Back in the world's springtime, when
nature was dressed in her pristine glory, God said, "Let
us make man in our image, after our likeness" (Genesis
1:26). Of nothing else of his creation is this said. Man
is marked out as separate and distinct from all the rest
of creation. He is of the creation, but rises to a
higher plane, and possesses a something seen in nothing
else. We read further, "So God created man in his own
image, in the image of God created he him; male and
female created he them" (Genesis 1:27).
This was not a physical image and
likeness, for such it could not be, inasmuch as God is
not physical and does not possess physical organs. It
must, then, relate to his mental and moral being. In
reason, judgment, choice, con science, etc., he is in
God's image but we are concerned at present only with
his attribute of holiness. As he came from the hand of
God he was pure and holy. There was not in him a single
element of defilement. God looked upon him and
pronounced him very good, and was well pleased. The wise
man, speaking of man's original state, says, "Lo, this
only have I found, that God hath made man upright"
(Ecclesiastes 7:29).
It was as natural for him
to love God as to love anything else. He was blameless,
and though without experience he could readily yield
himself to all God's will. There was no barrier between
himself and God. There was no hindrance to fellowship
and intercourse. His pure soul shrank not from God. He
knew no fear, but in the presence of his Maker walked as
a son with his father. What halcyon days were those! But
alas! that happy state did not continue.
One thing had been prohibited. That
prohibition was violated, and in consequence a cloud
overspread the heavens. His conscience knew for the
first time the sense of guilt and shame. The sweet,
sympathetic fellowship between his soul and God was
broken. He trembled and shrank n fear. His innocence was
gone - that greatest charm, that which endeared him to
the Father-heart. Then followed a life of sin, and when
he begat a son, the child was in his father's own image.
From that time on the current of human lie has been a d
ark and murky stream.
Some tell us that man has never fallen,
that he is now in as high a position as he has ever
occupied in the moral scale. This, however, is contrary
to the Scriptures, as well as to reason. When we look at
his present condition and compare that with what the
Bible shows him to have been at his creation, we rather
marvel that he has fallen so far. The Bible deals with
him everywhere as a fallen creature, one who is corrupt
and defiled. Thus the record expresses it: "An d God
looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for
all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth" (Genesis
6:12). God manifested his displeasure by destroying the
old world.
The posterity of Noah traveled the
same path. Hosea, viewing the situation in his day,
exclaimed, "They have deeply corrupted themselves"
(Hosea 9:9). So the current flows on. Paul draws a dark
picture in the first chapter of Romans and elsewhere. It
is true that man did not lose all. There is in him yet
some elements of nobility, some godlike qualities; but
these are, as it were, only a few good things that have
survived the wreck of his life. And when God looks upon
him, he sees not one holy element; and when he begins to
make something of him, he must begin at the beginning
and make of him a new
creature.
The Motive Purpose of His
Life
Man's character is the opposite of God's.
God is essentially benevolent; man is essentially
selfish. The natural man does not inquire what is the
will of God regarding him. He is not concerned in
pleasing God. The thing that he desires most of all is
to please himself. If he may do this, he asks nothing
more. He lives for this alone. If he may but gratify all
his own desires, he asks for nothing more. He does not
believe that he is moved by such a motive; he does not
stop to consider it. In fact, he is likely to suppose
that he is moved by very different considerations. God
says, "Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their
soul delighteth in their abominations" (Isaiah 66:3).
Again he says, "They hated knowledge, and did not choose
the fear of the Lord: they would none of my counsel:
they despised all my reproof" (Proverbs
1:29,30).
His Attitude Toward God Man ordinarily
supposes that he is on quite friendly terms with God, at
least so far as his own feelings are concerned. He looks
upon the law of God and recognizes it as a very high and
worthy law. He assents that man should give to it a
ready obedience. Very often he is pleased to see others
turn from sin to righteousness. Like Paul, he may
delight in the law of God after the inward man. He may
approve of it as being most excellent. He may even
praise it most highly. He may sit in t he congregation
of the righteous and find much pleasure in listening to
the Word of God. There may be many things in it that he
is glad to see reflected in his own life; but when it
comes to submitting himself to this law and making it
the law of his life and conforming himself to it in
detail, another element immediately asserts itself. He
finds at once a great reluctance, and if pressed, this
reluctance shows itself in rebellion. So long as he can
do just as he likes and still fulfill t he Word of God,
he is pleased to do so. As long as his desires run
parallel with the desires of God, he delights in that
law; but when his desires are crossed, when he is
required to forego them, he at once rebels. And the more
God's claims are pressed upon him, the more determined
does his rebellion become.
