Nature of Man

[DJax]

If God created man in the image of Himself..."When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God" (Gen 5:1)...why did God create man to be evil? "...every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood." (Gen 8:21).

 

[calluna]

If God created man in the image of Himself..."When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God" (Gen 5:1)...why did God create man to be evil? "...every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood." (Gen 8:21).

If you quote from Ch 5, which is a repeat of the same statement in Ch 1 (v 27), you can make it look as though Ch 3 never happened.

 

[jjpasinella]

God NEVER created man to be evil. Genesis chapter 1 verse 31 states God saw all that he had made, and it was VERY GOOD. This is in regard to the earth and all its inhabitants (animals and Adam and Eve). I recently listened to a series of teachings by John Macarthur about the origins of sin, I urge you to listen to it, as it may answer your question(s), as I will admit I am not in a position with my knowledge to be teaching on the subject. Before Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the foribidden tree, it states in chapter 2 verse 25, The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame. The reason they felt no shame is because they held no knowledge of evil, therefore could not have evil or perverse thoughts. It wasn't until after they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil as it states in chapter 3 verse 7, Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves (as to hide their shame). And from there on out sin and evil runs rampant in society.

 

[Simonline]

Post deleted

 

[BrotherDave]

God did not create man to be evil. God created man and the angels perfect. This includes perfect free will and the capacity to sin. But, He told us if we sin we will die (Rom 6:23). And he tests us all the time (Psalms 11:5) to see if we will do as he commands.

God tested Adam and he disobeyed. In essence we were all with Adam the day he chose to disobey God’s only law and we were sentenced to spiritual death and all of creation was cursed. That is why we are wicked from the womb (Ps 58:3, Psalm 14:3) and why it is impossible for anyone to choose to serve God the way he requires or to accept him of their own free will. As in Adam all die. The proof is in the sin in our life. All sin is willful or deliberate; our own sin brings God’s wrath upon us because we are created in his image and are accountable (Ro 14:12) to him.

As for why it is in our nature to sin (Eph 2:2-3) only God knows that. My guess is perhaps this is another way God shows us how glorious He is. He does everything perfectly. Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness and he was able to make correct choices. Any other human would have failed (Ecc 7:20).

Adam had perfect conditions but he fell. Ancient Israel was chosen by God to represent Him. They witnessed great miracles and yet they constantly turned from God and were finally destroyed. Satan himself was an angel and his pride got him tossed from heaven along with a great legion of other angels. Look at today’s churches; they have their high places too and have strayed from humbly teaching God’s Word and giving him all the glory.

Thanks to the faithfulness of the Lord and mercy of God many are rescued from death because Christ has paid the wage for them. So, I believe our “free will” is influenced by our spiritual condition. Before being saved it is influenced by sin and Satan and not recognized by God. After being saved it is influenced by the Holy Spirit and our works are then truly good.

After God saves a person then every inclination of his heart is to do what is right (Gal 4:6) because God removes the stony dead heart (Ezekiel 36:26) and gives us one that is alive forever. This is being born again (I Peter 1:23, Titus 3:5) and why it is important to study the bible (Ro 10:17). God works through his Word.