OceanSide church of Christ

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WHAT IS MAN? (3)

Victor M. Eskew

INTRODUCTION

 

A.   “What Is Man?”  This has been the title of our past two Sunday sermons.  We want to continue this lesson this morning.

 

B.   Having an understanding of who we are is very important.

1.     We can appreciate ourselves more.

2.    We can learn of our strengths and develop them.

3.     We can be aware of our weaknesses and protect ourselves from them.

 

C.   Thus far, we have seen the following about man:

1.     He is a created being.

2.    He is a being of great ability.

3.     He is a being who has needs.

4.    He is a free moral agent, having the ability to choose.

 

D.   We have learned all of these things about man from Genesis 1-3.  We want to look at more answers to the question, “What is man?” in this lesson.

 

I.          MAN IS A BEING DESIRED BY SATAN

 

A.   Genesis 3:4

 

And the serpent said unto the woman…

 

B.   Go back to Genesis 3:1 to learn of the character of the serpent.

 

Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.

 

1.     Subtle:  wily, crafty

2.    II Corinthians 11:3

 

But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

 

C.   Far too many forget about Satan, or, they make friends with him.  They have little concern that he is their adversary (I Pet. 5:8).

 

Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour.

 

II.        MAN IS A BEING WHO CAN BE TEMPTED

 

A.   Temptation is the enticement to do wrong.

 

B.   Temptation works through three avenues: 

1.     The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (I John 2:16).

 

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

 

NOTE:  Sometimes, Satan ties all of these things together in one package.

 

2.    All of these things were present when Satan tempted Eve in the Garden (Gen. 3:4-6).

 

And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:  for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.  And when the woman saw that the tree was good for good, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

 

3.     Temptation is not sin.  Yielding is sin.  Therefore, it is imperative that we resist Satan and his temptations (James 4:7).

 

Submit yourselves therefore to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

 

III.      MAN IS A BEING WHO CAN SIN

 

A.   God told Adam and Eve:  But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it…In Genesis 3:6, we read:  ...she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat.

 

B.   Upon eating, they transgressed the law of God.  They were now considered lawless.  We refer to them as sinners.

 

C.   Man is not born a sinner, but his propensity to sin is great.  In fact, all men will eventually sin (Rom. 3:23).

 

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God

 

D.   God’s sentence upon sin is spiritual death (Rom. 6:23).

 

For the wages of sin is death…

 

IV.       MAN IS A BEING WHO DOES NOT ALWAYS HANDLE SIN PROPERLY

 

A.   In Genesis 3, we see man using two improper ways of handling sin.

1.     They sought to hide their sin (Gen. 3:8-1).

 

And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day:  and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.  And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?  And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

 

2.    They sought to blame others for their actions (Gen. 3:12-13).

 

And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.  And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this thou hast done?  And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

 

B.   Man is not any different today than Adam and Eve in the long ago.

1.     Man still seeks to hide his sin.

2.    Man still blames others for his sins.

 

CONCLUSION

 

A.   In this lesson, we have seen the weaknesses of man.  His enemy, Satan, seeks to attack those weaknesses at every opportunity.

 

B.   God has provided us with a means to overcome both temptation and sin.

1.     His Word strengthens us against sin (Ps. 119:11).

2.    He has promised a way of escape if we will seek it (I Cor. 10:13).

3.     Once we have sin, we have Jesus as our Advocate to plead our case before the Father (I John 2:2).

4.    His blood will cleanse us from all sin that is repented of, and confessed (I John 1:9).

5.    For the alien sinner, the plan of salvation has been revealed in the gospel of Christ (Rom. 1:16-17).