Who am I? Why am I here? Do I have a purpose? Is there more to life than the day-to-day struggle? Am I just an accident, or am I more than that? Is there a reason for my being? Why is there evil in the world? Why do bad things happen to good people? Is life just a few years, then nothing, or is there something after this, something deeper, something with more meaning?
These are questions that hit at the core of our being. We all ask these common questions, yet the larger society, our culture, our personal social groups, and even ourselves come up with very different answers. These are the fundamental questions of life. Everyone, in one form or another, asks these questions. Even more foundational than these is the question, “Is there a God?” The answer to that question completely sets the path for the quest to understand our own place in the universe.
In this series of articles under the title “Who Am I? A Biblical Study of Humanity,” we will seek to answer these questions and others like them. This is part of a larger project—under the name Growing in Knowing—to help the body of Christ gain an understanding of its own teachings. These series of articles will seek to lead us on a journey in biblical truth. In each group of articles, we will stop at key doctrines with the goal of growing in our knowledge and understanding of foundational Christian truths. These are the beliefs that affect our Christian faith and practice. We will cover topics such as the Trinity, humanity, Christ, the Holy Spirit, salvation, and many more.
There are many Christians who don’t know what they believe in any depth, nor do they know the biblical grounds for their beliefs. Sadly, many of us cannot even name what our core beliefs are, let alone explain them to someone else. We also live in a day when the doctrines (the beliefs) of Christianity are under attack as never before, not only from those outside the Church but also from those within. For a number of generations, we have been losing many of our young adults to the world and to false teaching because we are not teaching them biblical truth. Therefore, it is more important than ever for every believer to know what the Bible teaches, why these truths are important, and how they are interrelated. On top of this, we need to be able to explain them to our kids, grandkids, and others.
These are the reasons we are so driven to produce these multiple series of articles under Growing in Knowing. I find this so important that I am also teaching courses at church using these series as the basis of the lessons. We are so passionate that the body of Christ should be a biblically literate people founded on the word of God. We will cover these topics in a manner all can access. The level we cover will not be that of a wading pool, nor will it be over our heads in the deep end, but waist to chest high of the shallow end of the theological pool. It will take work, but we can do it.
The first series in this project was The Triune God, where we gained a biblically based understanding of God as the Trinity and His major attributes. In this second course, we will seek to gain an understanding of who we are in relation to our creator, the world we live in and each other. As with the first course, we will also work to be able to explain these truths to others.
In eleven additional articles, we will dive into the doctrine of humanity, starting with “A Special Creation of God,” in which we will examine the unique creation of humanity by God. We will see when God created everything out of nothing and formed all life on earth, yet He made a distinctive work in His creation of man. Unlike other living beings, God breathed life into man and made him a living soul.
“Created in the Image of God,” we will examine the nature of man as being created in the image of God. Unlike any other beings God created, He created humans to be His image bearer. We will discover what all this means for us, and the incredible value God has placed on human life.
“More Than Flesh and Bones” will piggyback on what we learned in studying the image of God. The question now is, what do we consist of, a body and soul (dichotomy) or a body, soul, and spirit (trichotomy)? We see the best solution to the question and seek to understand the issues with it. Most importantly, we will seek to discover what it means for our lives. We will also look at where our souls come from and when the immaterial and material parts of man combine.
“Created Male and Female” will examine the nature of the relationship between men and women in general but more specifically between husband and wife. The goal is to uncover what is being taught in the Bible about the relationship between men and women before the Fall, as well as after the Fall. We need to see the difference between the relationship of men and women as opposed to a husband and wife; they are not the same. The key is, as Christians, we are to all to the glory of God especially in our relationships with each other.
In “Fallen: The Beginning of Sin,” we look at the events of the Fall of man. We will look at the world Adam and Eve were placed in and the events that led up to the rebelling against God. How did Satan tempt them? Why did they give in? What were they hoping to gain? What happened in that garden affected the whole universe along with you and me. We need to understand this event in order to come to grips with who we are. The answer to these questions with help us to understand who we are and why the world is the way it is.
By the middle of this series, we will get to “Living in a Fallen World: The Consequences of Sin” in which we will deal with the consequences of sin, the judgment for sin, and its effect on the world. The result of sin is death. Not just our death but all life on the planet. Not just our physical death but the death of our soul.
Work, it seems we are obsessed with it, or we hate it. In “Work Is Not a Four-Letter Word,” we will see the blessing of work and the curse that distorted work. It will surprise many that work was to be a major part of our lives even before the Fall. The Fall did not create work but the problems with work. Work is often counterproductive and joyless, but that is not how it has to be.
While some need to be encouraged not to overwork and others need encouragement to get to work, we all need to come to understand what true rest is. It is not simply the cessation of work but the rest we so need. Rest in the Lord. We don’t really rest when we are not at work. We fill our lives with a lot of very good things, but we don’t understand the purpose and need for rest in God. In “True Rest,” we will take a deeper look at rest.
We have looked at our created nature as the image-bearers of God. We have also seen the image is as broken as a reflection in a cracked mirror. “Renewing the Image” is an article where we examine what, as believes in Christ is our purpose not. How are we to be image-bearers now. God does have a purpose of us to still reflect His glory. That we will see is our chief end.
Everything must end one day, and so it is with us. In the final two posts, we will briefly review the end for the Lost and the Saved. In “Their End” we will survey the biblical truths about the immediate destination of the Lost, their ultimate judgment, and the final destiny anticipated for them.
In “Our End” we will probe the biblical material about the immediate destination of the Saved, the judgment we each will face (yes, there is judgment of the saved in the end), and the glorious final destiny in store for the children of God.
To understand what we are attempting to do in this series, it may be clearer to say what these articles will not be concerning. They will not seek to do a comparative study of the various philosophical, psychological, and sociological views of humanity. These types of studies can be of great value but is not what this series involves. These articles will not be tips on how to do apologetic encounters based on teachings on humanity. Again, a great study, but not our point of interest here. This will also not be a deep dive look at the historical developments of the Christian doctrine of humanity.
So, then, what are we doing here? Growing in Knowing and this particular series seek to lead us on a journey in biblical truth. The goal is to grow in our knowledge and understanding of foundational Christian truths, in this case, humanity. We cannot compare the Christian doctrine of humanity with other schools of thought if we don’t understand biblical anthropology. We cannot defend our biblical faith if we don’t know what it is. Therefore, we are focused on grounding our understanding of humanity—of ourselves—by first understanding what the Bible has to say about us, and then we will be ready to engage in these other studies. I am hoping this series will be informative, impactful, and deepen your faith. The goal is to grow in our understanding of who God has created us to be and have confidence in our biblical understanding of humanity. Confidence to the point where we can explain it to others. The ultimate goal is that we will see God’s power in creation, mercy, and grace in His working in and for us, and all this will lead us to glorify God and enjoy Him forever!
Until the next time we see you here at CultivatingFaith.org, God Bless! #CultivatingFaithOrg