Lesson #04

COURSE IN BIBLICAL DOCTRINE
Lesson #04

• The Doctrine of Man and His Basic Nature
• Man was created by God in the image and likeness of God.
• Read Gen 1:26-27
• Read Joh 4:24
• Read 1The 5:23
• What does it means “in our image, after our likeness”? The parallel likenesses:
• Both God and man have a personal will.
• Both God and man are spiritual beings. God created man a spiritual being so as to be able to have fellowship with man.
• Animals do not have a spiritual consciousness.
• Both God and man have moral consciousness.
• Man is able to make judgments of right and wrong.
• Animals do not have this capability.
• Both God and man have intellect and reason.
• Both God and man have emotion.
• Both God and man have dominion. God gave man dominion over creation from the very beginning.
• Both God and man are capable of unconditional love.
• Both God and man have the capacity of intelligent speech.
• Like God, man has three parts:
• God, the Father, Jesus, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This is the Holy Trinity in God.
• Man consists of body, soul, and spirit.
• Man was created to have three parts: body, soul, and spirit.

• The Soul of Man

:

• Read Gen 2:7
• Gen 2:7 says “breath of life” = life is plural in the Hebrew to indicate “breath of lives” (spiritual and physical)
• The words are “nepes” in Hebrew, “psyche” in Greek.
• Read Pro 23:7 The “heart” in the Bible refers to the soul, not the physical heart.
• Read Psa 103:1-2
• The soul is the center of self-consciousness.
• It is that part of us that lives forever (Mat 10:28).
• The soul is the ego and the personality. It is what makes each person a unique one of a kind.
• The soul contains 3 aspects:
• The mind = intellect, reason, and memory.
• The will = free choice (Psa 24:4 Eph 6:6).
• The emotion = love, hate, etc. (Psa 86:4).
• The soul consists of 3 levels:
• A conscious awareness (Phi 4:8-9).
• A sub-conscious level: This is the memory bank of information.
• The unconscious level: a sum total of every experience.
• The Spirit of Man

:

• Man’s spirit is “ruah” in Hebrew, “Pneuma” in Greek which means = breath, life
• The spirit of man is the seat of God-consciousness.
• It is that part of us that makes us aware deep within that there is a God out there somewhere.
• Our spirit enables us to comprehend God (Luk 1:47 Mat 26:41)
• Our spirit houses:
• our conscience
• our creativity (1Cor 16:18)
• our insight (Joh 13:21)
• our motivation (Act 17:16; 18:25)
• our sensitivity (Mar 2:8 John 11:33)
• The spirit of man is that part of us that receives Christ and the Holy Spirit of God when we are born again. (Rom 8:16 Gal 6:18)
• The spirit of man is that part of us that lives forever. (Luk 8:55)
• The Body of Man

:

