THE ORIGIN OF HUMANITY
GENESIS 1:26-31 2:7,15-25
THE GERMAN PHILOSOPHER IMMANUEL KANT, USED TO LOVE TO TAKE LONG WALKS ON A SUMMER EVENING, MEDITATING AND THINKING. ON ONE OCCASION HE WAS SEATED IN A PARK WHEN A SUSPICIOUS POLICEMAN NOTICED HE HAD BEEN THERE FOR SEVERAL HOURS. THE POLICEMAN CAME UP TO HIM AND SAID, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” KANT REPLIED, “I’M THINKING” THE POLICMAN ASKED “WHO ARE YOU?” KANT REPLIED, “THAT PRECISELY THE PROBLEM I’VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT. WHO AM I.”
WE’D ALL LIKE TO HAVE THE ANSWER TO THIS GREAT QUESTION AND SO I WOULD LIKE TO BEGIN A SERIES WITH YOU THAT WILL COVER A LOT OF THE KEY DOCTRINES OF OUR FAITH, PARTICULARLY HOW OUR KEY DOCTRINES RELATE TO OUR ETERNITY. WE ARE GOING TO LOOK AT ISSUES SUCH AS WHT IT MEANS TO BE CREATED IN THE IMAGE OF GOD? WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE DIE? WHAT IS THE RAPTURE AND TRIBULATION? WHERE IS OUR ETERNAL HOME? MY HOPE IS THAT THIS SERIES MAY HELP US TO ANSWER THE QUESTION MR. KANT WAS THINKING ON, WHO AM I.
TODAY WE ARE GOING TO LOOK AT THE ORIGIN OF HUMANITY. WE MUST UNDERSTAND HOW WE WERE CREATED IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND WHAT WE ACTUALLY LOST WHEN WE FELL, AND WHAT WE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO GAIN AGAIN BY ACCEPTING CHRIST AS OUR LORD AND SAVIOR AND DEVELOPING OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM.
THIS IS WHY WE ARE GOING BACK TO THE BOOK OF GENESIS AS WE NEED TO SEE HOW HUMANITY DIFFERS FROM ALL OTHER CREATION. BY LOOKING AT WHO WE ARE HERE IN GENESIS, WE ARE ACUTALLY CATCHING A GLIMPSE OF WHAT WE WILL LOOK LIKE WHEN WE ARE AT OUR ETERNAL HOME.
NOW I DON’T WANT TO MAKE THIS TOOD DIFFICULT FOR YOU TO UNDERSTAND, AND SO WE ARE GOING TO FOCUS ON THREE ASPECTS TODAY:
1. WHAT WERE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN HUMANITY AND THE REST OF CREATION?
2. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE CREATED IN THE IMAGE OF GOD?
3. HOW DID THE FALL CHANGE US WITH RELATION TO BEING CREATED IN THE IMAGE OF GOD?
POINT ONE: WHAT WERE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN HUMANITY AND THE REST OF CREATION?
WHEN MY NIECE ERIN WAS A LITTLE GIRL, WE TOOK HER TO CHURCH, AS WE OFTEN DID, AND SHE WENT TO HER NURSERY CLASS. AFTER THE SERVICE WE ASKED HERE WHAT HER WHAT THEY HAD TALKED ABOUT. SHE REPLIED, “OH, WE TALKED ABOUT HOW GOD MADE A MAN.” WE PROBED A LITTLE FURTHER AND ASKED HOW DID HE DO THAT? SHE SAID “IT WAS EASY FOR HIM. HE JUST USED A LITTLE DIRT AND GLUE.”
SHE DIDN’T REALIZE IT, BUT SHE WAS PICKING UP ON ONE OF THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN HUMANITY AND THE REST OF CREATION. THESE ARE DIFFERENCES WHICH WE WILL LOOK AT NOW.