His obedience, so far
as he does obey, is essentially selfish. He obeys only
because it pleases him to obey. Paul, speaking to the
Colossians, tells them their former state, saying,
"You...were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind
by wicked works" (Colossians 1;21). To the Romans he
says, "We were enemies" (Romans 5:10). Speaking of the
unregenerate, he says that they are "haters of God"
(Romans 1:30). This is the verdict of God. He knows the
true state of their hearts. His verdict is true and it
is final. There is no element in the sinful man that is
truly friendly toward God, at least before his heart
begins to yield to God. He is everywhere pictured as a
rebel, one who has defied the authority of God and is
standing in open hostility to him. And this, unless he
repents, will be his attitude through life, and through
the ceaseless ages of eternity. The best unsaved man is
not at heart better than
this.
God's Attitude Toward the
Sinner
But what is God's attitude toward
unregenerate man? It has been said that God hates sin,
but he loves the sinner. Is this true? Let us hear the
voice of inspiration, "Thou hatest all the workers of
iniquity...The Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful
man" (Psalms 5:5, 6). Does that express an attitude of
affection? Again, we read, "The wicked and him that
loveth violence his soul hateth. Upon the wicked he
shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible
tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup. For the
righteous Lord loveth righteousness" (Psalms 11:5-7).
Read also the following texts: Leviticus 20:23; 26:30;
Deuteronomy 32:19. We read further, "God is angry with
the wicked every day" (Psalms 7:11). God is not so meek
and indulgent that nothing will arouse his indignation.
He hates all that is hateful. He could not love
righteousness without hating iniquity. He could not love
the righteous without hating the wicked. To love both
would be to abolish a ll moral distinctions. Of the
impenitent sinner it is said, "The wrath of God abideth
on him" (John 3:36). We are not to understand that God
hates the sinner as an individual apart from his sins
and his sinful disposition. It is only sin that renders
him hateful, but man is responsible for his state of
sinfulness and chooses to be what he knows he ought not
to be; therefore to deal with the sin God must deal with
the man.
Not only does God hate man's sin, every
sinful word, thought, and deed, but he also hates every
evil desire. The natural man loves evil. That love of
evil, which is a part of his nature, God abhors. All
desire that runs out after impurity or for that which is
unholy merits and excites God's indignation and
abhorrence. Every evil ambition that arises in his soul
repels God. Every evil disposition, every evil feeling,
hatred, envy, malice, revenge, selfishness, pride,
jealousy, deceit, hypocrisy, and all the long catalog of
evil things, of which man's heart is the source, are
obnoxious to God. All tendency to resist the Holy
Spirit, or to array oneself against the will of God, all
rebellion at his providences, can excite in God only
hatred. How often man rejects his own reason and stifles
his conscience! how often he hardens his heart! Can God
love the thing in him that causes him to do this? He can
love only what is lovable; and only what is pure and
holy can appear lovable to a holy God. All else he hates
and must hate with all the strength of his
character.
Sinner, look this squarely in the
face. Your self-complacency may suffer, your conscience
may be troubled, your fears be aroused, but the picture
is not overdrawn. Look over it again carefully. Look at
yourself in the mirror of God's Word, and think what it
means to have God for your enemy. Think what it will
mean before the great judgment-seat, think what it will
mean in eternity, and turn from your sins before the day
of wrath.
God is just and can treat sin and the
sinner only as justice demands, or at least cannot go
contrary to those demands. He is also merciful and
loving. And his attitude toward the sinner, an attitude
different from that just considered, is expressed thus:
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not
perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his
Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the
world through him might b e saved" (John 3:16.17).
Again, we read, "For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to
forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call
upon thee. Thou art ... a God full of compassion, and
gracious, long-suffering, and plenteous in mercy"
(Psalms 86 :5,15). God is so full of love that John
calls him love. He is "our Father which art in heaven."
His mercy endureth forever. He loves the sinner. "While
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." God loves men
because they are his sons, the work of his own creative
power, even though they have gone astray. He loves them
because of his own benevolence; he loves them because of
the sacrifice he has made for them. He loves all the
lovable qualities that he sees in them. He loves all the
possibilities for good and nobility and holiness, and he
pities them as "a father pitieth his children." And so
God's hand of mercy is outstretched toward sinners. His
heart yearns over them. He invites them to come back
from their wanderings, to turn away from their sins, and
holds out to them the promise of a full pardon and a
glorious reconciliation.
These two widely
different attitudes God holds toward every sinner. So
long as the sinner is impenitent, love cannot reach him,
and mercy cannot save; but as soon as the heart is
softened into penitence and turns away from self to God,
a welcome a waits him, the arms of love enfold him, and
the past is all forgiven. God does not desire to hate
the sinner. He is compelled to do so. But as soon as the
sinner gives him opportunity by changing his attitude
toward God from rebellion to submission, God changes his
attitude toward him into one of tenderest love and
pity.
