The Magnificence of Man

Welcome to this edition of PowerPoint with Jack Graham. A little later in the program we will tell you how you can get a Scripture journal on the book of Ephesians. But first, here is his message, The Magnificence of Man. God is man and woman created in the image of God. When God formed the earth, He then filled the earth and made it a very special place for the ultimate of His creation. The man and the woman that He placed in the garden and all the men and the women since time began that have been fashioned by the handiwork of God Himself.

We have been made by Him. And this planet is an amazing planet and in the universe that God has created He has placed us here for a purpose. December the 24th, 1968, mankind on Apollo 8 circled the moon in a lunar orbit for the first time. It was incredible we could have never imagined that man in exploring outer space would one day circle the moon and even ultimately the next year walk on the moon. But something incredible happened as these astronauts on Apollo 8 looked back at the earth and they saw from outer space a perspective that no human being had ever seen. And when they saw it something unique happened.

We are now approaching lunar sunrise and for all the people back on earth the crew of Apollo 8 has a message that we would like to send to you. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth and the earth was without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters and God said let there be light and there was light. And God saw the light that it was good and God divided the light from the darkness.

And God called the late day and the darkness He called night and the evening and the morning were the first day. And God said let there be a furnace in the midst of the waters and let it divide the waters from the deep. And God made the furnace and divided the waters which were above the furnace and it was so. And God called the furnace in the evening and the morning was the second day. And God said let the waters of the heavens be gathered together into one plate and let the trioliant appear and it was so. And God called the trioliant earth and let the dry land appear.

and God saw that it was good. And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you, all of you on the good Earth. And God bless all of you on the good Earth. From outer space, man giving God the glory for His creation. A few years previous to 1968, actually in the late 50's, a few Russian cosmonauts went up in a little tin can they called a spacecraft and they came back and reported and stated very arrogantly, we have searched the heavens and there is no God.

I often thought if they just stepped out of that space capsule, they would have seen God face to face. But these men who orbited the moon and looked back and saw the Earth gave glory to God. Man has been given this incredible capacity to worship God even from outer space. Man is unique from all the animals. We are not just a higher animal, a naked ape, a higher primate, but according to the book of Genesis, God created man unique and distinct from all the animals.

He made us everyone. Now, we are being told something different today of course, that men and women are just like the animals or higher than the animals, but descended from the animals. God created the man, not from the animals, but man unique and distinct from the animals. And in Genesis chapter 1, we read the account. Verse 26 says, let us make man in our image according to our likeness.

Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all creeping things that creep on the earth. So God created man in His own image. In the image of God, He created him, male and female, He created them. Then God blessed them and God said, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves on the earth. Look at verse 31. Then God saw everything that He had made and indeed it was, say it, very good, very good.

So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Think with me about the magnificence of man. Magnificent in his physical being.

We are physical marvels. A miracle crafted, created by the hand of God. Not only in the original design as God created Adam and Eve, but now in the process of birth as every child is a creation of God. Both the born and the unborn. Significant and sacred in the heart and mind of God.

A physical masterpiece. Psalm 139 says that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. The Bible says, thy hands have made me and fashioned me, O God. Paul the Apostle said, what do you not know? That your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.

Thomas Carl Eyles said, whoever touches the body of a man touches heaven. It is a miracle. Psalm 139 as I quoted earlier, fearfully and wonderfully made, says in verse 15 even in describing the process by which a child comes into the world, my substance was not hidden from thee even in the womb.

And the word substance in the Hebrew language is a word and the root word means embryo. In the creation of an embryo there is the miracle of life. When I was a young pastor up in Oklahoma we had a very difficult delivery.

One of the ladies in our church her life was at risk. The baby was at risk and yet it was a safe delivery and the woman was fine and the baby was beautiful. And after it was over I was sitting down having a cup of coffee with Dr. Van Howard in our church who delivered that baby and I said, Doc, I said, that birth was a miracle. He looked at me and taught the young preacher a lesson. He said, preacher, every birth is a miracle. I said, you got me.

He was right. Every birth is a miracle by the hand of God, a physical masterpiece. You think about even a human cell and I don't have time today to talk about some of the physical properties of which we have been made but just mention a cell, trillions of cells in the human body.

One drop of blood, just a pinprick of blood contains five million living cells. These cells that comprise the system and the function of the human body and every cell has a function and every cell is constantly creating and being recreated. And when the cell is all in place, the genetic code is all in place and yet as a little child, a baby is born, the little child begins to grow up, who tells a boy when a boy becomes a man to stop growing? Or a girl when a girl moves from being just a little girl to a teenager to a young woman, who tells us to stop growing? The creation of God, the handiwork of God. And yet while we stop growing in one sense, in another sense, we never stop growing. The process of creation building up and breaking down of the cellular system and so forth is always happening.

