WHEREIN MAN DIFFERETH FROM THE BEASTS.
By G.
ALL the creatures that dwell on the earth are of the earth. In the beginning God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind; and it was so.” Gen. 1:24. The previous day He had said, “Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life [margin, ‘soul’], and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. . . . And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.” Verses 20–22. “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” Ch. 2:7. The difference between man and beast, as many suppose, is not expressed by the word “soul.” As before noted from the margin, the word translated “life” is also translated “soul.” So also in Ch. 1:30 we read, “And to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life [margin, ‘a living soul’], I have given every green herb for meat; and it was so.” One difference between man and all other earthly creatures is expressed in verse 26 of chapter 1: “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” But when man fell he forfeited the dominion to the one who overcame him. He chose to obey Satan, and thus became his servant. From being a ruler, he fell to the position of a servant. See Rom. 6:16. All over which Adam had been given dominion passed with him into subjection to the usurper, and the curse (death) passed upon all. But the plan of redemption devised in heaven, as regards individuals, contemplated only the human race. “God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16. Salvation is for creatures capable of believing the Gospel. And herein is shown another difference between man and the subordinate creatures. Man, tho mortal, is capable of cultivating a moral character; the beast is not. “Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding.” Ps. 32:9. Even before the fall, God held communion only with the man, into whose hands all other creatures were given. Those who are susceptible to the Gospel call are such as the Holy Spirit can dwell in, and it dwells only in the hearts of believers. It does not dwell in impenitent man, therefore certainly not in the beasts. Ps. 34:18; Isa. 57:15. Only evil spirits are low enough to desire a habitation in the dumb brutes. Luke 8:30–33. Like impenitent man, the beasts, especially beasts of prey, partake of the spirit of Satan—selfish in the extreme, with rare individual exception. Peter says that Satan, “as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” Speaking of the “ungodly,” of “them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness,” he also says that they are “as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed.” Naturally the man and the beast have but one life. “I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts. For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no pre-eminence above a beast; for all is vanity. All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.” Eccl. 3:18–20. The way of salvation was devised for man, the beasts being irrevocably attached to the sin-cursed world to be destroyed with it. And only such men as “believe” and “obey the Gospel” will benefit by the grace of God. Those who choose to be “as natural brute beasts,” and “deny the Lord that bought them,” will take the consequence of their choice. The contrast between man and beast is further shown by the psalmist: “Thou makest darkness, and it is night; wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth.” They are all night walkers, and when “the sun ariseth, they gather themselves together, and lay them down in their dens.” But “man goeth forth unto his work and to his labor until the evening.” Ps. 104:20–23. The ungodly, however, are becoming more and more inclined to imitate the beasts in their nocturnal habits. Hence we read, “They that are drunken are drunken in the night.” And much of the ever-increasing crime throughout the land is committed or concocted in the night. But those who accept the Gospel of Christ “are not of the night.” They live above the habits of the beasts. They are children of the day. “We are not of the night, nor of darkness.” Then “let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.” G.