1189. The Truth About Man

Welcome to The Daily Platform from Bob Jones University in Greenville South Carolina were continuing the study series about the doctrine of man.

Today's message will be preached by seminary professor Dr. Jim Berg and the title of his message is the truth about man well when you go to a play when you walk in the building you're handed a program and that program kind of sets the stage so to speak for what is going to happen on stage, it may tell you a little bit of the history that goes before the setting. It will introduce you to the characters. It will introduce you to.

Perhaps the conflicts are going on the opposition that has to be overcome, or perhaps some human dilemma that the characters have to work through and in these opening messages on what is man were doing just that you're reading the program that that there are several acts to follow, so, so don't leave during intermission. There are several acts to follow throughout the semester here where this drama of redemption and restoration is going to unfold before us, but for now were still kind of reading the program were looking at the background and last week Dr. Olinger talk to us about the image of God and man and I want to take up the narrative in Genesis 2 and three this morning and discuss a little bit more about the creation and the fall of man because our question this morning to answer is what happened to man that marred him and one opened by looking at Genesis 27 and that verse is on the screen in front of you and the Lord informed the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul. And this is the origin of all human life and it is set now against a potential of death. In Genesis 216 to 17 where the Lord God said he commanded the man saying, of every tree of the garden thou may freely eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it from the day that thou pedis thereof thou shalt surely die.

And this is the promise of death if God's words are rejected and right off the bat we find these two opposing forces of of life and death, and every conflict throughout the Scriptures in some way has to do this as as people and we choose life or we choose the ways of death and want us to look at some truths about man in extension more of what the doctor Olinger said last week and the first thing I want us to look at is that man is not self existent. We just looked at that number seven were God formed man out of the dust of the ground and that means that Adam needed the form of his being and his life itself to come from the creator Adam was made independent of to be dependent upon God. He was not made to be autonomous or independent from God, and neither are we. Adam could not did not have some kind of solar self-concept is self-consciousness and decide I need a body and he goes over to a riverbed and forms the picture about a being of of man and breeze into it some kind of life he could do that he needed a creator to do that for him. And secondly, man is not only not self existent, but man is not self sufficient in verses 8 to 15 we don't have time to read that that this is about how God planted a garden put Adam and Eve in that garden. Adam needed God to provide for him physically and relationally and so do we. Adam could not make the plants he could not bring living plants into being. He could not bring animals into being. Although that time they were eating animals. He could not bring the sun into existence or the wind or dry land or water, he needed God to do that and he also needed somebody that he needed God to create relationship for him and in and in Eve. He did could not say you know I've named all these animals and I don't have one of those and I think I'll make me one that he wasn't able to do that he needed a creator to do those things and you and I need the creator and in the similar in similar ways, and thirdly and when we want to spend the most time on is that man is not made self wise and he said never seen that before. Maybe you have and I made it up for this AP was not made, self wise, he needed instruction from the creator we find in verse Eckstein in 17 and chapter 2 Adam needed to be told.

His limitations at his he needed words from God to tell them. First of all his roles and responsibilities he did not come instinctively knowing his role or his responsibilities on the earth, and neither do you arrive we need the words of God to tell us our role on this earth. And to tell us our responsibility and God's words told him that he was to be in this garden and to be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it and work and keep the garden and he was created to be a co-ruler over the earth to share dominion of it with God. He needed God to tell them that that did not come innately in him and he also needed God to tell him what his restrictions were he was. Not to eat of this tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden and he needed God to tell him the penalties if he did, and you and I also need God to tell us what our limitations and what our restrictions are.

We need the words of God to inform us of those things and also warn us of the kinds of consequences that will come if we ignore the words of God.

So these are important things to remember because you and I were made along with Adam to be very dependent creatures, our world wants to make us independent of everything and be our own person and live our own way and go our own way and we were not created or that we need the words of God to tell us our purposes and and so forth. Well that sets everything up for the script for the fall and wants to look at that and we could say it this way that behind every fall is belief in a lie ally in this case is information that contradicts God's words and Satan in the form of a serpent came and talked with Eve and began to tell her words that contradicted God's words or implied certain things about God. They certainly implied some lies about God that he was not being good. He was not providing them everything they needed, and he told him lies about yourself in order to really be wise you need to eat of this tree.

