The Bible presents the human condition as a paradox between two factors. God created men and women with great capacity and potential. Yet humanity rejected God and fell into a condition of great moral and spiritual darkness. In this world, human beings are defined by both.
Humans As Created
Humankind is not the product of some impersonal process, but is the direct creation of God and the highest evidence of God’s workmanship (Psalm 139:14). God’s creation of humanity from one set of original parents guarantees the unity of all people (Genesis 3:20; Acts 17:26). It also sets humans apart from every other living organism.
The Image of God
After creating everything else, God chose to make human beings in his own image and likeness (Genesis 1:26-27). This means that humanity is like God and represents God. Certainly, God has certain qualities that humans will never possess. Only God is self-existent, uncreated, all-knowing, all-powerful, and independent. The image of God does not mean that we are divine, or are intrinsically the same kind of being as God.
But human beings are like God in other ways. This likeness is not physical. God does not have a body. But like God (and unlike the animals), we possess moral, spiritual, mental and relational faculties. Reflecting the nature of God, humans are rational and intelligent, capable of complex communication, creative, appreciative of beauty, capable of choosing between right and wrong, purposeful, and able to make meaningful decisions.
Another aspect of God’s image is the commission God gave humans to “rule over” the rest of creation (Genesis 1:28). As his image-bearers, human beings are co-rulers of this world, under God, with the responsibility to lead and govern everything else God has made.
The image of God in human beings is a present reality in spite of human sin (Genesis 9:5-6; James 3:9). Yet the ways we resemble God, and our co-rule under God, are marred, obscured and twisted by sin.
The image of God is why animals and plants do not have equal value to humans. It is also why every human being has intrinsic worth, regardless of personal traits or circumstances. This changes how we view others. Murder, child abuse, abortion, slavery, exploitation, prejudice, and other behaviors are wrong because they violate the dignity of human beings made in the image of God.
The Composition of Human Persons
The Bible uses various terms to describe the non-physical, inner aspects of a person’s self. Modern views typically see humans as made up of body, soul and spirit, or just body and soul. Biblical language is richer than this. The Old Testament describes the internal self with words translated as “soul” (nephesh), “spirit” (ruach), and “heart” (lebab). The New Testament uses the words “soul” (psyche), “spirit” (pneuma), “heart” (kardia), and “mind” (nous). These words don’t always map precisely to contemporary views, and there is tremendous overlap in the way the terms are used in the Bible. So we should hesitate to make biblical categories conform to current perspectives. The Bible is quite clear that the inner aspect of human beings is real, and is not just an extension of the body.
Humanity as Male and Female
God created human beings as male and female (Genesis 1:27). While gender expression is affected by culture, only these two genders actually exist. Both men and women are equal in value, because both genders equally express the image of God (Genesis 1:27). Yet their practical roles in the home and the church differ (Titus 2:1-8; 1 Timothy 2:12). In the end, men and women are mutually interdependent and complementary (Genesis 2:18, 21-23; 1 Corinthians 11:11-12). Each is called to submit to the other, but each in different ways (Ephesians 5:21-25).
Humans As Fallen
Although human beings are the handiwork of God, created in God’s image, we are not what God intended us to be. We are also deeply affected by the influence of sin.
The Definition of Sin
Sin can be defined as any failure to conform to the moral law of God in act, attitude, or nature – whether active or passive. It is any time we trust in and follow our own ways instead of God’s ways. As such, all sin is ultimately directed against God (Psalm 51:4). Sin certainly has consequences for others around us, but at its core, it is a failure before God. But sin not only consists of actions (or the failure to act). It is a condition that affects our hearts (Romans 1:21) and minds (1 Timothy 6:5), indeed, our entire being.
Sin is such a pervasive idea in scripture that the Bible uses many words to describe it: unfaithfulness (Leviticus 6:2), disobedience (Ephesians 2:1), rebellion (Exodus 32:9), unrighteousness (Acts 24:15), lawlessness (Romans 6:19), turning aside (Job 23:11), guilt (Romans 3:19), falling away (Galatians 5:4), wickedness (1 John 1:9), injustice (Psalm 7:3), godlessness (Titus 2:12), perversion (Philippians 2:15), and more.
The Origin of Sin
The first humans lived in intimate relationship with God (Genesis 3:8). But tempted to doubt God’s goodness (Genesis 3:1-5), they chose to disobey his prohibition (Genesis 2:16-17; Genesis 3:6). Their act of rebellion awakened in them a sense of guilt and shame (Genesis 3:7), alienated them from God (Genesis 3:10), created enmity between them (Genesis 3:15), subjected all of creation to a curse (Genesis 3:17; Romans 8:20), and introduced death into the world (1 Corinthians 15:22). Since sin entered the world through our first parents (Romans 5:12), all human beings are now subject to and participate in sin (Romans 3:10-20; Romans 3:23).
The Consequences of Sin
The effects of sin can be considered in three categories. First, in our relationship with God, sin results in divine disfavor (Romans 1:18; Ephesians 5:6), alienation and separation from God (Colossians 1:21), guilt before God’s law (Romans 3:19), punishment (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9; 2 Peter 2:9), and eternal death (Romans 6:23). Next, within an individual person, sin renders people spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1), enslaved (Romans 6:17), morally darkened (Ephesians 4:18), depraved (Ephesians 4:19), hard-hearted (Hebrews 3:13), self-centered (James 3:16) and self-deceived (Jeremiah 17:9. Finally, when it comes to our relationships with other people, sin results in conflict (2 Corinthians 12:20; Galatians 5:20), exploitation (Proverbs 22:22), rejection of authority (Romans 1:30), and inability to love (Romans 1:31).
Inherited Sin and Guilt
Every person is answerable for his or her own sins (Revelation 20:12). But we are also subject to consequences from Adam and Eve’s original sin. First, every human being begins life in a condition of spiritual death and corruption (Ephesians 2:1-3) and in a state of alienation from God (Romans 5:10), both inherited from Adam (Romans 5:12). Moreover, because of Adam’s sin, we are born under a sentence of condemnation (Romans 5:16). This is because Adam, standing at the head of the human race, represents all human beings before God (Romans 5:19). In a similar way, Jesus stands at the head of a new, redeemed humanity. His actions represent all human beings who place their trust in him (Romans 5:17-19). So just as God imputes Jesus’ righteousness to his spiritual children (2 Corinthians 5:21), Adam’s sin was imputed to his physical descendants.
Sin makes the human condition desperate. But God took action to meet humanity’s deep need, as we will explore in the Topic 7: The Atonement.
- What is your initial reaction to this topic? What jumped out at you?
- Read Genesis 1:26-28. What does it mean to be made in God’s image? In what ways are we like or different from the animals? In what ways are we like or different from God?
- How do you think understanding the image of God might change the way you think and act toward people who are different from you?
- Read Genesis 3:1-24. What is sin? What does the origin of sin teach us about the nature and consequences of sin? What does this episode teach us about God?
- Read Ephesians 2:1-3. How is the human condition described in this passage? What does it mean to be spiritually dead due to sin?
- Read Ephesians 4:17-19. How is the human condition described here?
- Read Romans 3:9-20. What does this add to our understanding of sin?
- Read Romans 5:12-19. In what ways did Adam’s sin affect all human beings?
- In your mind, what verses in the Bible most clearly describe the consequences of human sin?
- Is there a step you need to take based on today’s topic?
