04.06. Nature of Man

NATURE OF MAN

"What is man?" has been a question through the ages. By experience and observation we may learn many practical lessons about our physical organism and the working of our intellect and emotions, but such does not answer the question. The Bible is a revelation of God to man, and of man to himself. By experiment we may learn the mode of operation of the life in a seed, but that gives no clue as to what that life is; and so we may learn the method of the operation of electricity without learning one thing as to what it is. Psychology and the much talked of Psyco-analysis may teach us much about the methods of the operation of man’s spirit, but they cannot reveal to us what it is or whence it came.

MAN’S BEGINNING.

"And Jehovah God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul" (Genesis 2:7). Such language is never used in making reference to animals. Let it be observed that "breath" is not life. The child lives before it breathes.

Body Without Spirit is Dead. "The body apart from the spirit is dead" (James 2:26). Death is predicated of the body, and the separation of the spirit from the body results in the death of the body.

Man in the Image of God. "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness" (Genesis 1:26). Being made in the image of God does not refer to our physical bodies. If the view entertained by materialists be true, man is no more than an image shaped out of clay, with air breathed into him. Paul declares that we are the "offspring of God" (Acts 17:29). Image carries with it the idea of likeness.

Points of Likeness Between God and Man—Intellect, Emotions, and Will. Spirit knows (1 Corinthians 2:11); grieves (Daniel 7:15); and rejoices (Luke 1:47). Spirit wills (Matthew 26:41). Intelligence is not an attribute of the body. If it were, the body would be just as intelligent after the separation of the spirit from the body as before. The "image" consists not in a physical likeness, but in intellectual, or spiritual, likeness. Man possesses these attributes as Jehovah, though in a finite degree. If man’s physical body, which is made of clay, is the thing that was made in the "image" of God, then every likeness of man carved out of stone is also in the "image" of God. But Paul declares that we ought not to think that God is like a material image (Acts 17:29). We ought not to think, then, that God is like our material bodies. Paul also declares that ignorance caused men to think that God was like material images. And so it is now. He who thinks that "in the image" of God refers to physical likeness is ignorant of the nature of God and man. God is Spirit (John 4:24), and spirit is not like flesh and bones (Luke 24:36-39).

Spirit Returns to God. "The dust retumeth to the dust as it was, and the spirit returneth unto God who gave it" (Ecclesiastes 12:7). When Jesus was crucified, he cried, just before his death, "Father, into thy hands! commend my spirit" (Luke 23:46). Stephen, the first Christian martyr, at his death cried, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" (Acts 7:59). From these passages we ’learn that the spirit at death returns to God. And when the Lord comes again he will bring with him those who have died in faith: "Even so them also that are fallen asleep in Jesus will God bring with him." (1 Thessalonians 4:14). According to materialism there will be none for God to bring with him, for the dead will not exist till he returns and raises them, or recreates them. The Body Our House. "And I think it right, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance; knowing that the putting off of my tabernacle cometh swiftly, even as our Lord Jesus Christ signified unto me. Yea, I will give diligence that at every time ye may be able after my decease (Greek, departure) to call these things to remembrance" (2 Peter 1:13-15). "For we know that if the earthly house of our tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For verily in this we groan, longing to be clothed upon with our habitation which is from heaven; if so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For indeed we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened; not for that we would be unclothed, but that we would be clothed upon, that what is mortal may be swallowed up of life" (2 Corinthians 5:1-4). The fleshy body is the tabernacle, the house in which the real man lives. Paul shows that at death we put off this tabernacle—the spirit leaves the body. "The days of our years are threescore years and ten, or even by reason of strength fourscore years; yet is there pride but labor and sorrow; for it is soon gone, and we fly away" (Psalms 90:10). "The spirit returns to God who gave it" (Ecclesiastes 12:7). Our bodies do not fly away, but inspiration declares that the spirit leaves the body, puts it off, and returns to God.