Many told him lies about the consequences and how God's world works. He said you you will not surely die. This is very very important for us because every fall in your life and in my life starts with a lie. Something that contradicts the words of God and that is why we say. Secondly, behind every fall is belief in a lie in Adam and Eve sat or stood, or whatever before that tree before that serpent and pondered these words from the serpent and compare them to the words of God and chose which words they were going to give weight to in which words they were going to believe in Proverbs reminds us in 35 trust in the Lord put your confidence in the words of our God and his character with all of your heart and lean not to your own understanding.

In Adam and Eve did that they listen to the words of God. And then they listen to the words of the serpent and then they evaluated them and then they chose to reject the words of God and believe the words of the serpent and then they made a decision to fall behind every fall is a will is belief in ally. It is a belief in a lie. This is why Jesus at the end of the sermon on the mount closes at sermon with these words he said, whosoever here if these sayings of mine, these words of mine and do with them. I will liken him unto a wise man that built his house upon a rock, and the rains ascended and the winds ended and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, and it fell not for it was founded on a rock.

But whosoever here at these sayings. These words of mine and do it them not, I will liken him unto a foolish man that built his house upon the sand in the rains ascended and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, and it fell in great was the fall of it are falls have everything to do with what we do with the words of our creator. Words of our God and we are always believing somebody were believing our own evaluations were believing the words that the world gives us were believing the words that come from the sinful part of our heart, our flesh, the wisdom that is from below, as we heard about earlier or were listening and believing the words of the living God is he's outlined them for us in his word and hundreds of years before that sermon on the Mount God said to the prophet Isaiah very similar thing he said, let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy into our God, for he will abundantly pardon and he says for my words, my ways are not your ways that the Lord, neither are my thoughts. Your thoughts, for the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways in your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. And then he points us to his words he said for as the rain cometh down in the snow from heaven, and water the earth and make it bring forth and but that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing were to a Senate and then he says if you will embrace my words. Even in this fallen planet. He said you shall go forth with peace and be led forth with joy the general that if you put peace and joy in a blender. The smoothie taste like contentment is if you will listen to my words and will do my words it will bring contentment. It will bring satisfaction and is in all the mountains shall break forth before you into singing right in the humerus as this is the sound of the hills are alive with the sound of music cuts is this is what I want to give you on this fallen broken planet, but it comes through his words.

We must not believe the words of our own flash or the words of our world proverb says that a man who takes kung fu who trust in his own heart is a fool. We must go to God for his words.

And thirdly, behind every fall is belief in ally of fall is a sinful choice we make. Once we reject God's word and believe that our way is best instead of listening to the words of God. Adam and Eve.

As I said evaluated those words against the words of the site of Satan, and we do the same thing and then we choose which one we go and we we we believe lies lies like well one more time won't hurt if if I don't agree with. I don't have to do it. My body is my own. I can do with it what I want. It won't hurt anybody. Nobody's watching God isn't doing this that this thing for me and therefore I must, I am is will go do it for myself. All of these are lies, because God's words have said things that contradict all of those lies behind every fall is belief in ally something that contradicts God and that was the scripts for the fall and it is a prototype for all of our falls and is why we must know the words of our creator of our Redeemer, the words of the living God. Well, that fall brought many, many consequences, and it introduced sin and suffering to this beautiful creation of God. It brought the physical death of all living things and this is the source of our grief and our sorrow on this planet of our suffering. This profound loss of deterioration and futility permeates the entire creation and then comes death and all of us feel it. All of his sense that deterioration in us and around us and we we we go on our spiritual journey and we seek the Lord and we find him in his word and he opens his word to us and encourages us and instruct us and then the fallenness of everything creeps in and we begin to deteriorate even in our spiritual lives. Unless we go back to his words again and reconnect with the living God because we were not created to be dependent and independent beings were created to be dependent in the entire creation was subject to vanity.

As Paul said this deterioration in this futility.

