The Nature of Man

It is important to understand the nature of men, before the fall to understand what happened at the fall and why we need a saviour. Justification , sanctification and glorification are solutions to the 3 dimenstions of the sin problem which are

1. Require penalty
2. Reigning Power
3. Remaining Presence

of sin

Before The Fall

God made men upright, holy and sinless. That was the condition of man before the fall.

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

— Genesis 1:26-27

God did not create man sinful. Adam came forth from the hand of his Maker without the taint of evil.

— Ellen G. White, ST August 26, 1897, par. 4

Man was created with no taint of evil.

Adam listened to the specious sophistry of Satan and received it as truth. He had originally the wonderful gift of a sinless nature.

— Ellen G. White, 20LtMs, Lt 83, 1905, par. 13

What did the sinless nature actually consist of.

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

— Genesis 2:7

And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ

— 1 Thessalonians 5:23

The nature of man is threefold, and the training enjoined by Solomon comprehends the right development of the physical, intellectual, and moral powers

— Ellen G. White, Child Guidance 39.1

When Adam came from the Creator’s hand, he bore, in his physical, mental, and spiritual nature, a likeness to his Maker. “God created man in His own image” (Genesis 1:27), and it was His purpose that the longer man lived the more fully he should reveal this image—the more fully reflect the glory of the Creator. All his faculties were capable of development; their capacity and vigor were continually to increase.

— Ellen G. White, Education 15.1

Man was to bear God’s image, both in outward resemblance and in character. Christ alone is “the express image” (Hebrews 1:3) of the Father; but man was formed in the likeness of God. His nature was in harmony with the will of God. His mind was capable of comprehending divine things. His affections were pure; his appetites and passions were under the control of reason. He was holy and happy in bearing the image of God and in perfect obedience to His will.

— Ellen G. White, Partriarchs and Prophets 45.2

In the social dimension of our being, God has created us in His image, by creating us a plurality with a social nature and with a desire for oneness; and the family, the marriage, is to reveal the glory of God. It's to tell the world of the beautiful, love-uniting unity... the love union that can be ours in Jesus Christ. Not only socially did God make us in His image according to His likeness, but spiritually, mentally, and physically as well. Spiritually, He gave us faculties like unto His own: the capacity to understand and appreciate the things of God; The capacity to commune with God, to hear His voice, to respond to Him through our conscience. These are spiritual faculties.

Mentally, we are in God's image. We have faculties like unto God, the capacity to reason, the capacity to remember, the capacity to choose freely. We have a free will, which by the way, is essential in order for us to be able to develop a character. We must be able to choose, for the love of God, to do the right, in order to become Christ-like in character.

Physically though, God created us in His image according to His likeness. We were created to reveal the form of God, who is Spirit. God does not, at least did not, at the time of creation, have flesh and bone like we do. When the Word became flesh John 1:14, He assumed our physical flesh and bone, and He still has it. But back then, before the incarnation, God still had form, even though He was Spirit; and my dear friends, we were created to reveal that form. The Bible speaks of God's hand, God's mouth, God's eye, God's ear, God's walking, God's sitting. God has a mouth. Though He's Spirit, He has a form; and that form has a mouth, and He speaks from that mouth. How do I know that? Because we have a mouth and we were created in His image. Gen 1:26 Jesus had a mouth; and Jesus said, "If you've seen Me you've seen the Father." Jn 14:9. Not only in character, but in form, in person Jesus was a revelation of His Father's glory. His glorious image, His glorious likeness, was revealed in the person of Jesus, even in His physical body.

It certainly was not God’s purpose that man should be sinful. He created him pure and noble, with no bias to evil. He placed him in the garden of Eden, surrounding him with every inducement to remain true to his allegiance. He placed His law around him as a safeguard.