Jesus and the Sadducees. "And there came to him certain of the Sadducees, they that say there is no resurrection; and they asked him, saying, Teacher, Moses wrote unto us, that if a man’s brother die, having a wife, and he be childless, his brother should take the wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. There were therefore seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and died childless; and the second; and the third took her; and likewise the seven also left no children, and died. Afterward the woman also died. In the resurrection therefore whose wife of them shall she be? for the seven had her to wife. And Jesus said unto them, The sons of this world marry, and are given in marriage: but they that are accounted worthy to attain unto that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: for neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the place concerning the Bush, when he called the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now he is not the God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him" (Luke 20:27-38). "The major premise of his argument is the proposition that "God is the God of the living." Here the term dead is used in the sense attached to it by the Sadducees. If he had been disputing with the Pharisees, they could have answered, He is the God of the dead; for Abraham and Isaac and Jacob were dead when he said ’I am their God.’ But to a Sadducee a dead man was non est—he had ceased to exist, he was nothing; and to say, in their sense of the term, that God is the God of the dead, is to say he is the God of nothing. It would be nonsense. But God did say, hundreds of years after the death of the three patriarchs, ’I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’ (
Exodus 3:6). The conclusion follows, that these patriarchs were not dead in the Sadducean sense of the term; and as the conclusion applies to their spirits, it proves that spirits continue to be alive after the bodies which they inhabited are dead."—McGarvey. "All live unto him," said Jesus. Whether the body be dead or living, whether the spirit is in the body or out, "all live unto him."

Cannot Kill the Soul. "Be not afraid of them that kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul" (Matthew 10:28). According to materialists every one who kills another kills both soul and body, but Jesus declares this not to be true. According to him, a man cannot kill the soul.

Paul’s Strait—to Abide or Depart. "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh—if this shall bring fruit from my work, then what I shall choose I know not. But I am in a strait betwixt the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ; for it is very far better: yet to abide in the flesh is more needful for your sake’’ (Php 1:21-24). Here Paul contrasts living in the flesh with departing and being with Christ. To live in the flesh was to bring fruit from his labors—this any Christian desires, and to die was to be with Christ—a thing to be desired; hence, the strait. A materialist is never in this strait, for to him to die is to become extinct. According to materialists Paul could have lived till the second coming of Christ and been with him as early as to have died when he did! In the Body or Out. "I know a man in Christ, four-teen years ago (whether in the body, I know not; or whether out of the body, I know not; God knoweth), such a one caught up even to the third heaven. And I know such a man (whether in the body, or apart from the body, I know not: God knoweth), how that he was caught up into Paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for man to utter" (2 Corinthians 12:2-4). A materialist would have told Paul that such doubts were senseless, that he was certainly in the body, for that is the only mode of existence. But Paul was no materialist. As a Pharisee he believed that a man’s spirit could live apart from his body; and, being inspired, he knew that, whether in the body or out, a man’s spirit was conscious, and could hear words.

Spirit is Eternal. "Wherefore we faint not; but though our outward man is decaying, yet our inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is for a moment, worketh for us a more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:16-18.). We can see that the body, the outward man, perishes as we grow older; inspiration tells us that the inward man, the spirit, is at the same time renewed. For these reasons the outward man is not the Christian’s chief concern. He looks at (Greek, skopeo, observes, contemplates) the things not seen (not visible, blepo). The body is seen, the spirit is not seen. The spirit, then, is eternal. Hence, though our outward man is decaying, that is no cause of deep concern; for we are not having regard for things seen, the outward, perishable man; but our chief concern is for the in­ward man, the unseen, the eternal.

Home in the Body—Absent from the Lord. "Being therefore always of good courage, and knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord (for we walk by faith, not by sight); we are of good courage, I say, and are willing to be absent from the body, and to be at home with the Lord. Wherefore also we make it our aim, whether at home or absent, to be well-pleasing unto him" (2 Corinthians 5:6-9). It is certain that a materialist did not write this passage, for with them there is no such thing as being absent from the body. Paul says that when a Christian leaves the body he is at home with the Lord; and while he is at home in the body he is absent from the Lord. With the materialists there is a tabernacle, a house, but no one dwelling in it—a house, but nobody at home. The Transfiguration. "And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart; and he was transfigured before them; and his face did shine as the sun, and his garments became white as the light. And behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elijah talking with him. And Peter answered, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt I will make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah. While he was yet speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold, a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid" (Matthew 17:1-6). Moses died more than fourteen hundred years before this, but he continued to retain his individuality and identity. Elijah did not die, but was caught up into heaven. He too is still Elijah, just as much a real being as he was during his life on earth. The three apostles with Jesus on the mount saw these two men, Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus on the mount. Materialists say this was a vision. Certainly; it was not a dream. Luke’s account of this occurrence says they had been asleep; "but when they were fully awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him" (Luke 9:32). They also heard the conversation. Peter’s evidence is also decisive. He declares they were eye-witness of his glory and heard God’s voice while they were in the holy mount (2 Peter 1:16-18).