THE CREATION ACCOUNTS REVEAL THE MARVELLOUS AND ORGANIZED WAY THAT GOD CREATED THE WORLD. EACH PIECE OF THE PUZZLE HAD TO BE CREATED, IN THE ORDER THAT THEY WERE CREATED IN ORDER FOR LIFE TO EXIST. NOT ONLY THIS, BUT THE PHYSICAL NATURE OF CREATION HAD TO BE PRECISE FOR LIFE TO EXIST. IT WAS NOT ENOUGH JUST TO CREATE PLANET EARTH, BUT GOD CREATED IT IN A SPHERE, WITH ATMOSPHERE, AND JUST THE RIGHT DISTANCE FROM THE SUN FOR LIFE TO EXIST. WHEN YOU READ THE ACCOUNT OF CREATION, THERE IS NO WAY TO ESCAPE THE FACT THAT CREATION WAS CAUSED BY SOMEONE FAR MORE INTELLIGENT, POWERFUL, AND CREATIVE THAN WE WILL EVER BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND.
GOD SAVED THE CREATION OF HUMANITY UNTIL THE END, FOR ALL THE OTHER PIECES OF CREATION HAD TO BE IN PLACE FOR MANKIND TO LIVE.
THE CREATION OF HUMANITY WAS SPECIAL. THE BIBLE TELLS US THAT AFTER EACH DAY OF CREATION GOD LOOKED AT WHAT WAS CREATED AND SAID IT WAS “GOOD.” BUT WHEN HE CREATED HUMANITY, GOD SAID IT WAS “VERY GOOD.” IT BEGS THE QUESTION WHY? AS WE LOOK AT THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN HUMANITY AND THE REST OF CREATION WE WILL UNDERSTAND MORE:
FIRST: HUMANITY WAS NOT CREATED TO SERVE THE REST OF CREATION, THE REST OF CREATION WAS PREPARED TO SERVE HUMANITY.
REMEMBER GOD’S TWO COMMANDS TO ADAM:
GENESIS 1:27-28:
“27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."
FROM THIS VERSE WE SEE THE TWO COMMANDS OF GOD TO HUMANITY:
1. BE FRUITFUL AND MULTIPLY
2. RULE OVER THE FISH OF THE SEA, THE BIRDS OF THE AIR, AND EVERY OTHER LIVING CREATURE THAT MOVES ON THE GROUND.
THERE HAS TO BE SOME QUALITATIVE DIFFERENCE IN HUMANITY THAT ALLOWS HIM TO RULE OVER EVERYTHING IN CREATION.
SECOND: ALL OF THE FORMER ELEMENTS OF CREATION WERE BROUGHT INTO EXISTENCE BY THE VOICE OF GOD. HUMANITY WAS CREATED OUT OF THE DUST OF THE GROUND AND GOD BREATHED LIFE INTO HIS FORM.
THIRD: HUMANITY WAS MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD. NO OTHER PART OF CREATION, NOT EVEN THE ANGELS, CAN MAKE THIS BOAST. THIS IS PROBABLY WHY THE BIBLE STATES THAT MANKIND IS GREATER THAN THE ANGELS, AS ANGELS ARE NOT CREATED IN THE IMAGE OF GOD.
THE WAYS THAT MAN THEN WERE CREATED DIFFERENT FROM THE REST OF CREATION ARE AS FOLLOWS:
1. CREATION WAS MADE TO SERVE HUMANITY, NOT HUMANITY TO SERVE CREATION.
2. HUMANITY WAS THE ONLY PART OF CREATION NOT BROUGHT ABOUT BY THE VOICE OF GOD.
3. HUMANITY WAS THE ONLY ASPECT OF CREATION MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD.
POINT TWO: WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE CREATED IN THE IMAGE OF GOD?
WHEN WE WERE CREATED WEHAD A THREE FOLD IDENTITY MADE UP OF: BODY
SOUL
SPIRIT
EACH HAS AN IMPORTANT FUNCTION OR CALLING TO PERFORM.
BODY: OUR BODIES ARE THE PHYSICAL ELEMENTS OF OUR EXISTENCE. IT IS THE OUTWARD SHELL THAT HOLDS THE ESSENCE OF WHO WE ARE.
PAUL CALLED THE BODY A TEMPLE.
1 CORINTHIANS 3:16-17:
“16 ¶ Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.”
OUR PHYSICAL BODIES ARE IMPORTANT TO GOD. HE ALLOWS US A VERY VIVID DESCRIPTION OF THE SENSITIVITY OF CREATION IN GENESIS. SO CAREFULLY HE MOLDED US, TAKING TIME TO MAKE EACH FINGER AND TOE. HE MADE OUR BODIES OH SO CAREFULLY AND THEN WHEN HE HAD FINISHED HE BREATHED THE BREATH OF LIFE INTO ADAM.
