Man’s Nature and Need

GOLDEN TEXT: “What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor.” —Psalm 8:4,5

GENESIS 1:26-31; ROMANS 3:23; HEBREWS 2:6-9

MAN was created in the image of God, but he was not endowed with spirit nature. Paul says, “The first man is of the earth, earthy.” (I Cor. 15:47) Adam was created in the image of God in the sense that he was able to discern between good and evil. He knew right from wrong. Also, he was able to reason, even with his Creator. And although now fallen, the Creator invites us to reason with him, saying, “Come now, let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”—Isa. 1:18

It is interesting to observe that God’s invitation to reason with him is associated with human sin. It emphasizes human ability to recognize sin, and to know of its consequences. Adam knew that it was wrong to partake of the forbidden fruit. He was not deceived. But in reasoning with the Creator, through his Word, we learn that although our sins may be as “scarlet,” through the provision he has made in Christ they can be as “white as snow.”

Man was also in the image of God in that he was given a dominion—an earthly dominion, to be sure—but having a dominion, he was like his Creator, who is the Ruler of the whole universe. Man’s dominion was limited to the earth. No hint is given in the account of creation that man would ever be anything else than an earthly being.

Man “became a living soul,” the record states. (Gen. 2:7) This simply means that when his organism, created from the elements of the earth, was united with the breath of life, he became a living being. It was the same with the lower forms of earthly creatures. In verse 30 of Genesis 1 the Lord speaks of “every beast of the earth” and “every fowl of the air,” “wherein there is life,” and here the marginal translation is properly corrected to read “a living soul.”

On account of sin man lost his dominion, and lost life as well. Hereby was his great need brought about, and in the 8th Psalm David indicates God’s design to meet this need. David reminds us that man was made a “little lower than the angels,” and given a dominion, and that God purposed to “visit” him—the thought of the “visit” being to supply the need arising from the result of his sin. The Scriptures reveal that this “visit” is a reference to the coming of Jesus to be the Redeemer; and later, the restorer to man of his lost dominion.

Micah 4:8 mentions Jesus, the Messiah, as the “tower of the flock,” and says, “unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion.” Jesus himself said that he came to seek and to “save” that which was lost. (Matt. 18:11) He sought it through death as the Redeemer. Thus the “first dominion” became his rightful possession. But Jesus did not acquire this lost dominion for himself, but to restore it to its original owners—Adam and his race. Thus he saves it for them, in much the same sense as one might save another’s home by paying off the mortgage which the owner was unable to meet.

In order that Jesus might make the necessary payment to save man’s home and dominion it was essential that he be made flesh. It was a human life which was forfeited by sin, and a perfect human life had to be given up as a substitute, or corresponding price, so Jesus gave himself a ransom for all.

Paul brings this thought into clear focus for us. He quotes David’s description of man’s nature—a little lower than the angels—and of his dominion. Then he adds, “But now we see not yet all things put under him”—that is, David’s description of man as originally created, and in possession of the dominion which God gave to him, is not now true. Paul adds, however, that we see the plan of God progressing to restore the lost dominion, that we “see Jesus” who was made a little lower than the angels, “for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor [just as Adam was when created]; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.”—Heb. 2:6-9

In seeing Jesus from this standpoint, we recognize the grace of God moving to restore fallen man to life, and to his lost dominion. The promised “visit” which was to accomplish this is in two parts. First Jesus came to die—“for the suffering of death.” That need for the visit has been accomplished. He comes the second time to save, or restore, that which he acquired by his death at his first advent. This work of fully restoring man to life, and restoring his dominion to him, will require the thousand years of his kingdom. Then he will say to the worthy ones of earth, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”—Matt. 25:34

QUESTIONS

In what sense was man created in the image of God? Does it mean that he was given a spirit nature?

What did man lose as a result of sin?

What assurance does David give us in the 8th Psalm as to the manner in which God proposed to meet human need?

What did Paul mean when he said, “We see not yet all things put under him [man]; but we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death”?

When will man’s lost dominion be restored to him; and what reference does Jesus make to this in The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats?

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