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incorrigible human being to live
forever in mental anguish and tor–
ment like the fallen angels. This
plan reflects the great merey of
God toward mortal man!
When called by God and made
to realize that he has sinned, man
can REPENT- turn
from
his sin
to
God's way. And once his course is
changed, with God's help he can
pursue a life of obedience to God.
He can grow in spiritual knowledge
and develop the character of God–
overcome wrong habits, weaknesses
and faults. And this is all done
through the free wi ll and choice of
each
human mind.
Only man, of all God's physical
creatures, has the seemingly mirac–
ulous ability to think, reason, plan
and design, come to conclusions
based on acquired knowledge. Ani–
mals cannot comprehend the con–
cepts of good and evil. They don't
repent.
Have you ever wondered why?
Have you ever thought about the
vast difference
between animal
brain and human mind, and what
could possibly account for it?
Animal Braln
vs.
Human Mind
There is a great,
uncrossab/e
GULF
between animal brain and human
mind. The evolutionary theory
assumes that humans are animals.
But one thing evolution can never
explai n is the total diffe ren ce
between animal brain equipped with
instinct, and the human mind with
creative reasoning powers of intel–
lect and devoid of instinct in the
strict sense that animals possess it.
Sorne animals have phys ica l
bra.ins as large or larger than man's
brain, and with similar cerebral
cortex complexity-but none has
the powers of intellect, logic, self–
consciousness and creativity.
The physical brain of a dolphin,
whale or elephant is larger than the
human brain, while a chimp's is
slightly smaller. Qualitatively the
difference between them and the
human brain is very li ttle- not
enough to remotely account for the
vastly superior intelligence and out–
put of the human brain . The gap
between animal brain and human
mind is incredibly vast!
When God molded Adam out of
the dus t of the ground, he was
made in the " likeness"-the out-
November/ December 1982
ward form and shape- of Goo
himself (Gen. 1:26). God d idn't
make any of the other creatures to
be an exact clay replica of himself.
This unique form and shape was
given to man a/one.
This is because
man was created with the potential
to become God!
Each animal was created with a
brain suited for its particular ani–
mal kind. But animals do not have
the potentiaJ of MINO and CHARAC–
TER that God gave only toman. No
animal was ever given the gift of
mind
power- abi lity to think, to
reason, to make choices and deci–
sions as was man!
/t
is
this very
SPECIAL ATTRI–
BUTE OF MINO ANO CHARACTER
that separates men from anima/si
Animals possess what we call
instinct. Their brains are pro–
grammed, so to speak, by God with
part icular instinctive apt itudes to
live and perform in a certain way.
They follow
instinctive
habit pat–
terns in their feeding, nesting,
migration and reproduction. Thus
beavers build dams, birds build
nests. These aptitudes are
inher–
ited- they are not the resull of logi–
cal, cognitive or thinking processes.
For example, thousands of birds
fl ock south each year as winter
approaches in the northern hemi–
sphere. They don' t stop to reason
why, they don't ask themselves
whether they should, they don' t
plan ahead an itinerary for the trip.
At a given internal signal- like the
preset alarm of a clock- they leave
their summer feeding grounds in
the north and travel thousands of
miles south. Scientists don't fully
understand why- they merely ob–
serve the-operation of this animal
instinct.
Each species or kind of bird
bu ilds different types of nes ts,
feeds on specific kinds of foods, and
migrates at different times to vari–
ous destinations. But none of these
actions is
p/anned
in advance by
the birds as humans would . Birds
merely have the capability and pro–
clivity to do that which Almighty
God built into the instinct of·each
at creation .
But man's mind is vast ly differ–
ent from animal inst inct. Man is
able to devise various ways to do
any one thing or to achieve a prede–
termined goal. Man can acquire
knowledge and reason from it. He
can draw conclusions, make deci–
sions, will to act according to a
thought -out plan.
Man can design and build d iffer–
ent types of houses, using different
designs a nd different building
materials. Sorne houses are built of
wood, sorne of brick or stone, and
sorne people living near the North
Pole even live in ice houses called
igloos. Men also eat different foods ,
prepared in many different ways.
Men may live ent irely different
life-styles from one another. And if
a man wants to change bis way of
life- he can! Man is not subject to
instinct. He is not governed by a set
of predetermined habit patterns as
animals are.
Man can
choose- he
has free
moral agency. He can devise codes
of conduct and exercise self-disci–
pline. Man can originate ideas and
evaluate knowledge because he has
a MI NO
that is patterned after
God 's own mind!
Man can devise,
plan and bring bis plans to fruition
because he has been given sorne of
the very creative powers of God!
Man alone can wonder ,
"Why
was 1 born? What
is
life? What is
death?
Is there a
purpose
in human
existence?" Man, unlike the ani–
mals, not only "knows" how to do
certain things, but he also KNOWS
that he knows- that is, he is
aware
that he has " knowledge." He is
conscious
of the fact. He is
self–
conscious, aware of bis own exis–
tence as a unique being.
These attributes of mind and
character make man God's UNJQUE
physical creation . God has shared
sorne of bis own qualities witb man.
And God expects man to develop
and become conformed to the
spir–
itua/
"image" of God's perfect
mind and holy character (Matt.
5:48)- j ust as man now is formed
in the
physica/
"image" of God.
"Human" Splrlt Makes
the Dlfferencel
Man was created to have a special
relationship with God that is utter–
ly nonexistent with animals. Man
was made in the similitude of the
Goo kind. He was made in God's
image so that he might one day be
born into God's divine family!
God's purpose in making mortal
man after bi s own likeness
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