SALVATION Lesson One: What the Fall of Man Was Not Before we cover the fall of man, let us first explain what the fall of man was not. Some teach that mankind were created as gods and that the fall was the fall from godhood. It is then taught that God's plan of redemption was for man to be restored back to godhood. This, they say, was the purpose for the death and resurrection of Jesus. This teaching not only reinforces the fact that the original lie in the garden was effective then but that it is still effective today in continuing the rebellion towards God. This teaching distorts the very meaning of salvation and the purpose of the death and resurrection of Christ that not only devalues God's sovereignty but it exalts man to the position of his own sovereign godhood. Generally this teaching begins with a perversion of Genesis 1:26-27 where God said let us make man in our likeness and image as well as what God meant when He said to let man rule over all the earth. "Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." (Gen.1:26-27) One of the assumptions is that when God said, "Let us make man in our image and likeness," that it was speaking of God's physical form. The problem with this belief is that God does not have a physical form because God is spirit and spirit has no physical form. The Son of God manifested Himself in a physical form throughout the Old Testament AFTER He created man, but He did not have a physical form from which He created man. The Son of God also took on human form when He added the nature of man to His deity when He was born of a virgin. But we still cannot see the spirit of God any more than we can see our own spirit that has no form. It is true that Jesus will inhabit an eternal physical body just like we will throughout eternity, however, we still will not see God's Spirit because spirit has no physical properties. "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."( John 4:24) "Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles." (Rom.1:22-23) The other assumption is that God created man as gods in His own image and in His own likeness and that view is supposedly reinforced when God said to let man rule over all the earth. However, both of these presumed assumptions are overruled with the fact that God alone is Sovereign and that He alone is God. Sovereign means self-existent, self-ruling, self-sufficient, independent and superior. "O Sovereign LORD, you have begun to show to your servant your greatness and your strong hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do the deeds and mighty works you do?" (Deut.3:24) "How great you are, O Sovereign LORD! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears." (2 Sam. 7:22) "I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols." (Isaiah 42:8) "Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made." (Isaiah 43:7) "You are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me." (Isaiah 43:10) ".....And there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me." "Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other." (Isaiah 45:21-22) "Remember this, fix it in mind, take it to heart, you rebels. Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me." (Isaiah 46:8-9) ASSIGNMENT: After reading and studying over these verses and through your own personal studies of the scriptures, write a short summary on each of the following questions and explain your answers. Explain why this false teaching would pervert the meaning of Salvation. How do these verses show that we were never created to be gods? How do these verses explain what God meant when He allowed man to rule over the earth? How do we know that God did not created man in His physical form? How do these verses show that the fall of man was not a fall from godhood? How do these verses devalue God and exalt man instead? Now that we explained what the fall of man was not, let us review Genesis 1:26-27 again. "Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." (Gen.1:26-27) In the previous studies, we came to understand God's nature. God is Holy because He is love and He is just and He is merciful. Since this is His nature that cannot change, then we can get a better idea of what it meant when He created man in His own likeness and in His own image. So far we have eliminated what the fall does not mean. Now, keeping His nature in mind, how would this apply to how we were created in his image and his likeness? Write a short summary explaining what it meant to be created in His image and in His likeness. Submit your answers to all of the questions in this Assignment section before moving on to the next lesson. SUBMIT your summary of the nature of God as revealed through His written word to oamoam@hotmail.com. Label your e-mail in the subject line as: Essential 4a. Copyright 2004 by Open Arms Internet Ministry. All rights reserved.