What Is Man? by: Pastor Jose V. Velasco, Jr.

What Is Man?

By: Pastor Jose V. Velasco, Jr.

 This is a question asked by the Psalmist, a poet prominent in the Bible (Psalm 8:4). The 

term man here should also include woman. Our answer to this question is very fundamental because to a large extent it determines how we regard and treat our fellow human beings.  When our view of a human accords with the Biblical view then we shall regard and treat him/her with love, dignity, respect and worth. But if we regard a human lesser and lower than the Biblical view then we treat him/her as a means to our selfish ends, treat him/her with brutality and disrespect when we dislike him/her. So what is man?

   Foremost of all, the Bible says that man was created in God’s image (Gen. 1:26-27). This does not mean physically because God has no physical body. He is a spirit. (Jn. 4:24). In some spiritual sense man is like God. He is like God in his ability to think. Of course, in a lower way other creatures think, too, to meet their biological needs. But not in the level that humans do. Man can think and study intricate matters. Humans can think of and believe in God. They can learn and obey His will. This is the highest that man can attain in his intellectual activity. So he worships. This makes him a spiritual being. Then he is a moral being like God. God endowed him with the ability to distinguish between good and bad and has the capacity to choose either or both. Man, like God, can relate. Man is a social and gregarious being.  We seek the company of others. Good relationship with God should lead to good relationship with others, and vice versa. Man is also creative. God enjoined him “Be fruitful and increase in number” (Gen. 1:28). Obviously, this meant multiply by procreation. But it also included creativity in other aspects like arts. Man creates beautiful music, drama, and paintings. By architectural engineering he sets up elegant buildings, and through imagination he lays out lovely botanical gardens.

   In the Bible being like God is tantamount to being His child. In Matthew 5:44-45 being like God in love is being His child. Paul says that being God’s children people should be like Him (Eph. 5:1). So, because man is a child of God he has dignity and worth. God crowned him with glory and honor (Psalm 8:5). He must be treated with love and respect. Whatever we do to man, good or bad, also affects his Creator and Father. God is either pleased or offended.

   A big responsibility was entrusted to man. He is to occupy the earth and subdue it. He must “rule over the fish of the sea and birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground” (Gen. 1:28). God appointed man to be the care-taker and manager of His creation. Much that God created are raw materials. Man must explore these, develop and use them to his benefit. He must not destroy nor waste them. In his role as a care taker man is accountable to God. He must make sure that what he does to God’s creation pleases and glorifies the Creator.