My Personal Creed on the Doctrine of Humanity.

I believe:

God is the creator of everything (Gen 1:1-31). He is unique from His creation (John 8:23), yet actively involved in creation (Ps 139:7-10). He created man (Gen 1:27) and gave man dominion over the rest of His creation (Gen 1:28-30). God had no need to create man, for He is self sustaining (Job 41:11; John 5:26), but He created man because He desires a relationship with people (Jer 9:23-24; John 17:3) and wants them to bring Him glory. Man exists to glorify God (Isa 43:7; Eph 1:11-12). God does not need glory (Acts 17:24-25), but people are to glorify God in all they do (1 Cor 10:31).

Man was created in the image of God (Gen 1:26). This does not mean that men are demigods, but that they are like God and represent Him. Man is not God and is therefore not identical to Him. Man, however, is a reflection of God (Gen 5:1) and is the pinnacle of His creation. Man is most like God in God’s moral, mental, relational, and spiritual aspects. Man’s created nature means that he is dependent on God (Rom 9:21), was created with a purpose (Eph 2:10), and that he is accountable to God (Matt 25:13-40). While man is in fact created, he is also uniquely a person (Gal 6:7-8), not a thing, having the ability to be relational and to think.

A person is defined by his essence (Gen 9:6), not his function. This is why all people are equal in God’s sight (Gal 3:28). Everyone, men and women, are created in the image of God (Gen 1:27). While everyone is equal in God’s eyes, people do have different distinct roles and functions (Eph 5:25-33). Man’s being is dualistic (Eccl 12:7, Matt 10:28) and is comprised of two parts: the body (Gen 2:7) and the spirit (Isa 42:1). While these distinct parts exist, man is unified in his person (Mark 12:30).

When God first created man, God declared His creation very good (Gen 1:31). When sin entered the world with Adam and Eve’s rejection of God (Gen 3:1-24), mankind became separated from God (Gen 3:23-24; Rom 6:23). Sin is anything moral beings (people and angels) feel or do that is contrary to the holiness of God (James 4:4). Sin is a failure to be satisfied with God and an attack on Him personally (Ps 51:4). God himself did not sin (2 Cor 5:21) and He is not to be blamed for sin (Deut 32:4). However, God did ordain the presence of sin in the world (Gen 3:1-19; Job 1:6-12), even though He takes no pleasure or delight in it. God himself did not create this sin, but rather He ordained that it would come from the voluntary choices of human beings and of angels (Gen 3; Isa 14:12-15). All men are sinful (Eph 2:1). Sin created a separation between God who is holy and people who are not. Man is totally depraved. Man inherits both guilt (Rom 5:12-21) and moral corruption (Ps 51:1-4) from Adam’s original sin (Gen 3:15). Due to this depravity, man is unable on his own to believe in Christ (John 6:65). He is unable to see the kingdom of God (Heb 12:14). He is unable to glorify and please God because he is unable to submit to God’s law (Rom 8:6-8). He is unable to understand God’s truth (Rom 1:25). Sin is not outside or independent of a person. Rather, sin begins in the heart and exists in the person’s very nature (Ex 20:17). The penalty of all sin is death (Rom 3:23). While the committing of one sin is enough for a person to be deemed a sinner worthy of death (Rom 2:11-12; James 2:10), there are differing degrees of sin (Ezek 8:6,13; Luke 12:47-48). God punishes sin because He is righteous (Rom 3:26). Jesus’ death is the means by which we can be saved and made right before God (1 John 1:9).

A Word from Augustine.

"We stand in awe of the ocean, the thunderstorm, the sunset, the mountains, but we pass by a human being without notice even though the person is God's most magnificent creation." - Augustine

Isn't this so true? We stand in awe of everything that God has created (and rightly so), but when it comes to people we are less than enthused. What is it about people that causes us to lose interest? Genesis 1:26-27 says, "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." So people are made in the image of God and we don't even think to marvel at how wonderfully God created us? Something just doesn't add up. We look at the ocean and the sunset and the Grand Canyon, and the Great Barrier Reef with a sense of awe and wonder and yet people, who were given dominion over the ENTIRE earth, are just whatever. Has it always been this way? Will it always be this way? What keeps us from truly appreciating God's creation? God made each one of us in His image. If this doesn't radically alter the way we view one another, I don't know what will. Perhaps we use the phrase too loosely or maybe we've become desensitized to it.

STOP.

LISTEN.

THINK.

You are made in the image of God. I am made in the image of God. We are the pinnacle of God's creation. Let us represent God for who He is. Let us truly love one another. I fully believe that if we truly love God we will ardently love our brothers and sisters. James 3:8 says, "...but no human can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord the Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so." It is impossible to love God and not others.

Everyone has been made in the image of God. We were beautifully and wonderfully made. Let's worship God for who He is and for making us the way we are.