Have you ever asked yourself the question, "Who am I?" Are you more than
just some evolved primeval goo? Are you just an evolved animal or are
you much more? I believe that we are so much more. Read on and find out
why.
Psalms 8:3-9
3 When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?
5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands;
you put everything under his feet:
7 all flocks and herds,
and the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the air,
and the fish of the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.
9 O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
3 When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?
5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands;
you put everything under his feet:
7 all flocks and herds,
and the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the air,
and the fish of the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.
9 O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Heb 2:6-8
6 But there is a place where someone has testified:
6 But there is a place where someone has testified:
"What is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?
7 You made him a little lower than the angels;
you crowned him with glory and honor
8 and put everything under his feet."
In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him.
the son of man that you care for him?
7 You made him a little lower than the angels;
you crowned him with glory and honor
8 and put everything under his feet."
In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him.
The discovery of the remains of a
humanoid called “Ardi” has thrown evolutionists into a tail spin
about the origins of humanity.
Jamie Shreeve, Science editor of
National Geographic magazine, published an article on October 1,
2009, entitled “Oldest skeleton of Human Ancestor Found.” It also
had an interesting subtitle, “Move over Lucy. And kiss the missing
link goodbye.” According to the article, the fossil remains of a
female humanoid found in Ethiopia in 1994 reveals that everything
evolutionists have been telling us about our descent from apes was
false.
They named the fossil Ardi [meaning
“ground floor”]. Shreeve writes: “The fossil puts to rest
the notion, popular since Darwin's time, that a chimpanzee-like
missing link—resembling something between humans and today's
apes—would eventually be found at the root of the human family
tree. Indeed, the new evidence suggests that the study of chimpanzee
anatomy and behavior—long used to infer the nature of the earliest
human ancestors—is largely irrelevant to understanding our
beginnings.”
For the Christian, this is just another
rush to a number of conclusions that should be categorized as
hypotheses. Indeed, while the findings had been published less than a
month, the scientists were already questioning many of the dogmatic
assertions of the research team. But for the evolutionist, this
discovery is quit a dilemma.
For example consider the words of Peter
Hess, the Faith Project director at the National Center for Science
Education in Oakland, California. "Because the evidence for
evolution is so overwhelming, we must consider it to be a truth about
the natural world -- the world which we as people of faith believe
was created by God, and the world made understandable by the reason
and natural senses given to us by God," he recently wrote.–
[FoxNews.com 10-28-09]
If “Ardi” is our ancestral
forerunner, which is questionable on a number of counts, then our
atheist and evolutionary friends are going to have to eat crow on two
accounts. [1] Humans appear to have a more distinct history than
previously believed. [2] And more importantly, everything that the
scientific community has held as fact is now, in fact, proven to be
false.
It leads us to seriously question the
credibility of atheists like biologist Richard Dawkins, author of The
God Delusion. He wrote, “Darwin made it possible to be an
intellectually fulfilled atheist.” We will see if he has the
intellectual integrity to admit he was wrong.
Beside the question of the origin of
man there is another important related question about our identity.
Who or what are we? Although the theories of human identity have
overlapping elements, there are several distinct understandings of
human nature. Humans are viewed as:
1. Animals: Some suggest
that we are the end result of evolution with no uniqueness from the
rest of the animal kingdom, conditioned through biological and
chemical processes. We are simply an accident.
2. Machines: This is a spin off
of evolutionary thought embraced by communism. It holds that humans
only have value for what they do. As such humans are the property of
the state.
3. Sensual beings: This was the
conclusion of radical Freudianism. Reduced down to our essence, he
suggested that we are a bag of hormones seeking gratification. [This
must surely be wrong because even when those needs are satisfied,
there is still a sense of emptiness and dissatisfaction.]
4. Pawns: Some believe we are
the result of blind forces in the universe known as fate. This idea
holds that we have little choice or influence in the greater outcomes
in the universe.
5. Free spirits: This concept
denies the physical realm while extolling self-determination and
self-actualization.
But those who have read the truth in
Scripture know that humans are far more than a sophisticated bundle
of atoms that evolved from a primordial ooze. In fact, we can only
understand humanity properly when we see God’s perspective and
relationship to man. In contrast to the many man-made theories about
our origin and meaning, consider the Bible’s core teachings
regarding our identity. We can summarize those teachings with four
words.
I. Creation: We are
the apex of God’s direct creation – Genesis
1:26-27, 2:7, Psalm 8:4.
In contrast to the whole of the
creation, man is unique. As Christians, we embrace the immediate
creation of Adam and Eve as real people that existed in real time. In
our text we find three important truths about humanity.
A. God gave man dignity – “God
created man in His own image” [Gen.
