The Christian View of Man

16. What is the origin of man?

God created man in His own image. He formed the body of man out of the dust of the ground and breathed into him the breath of life, making man a living soul. "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" (Genesis 2:7). "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them" (Genesis 1:27). "And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness" (Eph. 4:24).

17. What is the moral responsibility of man?

We believe that man's creation in godlikeness included ability to choose between right and wrong, and that thus he was made morally responsible. (Manual, page 27 [7]). "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth" (Genesis 1:28). "And the Lord commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (Genesis 2:16,17). "I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live" (Deut. 30:19).

18. What is the duty of man?

To fear God and keep His commandments is the whole duty of man. "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man" (Eccl. 11:13).

19. Did man continue in his original moral state?

Man through disobedience of the law of God fell from his original moral state. "And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat" (Genesis 3:12, 13). "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned" (Rom. 5:12).

20. What was the result of the fall of man?

Through the fall of Adam, man became depraved so that he cannot now [apart from the grace of God] turn and prepare himself by his own natural strength and works to faith and calling upon God (Manual, page .27 [7]). "The imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth" (Gen. 8:21). "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?" (Jer. 17:9). "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned" (I Con 2:14). "Therefore, by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin" (Rom. 3:20).

21. What is God's attitude toward fallen man?

God loves man with the compassion of a heavenly Father and has through His Son Jesus Christ made possible a way of salvation for man. "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom. 5:8). "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (II Peter 3:9) "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved" (John 3:17).