The Nature of Man (2)

We are looking at the nature of man after talking about how man was created. We're looking at how he is made up, what God has put him together, how he's put him together. And so we talked last week a little bit about the material part of man, the source of body materials, from the dust of the ground, and then the importance of the body. We were talking about the passages, several passages of scripture which indicate the importance of the body. And in our discussion on that, we kind of gravitated into the area of cremation and had a very interesting discussion on that. And in midst of that discussion, Bill Hatcher asked a question about, wasn't there someone in the Bible that was saying, actually burned, their bodies were burned, and I have a very large memory, it just leaks a lot. And so it doesn't do you're very good to have a large memory if it all time leaks out. And it leaked on me last week, and I couldn't call that back. I was thinking those bodies had been buried, but actually someone came, Chuck came up to me after the service and said, I think that's for Samuel 31, and indeed it was when Samuel or when Saul and his sons were killed in battle by the Philistines, the Philistines did behead Saul and his sons and put their bodies on the city wall. And Beth Sean, and the Bible says in 1 Samuel 31 verse 11, when the people of J. B. S. Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, all their value men marched through the night to Beth Sean. They took down the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth Sean and went to J. B. S., where they burned them. Then they took their bones and buried them under a tamarisk tree at J. B. S., and they fasted seven days. So they did bury them, but after they burned them, they buried the bones. And so it kind of peaked my interest as to why Hebrews, which were actually commanded not to burn their dead, why they would do that. And doing a little digging and thinking, this is the only time in the Old Testament that Hebrews did burn bodies after death. So it is exceptional. It is not the norm, but it is the exception, the lone exception in the Old Testament for Hebrews. And so began to try to figure out why would they do that? And some Bible scholars indicate that it probably had to do with the fact that their bodies had hung there several days, and they were already decomposing and the risk of transmitting of disease and so forth. They may have burned them for that reason, or some suggest also that they may have burned them to prevent the Philistines from digging them back up once they were buried, and further desecrating their bodies. This is after all the king of Israel, and so they may have done it for that reason. And so it is interesting that on that one occasion in the Old Testament, Hebrews did burn their dead, there seems to be kind of an exceptional reason for that. So thanks for bringing up that question Bill, that was appreciate that very much. So we're going to talk about the material part of man, the body, then we just kind of dip into a little bit the immaterial part of man that we're kind of giving the heading of the image and likeness of God. We're dealing with that first, and then we're going to get into more of the specifics of what our immaterial part is made of, different parts of it. More next time probably. But we looked at the major scriptures five verses or passages that talk about the image and likeness of God, and we saw that it is not a bodily likeness. So it is not a physical likeness to God. It doesn't mean that God looks like us because we were made in his image, God is a spirit. And so it can't be a physical likeness. So exactly what is the image and likeness of God? Well, we're going to tonight begin with the meaning of the terms. That's a good place to start whenever you're trying to figure out what the Bible means by something, take the terms themselves, define them carefully, see how they're used in the Bible, and that gives you a pretty good idea of what we're talking about. So that's where we're going to start the terms themselves, image and likeness. The first thing I want to explain is that the early church distinguished those terms pretty sharply. They basically, the early church, I'm about to talk about the church in the early centuries, not the New Testament church necessarily, but in the early centuries of Christianity, most of the theologians and so forth who were writing on these kinds of issues, would distinguish those two terms. And here's basically what they taught. They said that the image of God had to do with what they called the innate powers of the soul. In other words, a rational resemblance to God. And they said that was retained after the fall. So they defined the image more as the powers of the soul, the mind, and that was retained after the fall. They defined the word likeness as a resemblance to the moral nature of God. In other words, God's moral nature, his holiness, his righteousness, and they said that was lost in the fall. So the image was kept, but the likeness was lost and they sharply distinguished those two terms. But the general view today is that those terms are synonymous. Image and likeness basically mean the same thing. And I want to explain why that's typically the case today. Most theologians would believe those two terms mean basically the same thing. Let's take the two words again. The word image is the Hebrew word Selam. And it can be translated in several ways. The word image or Selam, I think we have that on the screen for you. That's the Hebrew word. And the Hebrew word is used in the Old Testament in these ways. Image or likeness, it