Anthropology (The Doctrine of Man)

I.       The Origin of Man

A.     Man Was Created by God

1.        God created man male and female (Gen 1:27, 31).

2.        Adam was the son of God as he was begotten by God (Lk 3:38).

3.        The Lord Jesus testified that God created man (Mt 19:4; Mk 10:6).

B.     God Made All Nations from One Blood

1.        God made all nations from one blood (Acts 17:26).

2.        Eve was made from one of Adam’s ribs (Gen 2:21–23; 1 Tim 2:13).

3.        God created one man with the intention of seeking godly offspring (Mal 2:15).

II.    Man’s PrimitiveState In The Garden

A.     Man Had the Image of God

1.        God created man in his own image, after his own likeness (Gen 1:26–27).

2.        The likeness of God is true righteousness and holiness (Eccl 7:29; Eph 4:24).

3.        Man lost the likeness of God because of sin; Christ comes to re-create man for the restoration of the image and likeness of God (2 Cor 3:18, 5:17; Col 3:9–10).

B.     Man Had the Honorable Title of the Son of God

1.        Adam was called the son of God (Lk 3:38).

2.        Man had the privilege to communicate with God (Gen 2:16–17, 3:8–19).

3.        Man was entrusted by God to rule over the living creatures of the earth (Gen 1:26–28, 2:19).

C.     Man Led a Happy and Blessed Life

1.        Man did not need to worry about food or clothing (Gen 2:8, 16, 25, 3:7).

2.        Adam and Eve led a harmonious life (Gen 2:18, 22–24).

3.        There was no threat of death (Gen 2:9, 3:22).

III. The Sin Of Humanity’s First Parents

A.     Biblical Evidence for the Fall of Humanity

1.        God said, “But at Adam they transgressed the covenant; there they dealt faithlessly with me” (Hos 6:7).

2.        Job said, “If I have covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding my iniquity in my bosom...” (Job 31:33, NKJV).

3.        3.‑    Paul said, “But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ” (2 Cor 11:3; cf. Rom 5:14; 1 Cor 15:22; 1 Tim 2:13–14).

B.     The Fall of Man

1.        Satan’s temptation toward Eve

 a.      At first, Satan made the woman doubt God’s words. So Satan said to Eve, “Did God say...” (Gen 3:1; cf. Gen 2:16–17).

 b.      Satan thwarted God’s words by saying, “You will not die” (Gen 3:4; cf. Gen 2:17).

 c.      Satan tempted Eve with the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (Gen 3:5–6; cf. 1 Jn 2:16).

2.        Eve yielded to Satan’s temptation

 a.      Eve liked to talk to Satan, therefore, he took advantage of this opportunity (Gen 3:1–2; cf. Jas 4:7).

 b.      Eve did not resist Satan’s temptation, and therefore twisted God’s word to her own ends (Gen 3:2–3; cf. Gen 2:16–17).

 c.      Eve became a victim of Satan’s deceit when she picked and ate the forbidden fruit. So blind was Eve to her own deception that she also handed the fruit over to her beloved husband Adam (Gen 3:4–6).

C.     The Effects of Sin

1.        God’s immediate judgment.

 a.      On Eve: “I will greatly multiply your pain in childbearing” (Gen 3:16).

 b.      On Adam: “In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground” (Gen 3:19).

2.        Expulsion from the garden.

 a.      God would not allow Adam and Eve to eat the fruit from the tree of life lest they should live forever, for it is miserable for an accursed man to live in this world (Gen 3:22). Therefore, God expelled Adam and Eve from the garden because of his mercy and love.

 b.      God expelled Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden and placed a cherubim with a fiery sword east of Eden. The cherubim, with the flaming sword, swung the sword every which way to guard the way to the tree of life (Gen 3:23–24). At this point, no man could again regain eternal life or paradise.

3.        Death of the spirit and body.

 a.      God clearly said, “For in the day that you eat of it you shall die” (Gen 2:17). Our first parents died spiritually on the day of the fall. They became alienated from God, and their bodies, which were made of dust, eventually returned to the ground (Gen 3:19; Isa 59:2).

 b.      By one man’s disobedience, namely Adam, all men became sinners. The spirits of humankind are darkened, souls are debased and corrupted, and physical bodies are subject to disease and death (Rom 5:12–19, 8:21; Eph 4:17–19).

IV.  The End Of Humanity

A.     All Humanity Has Sinned

1.        We sin because we do not have true love.

 a.      The law of God can be summarized as follows:

(a)     Love God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind (Mt 22:37; Lk 10:27).

(b)     Love our neighbors as ourselves (Mt 22:39).

 b.      The lack of true love is seen in the following:

(a)     By not honoring our parents (Ex 20:12).

(b)     By not loving our neighbors, relatives, friends, and others (Lk 10:28–37; 1 Tim 5:8).

 c.      Sinning upon others is seen through:

(a)     Harming others physically.

(b)     Forcefully taking the rights and benefits due others.

(c)     Disturbing the mental well-being of others (Ex 20:13–17; Rom 1:28–32).

2.        We sin by not loving God.

 a.      If you love your neighbors as yourself but you do not worship, honor, and love God, your Creator and Savior, you are still a great sinner in God’s sight (Eccl 12:1, 13–14; Rom 1:19–20; Jn 3:16–18).

 b.      Worshipping idols and denying Jesus Christ is sin compounded upon sin (Ex 20:3–5; Isa 2:8–9; Rom 1:21–25).

3.        The sin our first parents passed on to humanity is known as the original sin, while the sins we commit ourselves are called moral sins, i.e., sins for which we ourselves make moral decisions and are thereby responsible for.

 a.      The Bible says, “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners” (Rom 5:19). “For as in Adam all die” (1 Cor 15:22). Adam’s posterity, which is all humanity, inherited the original sin from Adam­—generation after generation.

 b.      A psalmist once said, “I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Ps 51:5; cf. Ps 58:3; Job 25:4, 14:4; Rom 7:17–18).

 c.      After the fall of humanity, death reigned over all humankind, for humanity inherited the original sin. But how do we know humanity inherited the original sin? Well, according to the Bible, death comes from sin (Rom 5:12, 14, 17; 6:23), and all humankind, young and old alike, are subject to death. For we are all sinners ruled by sin; as the Bible says, “...all have sinned...” (Rom 3:23).

B.     The Effects of Sin on Sinners

1.        Sinners come under the devil’s dominion (1 Jn 3:8; 5:19).

 a.      Sinners become slaves to their sins (Jn 8:34; Tit 3:3).

 b.      Sinners do not have peace in their hearts and conscience (Isa 48:22; Rom 3:13–17).

 c.      Sinners do not have any hope for the future (Prov 11:7; Eph 2:12).

2.        All sinners eventually come under God’s judgment.

 a.      Sinners labor and toil for life (Gen 3:16–19; Ps 90:10).

 b.      A sinner’s physical death is inevitable (Rom 6:23; Heb 9:27).

 c.      Sinners will suffer eternal condemnation (2 Thess 1:8–9; Rev 21:8).