What Is Man?
Psalm 8
The eighth Psalm helps us remember who we are.
In the first place we are a creature of God. In Gen. 1:>27 we read "So God created man in his own image." He made us to be like unto himself: just a little lower than the angels, crowned him with glory and honor, given him dominion over the works of his hands, and put all things under his feet: sheep, oxen, beasts of the field, fowls of the air, and the fish of the sea.
In the second place, we are a creature of choice. Aldous Hiuxley said, "If some great power would agree to always make me think what is right and do what is right on condition of my being turned into a sort of clock and wound up each morning before I get out of bed, I would instantly close with the offer." Yes, we have to choose. Jesus said, "On the day of judgment you will have to give an account of every careless word you have uttered." We choose to say what we will.
In the third place we can be redeemed. In the "Mind of Jesus" William Barclay says, "To Jesus what mattered most was not the actualities of mankind but the potentialities of mankind. God has his hand on us and makes us something we could never be on our own.."
In the fourth place , we are made for eternity. Richard Bach said, "What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls the butterfly. " I once saw a cartoon of 2 caterpillars fashioning their cocoons around them. The butterfly flitted past, dancing in the sunlight and the air so light and so lively. One caterpillar said to the other, "I'll tell you one thing they'll never get me in one of their contractions." The caterpillar did not realize how much better it could become.
Man comes from God, he is here to live for God, and apart from God, the life of man has no vital meaning. Man becomes his best self when he is living in a right relationship with the God who made him, who sustains him, who makes redemption possible, and to whom he goes when his days here are done.
Questions to Ponder
Do you want to be like God?
Is he making you something that you can never be on your own?
Are you willing for him to do it?
In His Service,
Terry Phillips
