High Quality
Open the downloaded document, and select print from the file menu (PDF reader required).
Why Did GodCreate Mankind?
B I B L E S T U D Y C O U R S E L E S S O N 3
Why Did GodCreate Mankind?
he U.S. librarian of Congress emeritus,DanielJ. Boorstin,recently observed:“Throughout his-tory the human race has sought answers to thefundamental questions of life:Who are we andwhy are we here?”These are vital questions every man and woman shouldask. We should add some others:What is man? Why dowe exist? What is our destiny? Why were we created?From a strictly physical stand-point,people are but physiologicaland chemical phenomena. That is,we are made of matter—out of “thedust of the ground,”as the Bibleputs it.But what does it really mean tobe human? Do we just exist for ashort time and then disappear for-ever? Or were we created for a spe-cial purpose? What sets us apartfrom the animal world? What makesus different from any of the otherliving creatures?Direct,unvarnished biblicalanswers to these questions will pro-vide us with an accurate understand-ing of our human destiny and shedsome seriously needed light on themystery of our existence.
SOMETHING MORETO MAN?
Biologically,we begin with manas a living organism. Our composi-tion is chemical. We have a skeletalframework,various kinds of tissue,a nervous system,internal organs,outer layers of skin—all making us human in a physical and material sense.But is there more to man than meets the eye? Is theresomething unique about our makeup and nature? Is theresomething that transcends the purely physical and mater-ial realm,something that suggests that a great purposeand dignity are integral to our existence?What makes us behave like we do? Why do we expe-rience moral sufferings and craving for the unknown?Why do we push on to greater and greater heights of dis-covery in just about every field and discipline? Why dowe seek knowledge for its own sake? Why do we havethis human intellect that drives us on to more and moreaccomplishment in the material world?Academic studies of the origins of humanity haveproved to be among the most difficult of all sciences.Significantly,in his recent book,
Darwin’s Black Box,
bio-chemist Michael Behe convincingly demonstrates,fromscientific evidence,the utter impossibility of life havingevolved from inert matter.
The commonly accepted theory of evolution cannotexplain why we pursue intangibles like beauty and higherspiritual yearnings. Our minds are far too complex to havearisen passively or accidentally. The Bible unequivocallytells us that God
created
man. (To learn more,be sure torequest your free copy of the booklet
Life’s UltimateQuestion:Does God Exist?
)
We are in serious need of much better knowledge of ourselves. Our self-ignorance is staggering,particularlyin the arena of moral and spiritual responsibility and pur-pose. We seem to know so much more about the inani-mate,about the earth’s flora and fauna and even the natureof heavenly bodies. Yet immense regions of our humanityremain a dark mystery.World conditions are frightening and all too oftenreel out of control. The chief culprit is
man himself.
Weurgently need to seek the root causes of our moral andintellectual shortcomings. If only we would turn our nat-ural curiosity from its present exclusively materialisticpath to include the much more profitable spiritual direc-tion missing in our world,our future would cease to beso uncertain.Man desperately needs knowledge from a source out-side of himself—not only regarding the physical and mate-rial,but in the mental and especially in the spiritual sphere.
THE LIMITATIONS OF SCIENCE
Our modern civilization is ill-suited to meet the deep-seated spiritual needs of its inhabitants. Science,limited
We seem to know so much more about the inanimate, about the earth’s floraand fauna and even the nature of heavenly bodies. Yet immense regionsof our humanity remain a dark mystery.What does it really mean to be human? Do we just exist? Or were we created for a special purpose?What makes usdifferent from any of the other living creatures?
