Read Psalm 8:3-9.
What is man that you are mindful of
him? Interesting and searching
question. There is within us the innate
sense that humanity that people, are of value.
We rush to the aid of those who need help. We cry with and for those who struggle and
suffer and are preyed upon. We become
outraged at the travesties placed upon the civilians of Syria, the slavery of
Sudan, the losses suffered in tsunami’s and earthquakes, and saddened by a
young girl taking her own life because of bullying. What is man that we are mindful of
him? We see and place value on us. And yet on the other hand there are the
horrors of war, the taking of life, the abuse of others and bullying and the
beating and the enslavement where it seems there is little or no value placed on
others.
Above our value, or distain, for
others, we see God and His extra-ordinary value on us. The Psalmist, David, looks out at the stars,
the heavens, the vastness and wonder of creation and on this little tiny planet
in this small galaxy in the scope of the universe. God looks and sees us and
says, “you, yes you, I find very good.”
That is what God said after He made man.
On the sixth day He formed man out of the dust, breathed into him life
and said, “it is very good.”
And that brings us to the specialness
and uniqueness of man in all of creation.
God, the maker of heaven and earth, the One Who in His sovereign will
and plan, made everything. The eternal
God, not because He had too, but because He chose to, created life on this little
piece of rock. And then He made
man. Made
man! Not evolved man but made
man. I think it devalues us to place us
on some form of evolutionary scale where we came from something that emerged
out of a slimy swamp and eventually stood on two legs and became us. It devalues us to think we are just another
animal that went off on some other developmental path than the monkey or
penguin or rat.
God made man. And even more, we read in scripture that God
made us in His image. What all that
means and involves is incredible, but it says for me I am more than just some
accident of molecular and genetic chance.
I was planned and shaped and made with intention. And even more, we read that God breathed life
into man, and blessed man and gave man rule over creation and said it was very
good.
In a journal from the Nazarene
Church many years ago, there is this quote;
Man is the
greatest marvel in the universe. Not because his heart beats forty million
times a year, driving the bloodstream a distance of over 60,000 miles in that
time; not because of the wonderful mechanism of eye or ear; not because of his
conquest over disease and the lengthening of human life; not because of the
unique quality of his mind, but because he may walk and talk with God.
Of all the creatures, of all
creation, God breathed into us, formed us in His image, and we read in Genesis
that He talked and even came and walked with man. And when God took on a substantive form, a shape
to enter and be a part of His creation, He came as one of us.
Our life here on earth is
short. The Bible describes it as
withering grass or a fading flower. All
too short. And yet the Bible also says
that we are created for more than this life.
In Ecclesiastes 3 we find a wonderful verse right after the portion on
“a time for everything.” Verse 11, He
(God) has also set eternity in the hearts of men and yet they cannot fathom
what God has done from the beginning.”
God is eternal –from everlasting to
everlasting. He has no beginning and no
end. He is beyond time and space. The
Father the Spirit and the Son all, as God are eternal. Man is created. We have a starting point. But God has also placed eternity in our
hearts. And I see this as meaning two
things.
First that we look for and even
long for something beyond this life, we sense that there is more to all this
than just some cosmic accident. There
is purpose and there is meaning. His
eternity on our hearts often, however, is darkened, or clouded or distorted
because of sin, selfishness and Satan.
Man, this god-breathed formed in
the image of God apex of creation lost this view of eternity with because of sin. The Bible says that as a result of sin we now
have death, not life. (Romans 5:12)
And this view to eternity is
darkened by selfishness. We place
ourselves as high or higher than God and see things not as he does or even
accept things as he says. (Romans
1:21-25)
And Satan has come along and
severely distorted our views of self, God and eternity. (Genesis
3:1-5)
Yes, indeed we are dead through
sin, separated through selfishness and deceived by Satan. But God, in His
infinite, sovereign and merciful love still wants to have a relationship with
us. Absolutely amazing to me. Who am I that He would be thinking of me,
hear me when I call? That He who knows
no need, who is complete in and of Himself, who is in perfect relationship and
harmony as Father Son and Spirit; who am I that He is mindful of me? That, as Romans 5:5 says, that He would pour
out His love for us; that His grace is lavished on us (Ephesians 1:7) that His
mercy is so great and give us birth into a living hope (I Peter 1:3).
