apply it to our lives.

Next we looked at the Doctrine of God: Here are a few of those highlights:

We know that God exists because of an inner sense about God and an outer sense which includes what we can see in nature as well as what we can read in the Bible. God has many attributes: The Trinity being one of them where God eternally exists as a relationship of fully Father, fully Son, and fully Holy Spirit. God eternally exists and has no needs outside of Himself. He does not need us but created us out of the abundance of love that He has in the Trinity. God is Just. God is full of Grace, God is Sovereign, God is Glorious, God is worth of our Praise.

This leads us to the topic we will discuss tonight and that is a topic we should find pretty easy because it is humanity. This is the study of humanities spirituality or as some have titled it a Biblical Anthropology.

Before we get into scripture let’s see what we already know.

What are some obvious ways in which human beings are distinct from the rest of the animal kingdom?

How would you explain what it means for human beings to be made in the image of God?

What are some of the immediate implications of the fact that we have a Creator?

If God made us, what does that mean for our value, our purpose, and our responsibility?

We get started all the way back in Genesis. Read Genesis 1:26–27 “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”

Our Origins - Where do we come from?

We will be using Gen. 1 often this evening because in it we see several aspects of the question of Why? being answered.

We are created unique. There is a difference between how Adam and Eve were created and how the rest of the animal kingdom was created. That difference is made evident in the fact that after our creation we were given purpose and responsibility. We were to have dominion over the earth.

Let’s look at this from another point of view.

Read Ps. 8

What does this psalm reveal about the wonder of God’s creation - and particularly His creation of human beings?

Why might some unbelievers insist that human beings are just animals that are not unique from the rest of God’s created order?

How does the idea of the uniqueness of human beings give special value and responsibility to us as men and women?

Our Essence - What are we, really, as Human Beings?

As we continue we again turn to Gen. 1. where we read an incredibly wonderful thing. We are made special, we are made in God’s Image. The Term for this is Imago Dei and simply means that there is something about us that is different than all of the rest of God’s creation.

How does it make you feel to think that you, as a human being, are more like God than any other creature in the universe?

How does that knowledge make you want to act?

What are some ways that human beings reflect God in a way that animals or other parts of God’s creation do not?

1. We are Relational

Just as God is relational. Let Us make man in Our image.

2. We are Communicative

Both with each other as fellow human beings but also with God.

3. We are Eternal

Meaning that we understand our mortality but also that we have a sense of purpose, meaning, beauty, and truth that no other animal has. This also means that while we certainly have a physical dimension to our lives we also have a spiritual dimension. We have an inner sense of our mortality more than just a fear of death but a deeper longing for meaning and purpose that no animal created by God has.

4. We have Love

“Human beings are capable of deep and incredible love, devotion, and sacrifice. This ability to love and feel thing deeply is certainly part of the Imago Dei.” Jon Nielson “Knowing God” pg. 77

5. We have Intellect

The ability for us to create, reason, ponder, invent, and even our ability to argue are all aspects that set us apart from the rest of creation.

Because these reason we should feel very special that we are created in the image of God but that also gives us the responsibility to treat all beings created in the Image of God with the same respect that we want to be treated with.

Read James 3:8-9. What does James command about our attitudes and actions toward human beings, all of whom have been created in the image of God?

Is it only Christians or all people who are in the image of God?

How does that make you feel about your relationships to non-Christians?

Communicable and Incommunicable Attributes of God.

Being made in the Image of God is truly special and great because it makes us like God but it does not make us like Him in every way. In this we see that there are communicable attributes that God meant to pass on to us His special creation and there are also attributes that God did not pass on. We call these the incommunicable attributes.

Read Galatians 5:22-26. What attribute (Fruit) of God are clearly meant to be present and evident in the lives of redeemed human beings?

What do you think are the incommunicable attributes?

God alone is God.

He is self existent and does not need us for His existence.

God is Indivisible.

“He is not divisible into parts. Our Creator is not one part holy, one part love, one part just, and so on. If we could take away any of the Lord's attributes, we would no longer have God. Practically speaking, this means that our Creator does not—indeed, He cannot—set aside any of His attributes. “ Ligonier article on the incommunicable attributes.

God is Omniscient.

According to historical understanding, the last time a human could potentially have a basic understanding of all known knowledge was likely during the ancient Greek period, with figures like Aristotle often cited as the "last universal polymath" - meaning they could grasp most existing knowledge in their lifetime due to the significantly smaller body of knowledge at that time; this would have been around the 4th century BC.

God is Omnipresent.

God is Omnipotent.

Sin and the Salvation of Man

Read Ephesians 2:1-10. What do the first three verses tell us about human beings’ spiritual state apart from God’s Grace?

What does humanities sin do to our Imago Dei?

The image of God is corrupted by sin but it is not done away with entirely. We are no longer morally pure. Our character no longer reflects God’s holiness. Our Intellect is corrupted. Our communication is marred by selfishness. Our Love is tainted by jealousy. We still have the image but it is not as complete as it once was nor can it be made complete by our own hands. “This implies that every single human being, no matter how much the image of God is marred by sin, illness, weakness, age, or any other disability, still has the status of being in God’s image and therefore must be treated with the dignity and respect that is due to God’s image-bearer.” Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. Second Edition, Zondervan Academic, 2020, p. 575.

What is the good news about God’s salvation given in verses 4-10?

Why is it unpopular today to talk about sin, judgment, guilt and death?

What does God’s saving plan, through Jesus, tell us about His love and value for the human beings He created, despite their sin?

Our Purpose - Why are we made?

Let’s read Wayne Grudem’s definition on the purpose of life, “What is our purpose in life?” Our purpose must be to fulfill the reason that God created us: to glorify him. When we are speaking with respect to God, that is a good summary of our purpose. But when we think of our interests, we make the happy discovery that we are to enjoy God and take delight in him and in our relationship to him. Jesus says, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. Second Edition, Zondervan Academic, 2020, p. 565.

Read Psalm 16:9-11. How does David define the presence of God and what does it bring him?

How is the “fullness of joy” found?

It is found in knowing God and delighting in the excellence of His character. We were created to glorify God and we glorify God through finding the fullness of Joy in knowing God and His character.

Our End - Where are we headed, and how do we make sure that we are ready?

What is your reaction to the idea of “Glorifying God” being our purpose, and does that lead you to finding the “fullness of Joy?”

David has faith in Psalm 16:10, in what?