T
2
Bible Study Course Lesson 3
Cover: photo illustration by Shaun Venish/Corbis Digital Stock/© 2000 PhotoDisc, Inc.
to the observable—the measurable—simply cannotprovide us with all we need to know about ourselves.Philosophical speculations are woefully inadequate sub-stitutes for divinely revealed knowledge. Adding to ourdifficulty in correctly understanding ourselves is the spir-itual deception,described in Revelation 12:9,that affectsthe whole world.What is so little understood today is that our minds aresubject to
spiritual
laws that are as inexorable as the
phys-ical
laws scientists have discovered. Although we cannotsee gravity,none of us doubts its existence. Just as gravityaffects and governs the actions of all physical objects,so do
spiritual laws
affect and govern our actions andbehavior. We cannot transgress God’s spiritual and morallaws without incurring serious penalties.The scientific methodhas other limitations.Qualities that have nei-ther weight nor spatialdimensions—such aslove,vanity,hatred,theappreciation of beauty,the inspiration of a poetor even the aspirationsof a scientist—cannot bescientifically ascertained.Though science canand does contributeknowledge to the mys-tery of man,only Godcan tell us
who
we are,
why
we are and
what isour destiny.
His Word,the Bible,fills in themissing dimension inhuman knowledge.God’s Word viewsman as a whole. Mansimply cannot be sepa-rated into distinct parts,divorced from each other. Just as we would cease to existif our organs were isolated one from another,so would webe less than human if our spiritual qualities were not pre-sent. It is to the whole man (or woman) that we mustfocus our intellectual energies. Above all,the spiritualaspect must not be laid aside and ignored.As the late Norman Cousins wrote in his book
HumanOptions:
“That something that constitutes human unique-ness cannot adequately be expressed by any single term.Even man’s ‘spirit’and ‘capacity for faith’are not the sumtotal of that uniqueness.”Many factors set us apart from the animal kingdom:our speech,our vision or conceptualization,our aware-ness of past,present and future,our capacity for reason,our superior number recognition,our bodies and muchmore. There is,however,an even more important overallfactor—characterized by wholeness and completeness—our
need to understand.
R.J. Berry,in his book
God and Evolution,
put his fin-ger on an important distinguishing characteristic,one thatincludes and transcends all others:“The key factor inunderstanding our nature as taught in the Bible is toexamine the meaning of
the image of God
which distin-guishes us from the other animals”(emphasis addedthroughout).
MAN IN THE IMAGE OF GOD
The book of Genesis tells us that God created man
in His own image,
forming man from the dust of the earthand breathing into his nostrils the breath of life (Genesis1:26-27; 2:7). The fact that God made man in his imageand likeness delineates
the most fundamental differencebetween humans and other creatures.
All other distin-guishing characteristics between man and the animalworld fall within its broad spectrum.The
image of God
imparts special meaning,harmony,intelligence and design to human life. To be human isto be created
in the image of God.
This is the certaintestimony of the Bible!Three scriptures in the book of Genesis refer to ourbeing created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27; 9:6).As we will see,they show that the “image of God”is of crucial importance to the grand purpose of humanity onplanet earth. They are not just statements of historicalfact; they point directly to mankind’s awesome destiny.We begin our formal study with an overview of thisintriguing subject.
What does the first chapter of Genesis teach us aboutthe image of God?
“Then God said,‘Let us make man
in Our image,according to Our likeness;
let them have dominionover the fish of the sea,over the birds of the air,and over the cattle,over all the earth ...”(Genesis 1:26).
Man stands apart from all other living creaturesbecause of his relationship to God. The flora and faunahad already been created when God brought man ontothe scene. Man was the crown of the physical creationand was designed to rule over it. Of all that God created,
Why Did God Create Mankind?
3
World conditions are truly frightening and all toooften reel out of control. The chief culprit is manhimself. We urgently need to seek the root causesof our moral and intellectual shortcomings.Our modern civili- zation is ill-suitedto meet the deep- seated spiritual needsof its inhabitants.
Photos © 2000 PhotoDisc, Inc.
Add a Comment
Jedi Ninjaleft a comment
gabbylynleft a comment
Jedi Ninjaleft a comment
neerajrawatleft a comment
Maganga1 replied:
jeff okpoweleft a comment