BUT TO BE MADE IN GOD’S IMAGE HAS TO BE MORE THAN PHYSICAL.
THE BIBLE IS CLEAR THAT GOD IS SPIRIT, NOT PHYSICAL.
JOHN 4:24: “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."”
THE SECOND ELEMENT THAT IS WITHIN US IS THE SOUL. THE SOUL IS THE SEAT OF EMOTIONS. IT REACHES DOWN DEEP INSIDE US TO EXPRESS ITSELF.
IT IS IN THE SOUL THAT WE FIND LOVE OR HATE, ANGER OR CALMNESS. OFTEN I’VE HEARD GREAT SINGERS, WHO SANG THE SONG WITH ALL THEIR HEART, TO HEAR THE ANNOUNCER SAY THAT THAT SINGER HAD GREAT “SOUL”.
BUT IT IS NOT IN THE SOUL THAT WE FIND THAT WE ARE CREATED IN THE IMAGE OF GOD.
THE SOUL USES THE FIVE SENSES TO COMMUNICATE TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD.
LET ME ILLUSTRATE: SUPPOSE YOU HAVE A FRIEND YOU DEARLY LOVED, BUT HAD NOT SEEN FOR YEARS. YOU FIND OUT THAT THIS FRIEND IS COMING TO SEE YOU AND ASKS YOU TO MEET AT THE AIRPORT. THE LOVE THAT YOU FEEL, REALLY DOWN DEEP, IS THE LOVE FROM THE SOUL, AND WILL BE EXPRESSED OUTWARDLY IN SMILES, TEARS, AND EXCITEMENT ON SEEING YOUR FRIEND. YOU FEEL IT INWARDLY, BUT YOU HAVE A PHYSICAL EXPRESSION FOR IT.
THE SOUL DEALS IN THE REALM OF FEELING. OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD THOUGH HAS TO BE MORE THAN JUST ON THE REALM OF FEELING. THERE ARE TIMES IN OUR LIVES WHERE WE CAN’T DEPEND ON WHAT WE ARE FEELING. WE HAVE TO DEPEND ON THE OBJECTIVE REALITY OF THE SCRIPTURE.
THERE ARE TIMES WHEN WE MAY FELL THAT GOD IS NOT NEAR TO US. SATAN CAN USE OUR FEELINGS AGAINST US “HOW CAN YOU BE A CHRISTIAN AND FEEL LIKE THAT?”
THE OBJECTIVE REALITY OF SCRIPTURE STATES THAT GOD IS ALWAYS WITH HIS PEOPLE. HE WILL NEVER LEAVE US OR FORSAKE US. THE SCRIPTURES TELL US THAT IF WE TRULY CONFESS OUR SINS THAT HE IS FAITHUL AND JUST TO FORGIVE US. SOMETIMES WE NEED TO COMMIT THESE VERSES TO MEMORY SO THAT WHEN TEMPTED BY SATAN WE WILL HAVE THE SOLID ROCK TO STAND ON.
GOD’S IMAGE CANNOT REST SOLELY IN THE SOUL OF MAN. IT IS TRUE THAT WE HAVE THE CAPACITY TO FUNCTION AT A RELATIONAL LEVEL, OR HAVE EMOTIONAL REACTIONS, OR CAN CHOOSE AND MAKE DECISIONS, AND THE CENTER FOR ALL THIS IS THE SOUL. IT IS ALSO TRUE THAT GOD CAN DO ALL THESE THINGS. IT IS ALSO TRUE THAT TO SOME EXTENT ANIMALS CAN DO THESE THINGS AS WELL.
WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR IS SOMETHING UNIQUE, NOT FOUND AT ALL, OR SHARED, IN ALL OF THE OTHER ELEMENTS OF CREATION. IT HAS TO BE SOMETHING ONLY FOUND IN HUMANS. SINCE THE ANSWER IS NOT FOUND IN THE PHYSICAL BODY OR THE SOUL, THEN THE ANSWER WE ARE LOOKING FOR HAS TO BE FOUND IN THE SPIRIT.
IF BEING CREATED IN GOD’S IMAGE IS NOT FOUND IN THE PHYSICAL, OR IN THE REALM OF THE SOUL, THEN WE MUST LOOK AT THE REALM OF THE SPIRIT.