— Ellen G. White, RH September 24, 1901, par. 2

The Fall

And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

— Genesis 2:15-17

Through the temptation to self-indulgence and ambition, Satan accomplished the fall of our first parents; and from that time to the present the gratification of human ambition and the indulgence of selfish hopes and desires have proved the ruin of mankind. (RH, January 16, 1913 par. 3)

— Ellen G. White, Counsels To Teachers 32.3

And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, 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.

— Genesis 3:6

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.

— 1 John 2:16

With the terrible weight of the sins of the world upon Him, Christ withstood the test upon appetite, upon the love of the world, and upon that love of display which leads to presumption. These were the temptations that overcame Adam and Eve, and that so readily overcome us.

— Ellen G. White, Desire Of Ages 116.4

It was distrust of God's goodness, disbelief of His word, and rejection of His authority, that made our first parents transgressors, and that brought into the world a knowledge of evil. It was this that opened the door to every species of falsehood and error.

— Ellen G. White, Education 25.2

After The Fall

In what consisted the strength of the assault made upon Adam, which caused his fall? It was not indwelling sin; for God made Adam after His own character, pure and upright. There were no corruptprinciples in the first Adam, no corrupt propensities or tendencies to evil. Adam was as faultless asthe angels before God's throne. These things are inexplainable, but many things which now we cannot understand will be made plain when we shall see as we are seen, and know as we are known (Letter 191, 1899).

— Ellen G. White, 1 Bible Commentary 1083.6

Man was originally endowed with noble powers and a well-balanced mind. He was perfect in his being, and in harmony with God. His thoughts were pure, his aims holy. BUT through disobedience, his powers were perverted, and selfishness took the place of love. His nature became so weakened through transgression that it was impossible for him, in his own strength, to resist the power of evil. He was made captive by Satan, and would have remained so forever had not God specially interposed. It was the tempter's purpose to thwart the divine plan in man's creation, and fill the earth with woe and desolation. And he would point to all this evil as the result of God's work in creating man.

— Ellen G. White, Steps To Christ 17.1

Selfishness is the essence of depravity, and because human beings have yielded to its power, the opposite of allegiance to God is seen in the world today. Nations, families, and individuals are filled with a desire to make self a center. Man longs to rule over his fellow men. Separating himself in his egotism from God and his fellow beings, he follows his unrestrained inclinations. He acts as if the good of others depended on their subjection to his supremacy.

— Ellen G. White, Counsels on Stewardship 24.2

But they were told that their nature had become depraved by sin; they had lessened their strength to resist evil and had opened the way for Satan to gain more ready access to them. In their innocence they had yielded to temptation; and now, in a state of conscious guilt, they would have less power to maintain their integrity.

— Ellen G. White, Patriarchs And Prophets 61.4

Man has fallen. God's image in him is defaced. By disobedience he is depraved in inclination and weakened in power, unable, apparently, to look forward to anything but tribulation and wrath. But God, through Christ, has wrought out a way of escape, and He says to every one, "Be ye therefore perfect." It is His purpose that man shall stand before Him upright and noble, and He will not be defeated. He sent His Son to this world to bear the penalty of sin, and to show man how to live a sinless life.

— Ellen G. White, Signs Of the Times, March 30, 1904.1

1. Sinful propensities – nature was perverted, deranged, depraved, in all his powers of mind, body, and spirit on account of sin. A bent to evil, naturally selfish.

2. Innocent infirmities – nature was weakened, deteriorated, diminished of body, mind, and spirit, subject to death. The unavoidable consequence of sin.

When Adam apostatized, he placed himself on Satan's side; his nature became evil, and he became separated from God. Had there been no interference on the part of God, Satan and man would have formed an alliance against heaven, and together they would have carried on a battle against God. There is not a natural enmity between fallen angels and fallen man. Naturally both are united in rebellion against good. Evil, wherever it exists, will always league with evil against good, so that naturally fallen angels and fallen men are linked in a desperate companionship.