could be translated both ways. But it often is used of a shadow or an outline of a figure. So it really is, if there is a distinction between the two terms, this is the more concrete of the two. This was the one that would be used of an actual physical resemblance. The second term, likeness is the Hebrew word Demuth. And that word is translated several ways, has several meanings, likeness or similitude or resemblance. And it has to do with being similar to someone or something. So you can tell that's a little more abstract. It's not quite as concrete as image. So if there is any shade of distinction between the two, image would be more concrete, more material in nature, likeness would be more just to be similar in whatever way. But most, again, most Bible scholars and writers, commentators and so forth today do not believe those two terms should be sharply distinguished. And the major reason for that is they are used interchangeably in the Old Testament. And we saw a little bit of that when we looked at those five passages last time, because sometimes the word image is used, but other times the word likeness is used. Sometimes they're both used. So they seem to be used interchangeably. Let me just give you a quick example of that all the way back to the beginning. In Genesis chapter 1, in Genesis chapter 1, verses 26 and 27, let us make mankind in our image in our likeness, both terms used there and seem to be used in parallel fashion in our image in our likeness, meaning the same thing. So that they may rule over the fish of the sea in the sea, the birds in the sky over the livestock and all the wild animals and overall the creatures that move along the ground. So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them. So God decides to create or says that he is going to create man in his image and likeness. And then what happens? He creates them in his image, in his image. It doesn't say likeness the second time, it uses the word image twice. And so you can already tell these terms are kind of fluid. They're kind of synonymous, they're used without a great deal of distinction. Another way to see this is in Genesis 5, and we're not going to look at all the ways these terms are used interchangeably. But in Genesis 5, this is a written account of Adam's family line when God created mankind, he made them in the likeness of God. He created the male and female blessed them, he named them mankind when they were created. Now verse 3, when Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image, and he named him Seth. So here chapter 1, God created him in the image and likeness, and then it just says in the image, and then here it says in the likeness without the image. And so again, they're using the words of the same thing, but they're using the different words, both words of the same thing. And so then Adam has a son in his own likeness, in his image, again, seeming to say pretty much the same thing. So the general view today is that the two words are not to be distinguished sharply, but here's what they mean. The terms image and likeness refer to the personal, spiritual, and moral qualities of human beings that are like God, personal, spiritual, and moral qualities. So let me flesh that out a little bit, and then we'll pause to take any questions you've got. Personal, spiritual, moral. The Bible describes us humans as personal beings first. That's part of what it means to be in the image and likeness of God. We are personal beings, and basically that means that we are conscious of ourselves. We are self-conscious. It's really a feature of the soul. I remember one evening or one day being over, this is several years ago, being over at Roger Cox's car lot, and there was some work being done on my car over there, and he said, come here, I want to show you something. He took me around to the side of his garage, and there was a truck sitting on it. It was a truck that he would drive to work. He said, this happens almost every day. There's a bird sitting up on the mirror, a side view mirror of that truck, and the bird would look over the side view mirror, see its reflection in the mirror, and just, take away, had no concept, but that's me. That's some other animal. No idea that that's me. Well, human beings are different than animals in the sense that we have a self-consciousness. We can look in a mirror and say, well, that's me. Sometimes maybe some doubt about that first thing in the morning, but usually you can look in the mirror, and that's me. But what do we mean by that? We have a consciousness of who we are. That is not shared among animals. They do not have that same self-consciousness of this is my hand. There's something in me that this body covers. So this is my hand, this is my foot. That's not the totality of me. This just covers the real me. We have that self-consciousness, whereas animals don't. That's part of what it means to be in the image and likeness of God. So we're personal beings. Secondly, we are spiritual beings. And by that I'm not talking about spirituality in the sense of being close to God. I'm just saying simply, we have a spirit. There is a part of us that is unending, so that when the body dies, the real person goes on living. It goes on living in eternity. So that is something that distinguishes us from the animal kingdom. When animals die and their breath stops, they're done. There's nothing they're not going to go to heaven or to hell. Sorry about that for those of you who had a place reserved for your cat in heaven. But we have a part of us that lives on forever, our spirit. And so we are personal beings. We are spiritual beings. That's part of what it means