Study 4: Man, Our True Nature

Before you begin

We often measure ourselves by other people, by our feelings, or by the standards of our age. But none of those are safe guides. The question is not simply whether we seem decent by comparison with others, but what God says man is, why He made us, what has gone wrong, and why we cannot put ourselves right.

This study helps us face both the honour and the tragedy of our condition. We are not animals without souls, nor are we miniature gods with a right to rule ourselves. We are creatures made by the living God, and that truth changes everything.

This study at a glance

Read these passages first

These passages lay the foundation for understanding who we are and why our condition is so serious.

What man was made to be

The opening chapters of Genesis present man as the crowning work of God’s creation on earth. Unlike the animals, man is made in the image of God. That does not mean man is divine, but that he was created to reflect something of God’s moral likeness, to live in communion with Him, and to exercise responsible dominion in the world under His authority.

This gives human life extraordinary worth. Every person matters because every person is made by God. Our value does not come from ability, age, health, intelligence, popularity, or usefulness. It comes from the God whose image we bear.

Made in the image of God

To be made in God’s image means that man was created with rationality, moral awareness, relational capacity, and a calling to live before God in holiness and obedience. Adam was not created corrupt or confused. He was made upright. He knew God, owed God loving obedience, and was fitted for fellowship with Him.

This matters because it shows us that sin is not our natural design, but our ruin. Evil is not part of the good creation God first made. Man was created good, and therefore our rebellion is a dreadful distortion of what we were meant to be.

What went wrong

Genesis 3 explains why the world is not as it should be and why we are not what we should be. Adam, as the first man and covenant head of the human race, disobeyed God. He listened to the serpent rather than to his Maker. In that one act of rebellion, sin entered the world, and death by sin.

The fall was not a small mistake or an unfortunate stumble. It was rebellion against the goodness and authority of God. Since Adam stood as the representative of mankind, his guilt and corruption have affected all his posterity descending from him by ordinary generation.

The seriousness of sin

It is common to think of sin only as outward wrongdoing, such as lying, cruelty, theft, or impurity. But Scripture goes deeper. Sin is not only what we do, but what we are by nature after the fall. It touches mind, heart, will, desires, and affections. We are not spiritually neutral. Left to ourselves, we do not love God as we should.

This is why the Bible speaks of man as spiritually dead, darkened in understanding, and inclined away from God. That does not mean people are as evil as they could possibly be, but it does mean that sin reaches every part of our being and leaves us unable to restore ourselves to God.

Why this matters so much

If we think man is basically good, then the gospel will seem unnecessary or exaggerated. Christ will appear to be an optional helper rather than an essential Saviour. But if Scripture is right, then our need is much greater than advice, inspiration, or moral improvement can ever meet.

We need forgiveness for guilt, cleansing for defilement, freedom from bondage, and new life from God. In other words, we need grace. Unless we see the depth of our ruin, we will never rightly prize the greatness of Christ.

How this fits with the 1689 London Baptist Confession

In harmony with the 1689 Confession, we may say that God created man upright and perfect, giving him a righteous law which had been unto life had he kept it, and threatening death upon the breach thereof. Yet man did not continue long in this honour. By the subtlety and temptation of Satan, and by his own will, he transgressed the command given unto him.

The Confession also teaches that by this sin our first parents fell from their original righteousness and communion with God, and we in them, whereby death came upon all. Thus all mankind descending from Adam by ordinary generation are made sinners, subject to death, and defiled in all the faculties and parts of soul and body.

Human dignity and human ruin

The Bible holds these two truths together. Man is not worthless, because he is made in God’s image. Yet man is not innocent, because he is fallen in Adam. If we deny the first truth, we become harsh and despairing. If we deny the second, we become naive and self-righteous.

Scripture will not let us flatter ourselves, but neither does it treat us as insignificant. It tells the truth. We are noble ruins. We still bear traces of the image in which we were made, but we are profoundly broken by sin. That is why the gospel is both humbling and hopeful.

Why this matters personally

This study is not merely about the history of Adam. It is about us. We feel the consequences of the fall everywhere: in our guilt, shame, conflict, fear, mortality, selfishness, and spiritual deadness. We know, if we are honest, that something is deeply wrong within us and around us.

Yet there is strange relief in hearing the truth. We were never meant to carry the burden of pretending that we are fine, sufficient, or morally whole. The Bible diagnoses us accurately, so that it may direct us to the only cure. To know what man is by nature prepares us to understand why the new birth and the grace of Christ are necessary.

You may be wondering

Reflection and response

These questions are intended to help you think honestly before the Lord.

A simple prayer before moving on