PROVERBS 20:27: “The lamp of the LORD searches the spirit of a man; it searches out his inmost being.”
FUNDAMENTALLY YOU AND I ARE SPIRITS. WE ARE LIVING INSIDE THESE PHYSICAL BODIES AND EXPRESS OURSELVES THROUGH THEM AND THE SOUL, BUT ESSENTIALLY WE ARE SPIRITS.
NOW I ADMIT THAT THIS IS HARD TO UNDERSTAND, BUT ALLOW ME TO ILLUSTRATE. WHEN I GOT UP THIS MORNING, MY BACK WAS REALLY SORE. IT WAS SO SORE IT MADE ME FORGET ABOUT THE PAIN IN MY HIPS FOR AWHILE. PROBABLY A LOT OF YOU CAN SYMPATHIZE WITH ME ON THAT. INCIDENTALLY THAT’S YOUR SOUL TALKING.
WHEN WE SPEAK OF OUR BODIES, WE GENERALLY SPEAK IN POSSESSIVE TERMS. “MY” BACK WAS SORE, “MY” HIP WAS SORE, I HAD TO HAVE “MY” APPENDIX OUT. IT REALLY DOESN’T MATTER WHAT IT IS I BELIEVE ALL OF THE TIME WE REFER TO OUR PHYSICAL BODY AND SOUL IN POSSESSIVE TERMS. WE MAY SAY OF SOMEONE WE LOVE AND HAVEN’T SEEN IN A LONG TIME, “ I’M SO EXCITED ABOUT SEEING THEM THAT I CAN’T CONTAIN MYSELF.” WE ARE SPEAKING ABOUT THE SOUL IN POSSESSIVE TERMS.
HERE THEN LIES THE QUESTION. WHO IS THE “MY” IN THESE STATEMENTS? WHO ACTUALLY POSSESSES THE SORE BACK, AND THE ACHES HIPS? THE ANSWER HAS TO BE OUR SPIRIT.
JESUS TOLD THE WOMAN AT THE WELL:
JOHN 4:24: “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."”
JESUS WAS TELLING THIS WOMAN AT THE WELL THAT WHAT WE HAVE IN COMMON WITH GOD IS THAT WE ARE SPIRITS, AND THAT WHEN WE TRULY WORSHIP GOD IT HAPPENS ON A SPIRITUAL LEVEL.
WE ARE NOT CARRIED AWAY BY THE EMOTIONS OF THE SOUL, ALTHOUGH THEY MAY BE THE EXPRESSIONS OF OUR WORSHIP. PHYSICALLY WE MAY EXPRESS OUR WORSHIP BY RAISING OUR HANDS OR CLAPPING, PERHAPS SHOUTING HALLELUJAH, BUT THESE ARE ALL EXPRESSIONS OF WHAT IS HAPPENING IN OUR SPIRIT.
OUR SPIRITS CAN EXIST WITHOUT A BODY. JESUS TOLD HIS DISCIPLES AFTER HIS RESURRECTION:
LUKE 24:39: “"Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have."” (NKJV).
WHEN YOU AND I DIE, OUR BODIES CEASE TO FUNCTION, BUT NOT OUR SPIRIT. THIS GOES INTO THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD AND WILL EVENTUALLY BE REUNITED WITH OUR BODIES AT THE TIME OF THE RESURRECTION.
THIS THEN IS WHAT MAKES THE CREATION OF HUMANITY UNIQUE ABOVE ALL OTHER ASPECTS OF CREATION. IT IS IN THE SPIRIT THAT WE FIND OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE IMAGE OF GOD. GOD SAID AT THE END OF THIS PHASE OF CREATION, “IT IS VERY GOOD”. WHAT HAPPENED THEN TO CHANGE THAT?
POINT THREE: THE EFFECTS OF THE FALL.
AT THE TIME OF CREATION OUR SPIRITS WERE PURE AND SINLESS. WE HAD NOT CHOSEN TO DISOBY GOD, AND AS SUCH OUR SOULS KNEW NOTHING OF GUILT AND SHAME, NOR DID OUR PHYSICAL BODIES KNOW ANYTHING OF THE LOSS AND PAIN THAT WE FEEL, LEADING UP TO PHYSICAL DEATH BECAUSE THEY WERE NOT EFFECTED BY SIN. AFTER THE FALL THOUGH ALL ASPECTS OF CREATION WOULD CHANGE.
