Doctrine of Man Pt. 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-nTDwRB8AY

Lecture Notes:

Doctrine of Nature and Humanity (Theological Anthropology)

I.              Creation of Man

II.            Image of God

III.          Man and Female

I. Creation of Man

· Genesis 1:26-27 “God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”

· Epeshians 4:24 (ESV) “Put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

When God created all the animals and plants he created them after their own kind, he did not do this with man. God created us after HIS kind…in HIS likeness. It is important that we understand how man is composed. In Genesis 2:7 we read, "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." This is where we first learn about the composition of man. Upon God forming man, he acquired his physical body. Adam at this point was nothing but a physically formed pile of dirt; he was an inanimate object.

Then God breathed the 'breath of life' into Adam; this breath of life became Adam's spirit. Just as Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit upon the disciples in John 20:22, God had breathed the 'breath of life' spirit into Adam. Now that Adam had a body which housed life, this made him a soul; so from this process Adam became a living soul. Notice the body is simply a vessel which houses the spirit and soul.

A 3 Part Humanity

Body- is man's capsule; mortal; subject to decay due to sin; means by which we exist and operate with the physical environment (organs, bone, skin, skin, tissue, nerves, cells, DNA, molecules, anything tangible). Houses the soul and spirit.

Soul- non-tangible; immortal; bridge between body and spirit; thoughts; emotions; memory; imagination; will (decision maker). Houses the spirit.

· Genesis 2:7 then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.

• Creationist View – The soul enters a human sometime after conception and before birth (ensoulment).

• Traducianism – The soul propagated from the parent to the child.
  

Spirit- non-tangible; immortal; communicates with God. Essence of man's life force. The part of man that searches for God and is spiritually inclined towards a spiritual reality. Our spirit makes us unique to creation because no other “creation” practices worship.

Scriptural support for human composition.

· Isiah 26:9 At night my soul longs for you, indeed, my spirit within me seeks you diligently; for when the earth experiences your judgments the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.

·  Luke 23:43 And he said to him, "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with me in Paradise."

· Luke 1:46 And Mary said, "My soul exalts the Lord, Lk 1:47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.

· Matthew 10:28 "Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

· 2 Corinthians 5:8 we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.

· Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit.

· 1 Thessalonians 5:23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Created for companionship and not to be alone.

What did God see in Adam that caused him to determine that Adam was alone? Prior to the creation of Eve, Adam was placed in the Garden of Eden and was tasked with maintaining it; he also was responsible for naming the animals. For Adam, despite having a job, which offers a sense of direction and purpose, and despite being with God—he was still alone.

What was this aloneness that Adam experienced? What God saw and Adam experienced was a psychological aloneness.

Psychological refers to emotional and mental; therefore, Adam experienced the need to connect emotionally and mentally to someone similar to himself. Imagine for a moment what feelings Eve may have felt knowing that she was created because Adam felt alone. Eve was created with a skill set that was purposed to add value and significance to God’s plan. Consider the example of a Proverbs 31 wife who adds wisdom and resourcefulness in all she does.

There is a desire in us all to (1) not feel alone and (2) feel needed. While we all experience life differently and connect with others in various ways, it will be important to understand the ways in which you were alone and how your spouse meets this area. There are some who feel they are just fine whether with someone or not. To them, consider the difference in thoughts and emotions when you are by yourself versus spending time with another person. When you are with someone, you share in the basic experience of companionship which often reduces anxiety and increases the sense of universality. Universality is the idea that others experience the things you do, that you are not alone in your experiences.

·  Mark 12:30-31 (ESV) And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

· 1 Peter 1:22 (ESV) Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart.

·  Hebrews 10:24-25 (ESV) And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

·  Galatians 6:1-2 (ESV) Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

·  Philippians 2:3-4 (ESV) Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

II. Image of God (Imagers of God)

In God’s image means in his authority, nature, name (special filiation).

1 Corinthians 15:45-49 (ESV) Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 4 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

2 Corinthians 4:4 (ESV) In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Colossians 1:15 (ESV) He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

Colossians 3:9-10 (ESV) Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

Romans 8:29 (ESV) For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

Created Holy

Genesis 2:22 (KJV) – And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

The Hebrew word for Rib is tsela (pronounced sela) and means “side chamber.” Genesis 2 is one of the few places tsela is translated to “rib.” Other occurrences of tsela refer to the side of a holy structure:

•           Ark of the Covenant (Exodus 37:5)

•           The Tabernacle (Exodus 26:20)

•           The Temple (1 Kings 6:5)

Why use the word tsela? What is God communicating here? Why use the same word that is associated with holy, sacred structures? In Genesis 2:21, God was communicating that he was designing something sacred. Man and Woman were and are sacred beings, not just themselves but their sexuality also. Female taken from male, femininity taken from masculinity; Eve taken from Adam. Further support for this comes from 1 Corinthians 6:12-20, where Paul reveals that we are temples of the Holy Spirit. More specifically, Paul communicates that not only are we sacred objects, but as such, we should honor our purity. The use of the rib is a call to holiness, in sexuality, in character and treatment toward each other.

