Roman Road Hall
What is Man ?
If the question, Who is God? has perplexed people for centuries, so too has the question:What is man? This is particularly true in our day and age. With all our knowledge and scientific progress, people are still not happy or satisfied. We may understand things today that baffled our forefathers. but we still cannot understand ourselves.
Are men and women only animals?
If there is no God, then man is only an animal, a physical being. This is a popular view today. We are told that mankind is the product of a mindless process of evolution. If this is so, our greatest needs are physical and material. Such things as prosperity and pleasure are all that matter. If there is no God, then we shouldeat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die. If there is no God, then life has little meaning, and right and wrong are simply what we like or dislike.
We are spiritual beings
But the Bible presents an altogether different (and more logical) picture. Man is a being made by God, for God and in the image of God. This does not mean a physical image, it means that you, like God, have a moral and rational nature you can reason, design, worship and explore like no other of Gods creations. You also have a conscience that tells you the difference between right and wrong, though at times you may ignore it.
The most important issue
Your need is that nothing should stand between you and God. Material problems, though not to be ignored, are no longer the main issue. The most important thing is to be right with God. If there is a God, then death is not the end, and you will only find a purpose in life when you seek him. To be accepted by God becomes of prime importance. Unlike all other creatures in this world, man alone can know God.
But if man is so privileged, why does he do so much evil?
Why all the killings and murders?
Why so much hatred and bitterness?
Why wars and hostility?
Why are we destroying the environment?
Why, in a world of plenty, do so many
die of starvation?
Why...? Why...? Why...?
The basic answer to these questions
is that something called sin has shattered
the image of God in man and destroyed
our knowledge of our Maker.