What Is Man?

Let's read together from Psalm, Psalm 8. Pardon me, but I've just got too much of the King James in me in the Psalms.

I'm going to read from the King James Version tonight. When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained, what is man that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands. Thou hast put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field, the fowl of the air and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas. O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth.

Let's pray together. Almighty God, at the climax of the creation you said, let us make man in our image after our likeness. Holy Father, we have sinned against you and against your purpose for us. We have marred the reflection of your glory in us. We have rebelled against the responsibility that you placed on us. We have not esteemed your wonderful works as we should.

We've grievously devalued life and personhood. Lord, grant us repentance, and by your grace enable us to value life as you value it, to see in others and in ourselves the reflection of your glory, though it be dimmed and marred by our sin. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be glorified in us, we pray. In the name of Jesus our Savior, our Lord. Amen.

You may be seated. Back in the early 80s, President Reagan set aside the third Sunday of January as Sanctity of Life Sunday, and many continue to mark the current Holocaust in America by setting aside this day as a special day of remembrance and of prayer. Thinking in terms of what we have done over the last decades since that infamous decision by the Supreme Court in 1973, Roe v. Wade as we know it, it's not my intent tonight to rail against the evils of abortion, as bad as that is, nor to castigate women who've been led down that path of destruction by the lies of the enemy, not even to berate or chastise politicians and judges who facilitate that slaughter. My purpose tonight is to focus on the question that is asked in verse 4 of Psalm 8. I'm not going to exegete that text as such, but in an attempt to clarify our thinking regarding the nature of man and how we as believers are to regard our fellow travelers in this world, I want to ask myself and us together tonight that question, what is man? The psalmist frames it in the context of considering the heavens, the moon, the stars that God has ordained. I'm struck when every time I read the first chapter of Genesis, the fact that God creates the moon and the stars and the greater, lesser light and then just almost in an offhanded way says the stars also.

As a young boy, I was given a book on science and I was fascinated and enjoyed that. I don't remember much from that book, but there's one fact that just struck me and still sticks with me. Their estimate at that time was that the universe is six sextillion light years across. Well now, you know, they say it's still expanding and they have no idea how big it is, but that number just stuck in my mind. It boggles the mind to try to contemplate such immensity.

Think about this. The speed of light is 186,000 plus miles per second. There are 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour, 24 hours in a day. That comes out to 86,400 seconds every day. 186,000 miles per second. 365 days in a year times 86,400. That comes out to 31,536,000 seconds in a year. And in every second, light travels 186,292 miles. That means that in one year, light travels 5,865,695,000 miles every year. So six sextillion light years, that's six with 21 zeroes. You multiply that times that 5 trillion, 5.8 trillion, and it's a number just beyond our ability to even think about, really.

And of course, as they said, it's still expanding and light's still traveling. You know, we stumble and fall in our feeble attempts to comprehend the immensity of God's creation when you just said, let it be, and there it was. We've got telescopes and satellites and space stations and rockets and truth is we can't even grasp the wonders of this little planet on which we live.

This microscopic virus has kept us on our knees for a couple of years now and we can't begin to understand it all. We're astounded by the billions of galaxies and the innumerable stars. But get this, God numbered every one of them and gave them names. He tasked Adam with naming the animals. What if you had to name the stars?

I did a little search today. There are currently just over 7,000 known languages in the world and if you start with the Oxford dictionary for English language, there are something like 228,000 words in the English language that are listed in the Oxford dictionary. You multiply that by 7,000 languages, and of course most of them don't have that many words, but you want to come up with just a little over 1.5 trillion words. There are multiplied billions and billions and billions of galaxies and stars and God named every one of them and numbered them. So the psalmist says, when I look at that, I want to know what is man? God is mindful of him. God visits him. The vastness of the universe is incomprehensible to us and it reveals our insignificance.

We are just little dots on this planet and it's not even the largest planet in our solar system or our galaxy. Why would God take any notice or give any thought to man? And yet, we look at Psalm 139 and the Bible tells us that God knows us in the womb. Psalm 139 verse 13 says, for you formed my inward parts, you knitted me together in my mother's womb. In fact, every detail of our life and being is first a thought in the mind of God. Verse 15 and 16 of Psalm 139 says, my frame was not hidden from you when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed substance. In your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me when as yet there was none of them. God knows it all.

He's intimately acquainted with every detail of who we are. David cries out in wonder in that psalm. How precious to me are your thoughts of God. How vast is the sum of them.

If I would count them, they are more than the sand. God gives thought to man. We consider the creation. His thoughts toward us amaze us. And we are filled with wonder. Why would God give any thought to man?

It's amazing. But when we consider the re-creation, we marvel even more, do we not? Reminded of Isaiah 55, God says, my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither my ways your ways. The heavens, as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, my thoughts than your thoughts.

To close that little section, he says that my word goes from my mouth. It shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. God sends out his word and the evil, wicked, deceitful heart of man is transformed and changed.

Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of God. God is holy God. Man is sinful and rebellious. Habakkuk tells us that God is of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong. The gulf that separates me from God's holiness is far greater than the vastness of this universe that I can't begin to comprehend.

And yet, he has regarded our lowest state. He has redeemed us from the curse of the law, not with material things, precious things like gold and silver, but with the blood of his only son, a lamb without blemish, without spot. God reveals his love to us in that while we're still sinners, Christ died for us. So when you consider the heavens, the physical creation, we ask what is man that God thinks on us. We see our own insignificance and we see that God gives thought to us and takes care of us. We were reminded of that powerful this morning as we looked at Psalm 121, that God is our keeper and he never sleeps and never slumbers.

He cares for us. So when we consider the recreation, the spiritual realm, we ask again, what is man that God is mindful of him, that God visits him? What is man? How could a holy God stoop to redeem sinful man?

What could ever replace my filthy rags and make me fit to enter the throne room of heaven? What is man that God would think of us? Well, the Bible gives us the answer in the very first chapter. Man is the image of God.

The image of God. So for the next few moments, I want us to think about what that means objectively and practically. What are the implications for our daily life? To understand what this means, of course, we must go to the Word of God. What should be our attitude toward life, toward man? There is no better summary, I suppose, of the nature and character of God and what his desires are for us than the Ten Commandments.

They reveal to us the very nature of God, what he's all about. And so we start with the law of Moses and God says, Thou shalt not kill. So what exactly is prohibited? What is forbidden by that commandment? It can't be all killing because God also commanded that his people go out and wage war and sometimes destroy man, woman, child, everything.

Some killing is required. In fact, he required the death of one who committed certain sins. What God is forbidding here is an intentional, willful, premeditated kind of killing that comes from hatred and enmity. So ask the question, why is it that God forbids murder? And he answers again for us in the very first book of the Bible when he says that, Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed.

Why? For God made man in his own image. It's because of the image of God that murder is forbidden because we are made to be a reflection of who God is. So how do we obey this commandment? Too often when we look at the commandments of God, we set up a set of rules that we think will fulfill what God requires. And we set up our own rules. And as long as we keep those over outward rules, we're like the Pharisees.

We think we're OK. We're self-righteous. But God doesn't require just a kind of a passive avoidance of the thing. He requires that we positively reflect who he is and his nature. The opposite or the other flip side of that commandment. You know, every one of those commandments has not only a negative, but a positive aspect to it as well. I think, for example, about the first commandment, he says, Thou shall have no other gods.

And stated sort of negatively. But as Jesus says to Satan when he's tempted, it said positively, too. You shall worship God and him only shall you serve.

There's a positive aspect to it. And so when we think about thou shalt not kill, it's not enough just to avoid murdering. And we have to also actively and positively seek the good of others and do good for them. Our standards that we point to often, the larger catechism has a really wonderful way of putting our duty with regard to this commandment.

It's kind of ancient language, but stay with it and listen to what it says. The duties required in the sixth commandment are all careful studies and lawful endeavors to preserve the life of ourselves and others. By resisting all thoughts and purposes, subduing all passions and avoiding all occasions and practices which tend to the unjust taking away of a life of any. By just defense thereof against violence, patient bearing of the hand of God, quietness of mind, cheerfulness of spirit, a sober use of meat, drink, physic, sleep, labor and recreations.

By charitable thoughts, love, compassion, meekness, gentleness, kindness, peaceable, mild and courteous speeches and behavior. Forbearance, readiness to be reconciled, patient bearing and forgiving of injuries and requiting good for evil, comforting and suckering the distressed and partaking and defending the innocent. There's a lot in there that if we don't do in an active positive way, the divines are saying we are guilty of that sixth commandment. What did Jesus say? He said, you've heard it said that it was said to those of old, you shall not murder and whoever murders will be liable to judgment. But I say to you that everyone who's angry with his brother is liable to judgment. Same consequence as murder for getting mad.

Whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council and whoever says you fool will be liable to the hell of fire. That puts a little different light on that sixth commandment, doesn't it? Christ makes obedience a matter of heart attitude, not just external action. True obedience means we obey in thought, in word and in deed because man is made in the image of God. How do we think about other people?

How do we speak to other people? How do we act toward them? Obedience in thought. Rather than anger, Christ requires esteem, forgiveness, forbearance.

Flickens 2-3, in lowliness of mind, let each esteem other better than themselves. Colossians 3-13, forgiving one another even as Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4-2, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love. We obey the command by what we think of others, acknowledging the image of God in them. We've already seen how Jesus warns about insults and denigrating, disparaging words. Instead, as Paul says in Ephesians 4, we are to speak the truth in love and let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. These commands from Paul's letters are written to the churches about relationship with fellow believers, but we're also to recognize that those who are outside are created in God's image just as we are. And so Jesus says we are to love even our enemies.

So how do we do that? We talked about obedience in thought and word. What about our actions, our deeds?

Jesus says, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you. Well, we could, on that idea of blessing others, we think, most often I think of blessing as being spoken blessing, and that's a part of it. We should affirm and thank others, but it goes beyond that. We should act in a way of blessing their lives, serving them, showing hospitality.