to be in the likeness of God. But thirdly, we are moral beings. Here's what I mean by that. We have a sense of awtness. I ought to do this. Or I ought not to do that. There is a sense of morality that we know right from wrong. Your cat or dog doesn't know the moral nature of its actions. All it knows is self-preservation, how to get what it's wants, or how to respond to how it's been trained. But it does not go around thinking, you know, I really shouldn't do this because this is not right. Human beings do. We can distinguish the difference between right and wrong. We have a sense of obligation to a higher being that is built into us. And we're going to see that that's true of believer and unbeliever. Now that can be twisted and seared and hardened to where you no longer sense it or respond to it anymore. But that's not the way we were made. We were made with that sense of being a moral being that we have a moral side to our nature. You might call it as the Bible does a conscience. And I just want to point out a passage to you in Romans chapter 2. I don't think we have this one on the screen because it's two or three verses here. So I want to point out a passage to you where Paul is talking about how unbelieving Gentiles who do not have the scriptures are still accountable to God. And the reason they are accountable to God is this very thing that we're talking about now. And that is that even if you have no scripture, you have an inborn sense of right and wrong that you are morally obligated to a creed. And he says it this way in Romans chapter 2 verse 14. Indeed, when Gentiles who do not have the law do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves even though they do not have the law, the written law of God. They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts. Now please don't misunderstand that. That does not mean that people are inwardly righteous and right with God because they have God's word in their hearts. It's not talking about that. It's talking about that sense of awtness, the ability to distinguish between right and wrong that the scriptures clearly teach even someone who's never seen the Bible has an has an inward sense of right and wrong. Again, it can be twisted and all that, but an inward sense of right and wrong. He says that the laws written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness and their thoughts sometimes accusing them. And at other times, even defending them, that's that sense of awtness. I ought to do this. I ought not to do that. And to some degree, that is present in every person. It's a part of being made in the image and likeness of God. So those three things basically are what the image and likeness of God are all about. We're personal beings, we're spiritual beings in the sense that we have a spirit that will live forever. And we are moral beings that have a sense of obligation, accountability to God. Now, there are some who give a fourth element of being made in the image and likeness of God. And that is the dominion that man has given over creation. And it is tied to the image and likeness of God in Genesis 1. God made us in His image and likeness. And then said that we're to rule over the fish and birds and animals and so forth. So whether or not that's an inborn part of the image and likeness of God, or it's just the outward manifestation and evidence of it is the debate. But a lot of people tie that directly to the image and likeness of God. Okay, I've talked a lot about what kind of composes that that raise any questions or comments on your part. Yes, sir. Right, it does not. No. I think that's the natural assumption because that's typically the way we use the words. And image, we think of what we think of an idol and a false god that's made in a fashion form, a physical form. But the words as used in the Bible do not are not used of a physical likeness, used of a personal spiritual moral resemblance to God. Or resemblance, resemblance in the sense that we have a point of contact with God. It's something that gives us the opportunity to have a relationship with Him. Okay, good, good question. Others? Phil? Yeah. And I think that's a legitimate, legitimate point, Bill. I think if I were going to categorize it, I would put it maybe partly under the personal being and partner under the moral being that we share those characteristics with God. Obviously, we're going to see in just a moment what has happened to the image and likeness because of sin. But there is a touch point there between the way we were made and the way God is. And that's what image and likeness mean. It does involve those very things you're talking about. And that's part of that's really Paul's whole point in the first three chapters of Romans. In chapter one, he deals with pagan Gentiles that are not living up to the moral light they have. They're wicked. And he says the problem with them is they have suppressed the truth of God. And so they have hardened themselves and God's given them over to sin. But then he deals with another group of Gentiles in chapter two that we just looked at. And that is good, law-abiding, decent. What we would call moral people whose hearts accuse them when they do something wrong and excuse them maybe sometimes they rationalize and make excuses for it, but they're having that battle inside over right and wrong. They're good moral people, but they've never even seen the Bible. And they are accountable to God because they share that moral likeness. And then the third group of people he deals with is Jewish people in the last half of chapter two. He deals with Jewish people who do have the law of God, but don't live up to it obviously because of sin. And then he makes his crowning point in the first eight, well, twenty verses actually of, or so, of chapter three. And that is, are we religious Jews any better than they know, he says, no, we're all in the same, but we're all sinners. We've all sinned in false order, glory of God. Everybody, whether or not you're a wicked pagan Gentile who cares nothing about things of God or you're a good moral Gentile or you're a religious Jew, everybody is accountable to God. And so that's his real point in the first three chapters. So yes, even people that have never seen or heard the Bible are still accountable to God. Yeah, what Bill was saying about you can see in our emotions how we relate to our kids, a lot of the heart of our heavenly father. And that's a parallel, the Bible makes Psalm 103 says, as a father has compassion or as a father loves his children. So you have compassion on us, those who fear you. So there is a, there is a likeness there. And that likeness, which we share, like Bill said, sometimes you can take a look at the moral qualities or desires and so forth that we have. And you can see a faint image of what is true of God. There is a likeness there, a resemblance. Now we're going to see in a moment that does not equate to salvation. I don't want to lead anyone down that path and we're going to get that clear in just a minute. Okay, anything else about the image and likeness just about what it means. Okay, the next place I want to go with this is number four in your notes or D. And that is the image and likeness of God includes all people. This is not just saved people that share the image and likeness of God. It is all of humanity. Now, three things that I want to make clear about that actually more than three, but three main things I want to make clear. And that is that first of all, pro creation produces the image and likeness of God. Again, if you, if you still have your Bible open Genesis 5, take a look at that passage again that we read about Adam. Verse 1, when God created mankind, he made them in the likeness of God. So Adam is in the image of God. Now verse 3, Adam that 130 years he had a son in his own likeness in his own image. Seth is made in Adam's image. Okay, do you catch the syllogism here? Adam is made in God's image. Seth is made in Adam's image. Okay, if a equals b and b equals c, then a equals c. That's called a syllogism. And that's really what you've got here. If Adam is made in the image of God, Seth is made in the image of Adam, then Seth is also in the image of God. See how that works. Sometimes math does come in helpful and in Bible understanding, but there's a real sense here in which that's a faint hint that we're going to get into in a lot more depth later. That the image and likeness of God are transferred down to the next generation through procreation. They come to us from our parents. Now there are two views of that and some of you are thinking, no, I thought God created that in us. And there are two views on that and we'll get to that later. I'm going to get into it in much more depth, but just want to state right now the right conclusion. And that is the image and likeness of God, all of our physical and immaterial parts of us are passed down to us from our parents through procreation. Okay, so we'll, I don't want to get into that in any more depth right now, but we will get to that. We will get to that spend probably two or three weeks on that. Okay, so it includes all people because the image and likeness of God comes to us through our parents. It is come, it comes to us through procreation. The second thing I want to say about including all people is very clearly the image and likeness of God does not equal salvation. Just because you have the image and likeness of God does not mean you are saved because of that. It does not equal salvation. Think, think this way with me for a moment. Adam is called the son of God in the genealogy in Luke three, which is the genealogy that starts with Joseph and then actually when it gets to David, it traces Mary's line from David down all the way to Adam. It kind of goes backwards. Matthew's genealogy is different. It goes forward up to the time of Jesus and Luke's goes backwards, but it traces Mary's genealogy. But when it gets to the very end in Luke 338, it's saying all these people, you know, this one is the son of this one, this one is the son of this one, going back through the generations gets to the end. It says the son of the son of the son of the son of Adam, the son of God. Adam is described as the son of God in the same sense that Seth was his son and Enoch was his son, but no one else in the Bible is called the son of God in that same sense. Adam could be called the son of God in that sense because he came directly from the hand of God. But nobody else in the Bible is called the son of God or a child of God except through the new birth. The only way you become a child of God or a son of God get into the family of God is not through human birth. It is through the new birth. That's the only way. Adam was the only one called the son of God because of his being created by God. The only way anybody else from that time on gets into the family of God is through the new birth. John 112 makes that clear, yet to all who did receive him to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. How do you become a child of God through receiving Christ, through trust, confidence in his name, which stands for all that he is and all that he has done, who he is and what he has done for us on the cross. The closest passage that would seem to imply that all people are God's children is