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Man as God Intended - Christ in You Ministries PDF

234 Pages·2006·2.81 MB·English
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Man s a God Intended James A. Fowler Man As God Intended A Theological Survey from an Anthropological Perspective Ä James A. Fowler Å C.I.Y. PUBLISHING P.O. BOX1822 FALLBROOK, CALIFORNIA92088-1822 http://www.Christinyou.net MAN AS GOD INTENDED A Theological Survey from an Anthropological Perspective Copyright ©1994, 1998, 2005 by James A. Fowler All rights reserved. No part of this publiction may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (including photocopying, recording, digital transmission) without the prior written permission of the author, except for brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information contact author at C.I.Y. Publishing. Published by C.I.Y. Publishing P.O. Box 1822 Fallbrook, California 92088-1822 Printed in the United States of America ISBN xxx Cataloging-in-Publication Data Fowler, James A. Man as God Intended: ATheological Survey from an Anthropological Perspective. p. 1. Theology, Doctrine of Man 2. Anthropology, Theological 3. Man – Doctrine of I. Title Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible copyrighted 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1973, 1975 by the Lockman Foundation, LaHabra, California. Dedication With the utmost of gratitude, I dedicate this volume to sev- eral men who were instrumental in the formation of the thoughts herein. What these men shared became the spring- boards for the formulation of my own thinking and teaching. Major W. Ian Thomas has been my foremost spiritual men- tor. One week after I was regenerated and began to understand spiritual realities in 1973, Jim Morris of the Navigators handed me Major Thomas’book, The Saving Life of Christ. Soon thereafter I read The Mystery of Godliness which was even better suited to my theological mind. In fact, the title and theme of this book is a phrase that I borrowed from the teach- ing of Major Thomas. The three pastoral colleagues who were used of God to reveal my spiritual bankruptcy and the need for spiritual regeneration were also vessels used of God to assist in the for- mation of my life and thought from 1973 to 1981. Pastors Harry Jennings, Frank Miller and Vernon Whitmore essentially discipled me for almost eight years as we prayed together, studied together, and played golf together. It was Harry Jennings who first encouraged me to put these studies in writ- ten form, and I am sure he is rejoicing in heaven as they are now being disseminated in this book. James A. Fowler 2005 Acknowledgements I want to acknowledge and recognize . . . the various audiences, in churches, seminars, retreats, Bible schools and seminaries, who have graciously listened to these messages over the past thirty years. Your response, questions and challenges have been beneficial in the devel- opment and refinement of my thinking and teaching, . . . the participants of the Neighborhood Church who have listened to these themes for twenty-four years, . . . my sister, Sylvia Burnett, for editing assistance, . . . Kathie Larsen for a final edit and checking of scripture references, . . . and my dear wife, Gracie, who has often chided me for going into “screen-saver” mode as I pondered these spiritu- al realities. Table of Contents Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .i 11 What is Man? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 22 The Constitution of Man . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 33 The Fall of Man . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 44 The Natural Man . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41 55 The Perfect Man . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63 66 The Restoration of Man . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81 77 The Response of Man . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113 88 The Regeneration of Man . . . . . . . . . . . .135 99 The Fullness of God in Man . . . . . . . . . .153 1100 The Sanctification of Man . . . . . . . . . . .181 1111 The Responsibility of Man . . . . . . . . . . .191 1122 The End of Man . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .205 Endnotes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .217 Glossary of Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .223 i ii Foreword Caution must be exercised in approaching theological stud- ies from an anthropological perspective. One must never ele- vate the creature, man, above the Creator, God. The proper starting point of theology must always be the Being and char- acter of God. Acting out of His own Being, always consistent with His character, God created all things, and man was the highest life-form of the created order of this physical world. Much of theology, therefore, pertains to the interactions of God and mankind. The redemptive acts of God, in His Son Jesus Christ, are even more specifically related to mankind in the Self-revelation of God in His Son, whereby the “Word became flesh” (John 1:14), and the “man Christ Jesus” (I Tim. 2:5) engaged Himself to redeem and restore humanity. So, although our stated subject matter is “man,” humanity is not our focal point, but we focus on God in Christ and His divine activity with man, in order that “man might be man as God intended man to be.” (The phrase is not original with the author, but must be credited to British Bible teacher, Major W. Ian Thomas, from whose teaching the author has greatly bene- fited.) In this age of gender sensitivities, a word of explanation is probably necessary concerning the use of “man” throughout this book. “Man,” as used in the title and elsewhere in the text, is a generic reference to mankind or humanity. Although brief mention will be made to the sexual division of humanity into male and female genders, the predominance of our theological concern transcends gender specificity. Whether male or female, we are part of the generic classification of mankind, who are “made one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28). In addition, let it be noted that pronominal references to the human race will retain the traditional masculine gender (i.e. “he,” “his,” “him”) with no intended slight or denigration of the female gender. This volume is not intended to be a technical treatise of academic theology, so technical terminology has been kept to a minimum – utilized only where precision of explanation is facilitated by such use. For the most part general biblical and theological vocabulary has been employed that should be understandable to the average Christian reader. (Readers of the first printing, however, continued to request a “glossary of terms,” so this has been added to this printing, attempting to define and explain some terms utilized in this book.) These studies have been taught in various forms and forums over the past thirty years – in churches, retreats, semi- nars, Bible schools and seminaries – in the United States, Canada, India, Indonesia, New Zealand, Philippines, etc. They are foundational to everything else that I teach and write. I often refer to this series as my “life message.” It is my desire and hope that this volume may serve to enhance a clearer understanding of what God has done in Jesus Christ to allow “man to be man as God intended.” James A. Fowler 2005

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