The Constitution (nature, make up, essence, so on and so forth) of Man

Last Sunday we came across a question asking did God create man sinful.  This is a fair question since we had just discussed that man is not righteous and cannot meet the demands of a righteous God.  As custom would have it, whenever active minds come together to discuss matters with each other rabbit trails often follow as we attempt to make logical connections to already held beliefs.  Rabbit trails aren’t necessarily bad, in fact most of the time they are beneficial not only for the individual but for the group as a whole. 

So the question that was raised by Vanessa as a result of the question at hand was, what is man’s nature?  That is a good and relevant question since we often hear that man has a “sin nature.”  What do we mean when we say this?  Are we saying that man in his most fundamental, ontological, existence is sin?  This creates quite the paradox since we know from Scripture that we are created in the image of God (Gen. 1.26-27).

So what of the “nature” of man?  Well on Sunday night I said something to the effect that man is material with a spiritual aspect to his being.  If this seems rather cryptic or abstract to you that is because it is.  How do we come to this belief?  When we read the creation passage in Genesis (1.1-2.25) we read that first God created the material world ex nihilo (from nothing).  One other thing to note in this passage, once God created the material world He said it was “very good” (Gen. 1.31).  We also know that man has an immaterial aspect to his being that we call a soul (Matt. 10.28).  Thus man is both material and immaterial what we describe as a duality of being.  This means there are two parts to our existence.  Do not confuse this with Greek dualism. 

The ancient Greeks believed that man was at odds between himself with both faculties warring against each other both body and soul.  The two are completely incompatible and since the body is associated with matter and the material world it is viewed as imperfect, sinful, a prison house for the immaterial perfect soul.  For the ancient Greeks the hope was in the death of the body and the liberation of the soul.  This Greek view of man did not vanish with the passing of time but has been inculcated into the Western mind. 

The 1980s pop singer Sting even tells us that we are "sparits" in a material world.  As a singer Sting was great, as a spokesman for "Jaguah" fantastic, as a philosopher he stinketh.  We find this view of Greek dualism even among those who have a disdain or hatred for the study of Philosophy.  In some Christian circles this view of Greek dualism is misappropriated with one simple twist, the addition of spirit.  This is the trichotomist view.  It still maintains Greek dualism in that it views man as body (evil) soul (good) and the spirit as a buffer to bridge the chasm between body and soul. 

If you recall from above the Bible does teach a duality of being with body and soul.  While God created man “very good” we understand that there is no inherent evil in man nor in the body or soul of man.  This seems to follow as man is created in the image of God.  However, both body and soul suffer from corruption by the fall.  Thus human beings are sinful in body and soul awaiting for their final redemption of not just the soul but body and soul.   

As I finish this post I am already anticipating your questions.

The Kingdom Question: Acts 1

It was recently brought to my attention that the first chapter of the book of Acts refutes the idea of Christ's present reign.  Historically the church has seen the Biblical understanding of God's kingdom as a present reality that becomes fully actualized at Christ's second coming.  In contemporary evangelical circles there has been a push to set God' kingdom out after Christ's second coming during a 1000 year reign of Christ on the earth.  In light of this question and the one put to me I went back to the text and this is what I found.

The claim that Acts 1 refutes the idea of an existing kingdom comes from a question raised by the disciples.  The question was this:

So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:6-8 ESV)

The argument by the millennialists (those who would like to see God's kingdom established in a future millennium) is, if in fact God's kingdom is a present reality why wouldn't our Lord just say it here in this passage?  In other words His response to this question should have been something like, "the kingdom is presently being restored to Israel."  Since He did not say that then the kingdom must be a future reality not a present reality.  We would call this argument fallacious since it creates a false dilemma.  Either Jesus uses this question to explain a present reality or the kingdom must be a future reality.  Obviously when we think of the numerous reasons why a thing isn't so we realize this is overly simplistic reasoning.  In fact it is the kind of reasoning John Mac Arthur employs in his lecture "Why Every Self-Respecting Calvinist Is Pre-millennial".

Since we do not know the thinking of our Lord when He answered the question in the way that He did, we are left with the task of having to figure this one out by looking at the text of Scripture.  First we know that Jesus began his earthly ministry proclaim that the kingdom of God is at hand (Matt 3.2, Mark 1.15).  It is clear from our Acts passage that some of the disciples still believed that the Messiah was a political ruler who would stomp out the Romans and reclaim Israel.  However, Acts 2 Peter tells a different story.

Before looking at Acts 2 there are some remarks to be made with regards to Acts 1.  Notice, our Lord begins by saying "It is not for you to know."  As students we need to be aware that there are things that are not for us to know and we have to be careful that we don't speculate about these things.  However, what our Lord does tell them is that they will receive power and they will be witnesses not only in Jerusalem, not only in Judea and Samaria, but to the end of the earth.  This was very different from the popular notion of the concurring Messiah.  Now we turn the page to Acts 2.

In Acts 2 we see these very things take place.  That is they received the power of the Holy Spirit and their witness has spread to the end of the earth.  However, there is something important to notice in Peter's interpretation of David's prophecy.  Namely, the one that they thought would rule from David's thrown and restore Israel 2 Samuel 7 is none other than Christ our Lord.
 
“Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says,
“‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
until I make your enemies your footstool.”’
Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” (Acts 2:29-36 ESV)

Therefore, Peter is using David's prophecy to show its fulfillment in our Lord's Ascension to the right hand of the Father where He is ruling and reigning.  Peter gives us no indication of a return to OT type and shadow, and no indication of a second or a future reign.  Peter is saying this is the fulfillment of OT prophecy so that when we see the Holy Spirit being poured out at Pentecost we can then know and understand Christ's kingship.  Prior to this the disciples couldn't fathom what a true restoration of Israel's kingdom would like.  Now they see what they thought restoration was greatly underestimated by them.  


   

Paul On The Alleged Distinction Between Israel And Church

Paul's position here is that under the new covenant the ethnic distinctions that once divided Jew and Gentile especially as it pertains to redemption is abolished.  This is a hard one for old school dispensationalists to over come.

One in Christ
    [11] Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands—[12] remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. [13] But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
    [14] For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility [15] by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, [16] and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. [17] And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. [18] For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. [19] So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, [20] built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, [21] in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. [22] In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
   
(Ephesians 2:11-22 ESV)

In Memory of Those Who Made The Ultimate Sacrifice

In memoray of:

Cpt. Tyndall

Sgt. Dew

Spc. Blodgett

Spc. Magill

Pvt. Allison

3rd Battalion 17th Infantry 7th Infantry Division

Quote of the Day

"We must stress that the basis for our faith is neither experience nor emotion but the truth as God has given it in verbalized, prepositional form in the Scripture and which we first of all apprehend with our minds." -Francis Schaeffer (The New Super-Spirituality, IVP, 1972, p. 24.)