In fact everything we can say on this creation has a taste of death, and it there's a flavor that this won't last and this is going to go away and nothing is permanent and that's why we even have to repaint our houses unless you have vinyl siding or aluminum siding to repaint your house and you have to do have somebody work on your car and you have to repair your close. You have to everything deteriorates with time. As part of living in a fallen planet and everything in the creation leaves us disappointed in some way and everything is so temporary and it was intended to be this way because once we felt it would now be the propensity of our fallen nature to turn away from the creator and to find our satisfaction and our fulfillment in something in the creation itself instead of the creator and to suck the life out of some kind of a substance or some kind of an experience or relationship and to make that what we live for, and God has however embedded in all of those things. A taste of death, and it ought to remind us that this is made perhaps is a wonderful gift from God that he gives us, but we must go to the creator of those gifts, the giver of those gifts.

If were to have life-giving existence. There was a physical death of all living things.

This is the ruin of the fall. Secondly, there was also eternal death and hell for the unbelieving boy, this is not politically correct to talk about today.

Sometimes we hear and sometimes maybe even our own souls say why would God send anybody to help. We know the extent of a penalty has everything to do with the extent of the authority of the person you're defying an eight-year-old boy who says to his mom or to his father. You can't make me may earn some time alone in his room or may earn a couple wax with a paddle, but an 18-year-old who was just told by a a Bay City magistrate that he may not leave the county until his trial comes up next week and that 18-year-old says to the judge. You can't make me that that's a more serious offense because of who you sent it to and it may earn him some time in the local jail until his his trial comes up and for us to say to the creator God the ultimate authority you can't make me is to bring on ourselves and infinite judgment because we have justified an infinite being, and the penalty is just because of the majesty of the one we have defied and thankfully is will learn in some of the acts to follow in this drama played this narrative, God made a provision for us, but this death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned and the wages of the sin is death, but of course will look at later that the gift of eternal life is the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ. Thirdly, there is a spiritual death while living on this earth for those who reject or ignore God's words and and Paul just unfolds this so well in Ephesians chapter 4 and Paul says that the unbelieving are alienated from the life of God and this is what we were like before our conversion and if we are without Christ today. This is our state were alienated from the life of God disconnected from the life of God, having the understanding darkened, Paul said, because of the ignorance that is in them.

There's an ignorance in our intellect and he says because of the hardness of their heart is a hardness in the will and the emotions and it says hooping past feeling doesn't there's a callousness and an emptiness in this heart and in the whole being without God and as a result, he said they have given themselves over to lasciviousness over it with greediness over to this unbridled sin without restraint and search for satisfaction from something in the creation and experience a substance, a relationship and then lastly, and this applies to us as believers. There is a the death of hope for those who reject or ignore God's words, even for believers. I think it's important for us as we look at the permeating loss that exists on this fallen planet that we understand that sorrow is the motion of that loss. It is that taste of death when we lose something our spirits grown inside Paul says we grieve. We sorrow when we suffer when we lose something and we sorrow to the extent of how important that thing was we we sorrow differently about losing her car keys and we do about losing a loved one and just having married a loved one at a funeral because the value is so much different the sorrow is heavier, it is greater, and although none of us like that negative emotion of sorrow. There's nothing sinful about that emotion. Jesus sorrowed in the garden is in my soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death. Jesus is not despairing. He's experiencing the heaviness as he anticipates the loss he is going to sustain is to become the sin bearer of the whole world and he knows what sin is like just from a human standpoint he's going to endure crucifixion. You and I might be able to somewhat imagine maybe what crucifixion is like. Jesus know what is like tea made the human body.

He made those nerve endings is anticipated. All of this loss in front of him. Jesus sorrowed but he didn't despair. Secondly, despair is sorrowing over our loss without any hope in our despair will grow and I'm not saying it's a simple thing.

In fact, Peter says in in second Peter one. He says we have this living hope reserved for us and they have this at disinheritance reserve trust in which we can greatly rejoice, though now if need be. We are in heaviness through manifold trials.

God assures us that a living hope and a joy can abide in the same soul that is having because of manifold trials and pulses we sorrow. First Thessalonians 4 we sorrow but not as those who have no hope.

We reflect may be upon our own condition may be that the enormous losses that some of us have sustained may be physically maybe there is serious physical dysfunction and disease or deformity in some way.