• The physical body is the seat of sense-consciousness.
• It is physical flesh and bone.
• The word for body is “basar” in Hebrew, “soma” in Greek.
• The body was created (moulded) from the dust of the ground like a potter would mould clay. (Gen 2:7)
• There are 14 chemicals from the ground that make up the 14 chemicals of the human body.
• The physical body is uniquely tied to the soul and spirit. (Jam 2:26)
• We can see this by the evidence in a lie detector test and the fact that psychosomatic illnesses exist.
• The Old Testament Jews did not separate man into 3 distinct parts, as we understand it today.
• The physical body is that part of man which physically dies, but will be transformed into a new incorruptible body one day if the person has received Christ into his heart. (1Cor 15:42-52)
• The Nature of Man Before the Fall of Adam into sin:
• Read Gen 1:27
• Read Joh 4:24
• Read Gen 2:7
• Read Gen 2:25
• Before the sin of Adam and Eve, man had a close relationship with God. Therefore, man’s spirit was the predominant part of man’s being. The next dominant part was man’s soul. Man’s body was least important.
• How do we know this?
• Adam and Eve were naked but they were not ashamed until after the sin.
• They had not been aware of their bodies until after the sin.
• The Nature of Man After the Fall of Adam into sin:
• Read Gen 2:16-17
• Read Gen 3:7, 10-12
• Read Heb 4:12
• After the sin of Adam and Eve, man’s fellowship with God was broken. He now had a relationship with Satan.
• As a result, man’s spirit became less aware of God and was no longer the most dominant part of man’s being.
• Instead man’s spirit became the least important. Now the physical body, its desires and needs became the most important part of man.
• The spirit of man that once was the highest part of man’s complex nature, no longer dominated man’s nature after the fall into sin. It fell below the level of the soul, so that now it is difficult to discern the difference between soul and spirit.
• The body and the soul now dominate man’s nature.
• Man cannot help but sin. He has no choice.
• Sin is an automatic reaction.
• Adam’s first sin brought all humans under the curse of sin and death so that all humans are now born with a sin nature and in need of salvation.
• Read Gen 3:22-23
• Read Rom 5:12
• Read Rom 3:23
• The result of Adam’s sin produced immediate spiritual death. Spiritual death is eternal separation from God and His kingdom.
• The result of Adam’s sin produced the beginning of the physical death process. Adam and Eve did not die that same day, but they began to age that day until they finally died physically.
• Adam and Eve’s sin began the concept of original sin whereby all men are now born with a sin nature separated from God and in need of redemption and salvation.
• All people born with the original sin nature are automatically placed in the kingdom of Satan.
• All people in this condition are destined for eternal hell and separation from God forever.
• All people born with the original sin nature are subject to the process of age and eventual physical death.
• The Nature of Man After Being Born Again Through Jesus Christ:
• Read Joh 3:3, 6, 15, 18, 36
• Read 2Cor 5:17
• Rom 6:11-12
• Before he is born again, man’s body and soul dominate his spirit because he is spiritually dead to Christ.
• When the Holy Spirit of life comes into the believer at the new birth, man’s spirit is suddenly awakened to a new life in Christ.
• He is not like Adam before the fall into sin because the sin nature is still present in man, and man still dies physically.
• Therefore man now has a constant internal battle between the new Spirit of God inside and the old flesh nature.
• Because man is alive to Christ with the new Spirit living inside, he now has eternal life with God.
• Read Rom 7:14-16
• Read Rom 13:14
• Names for man in the Bible:

Name	Meaning	Scripture
Chosen People	This refers to God’s chosen people, the Jews. They were chosen to be God’s model of spiritual truth in this world.	Deu 7:6
The Remnant	The Old Testament reference to the few who are true believers in God in spite of persecution and tribulation.	Jer 23:3 Eze 6:8
The Circumcision	The Jews	Rom 4:9
The Uncircumcision	The Gentiles	Gal 2:7
666	The number for man that represents the Antichrist in the Tribulation Period.	Rev 13:18
The Overcomer	The believer in Jesus Christ that has faith to believe God’s promises	Rev 2:7
The Bride of Christ	The church as a group of believers that belong to Jesus Christ, the bridegroom.	Rev 21:9
The Body of Christ	The individual believers that belong to Jesus Christ.	Rom 12:5
The Church	A group of New Testament Believers.	Mat 16:18
The Saints	The Individual believers that belong to Jesus Christ; the emphasis is upon their holiness through the blood of Christ.	Rom 1:7
The sheep or lambs	The group of believers in Jesus Christ that follow Him obediently.	Luk 10:3 Mat 10:16
The goats	The group of non-believers that are rebellious against God.	Mat 25:32
Heirs	Believers in Jesus Christ inherit the riches of God’s kingdom.	Tit 3:7
Joint Heirs	Believers in Jesus Christ inherit through Jesus Christ who is God’s primary heir.	Rom 8:17
Chosen Generation	Believers in Jesus Christ that live in the church age of grace.	1Pet 2:9
Royal Priesthood	Believers in Jesus Christ are serving God as mediators between man and God.	1Pet 2:9
Holy Nation	Believers in Jesus Christ have their citizenship in heaven.	1Pet 2:9
A Peculiar People	Believers in Jesus Christ live differently than the people of the world.	1Pet 2:9
Christians	The name first given to believers in Jesus Christ in the city of Antioch.	Act 11:26
The Way	The name for Believers before they were known as Christians.	Acts 22:4