I. Man is a creation of God.
A. God is man's maker. "Know ye
that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture" (Psalms 100:3).
B. God made man out of the dust of the earth. "And
the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his
nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul"
(Genesis 2:7).
C. Woman was made from the rib of man. (Genesis 2:21-23).
D. God made man in his image and likeness. (Genesis 1:26).
1. His image = has to do with the dimensions. (3). As
God has three dimensions, man also has three dimensions.
a. Body = for physical awareness (the five senses).
b. Soul = (self) (1) mind, (2) will, & (3) emotions.
c. Spirit = for a relationship and fellowship with God.
"God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must
worship him in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24).
Note: "And the very God of peace sanctify you
wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved
blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (I Thessalonians
5:23).
2. His likeness = a spiritual being.
a. God is a Spirit. (John 4:24).
b. Man is a spirit, that has a soul, and lives in a body.
c. Man is different from the animals.
(1). "Who knoweth the spirit of man that
goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?"
(Ecclesiastes 3:21).
(2). "Then shall the dust return to the earth
as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it"
(Ecclesiastes 12:7).
E. God said that man along with the rest of God's creation was very good.
1. "And God saw every thing that he had
made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were
the sixth day" (Genesis 1:31).
2. "For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast
covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully
and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth
right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret,
and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes
did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members
were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was
none of them. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God!
how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in
number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee" (Psalm
139:13-18).
II. God delegated authority to man.
A. Man was made on the sixth day. (Genesis 1:24-31).
He was the last of creation and everything was made for man's benefit.
B. Man is the apex of God's creation. "(For
the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither
destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto
them. For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee,
since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one
side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as
this great thing is, or hath been heard like it?" (Deuteronomy
4:31-32).
C. Man is to have dominion (rule) over the earth. "And
God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and
replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of
the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that
moveth upon the earth" (Genesis 1:28).
1. Adam was to care for the garden of Eden. "And
the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress
it and to keep it" (Genesis 2:15).
2. Adam named all the animals implying God gave him authority over them.
(Genesis 2:18-20).
3. "When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy
fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is
man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest
him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned
him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works
of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: All
sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; The fowl of the
air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths
of the seas. O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the
earth!" (Psalm 8:3-9).
a. A little lower than God (Elohim = plural from of El).
b. Crowned him with glory and honor.
c. He was to have dominion (rule) over God's creation.
d. God put all things under his feet.
4. Jesus was a perfect example of this authority.
a. He cursed the fig tree and it died.
b. He spoke to demons and they obeyed his voice.
c. He spoke to the wind and it stopped.
d. He stepped out upon water and it held him up.
e. He needed some money so he sent a disciple to catch a fish with
a coin in its mouth.
f. He said that he could call twelve legions of angels and they
would come.
g. He healed all kinds of diseases.
h. Jesus called himself the "son of man". This demonstrated that
he authority that he had was in that he was a man.
5. Man was to have the same authority over God's creation as Jesus
demonstrated.
Example: Joshua spoke to the sun and moon to stand
still and they stood still. (Joshua 10:12-14).
III. The Fall of man.
A. The nature of sin is disobeying God's authority.
1. Adam and Eve were the first to disobey God.
"But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,
thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou
shalt surely die" (Genesis 2:17). Also see: Genesis
3:1-6.
2. No one other than Jesus has done right in God's eyes. "As
it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one" (Romans
3:10).
3. All have sinned and come short God's glory. "For
all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans
3:23).
4. It takes only one sins to become a sinner. "For
whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is
guilty of all" (James 2:10).
5. It is not just the outward act, but what is in the heart. "But
I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath
committed adultery with her already in his heart" (Matthew
5:28).
B. The penalty of sin is death.
1. Genesis 2:17 "In dying you shall die" (a literal translation).
a. The spirit died first.
b. The soul also died. "Behold, all souls are
mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the
soul that sinneth, it shall die" (Ezekiel 18:4).
c. The body would also die. "In the sweat
of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for
out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou
return" (Genesis 3:19). "So he drove
out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims,
and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree
of life" (Genesis 3:24).
2. Death is passed on to all men for all have sinned. "Wherefore,
as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death
passed upon all men, for that all have sinned" (Romans 5:12).
3. The wages of sin is death. "For the
wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus
Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:23).
4. Sin separates man from God. "But
your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins
have hid his face from you, that he will not hear" (Isaiah
59:2).
5. Since man rebelled against the authority of God, man's authority
was taken away from him and he became subject to:
a. The world. "And unto Adam he
said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast
eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat
of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it
all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring
forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of
thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out
of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return"
(Genesis 3:17-19).
b. Sin. "Jesus answered them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin"
(John 8:34). "Because the carnal mind is enmity against
God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So
then they that are in the flesh cannot please God" (Romans
8:7-8).
c. The devil. "The thief cometh
not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they
might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly"
(John 10:10). (evil spirits, the kingdom of darkness, disease, poverty,
mental disorders, social conflicts, physical disasters).
6. All sinners must stand before God and justly face the second
death.
"And I saw the dead, small and great,
stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened,
which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things
which were written in the books, according to their works.
And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered
up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according
to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This
is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of
life was cast into the lake of fire" (Revelation 20:12-15).
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