Man is a Mystery. Up to this day no human being can fully understand the life-giving principle in man. Hence, there is no man who can be a master of his own life. All are subject to the phenomenon of death. In spite of all the researches conducted by men from time immemorial nothing has been discovered to make men live without end in this world.
From Sacred Scripture we read the following passages:
Genesis 2:27-28 – “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it, rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the sky, over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
Psalm 139: 14 – “I will give thanks to Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made…”
Matthew 25: 46 – “And these will go into eternal punishment, but the just to eternal life.”
2 Corinthians 4: 16 – “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.”
Isaiah 43: 7 – “Everyone who is called by My name, and whom I have created for My glory.”
From the above cited scriptural passages, man is considered as having the following attributes:
1.Created in the image of God
2.Has dominion over all creatures on earth
3.Is wonderfully made
4.Is endowed with an everlasting life
5.Is created for God’s glory
The image of God, I believe, is beyond man’s imagination. Hence, this attribute of man as being “created in the image of God” can only be seen from the characteristics that distinguishes man from all the other creatures in this world, namely: his ability to think, to make choices, and to love. These are characteristics which are inherent in the Gift of Freedom which enables man to think, to make decisions, to hate or to love. This Gift of Freedom is, therefore, what makes man like God, being bestowed with some measure of intelligence and a will power to decide.
What also makes man different from all the other creatures is his everlasting life. All creatures on this earth will, sooner or later, pass away with the passage of time. Man, however, is destined to live forever. This is what our Christian Faith tells us based on the Word of God in Sacred Scriptures. In John 10:28 Christ said: “…I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of My hand.” Also in John 11:25 Jesus said to Martha: “I am the resurrection and the life, he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies.”
This GIFT OF EVERLASTING LIFE is what makes man greater than any other creature in this world. The other so-called Wonders in this world may have amazing attributes in size, power and beauty, but all of them have a temporary existence. Man, however, is destined to live forever in the next life – a great privilege bestowed on him for God’s glory.
by: Buddy Cagurangan
July 31, 2011
July 31, 2011
