Anthropology – Who is Mankind?
Goods Theology is Lived Theology
Made in the Image of God
If Christians want to share the hope of Jesus Christ, we need to understand the nature of the people we’re trying to reach. The Bible tells us in Genesis 1 about the nature of humanity.
Genesis 1:26–27, 31
Then 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 birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them….
And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
God’s creation was very good but not complete. God’s creation was Idyllic but not finished. Humanity was holy but not perfect. Mankind was created in the image of YHWH.
The image of God is a theological term affirming that every human is an ensouled body with sacred worth.
Genesis 2 tells us that the first two humans, Adam and Eve, were placed in the Garden of Eden. The garden functioned as the first temple, a place to worship God and enjoy him forever. In this garden temple Adam and Eve had to make the daily choice to be holy and do the good works of YHWH. Every day they had a choice to obey by eating from the Tree of Life or disobey by eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Broken by Sin
Genesis 3 details the beginning of the fall. Adam and Eve were deceived by Satan and disobeyed God by eating from the Tree of Knowledge. God’s judgment reflected the seriousness of their sin.
Satan (the snake) was cursed for his deception and would eventually be crushed by the seed of Eve (Genesis 3:14–15; Ro 16:20).
Eve was not cursed, but would experience marital conflict and her pain in childbearing would also increase. Yet from her, the woman, the Savior of the world, Jesus, would come (Genesis 3:16).
Adam was not cursed, but charged with disobedience. The ground is cursed, and Adam’s labour would be met with strife (Genesis 3:17–19)
Human history is the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy. — CS Lewis
When we consider the nature of mankind after the Fall, it is important not to lose sight of our created nature. Before the fall, our intrinsic nature was sacred and our instrumental nature was sound, so that we were able to do the good work that God has made for us to do. After the fall, our intrinsic nature was stained but still sacred. Our instrumental nature was broken and we were unable to do the good works that God had called us to do.
Since sin entered the world through Adam’s disobedience, all mankind has been condemned to physical (biological) corruption and eternal (spiritual) death. As a consequence of sin, we’re all broken in four ways,
broken relationship with God,
broken relationship with self,
broken relationship with others, and
broken relationship with nature.
The brokenness of mankind means that we are unable to fulfill our purpose to do the good works of God, to fully enjoy God, to love our neighbor, or to fully enjoy the life God has given us.
Total Corruption
This state of sin is expressed in the phrase Total Depravity. Over time, the word “depravity” has led some Christians to think humans are worthless. This doctrine is better called Total Corruption. The use of corruption instead of depravity reinforces the fact that sin has tainted every aspect of our nature without compromising the sacred image of God. Sin’s total corruption shouldn’t cloud our view of each person’s sacred worth. Each human, though flawed, reflects God’s beauty.
Acknowledging sin’s corruption is crucial because some apologists and philosophers are misled by the false Enlightenment teaching that the human mind (logic) remains free from sin, and we can reason our way to salvation.
Even though God’s law is written on our hearts, we can’t free ourselves from this broken state on our own. We’re slaves to sin. Not only are we all corrupt by nature, but daily each and every person chooses to cooperate with sin.
However, there is hope for everyone who submits to God, confesses their sin, and trusts that by God’s grace through faith un Jesus Christ we are saved. I’ll more on salvation in a future post. In the meantime, ask yourself the following.
Do you understand our sacred yet sinful nature?
Do you know why sin destroys our capacity for meaningful relationships?
Do you know what it means to live free from the burden of sin?
For better or worse, everyone's a theologian, what kind are you?
·
From 1971 to 1983, Archie Bunker, played by Carroll O’Connor, became America’s most infamous icon of bigotry. Norman Lear, the producer of All in the Family, used Archie to create a caricature of what he perceived to be the typical white Christian Republican. The opening song to All in the Family lamented Archie’s desire for the “good old days” when men…
