What Christadelphians believe about ...

Man

What is the Bible's view of man?

The Bible reveals that man is a living soul or creature, originally made of the dust of the ground, in the image of God.

• "The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul" (Genesis. 2:7).
• "In the image of God created He him" (Genesis 1:27).
• "He knoweth our frame: He remembereth that we are dust" (Psalm 103:14).

Is man in any way immortal?

Man is a mortal being, who dies and returns to the dust.

• "That which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other … all are of the dust and all turn to dust again" (Ecclesiastes 3:19-20).
• "What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? Shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave?" (Psalm 89:48).

Has man any conscious existence in death?

Man has no existence of any kind in death. He is dead, entirely dead, for the time being, and knows no more than if he had never been born.

• "The living know that they shall die, but the dead know not anything; their love, and their hatred, and their envy is now perished" (Ecclesiastes 9:5).
• "In death there is no remembrance of Thee" (Psalm 6:5).
• "His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth, in that very day his thoughts perish" (Psalm 146:3-4).

Why is man in his present mortal and evil state?

Man is mortal because of sin. It is God's law that sinners must die. Adam, our first father, sinned, and was sentenced to death before he had any children. Death began with him, and came to us through him. We receive the nature that he had after he was condemned to die. We thus inherit his sentence of death. Besides this, we are all sinners ourselves.

• "The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23).
• "By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men" (Romans 5:12).
• "Because thou hast eaten of the tree which I commanded thee not to eat . . . dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return" (Genesis 3:17-19).
• "By the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation" (Romans 5:18).
• "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).

Does God intend that the human race shall always be subject to its present evil state?

No. He purposes to take away sin from the earth altogether, and to cause death to cease.

• "I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death.
  O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction" (Hosea 13:14).
• "He will swallow up death in victory" (Isaiah 25:8).
• "There shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying" (Revelation 21:4).