Continuing along the “Brief Statements of Faith,” I turn now to a statement on Humanity.

The Bible teaches that human beings were created in the image of God, not that they emerged through the millennia by process of natural selection and evolution.  Instead, humanity was created in the image of God, as the crown jewel of creation, given blessing and charge by God to be fruitful and multiply, to have dominion over all the earth.  As the Psalmist says, “What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor” (Psalm 8:4–5(ESV).  Created and blessed by God, our first parents enjoyed communion with God and lived for God’s glory as they obeyed His Word.

Still, when tempted by the questioning of God’s Word, Adam and Eve defied God’s commandment and chose to be gods for themselves, placing themselves in the center of creation.  Because of their willful disobedience, sin and death entered into the human heart, and yet we reenact that original sin every time we disobey God.  The corruption of sin is so complete and pervasive that humanity is now broken, no longer living for the glory of God and the joy of His presence.  We choose darkness over light, the momentary pleasures of sin over the eternal blessing of righteousness – “none is righteous, no not one… for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:10, 23).

There exists now a great divide between God and all of humanity.  Our sinfulness prevents us from entering into and joyfully celebrating the glory of God.  Our most righteous efforts to atone for our sins are still laced with sin, the price for our redemption is more than we could ever pay, it is beyond our ability to save ourselves.  Sin’s stain touches everything we do, it is destructive, contagious, polluting, and deadly.  We are not sinners because we sin, we sin because we are sinners.

As such, we stand before our God, who is holy and just, condemned in our sin.  We owe to God a debt we cannot pay.  Humanity needs a savior.

SDG