Testimonies for the Church, vol. 8

A Personal God Created Man

In the creation of man was manifest the agency of a personal God. When God had made man in His image, the human form was perfect in all its arrangements, but it was without life. Then a personal, self-existing God breathed into that form the breath of life, and man became a living, breathing, intelligent being. All parts of the human organism were put in action. The heart, the arteries, the veins, the tongue, the hands, the feet, the senses, the perceptions of the mind—all began their work, and all were placed under law. Man became a living soul. Through Jesus Christ a personal God created man and endowed him with intelligence and power. 8T 264.1

Our substance was not hid from Him when we were made in secret. His eyes saw our substance, yet being imperfect; and in His book all our members were written, when as yet there were none of them. 8T 264.2

Above all lower orders of being, God designed that man, the crowning work of His creation, should express His thought and reveal His glory. But man is not to exalt himself as God. 8T 264.3

“Make a joyful noise unto Jehovah....
Serve Jehovah with gladness:
Come before His presence with singing. 8T 264.4

“Know ye that Jehovah, He is God:
It is He that hath made us, and we are His;
We are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. 8T 264.5

“Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise:
Give thanks unto Him, and bless His name.” 8T 264.6

“Exalt ye Jehovah our God,
And worship at His holy hill;
For Jehovah our God is holy.” Psalm 100:1-4; 99:9, A.R.V. 8T 264.7