Man/ human being: created or evolved?

“What a piece of work is a man!” as William Shakespeare's wrote in the play, Hamlet. Comprising of about 100 billion neurons and 37.2 trillion cells, human being / man is indeed a marvellous and wonderful workmanship.

The origin of the word “man”: Traditionally the word – man- was used to designate any or the entire human race regardless of sex. Hence the word ‘man’ was originally gender neutral, which has more or less same meaning as modern day word “person”. In fact, this is the oldest use of the word.

In Old English the principal sense of man was "a human," and the words wer and wyf were used to refer to "a male human" and "a female human" respectively.

In Middle English man displaced wer as the term for "a male human," while wyfman (which evolved into present-day woman) was retained for "a female human." The word “wif” itself eventually evolved into “wife”.

The word man continued to co-exist carrying its original sense of "a human,”. This may be the reason why the use of the term man is supposedly sexist.

The origin of the word “human”: Modern English ‘human’ has separate origins. It comes from Latin hûmânus, "human". The man portion is coincidental.

The root word of human are HUM & HUMAN which come from the Latin humus, meaning EARTH & GROUND and the Latin humanus which means MAN.

The origin of the word human is in tune with the Bible [Genesis 3:19(b)] reads “For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return."

When was the word 'being' first used to refer to a human being or living being?

The word "being" implies “something that is" / "something that exists".

Human was first used in the 12th century in English. Samuel Johnson is listed by the Oxford English Dictionary as the earliest usage of the word "being" in relation to "human beings."

The term "human being" is somewhat ambiguous in origin though with being occurring later in English indicating that from 1620s.

In Samuel Johnson's poem, "The Vanity of Human Wishes," he writes, "inevitable self-deception by which human beings are led astray," which may be the first use of the words "human" and "being" in the context of the term "human beings."

If evolution is true:

• Who am I? (No one / nothing)

• Where did I come from? (a big cosmic explosion 4.6 billion years ago),

• Why I am here? (No purpose) and

• Where I am going after death? (Recycled back to soil)

God is the God of creation. He is the God of all creation. He created everything which exist up above or down below. The culmination or zenith of His creation was man- Adam.

The best creation of God is us-you and me; we human beings- men and women. Of all His wonderful creations, we are our creator’s masterpiece. We are His greatest achievement.

Psalm 8:4 says “what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?”. Job 7:17 also says “what is man that you make so much of him, that you give him so much attention”.

Is man a mere animal?Most people would say that man is more than a mere animal.

The theory of evolution would say that man is highly developed animals from lower ones. They are the end product of chance collision of molecules or group of atoms.

But the Bible says that we are NOT result of an accident. We were planned. We have purpose and we have value and meaning in our existence.

“You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honour” (Psalm 8:5). Evolution sees man as one step above apes. But Bible sees him as one step below angels. Angels are part of first creation and are in nature closest to God. The angels are up in heaven while men are down here on earth.

What is said in Psalms 8:6-8 is reflected in Genesis chapters one and two. While Genesis chapter 1 depicts telescopic view of creation, chapter 2 gives microscopic view of creation. In chapter 1 we find that every act of creation is followed by the remarked “good”. However on the sixth day after creation of man it was described as “very good”.

1st day: light...“was GOOD.”

2nd day: the earth’s atmosphere… “ was GOOD.”

3rd day: vegetation …“ was GOOD.”

4th day: Sun, Moon and the stars… “was GOOD”

5th day: birds of the air and fish of the sea… “was GOOD.”

6th day - God created man… “was VERY GOOD.”

In everything else God created, He merely spoke and they appeared. But when God created man He climbed down into the mud and got His hands dirty. Nothing else in all of His creation required this kind of attention. Nothing else in all of His creation called for that much degree of His involvement. Because this part of creation was something that was made in God’s image. And unlike every other thing that God created, God breathed into him the breath of life (Genesis 2:7).

You and I are a special and valuable because God took His time making, forming and shaping our ancestor. The Bible says that man is created in the likeness of God. Man is totally unique among all of God’s creatures. We are the only beings created in the image and likeness of God. We are given the capability of being friends of God, of talking with Him and communicating with Him as one person to another.

After making all the wonder things of the world, God finished with His greatest creative act, the creation of man and woman. God put them in charge of everything. Everything in creation was made for them. Everything on the earth was made for man to enjoy.

Man is a three-fold being: body, soul and spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:23). Animals have a body and a soul but they have no spirit. A man has a body, a soul and a spirit. Soul is what differentiates a living being and a dead one, and spirit is what distinguishes a man and an animal. As we have spirit, we can have a close relationship with God. Our greatest responsibility is to find what God wants us to do and then do it.

Genesis Chapters 1 and 2 describes physical creation- flesh and blood. Though Adam was perfect, he was incomplete. He was without the Holy Spirit. The Resurrection-when humankind’s nature transform- will bring completeness in earthly human beings.

The purpose of man lies in God’s great salvation plan and His goal to make us like Him. He wants us to be part of His eternal family. Salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. For the believers, God’s Spirit was now inside them to remake them and remold them in His image so that they begin to look more and more like Him. “He must become greater; I must become less” (John 3:30).

Anyone who has change of mind, fully repented and baptized will become a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). The Christians are God’s best new creation. They are perfect and complete. They are endowed with full potential to grow and attain wholeness.

“Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made” (Isaiah 43:7). We are created to glorify God. To glorify God means He will be honoured / praised by what I and you do. “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). We Christians are His workmanship- created in Christ Jesus to perform good works (Ephesians 2:8-10).

You and I were made in the image of God. You are God’s best / greatest achievement; His masterpiece. He wants the best from you. Are you ready to give God your best?