in Acts chapter 17. I want you to turn there for a moment because I want us to look at this passage, Acts 17. This is the passage that comes the closest to calling all of mankind the children of God. In Acts 17, Paul has made his way to Athens, the philosophical center of the Greek and Roman world. He begins debating with some philosophers here and Paul knows that in this city where there is among these Gentile philosophers no background of having the Bible. They do not even understand who God is. Remember Paul is looking at their idols and he finds an idol that is subscribed to the unknown God. He says, okay, that is where I will start. They do not have any concept of the Bible. They do not have any concept of who God really is. I have to have some common ground that they understand I can start my gospel presentation with. I will start with this description to the unknown God. He says, okay, I will tell you who this unknown God is. You have got one idol here as a scribe to an unknown God. Obviously the reason is because you do not want to offend any gods that you have not thought to cover. I will tell you about the one God you left out. He begins to tell them about verse 24, the God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. You see, when Paul would go into a city that had a Jewish synagogue and he would start with people that had the law of God, they had some basis of the Word of God, he would start by taking Old Testament teaching about Christ and show how Christ fulfilled that. You can see it in his sermons in the book of Acts. But in this one, he is not dealing with people who have any background in the Bible. So he has to find a different starting point to get to the Bible. So he starts with the concept of God, who God is and he starts with God as the creator. God created made the world, everything in it. And verse 25, he is not served by human hands as if he needed anything rather he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. Hang on to that statement because it's a key to understanding what he's going to say in a moment. He gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man, he made all the nations that they should inhabit the whole earth and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him. Though he is not far from any one of us for in him we live and move and have our being as some of your own poets have said, we are his offspring. Now when he says all the human race is God's offspring, he's actually quoting a Greek prophet. He's not quoting the Bible. He's quoting a Greek prophet. And again, he's simply making common ground with them trying to get them engaged with his way of thinking. And it's obvious from what he's just said about God being the creator of all people and establishing the boundaries for nations and so forth. That when he says, as some of your own poets have said, we are his offspring. He's talking about the fact that God created man. It's the only sense in which he says all of mankind is God's offspring or God's family is in the sense that God created man. It's in the big picture. Obviously Paul knows and preaches and teaches consistently the only way you get into the family of God in the sense of salvation is through the new birth. In the sense of creation, we are all of God's creatures. He has made us in the sense that he created Adam and Eve. So we are his creatures in that sense. We are his offspring, but the only way you can become his children in the sense of salvation is through the new birth. So liberal theology basically teaches that we're all God's children. And you hear that all the time, don't you? We're all God's children. Everybody's God's children. You've got that innate spark of divinity in you and somehow you've just got to do good and fan it into flame and get it burning a little brighter and do better and work harder and pray longer. And you'll get to heaven. That's liberal theology. It begins with the presupposition with the idea in their minds that we are all already the children of God. And that's not what Paul's saying here. Paul's simply saying God created all mankind. Now the only way you get into his family is through Christ. And he'll go on to introduce Christ. But when he mentions that Christ came and died and was resurrected, they stopped him because they didn't like what he was saying about the resurrection. Paul never got to give a full blown gospel presentation, but it's clear that's where he was headed. He just had to start with something they could understand. Unknown God, I'll tell you about him. I'll tell you who he is. He's the creator. He created us all. Then he sent his son. His son died. He was resurrected. And that's his first Paul guy. Okay. So you see what he's saying? He's not he's not teaching the liberal concept that we are all God's children. So we're all going to be in heaven regardless. Not what the Bible teaches. We are all God's creatures in the sense that he created mankind, but we're not all his children. Not unless you've trusted Christ as your savior. That's the only way you get in the family of God. So I want to make sure you understand when we talk about having the image and likeness of God, we're not talking about the fact that because you are a creature, you're automatically a child of God. You're automatically going to be in his family and be in heaven. Now the fact that we still have the image and likeness of God does explain how it is possible to be saved. The image and likeness of God in us gives us a point of contact with him that enables him to initiate a relationship with us. Okay. Because we are personal spiritual. We have a spirit that will live forever. Moral