1. MAN BEFORE THE FALL

A. Man was created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26–27).
1. A spiritual being. We sometimes refer to this as conscience.
(a) This means man was made with more than the physical senses (to see, smell, touch, hear, taste).
(b) He was given a yearning to worship the Creator.
(1) He had pure fellowship with God, and conversed with God.
2. Free will. ‘And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die” ’ (Genesis 2:16–17).
(a) In his unfallen state man had the power to choose.
(b) He was ‘able to sin’.
3. Immortality
(a) God alone is immortal (1 Timothy 6:16).
(b) And yet God gave immortality to man when he was created; an essential part of his being made in God’s own image (Genesis 2:17).
4. Intelligence
(a) Man was superior to all other created beings (Genesis 1:28).
(b) God let man name the creatures (Genesis 2:19–20).
p 139 5. Work and responsibility
(a) Essential to unfallen man was the capacity to do work (Genesis 2:15).
(b) Unfallen man however did not find work hard or tiring.

B. Man was created innocent and sinless (Genesis 2:25).
1. Innocence: without any guilt or shame.
2. Man was not created sinful but without any sin whatever.

C. Note: there is a lot more to be studied with reference to man before the Fall. For example:
1. The need for earthly fellowship (Genesis 2:18).
2. The implications of the role of man and woman (Genesis 2:23–24).
Kendall, R. T. (1996). Understanding Theology, Volume One (pp. 138–139). Ross-shire, Great Britain: Christian Focus.