69 – Nature of Man

NATURE OF MAN

§ 69. Man, as created by his Maker, was an intelligent¹ and moral² being, consisting of body and soul³ united in one complete person.⁴

1. Man, as created by his Maker, was an intelligent

Genesis 2:19–20 And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.

Genesis 2:23–24 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

2. and moral

Genesis 2:16–17 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

3. being, consisting of body and soul

Genesis 2:7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Ecclesiastes 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

4. united in one complete person.

Genesis 2:4, 7–8, 15 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. (7) And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. (8) And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed. (15) And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.