Mankind

Genesis 5:1-2

1This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. 2Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man when they were created.

5:1 – God made man male and female and named them “Adam”. The generic use of “man” to refer to both men and women need not be a derogatory thing. We are told here that God named them man. What God calls us is what we should be called. Something as simple as refusing to use the generic word for humanity that God ordained is a missing of the mark. It is not necessarily chauvinistic, unloving, ignorant or neglectful to refer to the human race as “mankind” or even “man”. It is biblical. Only if God is the above qualities can we say that the label “man” is wrong. Many are willing to conclude that about God and others simply relegate the Scriptures, or at least parts like this, to the trash bin of irrelevancy, time insensitive, culturally bound literature. This, we cannot do and remain faithful to our God.

Of course, some men will try to use this to justify some very unbiblical and cruel views and actions. But to use the Scriptures to defend wickedness is to make God the Author of sin, and that is a very dangerous thing to do.

We can err by ignoring the Scriptures and by twisting them to suit us. Today, make sure that your understanding of the Bible is faithful to the meaning that God intended it to have. It takes some work and study, but the rewards are always worth it.