1.
Man was created in the image and likeness of God with a body, soul, and
spirit (ref. Gen 1:26;
ref. 2:7).
Man was created in the image (representation) and likeness (representative)
of God. He was God's representative on the Earth as an independent
witness in Satan's Appeal
Trial.
2. Man was created to rule the world (Gen 1:26; Ps 8:6).
3. Man was created to resolve the Angelic Conflict in Satan's Appeal Trial (Gen 2:17).
a. Man was created with a volition so that he could choose right from wrong.
b. People can choose to be witnesses for God or Satan in the Appeal Trial.
4.
Man was created male and female like the animals (ref. Gen
1:27).
a. The Right Woman was created for the man (Gen 2:22-24).
b. Right Man – Right Woman are a system (ref. 1 Cor 11:11).
5. Man was created after God prepared a home for him in the Garden of Eden (Gen 2:8).
6. Man is lower than the angels (Ps 8:5; Heb 2:7, 9).
7. After the Fall man lost the rule of the world, and the woman became the child bearer (Gen 3:16, 17, 20; 1 Tim 2:15).
Logistical Grace
1. Logistical Grace is God's Grace provision of the necessities of life to sustain human life.2. God provides food, clothing, shelter and other necessities to sustain mankind (Matt 6:25-33; Phil 4:19).
3. God sustains man to enable him to fulfill his purpose.
a. The unbeliever is sustained so that he can accept or reject Salvation.
b. The believer is sustained so that he can execute the New Spiritual life.
Life and Death
1. Living Grace ends at death.2. Death is God's Sovereign decision. He alone determines the time, manner, and place of death (Eccl 3:2; Heb 9:27).
3. Every person is allocated a number of days (Job 14:5; Ps 89:47; Lk 12:25). That was decided before birth according to God's Divine Design in Antecedent Grace.
4. However, decisions to respond to God's Grace provision can lead to a long life (Ex 20:12; Deut 5:16, 33; 6:2; 11:8, 9; Prov 3:1, 2, 13, 16).
5. Life and death are the result of accepting or rejecting Grace (Gen 2:16, 17; Deut 30:15, 19; 32:39; 1 Sam 2:6; Isa 1:19-20; Jer 21:8).
6. The adulteress hunts for precious life by bringing intensified discipline from God that leads to the Sin Leading to Death (Prov 6:26; 7:22, 23).
Design of Life
1. God designed every detail of a person's life in Eternity past in Antecedent Grace. The file for each person who receives human life contains an identify, time of birth and death, soul characteristics, physical characteristics (color of hair, eyes, fingerprints, etc.), environment, angelic support, relationships, friends, enemies… There is a schedule for every day and every event in the life.2. Some items in the life file are left for the individual to decide. However, they are already entered based upon the foreknowledge of God.
a. This is called Election. God allows us to choose certain things, and these choices are factored into our life.
b. For example, man can choose to accept Salvation, and he will be born again and given a New Spiritual life (Rom 8:29).
3. Time does not exist with God. Even if a person has not been born, he has been decreed and will be.
4. Angels have access to our life file, since they must insure that schedules are met. Every day is a new day in a person's life, and the angels must make it happen.
5. God is in control of His Creation, as the potter over the clay (Isa 29:16; 64:8; Jer 18:6; Rom 9:21). He orders blessing or cursing, and the angels and demons make it happen.
Angels
1. Living Grace includes Divine provision of security, help, and support. Angels are God's helpers to make things happen. Guardian angels protect us (Ps 91:11-13). Angels bring us help and provide support.2. After God created the Universe, He created angels to manage it.
a. Fire angels control atomic fusion processes on the Sun along with the corona, magnetic fields, light, heat, and cosmic radiation.
b. Angels control the geological processes on the planets.
c. Angels control geological processes on the Earth, including continental shift, earthquakes, volcanoes, and the weather.
d. Angels manage plants and animals and feed the animals. They direct the movement of animals.
3. Angels influence the behavior of people in thousands of ways in concert with the Plan of God. They put people to sleep; wake them up; influence their thinking; take over their thinking; help and hinder; make sick and heal. They insure that God's schedules are met, and they manage the environment.
4. Since angels are invisible, people assume they aren't there. However, they can be perceived by recognizing that an effect demands a cause.
5. Demons are also active in people's lives to do the devil's bidding. Demons are recognized by their production, which is evil. They lie; they deceive; they tempt; they attack and try to thwart the Plan of God.
References
2. Larry Wood. Doctrinal Definition, "Grace," October 3, 2016.