Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - Mar/94

Contributor - Rev. Dr. John H. Muller

Title - The Human Tragedy

Topic - Belgic Confession

Human beings were created by God. God formed us, both man and woman. We were created in God's own image and likeness. Our CONFESSION states, in Article 14, that "we believe that God created man from the dust of the earth and made and formed him in His image and likeness - good, just and holy; able by his own will to conform in all things to the will of God."

This clearly means that human beings are not merely children of nature or products of natural forces. Some would claim that we are only gadgets on the assembly line of life. Others follow the evolutionary line that man is an animal.

To be created in the image of God gives us an entirely different status. The CONFESSION notes that we are good, just and holy, and able to conform to the will of God. The "good" part comes from the end of Genesis 1, where God declared that everything He had made was very good. The righteous and holy description comes from Ephesians 4:24, where Paul describes a new nature that was created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Here the image of God is regained through conversion.

We were also made so that we can willingly conform to the will of God. In paradise there was perfect harmony between will and deed, and between God's will and human will.

But our CONFESSION is realistic, dealing with man's present true condition.

"When he was in honour he did not understand it and did not recognize his excellence. But he subjected himself willingly to sin and consequently to death and the curse, lending his ear to the word of the devil." This realistic picture of human nature is faithful to what God teaches about it.

This picture of human nature is as relevant today as when it was written. By the instigation of the devil, Adam willfully subjected himself to sin. The consequence was the fall "death and the curse". This death was separation from God and corruption of his entire nature.

"Sin, with in its essence is rebellion against God, became a part of man's inmost being so that he became wicked, perverse, and corrupt in all his ways. This is admittedly hard language, but no more so than the language of Luther and Calvin, of Augustine, or of Scripture. Nor is it untrue to the harsh realities of life. The downward drag of sin is checked to some degree in all men by common grace, but man's sin is such that by nature he is prone to hate God and his neighbour." (Osterhaven)

"all the light in us is turned to

darkness... man is nothing but

the slave of sin, and cannot

do a thing unless it is given

him from heaven.

It may seem that this evaluation of mankind is extreme, but it is very true. It offers an adequate explanation for the events of human history. It relates closely to the conditions we observe in our day. People may challenge our view and even despise it, but our daily newspapers and the television news back it up every day.

Sometimes your doctor may give you a report which is unpleasant to hear, but he is duty-bound to present it to you honestly. So the Christian church must be faithful to Scripture and present the facts concerning the degradation of our human nature.

The Fall is the sad story of how man deviated from the high estate God gave him at creation. From a position of righteousness and true holiness in which he knew and loved his Creator, he sank to the sad level described so vividly in Romans 1: 18 ff. "He lost all his excellent gifts which he had received from God, and he retained none of them except for small traces which are enough to make him inexcusable".

The CONFESSION goes on to state that "all the light in us is turned to darkness," and that "man is nothing but the slave of sin, and cannot do a thing unless it is given him from heaven."

We are not talking about some unreal person (Adam) or some fanciful garden (Eden), but we are speaking about a real person who lived in a real situation, which brought about disastrous results that reach on down to you and to me

The CONFESSION continues by telling us that we cannot boast of anything in ourselves. "No man can come to me (Jesus said) unless my Father who sent me draws him." We certainly cannot glory in our own wills when we understand that "the mind of the flesh is enmity against God." We cannot speak of our own knowledge in view of the fact that "the natural man does not understand the things of the Spirit of God". We cannot even produce a single thought about ourselves, since our ability is from God".

It is only when "God works within us both to will and to do according to His good pleasure" that our lives are good and meaningful. Christ must be involved in our lives, for He said: "Without me you can do nothing".

Our condition, because of the first Adam, is a sad one, but there is hope and life because of the second Adam, our Lord Jesus Christ, who justifies us by His grace, and makes us heirs of eternal life.

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