Evolution would have us think that we are nothing more than animals. God wants us to know we are special!

Psalm 8:3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? 5 You have…crowned them with glory and honor. 6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands;

Continuing our look at the Baptist Faith & Message, we turn now to mankind.

III. Man

Man is the special creation of God, made in His own image. He created them male and female as the crowning work of His creation. The gift of gender is thus part of the goodness of God’s creation. In the beginning man was innocent of sin and was endowed by his Creator with freedom of choice. By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. Through the temptation of Satan man transgressed the command of God, and fell from his original innocence whereby his posterity inherit a nature and an environment inclined toward sin. Therefore, as soon as they are capable of moral action, they become transgressors and are under condemnation. Only the grace of God can bring man into His holy fellowship and enable man to fulfill the creative purpose of God. The sacredness of human personality is evident in that God created man in His own image, and in that Christ died for man; therefore, every person of every race possesses full dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love.

Genesis 1:26-30; 2:5,7,18-22; 3; 9:6; Psalms 1; 8:3-6; 32:1-5; 51:5; Isaiah 6:5; Jeremiah 17:5; Matthew 16:26; Acts 17:26-31; Romans 1:19-32; 3:10-18,23; 5:6,12,19; 6:6; 7:14-25; 8:14-18,29; 1 Corinthians 1:21-31; 15:19,21-22; Ephesians 2:1-22; Colossians 1:21-22; 3:9-11.

Want to know how God feels about us? check this out:

¹⁶ “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

⁸ but God demonstrates his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

³² For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all. Romans 11:32

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 1 Peter 1:3-5

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! 1 John 3:1

The finished work on the cross says that salvation is available to everyone (Titus 2:11). All we have to do is accept it and receive Him. It’s not about getting to heaven, but heaven getting to us via His Holy Spirit. We need Him in order to walk victoriously through this life and to become like our big Brother, Jesus.

Folks, it doesn’t get any plainer than that! Here’s what it all boils down to:

¹² Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. 1 John 5:12

Abba, I pray for my readers that they would appropriate Your mercy and grace by receiving Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and then walking with Him daily. Jesus, You make life better (by giving us Your life) and You make us better at life (as we walk in and with the Spirit). Amen.