Doctrine of Man, Part 1 - Where Do We Come From? (Teaching Notes)

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Doctrine of Man
Week 1 – Where Did We Come From?
1. Introduction
a. What is the doctrine of man? It is the study of what the Bible says
about humans. In university, we can take Anthropology 101, which is
the introduction to the study about people from a secular point of view.
This class is Anthropology 101 from a biblical Christian point of view.
b. Why study about the doctrine of man?
i. We will know who we are:
1. Are we the same as animals?
2. Do we have the potential to become gods?
3. Are we basically good or basically evil?
4. What is the relation of our body, soul, and spirit?
5. Where do we come from?
6. Why are we here? Have we been given a purpose? What
are God’s plans for humanity?
2. Man is created by God
a. We are the product of a supernatural act of creation. Supernatural
means that something is beyond what naturally happens. (Hebrews
11:3)
i. We are not the product of chance or purely natural processes.
This is very important because it has significant implications.
Not created by God Created by God
Chance Design
No purpose Purpose
No absolute truth (no standard of good Absolute truth (standard of good and
and evil) evil)
No moral responsibility Moral responsibility to God
No eternal destiny (no heaven and hell) Eternal destiny (heaven and hell)
ii.Nature reveals that there is a Creator. This is called natural

revelation because it means we can understand there is a God
even without knowing about Him intimately. From a scientific
point of view, we can see the universe is intelligently designed
with the natural laws that support life. From a philosophical
point of view, we can understand that everything has a cause
and that there must have been some higher power that is the
Doctrine of Man Week 1 – Where Did We Come From?

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“Uncaused Cause” or Prime Mover. From a human point of view,

we are created with a sense of morality and tendency to seek
after God. (Romans 1:18-20)
1. Jesus Christ and God’s plan for salvation is the special
revelation of God to humans—we would not know unless
God specially revealed it to us.
b. We are created specially, in a different manner from the animals. God
spoke the animals into being, along with the stars and the earth. The
Bible describes how God created humans in a special way in Genesis
1:26-27; 2:7.
i. Genesis 1:26, “Let us make man …” The Hebrew word here is
asah, which means to form, construct, prepare, or build.
ii.Genesis 1:27, “God created …” The Hebrew word here is bara,
which means the production of something new and wonderful.
iii.Genesis 2:7, “God formed …” The Hebrew word here is yatzar,
which means molded and formed as a potter forms a clay
vessel. He formed us from the “dust of the ground” and
breathed His life into us.
3. Man is created with a divine purpose
a. Our purpose is to glorify God. (Isaiah 43:7)
b. Our purpose was planned by God from the beginning
i. Genesis 1:26 uses the plural verb form for “Let us make man in
our image …” The Hebrew word is na’aseh and the plural form
indicates the Triune nature of God and the presence of Jesus
Christ from the beginning of the world.
1. Ephesians 1:4-5
2. 2 Timothy 1:9
3. Titus 1:2
4. John 17:24
The redeeming sacrifice of Jesus applies to all people at all times throughout h
Beginning End
ii.Even though God foreknew (saw the future) that man would fall
away from Him, He still understood that His purpose to redeem
us through Jesus Christ and bring us back into relationship with
Him would be good and right. He planned all things from the
beginning, including the redeeming sacrifice of Jesus. (1 Peter
1:20)
4. Man is created in God’s image
a. We are created in the likeness of God, not like Him. We are made to
look like Him, not be like Him. We reflect God’s qualities. Imago Dei is

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a common Latin phrase which means “In the image of God.” (Genesis
1:26, James 3:9)
b. Not a physical image
i. God is spirit and is invisible (John 4:24, Colossians 1:15)
ii.Jesus was made into human likeness (Philippians 2:7-8)
c. We have personality. God is not an impersonal force like karma. He
thinks, feels, and makes plans. Humans have a special personality that
is in the image of God. We can create and appreciate works of art, we
have the ambition to explore the universe, and we have the instinct to
communicate with and worship God.
i. Intelligence. We have the ability to reason with abstract
concepts and moral arguments. God appeals to our intelligence
with moral and logical arguments. (Isaiah 1:18)
ii.Emotion. God has emotions that we can relate to. This does not
mean that He is irrational or controlled by His emotions. He is
not the same as we are. But the Bible says that He can be
grieved by our sin and pleased with our love and obedience.
iii.Will. God makes plans and carries them out. We also have an
ambition to explore and create. We have sent people to walk on
the moon and explored the atomic world.
d. We have a sense of morality. Each person has a sense of
accountability to an objective standard of moral truth. We all have a
feeling that there is a good and evil.
i. Our conscience is an imperfect judge of morality.
1. Our consciences can be corrupted. (Titus 1:15)
2. Even Paul acknowledged that his conscience could not
make a perfect judgment. (1 Corinthians 4:4)
3. However, our conscience is useful to point us to our need
of a Savior. The Bible says that even people who do not
know about God have consciences that tell them about
God’s law. (Romans 2:14-15)
e. We are social. God is love, and love is relational and social. We reflect
the image of God in our need to relate in love to Him, to our family,
and to our neighbors. The Bible says that when we are redeemed and
given new life, that we should walk in love. (John 13:34-35)
5. Summary
a. Man is created by God
b. Man is specially created
c. Man is created for God’s glory
d. Man is created in the image of God
e. Man is created with the divine plan for redemption

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What are the main points about how man was created?

How was man created differently than animals?

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No moral responsibility Moral responsibility to God

ii.Nature reveals that there is a Creator. This is called natural

Doctrine of Man Week 1 – Where Did We Come From?

“Uncaused Cause” or Prime Mover. From a human point of view,

Doctrine of Man Week 1 – Where Did We Come From?

Doctrine of Man Week 1 – Where Did We Come From?

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