Thoughts on Man's Condition pt.5

... …and man became a living being. Gen 2:7b

After the fall of mankind, man could no longer reflect and express the image of his Creator in its fullness. Adam could not show from his life, the love, power and majestic wisdom, God as before the fall. In fact Adam/man began to have emotions and experiences that the Lord never intended. He experienced fear, shame, guilt, pain and separation.

Hayford cites:
Bequeathed to us through inheritance, this is an image of sin, brokenness and failure that produces our:
–irresponsibility to obey God’s holy laws;
–incapacity to fulfill our God-ordained destinies;
–inability to enjoy life as God intended it to be.3

Adam had a sense of emotional, spiritual, and physical security in his God before the fall. He experienced high levels of competency and fulfillment as he tended the garden and even studied and gave names to all the animals which the Lord allowed him to do.
This man experienced the joy and freedom of transparency with himself, his wife and his God. He knew no fear, because the perfect love he experienced from his God and his wife cast away all fear. (1 John 4:18).

Adam had a clear sense of his identity and his purpose and operated within the parameters of this knowledge. Righteousness, peace, joy were the hallmarks of Adam’s experience and by extension should have been the experience of every man born after him.
Instead, after Adam’s disobedience he and all men after him were to be plagued by a plateau of struggles and inner conflicts trying desperately to be at peace with themselves, God and their neighbours. Man now enters the realm of being needy.

The Need for Purpose and Identity

At the very heart of every man is that driving desire to do “that thing” that would be satisfying, fulfilling and would bring some measure of significance to their lives.

Being separated from God, has brought men to a crisis, where they no longer know who they are and why they were created. Since men have lost a sense of identity and direction they engage in activities or join groups to “borrow identity and purpose.” Some men become workaholics and use their jobs to substitute for the inner need for personal fulfillment which comes through fulfilling personal purpose, while other men may join various organizations which they believe can fill their void.

Today we have a generation of young men who lime on blocks, engage in crime and violence and illicit sex. This generation is commonly called generation X, simply because they lack direction for their lives, which purpose gives. All these activities are attempts to clothe themselves in identity and purpose.

Now there is fundamental difference between identity and purpose. The former mainly focuses on the question “who am I?” and may the writer add “whose I am?” These questions lurk the hearts of millions of men, longing to be answered but finding none. After one comes into the understanding of his identity, he then can focus on “why do I exist?” which is the question of purpose. This gives the direction for your life and by extension allows you to know what to and what not to do.

The question of a man’s identity rest solely in his relationship with his God, not in his wealth, power or even his unique purpose on earth. This is because men were made to reflect the image of God, so who a man is is inextricably linked by his union with his Creator. Men do not know who they are because they lack the knowledge of whose they are!
When men understand they belong to God, they then can appreciate their primary purpose – worship.

Their lives are meant to be in a worshipful relationship with their God, therefore they live their lives pleasing to God in accordance with His Word. After they appreciate the primary purpose they can focus on their secondary purpose.
Every man is unique and has a special and individual mandate from God which will utilize the gifts, talents, and even his disposition .This mandate or mission is the secondary purpose, it is not eternal like the primary one, but will have eternal value.