MAN: HIS CREATION IN THE IMAGE OF GOD, HIS FALL AND NATURE:
Image and likeness are interchangeable terms (Genesis 5:3), indicating that man was created in a natural and moral likeness of God. When man sinned, he lost the moral likeness, which was his sinless ness, but the natural likeness of intellect, emotion and will, he still retained (Genesis 9:6; James 3:9). Man and woman were created in sinless perfection, but they fell from this position. Eve was deceived and Adam sinned knowingly (I Timothy 2:14). The sin was more than merely eating forbidden fruit; it was disobeying the revealed Word of God, believing the lie of Satan, and placing their will above God’s. Now the whole world is plunged into sinful darkness (Romans 5:12). Man’s nature is made up of body, soul, and spirit. The body returns to dust at death, but the soul and spirit live on (Ecclesiastes 12:7). All mankind possesses a sinful nature as a result of Adam’s fall (Romans 5:12). We believe in the total depravity of man (there is no good in us). We are by nature sinners, depraved and without God (Ephesians 2:3). The Scriptures fully describes man’s corruption. Man’s intellect (Romans 1:28; II Corinthians 4:4), his conscience (I Timothy 4:2), his will (Romans 1:28), his heart (Ephesians 4:18), and his total being (Romans 1:18-3:20), are all corrupted and totally depraved.
Image and likeness are interchangeable terms (Genesis 5:3), indicating that man was created in a natural and moral likeness of God. When man sinned, he lost the moral likeness, which was his sinless ness, but the natural likeness of intellect, emotion and will, he still retained (Genesis 9:6; James 3:9). Man and woman were created in sinless perfection, but they fell from this position. Eve was deceived and Adam sinned knowingly (I Timothy 2:14). The sin was more than merely eating forbidden fruit; it was disobeying the revealed Word of God, believing the lie of Satan, and placing their will above God’s. Now the whole world is plunged into sinful darkness (Romans 5:12). Man’s nature is made up of body, soul, and spirit. The body returns to dust at death, but the soul and spirit live on (Ecclesiastes 12:7). All mankind possesses a sinful nature as a result of Adam’s fall (Romans 5:12). We believe in the total depravity of man (there is no good in us). We are by nature sinners, depraved and without God (Ephesians 2:3). The Scriptures fully describes man’s corruption. Man’s intellect (Romans 1:28; II Corinthians 4:4), his conscience (I Timothy 4:2), his will (Romans 1:28), his heart (Ephesians 4:18), and his total being (Romans 1:18-3:20), are all corrupted and totally depraved.