The Nature Of Sin, Part 3: What Is Man
Psalm 8:4-8 4what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? 5You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. 6You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet: 7all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, 8the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.
Job 7:17-18 17“What is mankind that you make so much of them, that you give them so much attention, 18that you examine them every morning and test them every moment?
We are in the early stages of a series on the nature of sin, but it occurs that such a discussion has little meaning if we don’t understand what God was doing when He created humanity. Let’s understand that humans were not God’s first attempt at creation. We know from Genesis 1 that God created all of the physical universe from nothing through the use of His hands almost like a sculptor. And sometime in eternity past God had also created angels. The odd thing about angels is that scriptural evidence seems to suggest that they were all created at the same time. It appears that angels do not procreate; that there are no ‘baby angels’. But God created only two humans, Adam and Eve, and gave them the inherent ability to create other humans through procreation. Why the change of plan?
In an earlier post we talked about the creation of tripartite man and how original sin caused a separation of direct connection with God. But that doesn’t address the question of why God created human beings in the first place. There is something odd about human beings: We seemingly have a special desire within us to reach beyond ourselves. We want to be part of something bigger than ourselves. The result of this is that most of us strive for perfection. Scientists strive to learn everything there is to know about their field of study. Pastors want to draw as close to God as possible. Even people who drive vehicles for a living manifest this in attaining the best record, and accountants strive for perfectly balanced worksheets. It is in the nature of us that we attain the highest levels possible. Animals don’t possess this trait.
God gave this trait to us humans because He wants the growing human family to reach out to Him. But also, it seems God at some time in eternity past decided He want to share His beautiful existence in holiness and righteousness with others. All of this is supposition of course because Scripture is silent about it. If that is true, then how would He go about doing it? We read that God created matter, formed Adam from it, and then breathed life into that matter called Adam, and then similarly created Eve. But how does one create holiness, righteousness, and character? Was it part of the breathing in of life? I know this is a human trying to process divine action and so is ridiculous on the face of it, but one must try.
Since angels were created ‘adult’ and are spirits and so don’t feel pain, they don’t seem to be suitable beings to implement this spiritual family God wanted. He wanted something else, and that turned out to be humankind. Also we know God to be omniscient and that it couldn’t have been a surprise to Him that Adam and Eve fell victim to Satan’s lies and committed the first human sin. So if we take these things together it looks like God’s desire to share His holiness, righteousness, and character with a family resulted in a plan to create a family of human beings, to give them free will, and to teach them and train then in what holiness and righteousness look like, and what happens when one loses them. Mankind had to be made out of matter (flesh) because trials and tribulations are necessary to drive a person to God for help. So God’s plan acknowledges the place of sin as a tool to be used for teaching holiness. Lessons aren’t really learned if there is no opportunity for failure.
So this is why God is mindful of human beings. Throughout all eternity past, God enjoyed perfect love and intimate communion within His own being. The three persons of the Godhead—Father, Son, and Spirit—enjoyed perfect relationships and completely fulfilled one another. Thus, God was not inwardly lonely or personally empty; He was entirely self-satisfied, self-content, and self-contained. So God did not create because of some limitation within Himself. Instead, He created everything out of nothing in order to put His glory on display for the delight of His created beings and that they might declare His greatness (Steven Lawson, Ligonier Ministries). God did not need us as if He were lonely. But He did want to create us. God created human beings to be perfect, holy, and righteous—like Him. When sin entered the world that ended, and the immortality God intended for His children also ended. And as the consequences of sin spread throughout all mankind lifespans shortened. That is why we read of great lifespans of the patriarchs (culminating in the 951 years of Methuselah) but see only 80-100 years today. All this time humans have been charged with the responsibility of learning about God, growing in holiness, and spreading the Kingdom of God throughout the world. God is mindful of men because He is in the midst of pursuing His plan and we are the agents through which He accomplishes it.
So we human beings each have a purpose, a purpose unique to us. God created each of us individually (Psalm 119:13-16). God created each of us with a specific purpose. The purpose is unique to each of us because we all have a unique combination of abilities and spiritual gifts. But the sum of things is that each of us will reflect God through that gift mix as if we were a mirror—designed to reflect the image of the One who created us.
Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
The plan God has—for us to grow in His holiness and righteousness—is the larger picture. The finer focus is that our lives reflect His glory. When we act justly, we hold ourselves to a higher standard than our old sin nature followed. To be merciful is to become channels of the same grace and mercy that brought us eternity with God (Titus 3:5). We show forgiveness to those who offend us (1Corinthians 4:5). We walk humbly with our God when we stay close to Him in good times and bad, thanking Him for every good gift and running to Him when we feel threatened (1Thessalonians 5:18). In sum, if we live our lives on earth in a way that reflects His glory, we can one day enter His presence knowing we have fulfilled the purpose for which we were created.