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Man: Mankind; humans; the whole species of human beings; beings distinguished from all other animals by the powers of reason and speech, as well as by their shape and dignified aspect. One who is master of his mental powers, or who conducts himself with his usual judgment.
Greek: anthropinos [anth-ro’-pee-nos] =men [3], after the manner of man [1], of man [1], common to man [1], mankind [1]. from (anthropos); human: - human, common to man, man [-kind], after the manner of men. Strong's Greek & Hebrew Dictionary. "Human, belonging to man", is used (a) of man's wisdom, in 1 Cor. 2:13; of "man's judgement," 1 Cor. 4:3 ; of "mankind," Jas. 3:7, of temptation, 1 Cor. 10:13, RV, "such as man can bear" (AV, "such as is common to man"), of "men's" hands, Acts 17:25; in the phrase "after the manner of men," Rom. 6:19. Rom. 5:17, the RV rightly has "the trespass of the one," for AV, "one man's offense." For MANKIND; Vine's Expository Dictionary of Old Testament and New Testament Words.
When one commonly reads the Bible and the word comes up for ‘man’, we often think in the terms of the sex, male. But this is not true as evidenced by the references in Romans 5:17, where we have pointed thought toward the fall of Eve and her trespass, which basically includes male and female or better said, mankind.
Ladies often get offended because there seems to be a bias towards the male, but with this word anthropinos it includes both and is always referencing both male and female.
Nonetheless, Paul is speaking about the idea of mankind vs. the Godly perspective of teaching or attempting to use man’s ways and ideas verses the way God would do or perform a task or event. Man’s wisdom and ideas can be a wonderful thing in our workplace, our family or our relationships of all kinds. But in the end, it must be God’s ideas and God’s perspective on a thing if it is going to move over into the realm of the supernatural.
It is like watching the movie Ironman, where Robert Downey, Jr., adorns himself with this supercharged, all-powerful piece of metal that turns him into ‘another man’, capable of flying at superfast speeds, picking up weight that is many times heavier than the average person could pick up and thinking things through at super-computer speeds to solve an existing problem or threat. This is the idea of a superman who is donned with incredible power not known to mankind and the flesh.
What is extremely significant is the Bible understanding of the Holy Spirit and our knowing His supernatural abilities; Genesis 1:2-3 (AMP)The earth was without form and an empty waste, and darkness was upon the face of the very great deep. The Spirit of God was moving (hovering, brooding) over the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light; and there was light. Even more is this amazing power found in the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer through the power of living on the inside of us, at our disposal at our beckoned call. Despite what Hollywood can muster up, it will never match or touch the ‘universal power’ and light that occurred during creation of all things, including ‘Mankind’. This is the idea that Paul was referencing and this is the message He preached.
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