— Ellen G. White, Review And Herald, May 3, 1906.2

God declares: "I will put enmity." This enmity is not naturally entertained. When man transgressed the divine law, his nature became evil, and he was in harmony, and not at variance, with Satan. There exists naturally no enmity between sinful man and the originator of sin. Both became evil through apostasy. The apostate is never at rest, except as he obtains sympathy and support by inducing others to follow his example. For this reason fallen angels and wicked men unite in desperate companionship. Had not God specially interposed, Satan and man would have entered into an alliance against Heaven; and instead of cherishing enmity against Satan, the whole human family would have been united in opposition to God.

— Ellen G. White, Signs Of The Times, December 2, 1913

GC 505.2

When Adam and Eve were placed in the Garden of Eden, they were innocent and sinless, in perfect harmony with God. Enmity had no natural existence in their hearts. But when they transgressed, their nature was no longer sinless. They became evil, for they had placed themselves on the side of the fallen foe, doing the very things that God specified they should not do. Had there been no interference on the part of God, fallen humans would have formed a firm alliance with Satan against heaven.

— Ellen G. White, CTr 28.5

But should they once yield to temptation, their nature would become so depraved that in themselves they would have no power and no disposition to resist Satan.

— Ellen G. White, Patriarchs And Prophets 53.2

When man sinned, all heaven was filled with sorrow; for through yielding to temptation, man became the enemy of God, a partaker of the Satanic nature. The image of God in which he had been created was marred and distorted. The character of man was out of harmony with the character of God; for through sin man became carnal, and the carnal heart is enmity against God, is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. To the angels there seemed to be no way of escape for the transgressor. They ceased their songs of praise, and throughout the heavenly courts there was mourning for the ruin sin had wrought. Out of harmony with the nature of God, unyielding to the claims of his law, naught but destruction was before the human race.

— Ellen G. White, Signs Of The Times, February 13, 1893.6

By rebellion and apostasy man forfeited the favor of God; not his rights, for he could have no value except as it was invested in God's dear Son. This point must be understood. He forfeited those privileges which God in His mercy presented him as a free gift, a treasure in trust to be used to advance His cause and His glory, to benefit the beings He had made. The moment the workmanship of God refused obedience to the laws of God's kingdom, that moment he became disloyal to the government of God and he made himself entirely unworthy of all the blessings wherewith God had favored him. This was the position of the human race after man divorced himself from God by transgression. Then he was no longer entitled to a breath of air, a ray of sunshine, or a particle of food. And the reason why man was not annihilated was because God so loved him that He made the gift of His dear Son that He should suffer the penalty of his transgression.

— Ellen G. White, Faith And Works 21.1, 2

Adam listened to the words of the tempter, and yielding to his insinuations, fell into sin. Why was not the death penalty at once enforced in his case?–Because a ransom was found. God's only begotten Son volunteered to take the sin of man upon himself, and to make an atonement for the fallen race. There could have been no pardon for sin had this atonement not been made. Had God pardoned Adam's sin without an atonement, sin would have been immortalized, and would have been perpetuated with a boldness that would have been without restraint. Remember how soon after the transgression of Adam the apostasy of his posterity became so marked that God repented that He had made man. They followed the imaginations of their evil hearts, and the strivings of the Spirit were not heeded. They refused to be admonished. They had an abundance of blessings for their own enjoyment, and they soon forgot that they had forfeited immortality.

— Ellen G. White, Review And Herald, April 23, 1901.9

The instant man accepted the temptations of Satan, and did the very things God had said he should not do, Christ, the Son of God, stood between the living and the dead, saying, "Let the punishment fall on Me. I will stand in man's place. He shall have another chance"

— Ellen G. White, 1 Bible Commentary 1085.2

For the sake of his dear Son the Father forbears a while the execution of death, and to Christ he commits the fallen race.

— Ellen G. White, 3 Spiritual Gifts 46.3

Adam and Eve were given a probation in which to return to their allegiance, and in this plan all their posterity were embraced.

— Ellen G. White, Conflicts And Courage 20.6