You're being built up and torn down and rebuilt again and yet it never shuts down until that time of death comes. Some of the members of the human marvel, the physical body are amazing. The eye, the amazing eye. Insects, some insects have 20 eyes and yet an insect can't do what a human eye can do and that is to see a star billions of miles away, even trillions of miles away and yet the human eye can see it.

The lid is dry on the outside and yet wet on the inside, there's a duct to take away the water and to allow the water to flow. The eye can glare, the eye can sparkle, the eye can drop with disappointment or the eye can beam with the joy of love. Who made the eye? God made the eye. Think about the ear, outer ear, inner ear, a so called ear drum that beats on the tympanic membrane at a rate capable of 73,000 vibrations per second and when those vibrations touch the nerve endings they're capable of setting off 1500 notes in the auditory nerve that goes into the brain.

Amazing. Who made the ear? In the complexity and the diversity and the design of the human body, we know that God made the man. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message, The Magnificence of Man. The book of Ephesians is relentless in its message of reconciliation, unity and the new life you have in Christ.

In fact, it's the perfect book to read this time of year because each of these themes comes alive in the Christmas story. We'd love to help you dive into this uplifting book of the Bible by sending you the beautifully designed Ephesians ESV scripture journal. The Ephesians ESV scripture journal is our thanks for your gift today. So call now to request your copy. Call 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 313131.

Text PowerPoint to 313131. And don't forget to visit JackGraham.org where you can shop our e-store, give a gift online or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional. Our website again is JackGraham.org. Now let's get back to today's message, The Magnificence of Man. But not only the marvel, the magnificence of our physical being and our physical capacity but the marvel of a person's mental capacity. God has given us a mind with which to grow and to develop. Now animals can be trained but only human beings can be taught. You ever tried to teach astronomy to an elephant or theology to a dog?

No, you can train a dog or an animal but you can only teach a person who has the ability to reason and to ration those thoughts. But the fact is that we have this capacity, there's the power of creativity. We're made in the image of God and God the Creator has given us this ability and this desire to create, to design things, to develop things, to grow things, to expand our minds, to explore the universe. God gave man a love for music and so therefore the ability not only to love music but to write music. God gave us a capacity to enjoy adventure and to write stories. We have a love for art. There's the desire in the human heart for significance and therefore this desire to create, to build, to grow, to do something with our lives. God put that in our hearts. It's the power of creativity. There's also the power of rationality. Now animals don't have the power to reason.

Only men and women have the power to reason, to have the ability to analyze, to discriminate, to think and to contemplate, to think deep thoughts. Now your dog doesn't sit around the yard of the house all day contemplating great philosophical thoughts. Your dog basically is thinking a couple of thoughts, food and sleep. In fact, I've decided that our dogs, they're our master. We go to work all day to earn money so that they can lay around the house and sleep all day. They don't do anything to go out and mow the lawn, take care of things.

They fertilize the lawn. But they don't sit around all day thinking about theology or philosophy or the next great thing that they intend to accomplish with their lives. You see, God gave human beings that capacity, the power of rationality. The average person, we are told, only uses about 10% of their brain. Imagine if we can do something with 10% of our brain as we've seen in the human personality and intellect today. Imagine as we learn more and more. We can grow. We can develop. We can reason.

There's the power of rationality. There's the power of creativity. And then one of the things, the ways that God has made us different than the animals is the power of speech, the ability to speak. Now, animals can communicate in a certain way. But God gave us the ability to speak, to form words, and to speak rationally and intelligently, beautifully. We can communicate our hopes, our fears, our sorrows, our joys, our desires, our aspirations. Man is a physical masterpiece. Man is a mental masterpiece. But most of all, we are, because we're created in the image of God and God breathed into us the breath of life, we became living souls, we are spiritual, a spiritual masterpiece. The magnificence of our spiritual life in God's image. Now, what does that mean, made in the image of God? It means that we have a God consciousness. It means that we have a capacity to know God and to relate to God. It means that, a couple of things it means when God created us like this. It means that we have the craving for deity, the craving to know God.

He breathed into us this desire. Animals don't have it. The last time, you know, your dog asked you if he could go to church with you, worship.

No. Animals don't pray. Animals don't relate to God.

They have no sense of their maker. But God put in the human personality this great craving for deity, this great desire to know Him. Augustine said, our hearts were made for thee, O God, and they are restless until they find their rest in thee. We are made for God. And that aching boy that some of you are sensing right now in your life because you don't know God is that appetite, that quest to know Him and to love Him.

God made the man and the woman and placed them in the garden and they walked in harmony and fellowship with Him. Ultimately, as we're going to see in our study of Genesis, that relationship was broken because of sin and yet that relationship can now be restored through Jesus Christ. We can be redeemed by His blood. Christ died on the cross for our sins and He rose again on the third day and we can now enter into a relationship with God. We can know God as we sang about earlier because He made us to know Him.

