What is Man?

Psalm 8 asks a very important question rather bluntly-

“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” (Psalm 8:3, 4 ESV)

When we look at Gods creation the proper response is awe. We then think, like the Psalmist, who am I? Not that this should lead us to despair and feeling like we are worthless – just the opposite. Consider two points:

1. God has made us to rule over his Creation as his image bearers. We are all full of worth, dignity, and glory as He created us to be very special and to reflect Him in everything we do. The Psalmist continues – “Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet” (Psalm 8:5, 6 ESV)
2. If that isn’t great enough, consider now he has lavished His love and grace on us thru Jesus. You see, We turned from our “specialness” and rejected his command for us to reflect His image. Instead, we chose to live for ourselves and reflect our own image – whatever we decide that is to be. Gods response? Not immediate punishment for our rebellious treason against our Creator King, but instead, grace for today, and the chance to escape the future penalties for sin in Jesus. My friend Ryan posted this passage on Christmas and it is a fitting summary of Gods response “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. (Galatians 4:4, 5 ESV)”

Our response to this gift is to then renounce our agenda for our lives and devote ourselves completely to living as God intended, for a His glory, not our own. If you haven’t done this yet, or are a believer who isn’t living like it, this seems like a great New Year’s resolution!