MANKIND

About

THE DOCTRINE OF MAN

What We Believe and Teach About Mankind

Ike Ozuome

1/2/2023

We believe and teach that man was created by a direct and immediate act of God and in God’s own image and likeness. We believe this image of God in man reveals God’s perspective of man’s worth and dignity as a representative or a shadow of Himself in the created world. This means that God has placed in man a shadow of Himself and a representation of His presence in the world that He has made (Genesis 1:26-27).

We also believe and teach that man was made to worship God and to enjoy Him forever (Isaiah 43:7; Revelation 4:11). We believe and teach that man by transgression fell from a state of righteousness and holiness in which he was first created this act was exceedingly offensive to God. The human race sinned in Adam (Romans 5:12) that sin is universal in man (Romans 3:23). Because of this single act, man incurred death, which is separation from God, upon himself and all his posterity. Thus, all mankind inherited a sinful nature unable to remedy its lost estate because of the fall of Adam (Ephesians 2:1-5, 12).

We believe and teach that without Jesus Christ, man cannot have a relationship with God (1 Timothy 2:5). In Christ, man is all God means him to be, in majesty and dignity, and in joy before His throne forever (2 Corinthians 5:17-19). All men are guilty and in a lost condition apart from Christ (Romans 2:1). This means man is in total spiritual depravity—a state of death in trespasses and sins in which he is held as a "slave of sin" and "an enemy of God," being unable to attain divine righteousness by his own efforts, but must be redeemed and delivered by the power of the gospel (Romans 5:12-21; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4).