Man has proven to be a being of intelligence as he accomplishes one feat of discovery and invention after another. From printer to satellite, and most widespread, the internet. The use of his mind to make innovation and advancement has reached an unprecedented scale never before attained in history. The ingenuity of his mind gives a clue that Gd had a perfect plan in making man, and a wholesome purpose which he wished to achieve. Sadly however, in the same way that man has advanced in technology and inventions, so has he advanced in sinfulness and wicked acts of selfishness. One doesn’t need to look too far before he sees a disturbing trend of evil perpetuated by men. History is replete with ambitious men who in their greed for power had steered actions leading to the extermination of their fellow man. Far in Germany Adolf Hitler was determined to wipe out the entire Jewish race, and Jews were suffocated in large numbers. In Africa, the people of Rwanda were almost completely wiped out by ethnic killings of a genocidal magnitude. All of these problems of human evils have made enquiring minds to wonder if evil was God’s intention for man, and also if there is ever any hope for sinful man.
Wilbur O’ Donovan succinctly points us to the Bible for answers to the repeated questions about man: “The questions of where we came from, why we are here, and why life is such a hard struggle, have puzzled people as long as they have lived on the earth. God has revealed the answers to these all-important questions in the Bible” (O’ Donovan, 1995:80). The Bible emphatically tells us that man is the result of a direct act of divine creation of whom God says is made in His image (Gen. 1:26-27). Ferguson commented on the image of God possessed by man by saying,
“The IMAGE of God involves humans relating to the earth as vice-agents, just as God is sovereign over the entire universe, relating to God as children in filial fellowship, expressing a family likeness in righteousness, holiness, and integrity” (Fergusin, 1988, 329: quoted in the Evangelical Dictionary of World Missions, 1st Edition).
Obviously, if God has made man in His image, it must be for a purpose beneficial to man, and satisfactory to God Himself. Sin and evil would not have been infused in man at creation, he must have come by it sometime latter through his acts as creatures of free moral choice.
All of humanity originates from two partners: Adam and Eve, who were the first man and woman created by the direct personal act of God, devoid of any evolutionary process (Gen. 1:27; 2:7; 21-22; 5:1-2; 6:6; Ps. 100:3; Eccl. 7:29; Matt 19:4).
Floyd Barackman states that “This creative work was the joint action of the persons of the divine trinity (Gen. 1:26, “Us”) in fulfillment of their earlier determination, as expressed by their decree (Eph. 1:11) (Barackman, 1998:256). The involvement of divine trinity in the creation of man suggests a deliberate plan carefully thought through by the persons of God-head.
Creation of the First Man, Adam
God created man in two step process. First, God formed man from existing material of dust (Gen 3:19; Job 4:19), and the second step was that God breathed into Adam’s nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul (Gen. 1:20-21, 24; 2:19).
It is important to note that the creation of man is a perfect handiwork of God. The Psalmist acknowledges this: “I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Ps. 139:14). The word “man” in Genesis 5:1-2 is a generic term that is inclusive of woman. Eve, the first woman was created in a near similar way as man. God made Eve’s body from Adam’s rib (Gen. 2:21-22). Therefore, her body was created from living tissue as it became needless for God to impart to her the physical life-giving sources of soul and spirit as He did to Adam.
The Original Moral Perfectness and Sinlesness of Man
After the creation of man and woman, God gave His approval formula which says, “And he saw that it was very good” (Gen. 1: 31). Originally, there was dignity and sovereignty in man. The dignity and sovereignty may have been inputted in man for the role he was to play: God placed the first human pair over nature, that they might discipline, order, and enjoy it (Gen. 1:28).
What is Sin?