He is. That is all that I can say. He is.
Whether we talk about The Bible, mankind, grace, heaven, hell, love,
salvation, sin, His Spirit, even Jesus, it always comes back to this one
essential, one basic one absolute truth –He is.
He is the everlasting God, the
immortal invisible, God only wise. He is
the from eternity to eternity. He is
Sovereign over all. He is the creator
and giver of live. He is.
And we need to keep that in mind
when we look at the doctrine of man. God
is high and exalted. We are a vapor, a
created part of his doing. And just
because we are the apex of His creation, given the ability to think and reason
and so much more, we are not the be all and end all –He is.
Paul says in Romans 12:3 that we
must not think of ourselves more highly than we ought, but with sober judgment. But a part of this sober judgment is also
seeing the reality of our being loved by God, called by God, that He gave his
son for us –for a reason –because He loves us and calls us to be with Him.
Second, we not only long for, but
we are made for eternity. God has
created us and breathed into us life.
Some commentators say that this is when He breathed the ability to live
forever into us. All else in creation
will pass away. As you read Revelation
and other prophetic descriptions of the future you see that heaven and earth will
pass away. (eg. Rev. 16:20 says every
island fled and no mountain could be found –they are no longer there!) But
people, humans, will stand in judgment before the throne of God, with nothing
to hide us for who we are, and we will be judged in eternity. (Rev. 20:11-13)
Later, in 2013, we are going to be
looking at the forever things of heaven and hell, but for today for each of us
to see that we are created beings with the capacity for eternity. This life is not all there is, there is
more. This life is but a vapor, a
breath, a flicker of a candle. God
created us to spend eternity with Him.
Sin has broken that ability. But
God in His infinite wisdom, love and plan, provides a path for restoration –for
we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, the perfect One who gave Himself
for us.
Jesus said, there is no greater
love than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. And we are his
friends if we do what he commands.
We are created with eternity in our
hearts, but we must, MUST, be aware that this does not automatically mean we
are going to heaven. As mentioned,
because of sin this was lost. But God in
His Sovereignty and Grace has given a way for us to re-enter that relationship
–through faith in Jesus Christ, John 1:12, “Yet to all who receive him and
believe in him, to those he gave the right to become the children of God.” And, this is even more exciting and powerful
than what was lost –think of it. We were
a created being and now through Christ we are even more –we become the children
of God!
Just like the beginning, we are
given a simple choice. A powerful,
impacting and eternally significant choice, but simple. Believe or not. Receive or not. Become or not.
In the garden man was given life and
had a choice where he could lose it (Genesis 2:17). One choice –eternal
consequence. And now God offers another
choice –to us all. We who ARE dead are
given the choice to life. Romans 6:23
–for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus
Christ our Lord. John 3:16.
For some of us this may be new
news. For most it may be old news, but
for all it is good news. I cannot take
it for granted that everyone here is saved.
Chances are very good that there may be, there is someone –perhaps many,
who have not made that choice for life.
Won’t you now? We are each
created with eternity in our hearts.
God, the Great “I am,” has made the way to life and eternity clear
–believe in Jesus and accept the gift of forgiveness and life offered though
faith in him. Even if you have been coming
to church for years and have never made that choice, will you not do so
now? What is keeping you from assuring
that your eternal soul is eternally secure in Christ?
Christians, pray now for those who
are here who do not know. Pray for those
who have strayed away, pray for yourselves that you may grow in that joy and
peace that you are a friend of God.
Who am I that God is mindful of
me? A beloved creation that He wants to
have as His child and His friend. Who am
I that He is mindful of me? A friend that He would give His life for. Who am I that He is mindful of me? A child in which His Spirit takes hold and
lifts our prayers and seals our future.
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