Man has always wanted to know who he is, where he comes from, where he is going, and God's Word gives the only complete account.

I. ORIGIN OF MAN

A. Evolution:

Evolution teaches that man has evolved over long periods of time through the action of various mutations and the course of natural selection from simpler, more brutish creatures which can be traced back to an original single celled creature. They discount any intervention or plan of a creator or God.

Arguments against evolution include:

1. Genesis 1:24 says that God has created everything to produce after its kind. This means that a new species would not spring from another species.

2. Throughout history, there is no record of an animal becoming man. Half man-half beast creatures are figments of mythology and false religions seeking to explain the supernatural in natural terms.

3. There is NO evidence of a missing link being found which is a creature exhibiting features of both man and animal. There is NO evidence as of today that primitive man differed from modern man, except as a result of diet, etc.

4. There is proof that ALL human blood is one blood (Acts 17:26). If man evolved once, what would keep a second man, different from the first, from evolving? This we do not find.

5. Evolutionists accept by faith that: 1) their various mutations were a common occurrence and; 2) these mutations are of a positive nature and never of a negative nature. Thus a theory of positive progression drives their theories.

The fact is:

1) mutations are rare and are the exception rather than the rule and;

2) that scientific studies indicate that almost all mutations are harmful rather than helpful. This is crucial when one considers how many mutations it would take for a human being to evolve from a single celled organism. The probability of forming only one protein molecule by chance has been calculated at 10,161 to 1. There are even more complications with the Second Law of Thermodynamics which states that all of creation is deteriorating at the core level (gold deteriorates into lead, not vice versa; radon gas is the result of deteriorating uranium; cancer is a cell mutation, etc.).

Holds that science may contribute to our understanding, but it must never control or change our interpretation of the Scriptures. Creation teaches that God created the first man in His image from the dust of the ground and His own breath of life.

II. THE CREATION OF MAN

A. There are what is often considered two creation stories in the Scripture: Genesis 1:26-31 and Genesis 2:4-23.

1. Man's creation was planned by God (Genesis 1:26)! God considered creation incomplete without man. Man was the deliberate forethought on the part of the Godhead, NOT an afterthought. Thus man is the center or the purpose of creation. After God had created man, He declared everything He had made "VERY GOOD" (Genesis 1:31).

2. Man WAS originally created in the image, likeness of God; male and female. In Christ there is no Jew or Gentile, no freeman or slave, no male nor female. God created man, male and female. Man is a generic term without regard for sex.

3. Man was created to have dominion over every living thing in the earth. Man was commanded to fill the earth and subdue it.

III. THE TRIUNITY OF MAN

Man, like God, is triune (I Thessalonians 5:23); having a spirit, soul and body.

A. Spirit:

It is the spirit which gave life to the body, into which God breathed "the breath of life; and man became a living soul." The spirit of man allowed man to "know" God, this "knowing" is what man lost in the fall through transgression. God is called the Father of spirits (Hebrews 12:9). He is never talked about as the Father of souls. The spirit distinguishes man from animal. Man has a "living soul," a soul inspired by the spirit as opposed to a soul inspired by the flesh, which allows free choice.

B. Soul:

Man is a living being or soul. He possesses both intelligence and will that gives him the ability to make decisions that enable him to have dominion over the world. The soul is the seat of emotions and appetites. Different words are used to illustrate man's original condition. Some like "innocent", other a "positive holiness".

1. Innocence seems to imply only the absence of wrong. Adam's original holiness was positive, yet it was not equal with God's - it was creaturely. Because it was subject to testing, it was unconfirmed. We are commanded to be holy as God is holy. It provided immortality, for until Adam failed the test, he was not subject to the inevitable law of sin and death.

2. Innocence is sinlessness that has never faced trial. Righteousness is innocence that has been tested and come out victorious; which is why we can be the righteousness of God IN Christ.

C. Body:

God is a Spirit (John 4:24) and God is invisible (Colossians 1:15), yet God has always had a form in which he manifests himself; for Christ was not made in the image of Adam, but Adam was made in the image of Christ, who was to come. "Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression who (Adam) is the figure of Him (Christ) that was to come" (Romans 5:14). Man was composed of the earth, natural things, the "dust of the ground."

D. Dividing of Soul and Spirit:

Though Scripture teaches that the Word of God can find that fine line between spirit and soul (Hebrews 4:12) there is no Scriptural proof that they are ever separated, for example, in death, but that there are definite and distinct functions to each, that only the Word can determine. Both the spirit and the soul of man find their expression through our body (in heaven we will still have a spiritual body). Thus we may determine that man's spirit, soul and body work together being interrelated or commingled with each other.

E. Belief of Antignostic Fathers:

The Antignostic Fathers believed:

a) That good and evil in man are not to be accounted for by different natural endowments. If evil were a part of man's initial nature, then it would be impossible to pass moral judgment upon him. Sin was seen as a free act of man, who was endowed with free will.

b) Man was created free but mortal, not immortal. Man must be obedient to God in order to become immortal.

c) In Adam the whole race was disobedient, in him mankind became subject to sin and death. Thus evil became a natural element in man. Tertullian stated that the good "which is from God is not so much extinguished as obscured" (History of Doctrines I, Page 122). He also speaks of the "birth-mark of sin".

Augustine held that man was created good and upright. His will was positively good; man was created with free choice. In this condition man served God, the body however, with all its impulses served the soul. The divine assistance was within his reach, by means of which he was ABLE, but NOT COMPELLED, to persevere in the good. Pride caused Adam to transgress the commandment of God, which he might have so easily fulfilled, and his will became evil. Man was not willing to obey God, but wanted to be his own master (History of Doctrines I, Page 341, 342).

This character of Adam is now passed over to his posterity. Human nature has been changed and is passed to all other men through natural birth.

IV. THE TRANSMISSION OF MAN'S BEING

A. Pre-existence:

Origen of Alexandria (185-254) asserted that man is pre-existent, created by God before the earth. These spiritual beings were initially all alike, but sinned by free choice falling from God's presence. The condition of all creatures is regulated by their respective merits (History of Doctrines I, Page 151), i.e. the degree and diversity of sin. Thus the place and country, circumstances of birth, etc., are appointed to everyone in accordance with their condition in the pre-existent state. Origen was ruled heretical.

Plato and the Greeks taught transmigration of souls, that human souls are confined in physical bodies as punishment. That souls go through successive reincarnations either incurring sinfulness or cleansing is today taught by theosophy and Hinduism.

B. Creationism:

Teaches that God creates the soul at the moment of conception or birth and immediately unites its with the body. "The soul is sinful not because its creation was somehow defective, but because of its contact with inherited guilt through the body" (Basic Theology, Charles C. Ryrie). Christ was sinless because His soul was created and that His body was also sinless, thus making His Person sinless. This view accepts that the soul, not the spirit, is the prime motivation of man.

C. Traducianism:

Holds that the soul is transmitted along with the body through the processes of natural generation. William G. T. Shedd offers these supporting arguments: A) Scriptural: Hebrews 7:10 indicates a rational and moral act on the part of the unborn Levi, who paid tithes from the loins of Abraham. Genesis 2:1-3 states that God rested on the seventh day of Creation because His work of Creation was finished. No fresh acts, like creating new souls, are indicated; and 2:7 does not allow for the breath of life to be breathed into anyone else other than Adam. B) Theological: creationism places God in the position of creating a perfect soul since He could not create a sinful one, then having it fall in the case of each newborn infant. C) Physiological: man is always seen as a union of soul and body; therefore it is more natural to consider both the psychical and physical as developing together.