These are heavy losses for the loss of a relationship that was important to us. Maybe we get word that something tragic is happening in our family and that's an enormous loss and we feel the heaviness of that we watch somebody we love walk away from God and a heart is heavy as we watch that person self-destruct with his choices maybe were heavy because of something that is happened to us in someone because of their sin is taken away our innocence or because of our own choices we have. We have taken away our purity. And these are heavy losses and there's nothing sinful about the sorrow over our losses.

But what we do next. Can be sinful in God calls us to himself during those losses, as Jesus did.

There's a surrender. He said father if it be that I will let this cup pass from me.

Nevertheless, not my will but thine be done. And because of the joy that was set before him. Hebrews says he endured the cross, and despise the shame and he did that for us, but he experienced all of the sorrow of living on this fallen planet and the believer must always in his times of sorrow and loss must lift his gaze above what we see here to our Creator, who has words for is an up for us in those times, and that is what brings us hope and that's the next point.

Hope is a confident expectation of a good outcome because God is involved in all of this that outcome may not be until heaven, but men and women.

There is a good outcome to what is happening in our lives as his children, and that's why Romans 828 is true that all things work together for good to those who love God are the called according to his purpose because there's a great God involved in our losses and in the sorrow and that's why he says in Isaiah 41, 1050 comes to us in our sorrow and in our problems and says fear thou not I am with you.

Be not dismayed, I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you can I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness. These are his words as Paul thought about all the things he said in second Corinthians 4 for which cause we faint not. But though our outward man perish. Ever feel like that that your outward man is just about at the end though our outward man perish in our inward man is renewed day by day for this light affliction, which is but for a moment working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory while we look not at the things which are seen, but the things which are not seen the things which are seen are temporal things which are not seen are eternal and we must turn our gaze to our God. As we live and walk on this broken ruling fallen planet with other fallen people around us in fallen nature within us, though it's read the we have been redeemed by the blood of our Savior. We need God just as much as Adam needed God to provide for us and to sustain us and to instruct us and he is the source of our hope on a broken planet God has a plan for giving us hope in all of this sorrow. All of this suffering and in all of this in the plan is in Romans 14 forward pauses for whatsoever things were written for what was given to us in the Scriptures were written for our admonition for our instruction are learning that we through patience and endurance and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. Men and women you will have no hope. Without your Bible in front of you. You will have no hope. Without your Bible in front of you and a commitment to remain faithful to God through the trial because God is in the trial because God is faithful to us and lastly he says in that same passage. Romans 1513.

Now the God of hope fill you with all joy is joy and peace are that smoothie of contentment.

Again now the God of all hope. By the way, if you want. Hope you have to go to get go to God to get it. He has a monopoly on hope there are no other sources are no other stores that can sell hope. If you want any hope.

You have to go to God.

He is the God of all hope. And he will fill you with all joy and peace as you believe his words that you may abound in hope to have more than enough hope for today.

This is a fallen planet.

All of us are heavy. As a result of it. And by the way, if you do much thinking about your own circumstances and the circumstances of other people and the circumstances of our of our world. You can't help but have a heavy heart that is why people were more melancholy who spend a lot of time thinking often have heavier hearts because they think about this. All of this stuff that has gone wrong but with an and if they do not lift their gaze to God and listen to his words about the outcome and about his hope and his strength and his purposes. They will despair because I have no hope with all of that heaviness. He said we can abound in hope, did you know that if you're getting your hope from your God. You have plenty to offer other people you can say let me tell you what God said to me this morning when he tell you what God help me with in my time when I was betrayed. Let me tell you what God did when I was rejected by somebody.

Let me tell you what God said and you have more than enough hope and you can point people to this hope our God you feel this brokenness of this planet do experience the losses of your health and relationships in financial reversals and disappointments and betrayals you grown as Paul says because of that deterioration and futility that you feel and we all do, with varying degrees. It's all the result of the fall. This is what ruined us and ruined this world and you have to come back after intermission to see the rest of the how this play unfolds and what God does. As a result of this, but in the meantime, men and women in the midst of our losses. There is the God of all hope he comforts us in all of our affliction that we may be able to comfort others who are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God poses a second current Lord Jesus, help us this day to abound in hope to the power of your spirit and the instruction of your words, we pray in your precious and your name because we love you. Amen. We hope you'll join us again tomorrow at the same time as we study God's word together on The Daily Platform