Spirit Distinct from the Flesh. Jesus distinguishes between the flesh and spirit: "The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Matthew 26:41.).

Spirit is Within."Jehovah . . . formeth the spirit of man within him" (Zechariah 12:1.) "Who among men knoweth the thinks of a man, save the spirit of the man, which is in him" (1 Corinthians 2:11). And this spirit in man is not composed of flesh and bones; "for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye behold me having" (Luke 24:39.)

Souls Purified."Seeing ye have purified your souls’ in your obedience to the truth" (1 Peter 1:22.) But obedience does not purify the flesh (1 Peter 3:21). Therefore man is more than flesh.

Soul Departs; and Comes Again into the Body."And it came to pass, as her soul was departing (for she died) (Genesis 35:18). "And the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived" (1 Kings 17:22). "And her spirit returned, and she rose up immediately" (Luke 8:55). "The body apart from the spirit is dead" (James 2:26). Shall Never Die. "In the way of righteousness is life; and in the pathway thereof there is no death" (Proverbs 12:28). "If a man keep my word, he shall never see death. The Jews said unto him, Now we know that thou hast a demon. Abraham died, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my word, he shall never taste of death" (John 8:51-52). Of course, Jesus knew that people die, but he also knew that there is a sense in which good people do not die. This he plainly affirms. These materialistic rulers talked back at him just as present day materialists do. If materialists are right, then those Jews were right. If those Jews were wrong, then present day materialists are also wrong. "Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?" (John 11:26). "Believest thou this?" is a very appro­priate question, and so we pass it on to the materialists.

Souls Under the Altar."And he opened the fifth seal, and I saw underneath the altar the souls of them that had been slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: and they cried with a great voice, saying, How long, O Master, the holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth" (Revelation 6:9-10). Their persecutors were still living on the earth. This, then, was before the resurrection. It is also said of these souls: "And there was given them to each one a white robe; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little time, until their fellow-servants also and their brethren, who would be killed even as they were, should have fulfilled their course" (Revelation 6:11). This conversation with these souls was after their bodies had been beheaded, and while their enemies and their brethren were still living on the earth. Their fellow-servants who were still living on the earth were also to suffer death, as they had. Only one who disbelieves the Bible can contend that these souls were not alive and conscious, even though their bodies had been slain.

Wicked Continue Conscious. "The Lord knoweth ] how to deliver the godly out of temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment unto the day of judgment" (2 Peter 2:9). These unrighteous people were kept in punishment after death and before the judgment. This harmonizes with Proverbs 5:11-12 : "And thou mourn at thy latter end, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed, and say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof." This they said when their bodies were consumed.

Rich Man and Lazarus. See Luke 16:19-31. The condition of the dead, both of the righteous and the wicked, as set forth in the preceding paragraphs, is further borne out by what Jesus says concerning the rich man and Lazarus. This is not a parable, but we shall not consume space discussing that point. A parable is a statement of a fact, or truth, in nature, to illustrate spiritual or heavenly things. To say that this is a parable might involve us in some doubt as to what the figure signified, but it would not at all do away with the facts as Jesus stated them. A parable is a statement of truths or facts. To deny this is to say that a parable is false. There was a certain rich man, and there was a certain beggar named Lazarus. Jesus said so. If there was not this certain rich man and this certain beggar, then Jesus did not state facts. This rich man and this beggar lived and died while the Law of Moses was in force; and the conversation took place between Abraham and the rich man while the rich man’s brethren were still living.

TOPICS FOR INVESTIGATION AND DISCUSSION.

QUESTIONS.