1:26-27, 5:1, 9:6, 1 Cor. 11:7,
James 3:9]
Theologian Millard Erickson writes,
“The image of God is something we are rather than do or have.”
[532]
1. In the least, the image of
God means: 1. Humans have the ability to relate to God.
2. Humans have the ability to
choose right from wrong.
3. Humans possess intrinsic value.
B. God gave man dominion -
Genesis 1:26: “They
will rule…all the earth”
- We are not just any other animal.
- The care of the creation has been entrusted to us.
C. God gave man distinction –
Genesis 2:7: “And the
man became a living being”
- Those who hold to the theory of theistic evolution face a hard question here.
- If God used evolution to create man, at what point in that process did man receive his soul?
II. Corruption: We
are the offspring of a fallen race – Genesis
3 and according to Romans 5:12:
“Therefore, just as through one man sin
entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to
all men, because all sinned -- “, the sin of Adam was passed
on to all his descendants like a genetic trait. So what were the
consequences of sin upon humanity?
A. The immediate loss of intimacy with
God – Gen. 3:8. They hid themselves
B. The daily struggle with pain, guilt
and sin – Gen. 3:16-17. Birth and
cursed land
C. The progressive death of the body –
Gen. 5:5. Adam lived 930 years and died
D. The ultimate eternal separation from
God – Gen. 3:22-24: Then
the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us,
knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and
take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever" --
therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to
cultivate the ground from which he was taken. So He drove the man
out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim
and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way
to the tree of life.
Of all the truths in Scripture, none
have more empirical data as proof as to the inherent sinfulness of
humanity. On Oct 25, 2009 a 15 year old girl in California was
sexually assaulted repeatedly while 20 people laughed and snapped
pictures of the horrific crime.
Our participation and tolerance of sin
testifies to our fallen nature. But we do not have to remain a
fallen, Jesus offers a way out.
III. Compassion: We
are the object of God’s relentless love –, John
3:16, Romans 5:8: But
God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us. Paul clarified one incredible
truth about God’s love for us: He loves us despite our sinfulness.
As you think about that reality you will appreciate several aspects
of God’s love.
A. God’s longsuffering pursuit of
man.
- Not only does God love us “while we are yet sinners,” but He also loves us when we scorn and reject His loving intentions toward us. We call this longsuffering.
B. God’s visitation of humanity –
the incarnation.
- Since man could not see God, God came to man in the form of man.
- Think of the love that Christ had for fallen humanity to lay aside or divest Himself of His exalted place in heaven to come to earth as a child.
- He lived among us sinners without sin.
C. God’s sacrifice of His Son –
the cross.
- Jesus said, “No greater love has man than this that he lay down his life for his friend.”
- And Christ did just that. He, the innocent, offered His life for us, the guilty.
- He paid our sin debt to satisfy the Father’s holiness and justice.
D. God’s offer of grace.
- Then wonder of wonders, God says to fallen humanity, “Whosoever believeth on Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”
- And Paul added, “Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Although we have no merit, God loves us
anyway. And He offers every one here the opportunity to receive
forgiveness through the sacrifice of His Son, this is grace. Why
not experience it for yourself today?
IV. Consummation:
We are eternal souls that will face our Maker –
2 Cor. 5:10:
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that
each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to
what he has done, whether good or bad.
Believers in Christ will appear at the
judgment seat of Christ to give account of the lives they lived once
they became children of God.
Philippians
2:9-11: For this reason also, God highly
exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in
heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Unbelievers will appear at the great
white throne judgment because they rejected Christ
Rev. 20:12-15:
“And I saw the dead, the great and the small,
standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book
was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from
the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.
And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades
gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one
of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown
into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he
was thrown into the lake of fire.”
Ultimately, “every knee will bow”
and acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord
You see every person has a God-given
soul whether they admit it or not. And while our bodies will perish,
the soul is eternal. You have just heard the Bible teaches that every
one of us will face our Maker one day. How will you be judged
that day? You need only ask Christ Jesus to be your Lord and Savior
and your eternity with God the Father will be secured.
Conclusion: “Legendary
British philosopher Antony Flew gave up atheism at the age of
eighty-one. A noted critic of God’s existence for several decades,
Flew wrote books such as The Presumption of Atheism.
“When asked in 2004 what arguments
for God’s existence he found most persuasive, Flew answered: ‘The
most impressive arguments for God’s existence are those that are
supported by recent scientific discoveries. . . . I think the
argument to Intelligent Design is enormously stronger than when I
first met it.’” [“My
Pilgrimage from Atheism to Theism: A Discussion between Antony Flew
and Gary R. Habermas,” in Philosophia Christi, Winter 2005]
You can change – if you come to God
the Father, through the saving grace offered fully and free by Christ
Jesus.
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