beings. And because of that, there's a point of contact that God then can initiate. God does not initiate. Salvation contact with birds and dogs and camels and there's no point of contact there. They're not made in his image and likeness. But the fact that we are made in his image and likeness makes possible the relationship. It doesn't equal the relationship, but it makes it possible for God to initiate it and say, I want to save you. Okay. Is that clear? Any questions about that? So we're talking about the fact that the image of God, image and likeness of God includes all people. Procreation produces it. It does not equal salvation. But and this is very important. The image and likeness of God does give the basis for human dignity and worth. The value of human life. And this is so critical to understand in the cultural climate that we live in. Because it touches on abortion in fantasized, euthanasia, all of the attempts of our culture to devalue human life. It's so important that we go back to this concept that human life, all human life, because it is in the image of God has valued dignity and worth. It's different from animal life. It has a value and dignity and worth far above any other part of God's creation. And again, this is not limited only to Christians. It is every human being because again, every human being shares the likeness of God, the image of God. Let me just quickly make three supporting statements of that and then we'll have to close. It's getting close to eight o'clock. This idea of human dignity and worth can be seen in several ways in the scripture. First of all, man is the culmination of creation. This this dignity and worth marks mankind as the culmination of creation. We saw that earlier in Genesis one where God makes man what in his image and likeness verse 26. And then immediately says to him, now you have dominion over the birds in the sky, the fish there in the sea, the animals that are on the land. The fact that that he is the pinnacle of God's creation and has dominion and rule over all the rest of God's creation is directly tied to the fact that he's in the image and likeness of God. That gives mankind a position in creation a sense of value and dignity and worth that is far above anything else God has created. So this marks man as the culmination of creation. Secondly, it gives value to man and it gives value to human life. Real quickly we're going to throw three verses on the screen to support this Genesis 96. We looked at this earlier. Whoever sheds human blood by humans, shall their blood be shed? Why? Why is there a responsibility of mankind to avenge the willful premeditated murder of human beings? Why? For in the image of God has God made mankind. So the image of God gives value to man in the sense that it is the basis for civil government and capital punishment. For Corinthians 117, man ought not to cover his head since he's the image and glory of God. Now as I said last week, we're not going to get into the head covering issue. That would take us on a detour that would take us way up to the end of Hall's Ridge somewhere and that's not the purpose of our study tonight. I just want to say this in this context of what's going on in the church at Corinth, the image of God is the basis for church conduct. How are you how you are to conduct yourself in the church as far as leadership roles, headship and submission in the church is concerned. It's based on the image of God. And then one other thing, James 3.9, we looked at this before too, with the tongue we praise our Lord and Father with it we curse human beings who have been mating God's likeness. So being mating God's likeness is also the basis for social conduct. How were to treat one another. So the image and likeness of God gives value to man in the sense that it is the basis of civil government and capital punishment. It is the basis for church conduct and it is the basis basis for social conduct. How were to treat one another as fellow image bearers of God. So you can see that this this puts man on a different level than any other part of God's creation. It gives us value human dignity worth. And then the last thing I want to say about this dignity and worth related to the image of God is that it makes possible communion with God. See the image and likeness of God in us provides for communion with a creator in a way that the rest of creation cannot experience because we are personal, spiritual, moral beings. We have the capacity, the potential to have a relationship with God. That's what Paul was saying again in Acts 17. God made us so that we might have a relationship with him so that we might seek him and find him if we would seek him with our hearts. So we have the capacity for that relationship because of the image and likeness of God. So that gives human beings a great dignity and value and worth. Now I just want to give you a little preview of next week because it's hard to leave this hanging right here. We're going to find next week and we'll explain this more next week how the image and likeness was marred in the fall. And it is being renewed in salvation. And it will be completed in heaven. We're going to see how all that works together next week. So the image and likeness of God, marred in the fall and you'll see next week why I chose that particular term. It was not destroyed. It was not obliterated. We still have the image and likeness of God, but it has been severely marred by the fall. There's still a potential for a relationship with God, but there is no moral likeness to God anymore. That part has been damaged beyond repair. Okay, we'll get into that more next week. Let's pray.