V. THE NATURE OF MAN

Since man was created in the image of God then the attributes of God also became the attributes of man. Man is not God, but a creation in God's image or likeness exhibiting:

A. The NATURE (essence, disposition, instincts, desires, appetites, drives, power and force);

B. The PERSONALITY (likeness of being, identity, patterns and qualities of behavior);

C. And CHARACTER (distinctiveness, quality, attribute, moral constitution, moral strength, self discipline, fortitude, reputation, status) of God.

D. Sinlessness;

E. Immortality in his creation;

F. Free will;

G. Knowledge (Adam named ALL the animals);

H. Dominion over the earth.

VII. THE FALL OF MAN

A. Disobedience:

The sin of Adam and thus of man is disobedience to God. God wants men to voluntarily choose to obey Him and to serve Him. Samuel told King Saul, "To obey is better than sacrifice" (I Samuel 15:22). Obedience always requires faith. True obedience involves the spirit, soul and body; not just an outward action. "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves" (James 1:22).

In that man DOUBTED God's love man denied God's goodness (Proverbs 14:12).
In that man DOUBTED God's Word man denied God's truth (I John 3:4).
In that man DOUBTED God's authority man denied God's Deity (Romans 8:7,8).

The testing was given to see if man would remain true to God. Adam failed for the same reason as Satan, He wanted to be God. remember they did not need the fruit, they lacked nothing, so the test was NOT unfair.

B. Result of the Fall:

As a result of the fall, man lost the very things that God had endowed him with.

His...

(1) NATURE;

(2) PERSONALITY;

(3) CHARACTER took on the attributes of his new lord, Satan. Jesus told the Pharisees, "You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there was no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it" (John 8:44).

(4) Lost his sinlessness and became sinful, full of sin;

(5) Lost his immortality, the penalty of sin is death;

(6) Lost his free will, death reigned from Adam to Moses. Man became a servant of sin (Romans 6:17), dominated by the "lust of the flesh and the desires of the flesh and of the mind" (Ephesians 2:3).

(7) Lost knowledge as Satan "blinded the minds of them which believed not" (II Corinthians 4:4).

(8) Lost dominion over the earth. "And the devil taking him (Jesus) up into an high mountain, shewed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it (Luke 4:5,6). Satan is called the "the prince of this world" (John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11); the "god of this world" (II Corinthians 4:4); the "prince of the power of the air" (Ephesians 2:2).

VII. THE EFFECT OF GRACE

"For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive" (I Corinthians 15:22). Ephesians 1:3-10; II Corinthians 5:17-18, 21; Romans 3:20-26; John 3:16-21; Romans 10:9-11.

By faith in Jesus Christ, the second Adam, we are reconciled to God. We are restored to God in His:

1) NATURE;
2) PERSONALITY;
3) CHARACTER;
4) SINLESSNESS now RIGHTEOUSNESS (II Corinthians 5:21);
5) IMMORTALITY now EVERLASTING (ZOE) LIFE (John 3:16);
6) FREE WILL (Romans 6:6);
7) KNOWLEDGE (I Corinthians 1:30; 2:16; II Timothy 1:7; Hebrews 8:10);
8) DOMINION (Ephesians 2:6; Matthew 10:1; Acts 1:8).

VIII. OUR STATE IN GRACE

A. We are a new creature (II Corinthians 5:17);
B. We are saved (II Timothy 1:9);
C. We are dead to sin (Romans 6:11);
D. We are children of God (John 1:12; Romans 8:15-17);
E. We are under God's favor (Ephesians 1:3);
F. We are waiting for the soon coming God (Philippians 3:20,21);
G. We are confident of heaven (II Timothy 4:18).

IX. THE BELIEVERS RESPONSIBILITY IN RELATION TO THE OLD NATURE

A. Accept God's estimate of it (Romans 6:6-11);
B. Make no provision for the flesh (Romans 13:14);
C. Mortify the flesh (Hebrews 11:12);
D. Never try to improve it (Romans 6:13);
E. Put it off (Ephesians 4:22).

X. THE BELIEVERS RESPONSIBILITY IN RELATION TO THE NEW NATURE