Holy Sexuality

In 1 Corinthians 6:12-20, Paul uses the term sexual immorality when speaking of the human body and its design as the temple of God. Paul explains that the only sin that is committed with your body or temple is sexual immorality. There is a special warning against committing the sin of sexual immorality. This is because this is the only sin where you join the temple of God with impurity. Sexual immorality is the only sin that joins something holy with something unholy.

Sexual immorality (or fornication in the KJV) is the Greek word “porneia.” By definition, pornia (sexual immorality) is identified as any sexual act that violates a heterosexual monogamous covenantal relationship. These acts typically include adultery, promiscuity, premarital sex, prostitution, homosexuality, lesbianism, bestiality, incest, and any action that violates a heterosexual monogamous covenantal relationship. These violations can also occur in our thinking and find their way into our hearts. In Matthew 5:28, Jesus points out that engaging in extramarital lust is the result of adultery in the heart. Job, in 31:1, informs us that he has made a covenant with his eyes not to look at other women lustfully, and in verse 11 identifies that lust is a shameful sin. It is shameful because it violates what is holy—the human body, the temple of God.

Speech

When God created man, man was made in the image and likeness of God. God created in man the unique ability to speak, just as God has the ability to speak; it’s another inheritance from his image and likeness. Man's ability to speak was a tool in which he was to utilize when taking dominion over the earth and assuming authority thereafter, as he was commanded to do. Just as God spoke everything into existence, man was to speak, from and in the authority of God, whatever was not in order, to order; thus man's speech held power. An example of this is in Numbers 20:7-8 "And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying. Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shall bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shall give the congregation and their beasts drink. "

Speech has the power to reinforce our thoughts and behaviors. Once something is spoken, the spoken idea can begin to take form and operation. Take cyber bullying as an example. This type of bullying is a form of verbal abuse, where no physical aggression is displayed. The speech that is communicated is unholy, ungodly and damaging in nature, nothing good comes from it. Cussing, gossiping, backbiting, disrespect, abuse, witchcraft, name calling, threatening and many other types of speech enter the minds of the listener and take root. Once allowed to take root, the listener responds to these words by displaying negative and often self-damaging behavior.

Today, there is a disturbing amount of ungodly speech being spoken! Ephesians 4:29 tells us "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers." Is this how you speak?

·  Proverbs 15:4 (ESV) A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.

·  Proverbs 18:21 (ESV) Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.

·  1 Peter 3:10 (ESV) For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit.

III. Male and Female

Genesis 2:18 (KJV) - And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

The term “help meet” was translated from the Hebrew words Ezer Kenegdo (Neged). Strong’s number 5828 is the Hebrew word ezer meaning helper. Strong’s number 5048 is the Hebrew word kenedego meaning meet. In the KJV of the Bible, the Old (Middle) English word “meet” is used. This word does not have the same meaning it did in the 1600s; it implied “proper fitting” or “suitable.”  The idea of being properly fit for requires (1) correspondence and (2) opposite.

Kenegdo means:

Corresponding To –similar to, matching or having the same characteristics.

Opposite To –different, the other of a complementary pair.

Therefore, a literal translation of the Hebrew word “kenegdo” means a counterpart corresponding to and opposite to. Corresponding suggests there is similarity; thus, Adam needed something similar to him—another human. Opposite suggests Adam needed something that was his opposite—a feminine creation. Together, this communicates the idea of complementarianism. The idea that men and women in marriage are designed to benefit each other with their differences.

 A literal translation of Genesis 2:18 would be, “And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an helper who is a counterpart corresponding to and opposite to him.”

Eve fulfilled the requirement of opposite, as a female, and the requirement of corresponding, as a human. By God’s own words, there were no other configurations that could meet this requirement. It is also of importance that Jesus echoes this truth (Mark 10:6; Matthew 19:4), when answering a question about divorce, by quoting Genesis and emphatically stating that God’s original creation was solely male and female. This statement was to address any other configurations that man would try to create beyond a heterosexual monogamous covenant.

God has created gender opposites that complement each other. Ephesians 5:21-33 teaches us that men and women were designed with distinct and purposeful roles that, when honored, mirror the relationship between Christ and the Church. Complementarianism can be seen throughout creation, where everything has its own glory. From 1 Corinthians 15:38-41, we learn that God has given everything in creation its own glory, and as a result, all things have their purpose, roles, and responsibilities. Complementation is the process by which something is made perfect by pairing it with something most suitable.

Scripture has taught us that God created male and female distinct from one another, but what does this mean in our daily lives? Some argue that gender roles are archaic and no longer needed in a modern society where “anyone can do anything.” This way of thinking is not new. Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:12 (NLT) says, “You say, “I am allowed to do anything,” but not everything is good for you.” From this, we learn that there are benefits to staying within the boundaries that God has created; likewise, there are consequences for wandering outside his will.