The Scriptures teach that sin is an impersonal, temporal evil force that is confined to fallen angels and all earthly humans and expresses itself through their natures. Looking at sin in its general sense, Unger’s Bible Dictionary states that the underlying idea of sin is the law and of the lawgiver. The lawgiver is God. Hence, sin is everything in the disposition and purpose and conduct of God’s moral creatures that is contrary to the expressed will of God (Rom. 3:20; 4:15; 7:7 James 4:12, 17). Scripturally, John wrote of sin as lawlessness (1 John 3:4). Sin as an act of lawlessness is harmful to man’s life. Grudem remarks that sin brings pain and destructive consequences to us and others affected by it (Grudem, p. 492). As sin contradicts the excellence of God’s moral character and holiness, God must certainly hate sin. God’s dislike for sin therefore ruined the privileged fellowship man once enjoyed with God. The nature of man’s creation, especially when God breathed life into the formed substance of man (Genesis 2:7) suggests man’s need for an ongoing connection with God, the source of all life, to stay alive spiritually. This was the point Herman Bavinck was making when he said, “He (God) is the one unto whom all creation strives to attain, whether consciously or unconsciously; he is the object of every one’s desire. And the creature finds no rest except in God, in Him alone” (Bavinck, 1951: 205. Parenthesis mine). Therefore, any disconnection form God, such as the case of Adam, would amount to spiritual death (Rom. 6:23). Sin is therefore spiritual death.
Whether sin was originally in man, or came as an infiltrating external force with its consternating effect of evil, is a question that has bothered every curious Christian. According to Louis Berkhof, “The problem of the origin of evil that is in the world has always been considered as one of the profoundest problems of philosophy and theology” (Berkhof, 1958: 219).
One may think that sin is an inherent force that exists in the universe as part of creation. This thought links the origin of sin to God, especially as Scriptures say that God is the creator of all things (Heb. 3:4; Col 1:16). However, this thought again contradicts Scriptures. Deut. 32:4 says of God, “His work is perfect; for all His ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and right is he.” Another says, “Far be it from God that he should do wickedness, and from the almighty that he should do wrong” (Job 34:10). Sin originates from the voluntary choices of moral creatures. Both angels and man as creatures of God were made to be moral agents able to exercise their will of choice. This must not be mistaken to be evil; rather, it is a gift from God. The freedom of man to exercise his will through the use of intellect is the element of God’s nature in man (Gen. 1:27). But before Adam and Eve disobeyed God, sin had already been present in Satan and the fallen angels that had defected with him (Isa. 14:13). Therefore, sin originates from Satan whose exercise of the freedom of his will led him to the first act of sin, which was an act of rebellion towards God.
God’s Punishment of Sin
God’s punishes sin, and he does not condone it. This is not an act of hate towards man. While this is an act of deterrent against further sin, Wayne Grudem points out that God primarily punishes sin because his righteousness demands it (Grudem 1994:509). God practices “steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth; for in these things I delight, says the Lord” (Jer. 9:24). This is so that He would be glorified in the universe which he created. Therefore, much as God punishes sinners, He loves them dearly. He is love himself, and His steadfast love never ceases.
While God recognizes the sin and evils which are part of our world today, He does not regard these as final, because God always views man from the perspective of His redemptive power towards humanity. God has modified the order of sin with the order of grace through Jesus Christ. God has therefore sought out sinful and evil humanity even with the gravity of evil which has become part of fallen man. Through the Gospel man is reconciled to God, and the sin gap is bridged (2 Cor. 5:19).
Barackman, Floyd H., Practical Christian Theology—Examining the Great Doctrines of the Faith. 3rd edition, Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1998.
Bavinck, Herman D.D. The Doctrine of God. 1st edition, Michigan: W.M.B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1951.
Berkhof, Louis. Systematic Theology. London: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1958.
Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology—An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. 1st edition, England: Inter-varsity Press, 1994.
Moreau, Scott A., Evangelical Dictionary of World Missions. 1st edition, Michigan: Baker Books, 2000.
O’ Donovan, Wilbur. Biblical Christianity in African Perspective. Carlisle: Paternoster Press, 1995.
The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible. Volume Four M-P, Michigan: The Zondervan Corporation, 1997.