Many of you probably are aware of the story of Rosanna Butterfield, who was caught up in a sinful lifestyle, and yet who was brought to Christ through the loving acceptance and hospitality of a pastor who didn't condemn, but just loved. We bless them that would curse us, do good to them that hate you, share your wealth, your goods, your knowledge, your time with those who hate you, pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you. You know, we tend to pray most of the time. Our prayers are filled with things that relate to the temporal, material, physical things of life.

If you study the prayers of the New Testament, you'll find that the ratio of spiritual requests to material physical requests is about 24 to 1. One of the ways to learn how to pray well is to study the prayers of Paul. It would take a whole series of messages to mine the depths of Paul's prayers, but let me just look at a couple of examples tonight as we share this together.

Romans chapter 15 verse 13, Paul says, Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope of the power of the Holy Ghost. Notice a few things about this prayer. First of all, notice that he addresses God using the idea of an attribute of God that meets the need that he's bringing before God. He says, Now may the God of hope cause you to abound in hope.

Paul has given us a plethora of names by which we can come to him and address him, recognizing that each of those names tells us something about who he is and what he does for us and who we are and what our need is from him. He's practicing on the attribute of God that corresponds to the need. He also acknowledges dependence on God's power. He says, You may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost. We are absolutely dependent on God, and in prayer we need to recognize that. He also, that he asks in great measure, this is no chinchy prayer, he says, May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope. He talks about the fact that God is able to do far more, exceedingly more than we could ever begin to imagine. Pray big.

He's a big God. And he connects his prayer to faith. He says, Be filled with all joy and peace in believing, resting, trusting in God. One other prayer I'd point you to. First Corinthians, the first chapter, verses four through nine, Paul prays, or says to the Corinthians what he prays, I thank my God always on your behalf for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ, that in everything ye are enriched by him in all utterance and in all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that ye come behind in no gift, waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

God is faithful by whom you were called under the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. This is a letter to the Corinthian church, a church that was just full of problems. In fact, almost every chapter in Corinthians is addressing some particular problem. Everything from division and disunity to sexual immorality to disorder in the worship service.

They had it all. They had a lot of gifts, too, but they had a lot of problems, and yet in this prayer, Paul says, I thank my God always on your behalf for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ. Do we look at others like that, giving God thanks for the grace of God that is given them through Christ, that image of God that is being renewed in them? Paul even says to these Corinthians, I have to speak to you as babes in Christ. You're carnal. You're not maturing.

You're not growing. And yet, he thanks God always because he knows that what God has begun, he will complete. He says, the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you. You shall also confirm you to the end that he may be blameless in the day of the Lord. What God started, he's going to finish.

It may not be very evident yet, but growth will happen. God will bring them to full maturity. We must learn to see others as God sees them, and knowing they're created in the image of God, and that God's purpose will be fulfilled in them, Christ will be formed in them, Paul writes in Galatians. That's how Paul prayed for other believers. But now Christ says that we're also to pray for our enemies. In fact, he goes on to say in that same sermon, be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect.

Well, that's impossible in our own strength. We can only be what we should be because of what God has done in Christ. No one can live like this without Christ. And there's good news. In Christ, we are new creations.

Everything is new. What sin marred, Christ renews. Colossians 3, 10, Paul says, and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him. That image of God in us is being renewed and restored.

In fact, all of God's children are predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ, God's Son. The image of God is continually being renewed in us. Paul writes to the Corinthians in his second letter, We all with open face beholding us in a glass, the glory of the Lord are changed from glory to glory, changed into the same image, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. We are being changed again into that image of God in which we were created.

So what is man? Is the image of God. Do we esteem others as image bearers of the God we worship? When we are confronted with the evils of our day with tyrannical government, with wholesale slaughter of children, with sexual perversion and gender confusion and lawless thieves and murderers, do we, by the power of God's Spirit indwelling us, remember that every man is created in the image of God. I pray that we in grace may see that the gospel can renew that image in any man, and we'll use every means at every opportunity to avoid anything that would in any degree take away life. We would strive rather to give life by sharing the gospel, the power of God to salvation, in which God restores that image in which we were created.

Let's pray. Father, we are amazed and stand in wonder and awe when we behold the heavens, the beauty of this world, the infinite creativity which you've spoken to being. But we are amazed even more, Father, when you say that you created us in your image and in your likeness.

Because of your Spirit's quickening power, we understand that we are sinners, rebellious, hating you, hating your ways. But in grace, Father, you have called us to yourself. You have poured your grace into our lives. You have given us yourself. You have indwelt us by your Spirit. And day by day, you are changing us, conforming us. Help us, Father, to receive the difficulties of this life, the difficulty of unlovable people, the hatred and persecution of those who hate you and hate your ways. Help us to receive it all as from your hand, the purpose of doing good to us, of molding and shaping us in your likeness, that Christ may be exalted and you be glorified in your people. We ask it in the name of our precious Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.