SATAN HAD NO ACCESS TO OUR SPIRITUAL DIMENSION. THIS WAS CREATED IN THE IMAGE OF GOD AND RESERVED FOR OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM.
SATAN TEMPTED ADAM AND EVE ON THE PHYSICAL AND SOUL ELVELS OF THEIR CREATION. PHYSICALLY HE SHOWED THEM THE FRUIT. HE TOLD THEM THE TASTE WAS GOOD. HE TEMPTED THEM EMOTIONALY ON THE BASIS OF PRIDE. EVENTUALLY THEY WOULD CHOOSE TO DISOBEY GOD AND THIS WOULD DESTROY THEIR SPIRITUAL RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.
WHAT THEN WERE THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE FALL?
PHYSICALLY: THE OUTER SHELL WE HAVE WILL GROW OLDER AND WEAKER UNTIL IT WILL FINALLY DIE.
1 CORINTHIANS 15:42-44:
“42 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.”
OUR BODIES HAVE BEEN CHANGED AS A RESULT OF SIN, AND ARE NOT THE WAY GOD HAD ORIGINALLY CREATED THEM. AT THE TIME OF THE RESURRECTION, HE WILL REFORM OUR BODIES AS THEY WERE ORIGINALLY MEANT TO BE.
SOUL: HERE IS WHERE WE NOTE SOME GREAT CONSEQUENCES OF THE FALL. THE ENTRY INTO OUR LIVES OF EVERY SINFUL THOUGHT OR DEED WILL COME THROUGH THE SOUL. PRIDE, LUST, GREED, SELFISHNESS ALL OF THESE EMOTIONS AND MORE, ARE BEING USED BY SATAN NOW TO KEEP PEOPLE AWAY FROM A RELATONSHIP TO GOD. THEY WERE CREATED GOOD BY GOD, AND EVENTUALLY WILL BE GOOD AGAIN, BUT IN OUR WORLD RIGHT NOW, SATAN IS USING THEM TO ACCOMPLISH HIS PURPOSES.
THIS IS THE AREA OF MAN’S DECISION AND CONTROL, BUT ONLY UNDER THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD WITHIN US HAVING CONTROL.
ROMANS 12:2: “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is— his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
SPIRIT:
IT IS IN THIS REALM THAT WE SEE ETERNAL CONSEQUENCES. WHEN THE FALL OCCURRED OUR SPIRITUAL RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD WAS LOST. PAUL STATES IN EPHESIANS:
EPHESIANS 2:1-3
“1 ¶ As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.
THE SCRIPTURES ARE CLEAR THAT THERE WILL BE A RESURRECTION FOR ALL, OUR SPIRITS, BODIES AND SOULS WILL BE REUNITED, BUT REUNITED TO WHAT.
IF OUR SPIRITUAL RELATIONSHIP WITH THE LORD, THAT RELATIONSHIP WE HAD AT THE TIME OF CREATION, BEFORE THE FALL, IS NOT RE-ESTABLISHED, THEN WE WILL LIVE FOREVER WITH THE DEVIL AND HIS FOLLOWERS IN THE PLACE WE CALL HELL.
THE CONSEQUENCE OF THE FALL WAS SO DEVESTATING TO OUR SPIRITUAL RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD, HE WILL SAY TO MANY “DEPART FROM ME, I NEVER KNEW YOU.” WHAT HE WAS SAYING IS THAT THESE PEOPLE DIDN’T HAVE A SPIRITUAL RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM.
CONCLUSION:
NOW I MUST ASK YOU THE QUESTION, “IF YOU WERE TO DIE TODAY AND FACE THE CREATOR, WHAT WORDS WOULD YOU HEAR. “WELL DONE GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT!” OR “DEPART FROM ME I NEVER KNEW YOU.”
ETERNITY IS A LONG TIME TO LIVE WITH A MISTAKE. YOU CAN MAKE SURE OF YOUR SALVATION AND RESTORE YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD TODAY, BY ACCEPTING CHRIST AS YOUR SAVIOR AND LORD. NOT ONLY DO YOU DEFEAT THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE FALL, BUT YOU START A RELATIONSHIP THAT WILL LAST FOR ETERNITY. WON’T YOU DO SO TODAY.