And if you don't know Him, you're missing the purpose of your life. God also made us not only with the craving for deity, but He made us with the capability of dominion. That's why the Scripture says God told them to multiply and to be fruitful and multiply upon the earth and to subdue the animal kingdom and all that was in it. Man was given this powerful dominion. Indeed, his dominion and authority over the things of the earth was forfeited and the curse came upon creation. But in Christ that dominion is restored.

Man is to explore and to enjoy the creation and to take care as stewards of the creation of God. We have a craving for deity. We have the capability of dominion. We also have this capacity for dignity.

That's right. A capacity for dignity. Because we can know God. We have a relationship with God. Now, animals cannot know God in this sense. Animals can't even sin.

Animals can misbehave. But animals cannot sin. But neither can animals choose to worship and love and serve God. God gave all of us an incredible capacity to choose life or death, to choose dignity as God created us, or to choose depravity. And many have chosen, rather than the dignity and the significance of life as God has intended, many have chosen depravity. A man without God, a man, a woman minus God is worse than an animal.

To live life and breathe God's air and live in God's body and not glorify God as Master and King is to live beneath the life of an animal. We are not machines. We are not animals. God gave us a choice. We have the choice of dignity. We can receive Christ and have a relationship with God. And finally, man has a comprehension of destiny.

We have a comprehension of destiny. Animals don't. Animals don't know that they are going to die.

Animals die. But they don't know they are going to die. But we know inherently, instinctively that it is appointed unto man once to die and then to judgment. That is what the Scripture says. That there is a destiny beyond our days. Ecclesiastes 3 says, He has set eternity in our hearts. And when God breathed into you the breath of life, you became a living soul and you can no more cease to exist than God Himself ceases to exist. You were made to live forever. There is a destiny beyond today. And when you die, you don't die like an animal. Nor can you die and pull the grave clothes over your head and hide from God.

No. We know that ultimately every person will stand and give an account. That is why the Bible says prepare, prepare to meet your God. Prepare to meet your Maker.

Because we all will. We have a date with destiny, a date with deity. And how you live is how you are going to die. And if you live without God and live for your own pleasure and fulfill your own plans and purposes, when you die, you die and face an eternity without Him and a destiny apart from Him.

And the Bible calls that hell. But if you will trust in Him and live for His pleasure and His purpose and with the Apostle Paul say to live is Christ, to die is gain. What is it for you to live? Why did God make you?

Why are you living? Can you say to live is Jesus Christ? He is the priority of my life. He is the pleasure of my life. He is the purpose of my life. To live is Christ.

Then you can say to die is gain. Because it only keeps getting better and better and better when you walk with God. He made you for Himself. He knows your name and He is calling you to follow Him this day.

You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message, The Magnificence of Man. Every believer in Christ needs a strong grasp of Ephesians, which is why we want to send you an ESV scripture journal on this powerful book of the Bible. With journaling pages next to the biblical text, you can read through the book while taking notes, recording insights, and jotting down your prayers. And now's a great time to dive in because Ephesians is the perfect book to read at Christmas. With themes of reconciliation, unity, and new life in Christ, you'll rediscover the new life that's yours in Christ.

The Ephesians ESV scripture journal is our special thanks for your gift to help boldly proclaim God's Word through PowerPoint. So request your copy when you call today. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 313131. Text PowerPoint to 313131. And don't forget to visit Jack Graham.org where you can shop our e-store, give a gift online, or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional.

Our website again is Jack Graham.org. Pastor, what is your PowerPoint for today? As I mentioned earlier, it's amazing and awesome to think about the making of a man. God has done a miracle not only in creation but in the birth of every human being. Each person is a magnificent and mysterious unit of living complexities that God stitched together in the womb of his or her mother. We also see the handiwork of God in the maturing of man.

What makes our bodies grow and develop the way they do? It's all a part of God's magnificent creation. The miracle happens right before our eyes and our changing bodies.

Science explains that the body is constantly changing, breaking down, and then being built up again. Just think about that. That is the marvel of God's handiwork. And of course we can't forget God's brilliance in constructing the mental capacity of human beings.

We are capable of learning so many things, things that animals could never learn. You can see the power of God's creativity when you consider the capabilities of the mind. I don't think words can adequately explain the beauty and marvel of this creation. Finally, I mentioned in today's message that God created in man a spiritual marvel. That's why in Genesis 1 we're told that God created us in His image. It means we have a likeness to God, a similarity to Him, or that we are in His shadow.

I was just thinking that in our fast-paced life we don't usually take the time to think of these great wonders, the wonders of God. Remember that each of us have cravings for deity, the capability of dominion, the capacity for dignity, and the comprehension of destiny. And the only question that remains is, why are you living? What is your purpose?

God has made you to fulfill His plan and for you to worship Him with your mind, your body, your soul forever. And that is today's PowerPoint. Remember when you give a gift to PowerPoint, we'll send you an ESV scripture journal as our thanks. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 313131. Text PowerPoint to 313131. And join us again next time as Dr. Graham brings a message about how your life was designed for paradise. That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries.