IS MAN JUST A CLEVER ANIMAL? (Genesis 1:27-30)

IS MAN JUST A CLEVER ANIMAL? (Genesis 1:27-30)

Today’s message is about the supreme question that divides the secular world that believes in evolution, and those who believe in the creation of all things by God.  The Bible tells us that on the sixth day, God created the man and the beasts of the field.  Now, that means that there must be a relationship between the two.  Today, I want to look at that relationship and answer the question, Is Man Just a Clever Animal?

When we stop and compare men and the animals, we can see a similarity in design, a similarity in diet, a similarity in death.  Now, we need to recognize the similarities between man and the animals, but I also want you to see the differences between men and animals.  

Not only does man have a craving for Deity, and not only does man have a capability for dominion, but man also has a capacity for depravity that animals don’t have. Animals cannot sin, but on the other hand, animals can’t love God.  In order for men to love God, they have to have the capacity, or the capability, to sin. God gave man that ability. You ask, “How could men sin if God made everything perfect?” Well, when God made man, God made him with the capacity to choose. And God had to make him with the capacity to choose. If he didn’t have the capacity to choose, he wouldn’t be a man.

But, most importantly, man has a conception of his destiny. He has a comprehension of the fact that he is going to die. But he knows that doesn’t end it all. You cannot crawl up in the grave and pull the dirt over your face and hide from God. When God made you, God made you in His image. God breathed into your nostrils the breath of life.  You could no more cease to exist than God Himself could cease to exist.  You’re going to exist somewhere—dateless, timeless, endless, measureless. Your soul is worth more than all of the stocks, the bonds, the gold, the silver, the schools, the railroads put together. 

Animals are not going to live forever. When an animal dies, he’s dead.  There was a time when you were not, but there never again will be a time when you shall not be. You were created in the image of God. God says something about man that He doesn’t say about the animals. The Bible says that He made the animals, but He created you. He took animals and made them out of preexisting stuff, but God did a unique creation when He made you, and you are made in His image, and man has a concern for his destiny. I hope you have a concern for your destiny as well. 

Click on the play button to hear a message that answers the question, Is Man Just a Clever animal?

This is a live recording of The Master’s Class Bible Study at LifeChange Church Wichita, KS.

Amen.