Reigning with God To some, history is nothing more than a chamber of horrors, littered with the dead bodies of yesterday’s heroes and scoundrels. But history is more than this. History is life, and it pulsates with real people who lived in real places in real time. And what is the point of it all? What is man? What is his purpose and why are we here? The evolutionist says man is the product of time, chance, and millions of years. The atheist says man is mere dust who will go six feet under in unconsciousness. The animal rights activist says man is lower than the animal. But what does God say man is? When we look at the seemingly infinite universe, and think about the little dot called earth, what is man, we who are smaller than a speck of dust in comparison to the vastness of space? How can God, who is greater than the heavens that He made with His fingers, be mindful of man? So this Psalm answers perhaps the most compelling philosophical question of life. What is man’s purpose and why are we here? Psalm 8 reveals to us the destiny of man, who man is and what God made him to be. God created and crowned man to be a king and to have dominion over the earth. But sin has entered into the human race and all have sinned and thus man is forbidden to have the dominion God originally intended for him in the Garden. Satan has usurped the crown; man has lost his dominion. In a very real sense, Satan is now the god of this world and the prince of the power of the air. Sin has marred all that God originally intended man to be so that now man’s dominion and rule are marked by corruption and greed. This world is under tremendous demonic influence! But God is not done and He is working out His plan. So, what is man? The answer is ultimately given to us by Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, the Last Adam is the Sinless and Perfect man who will recover this lost destiny. Jesus Christ both quotes this Psalm and He fulfills this Psalm, for He is the perfect Man crowned with glory and honour, who has all things under His feet and who will reign over all the earth forever and ever. And you can reign with him and fulfill your original destiny to rule with Him If you are saved, if you repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jehovah is all sufficient, self-existent, and eternal, our Lord, our Master, our Ruler, and our Creator! How excellent is thy name, how famous and glorious, how mighty and noble! The God of Israel is not a tribal deity or a God who was a local leader, but their Covenant God was Creator of all the Universe! He has set his glory above the heavens. Would you agree with me that the most power king of all is the One who rules the vast canopy of space. This earth is just a small piece of dust in light of the seemingly infinite space of stars and universe. God is the ruler of all heaven and earth. This is clear from Scripture. Psalm 59:13; Consume them in wrath, consume them, that they may not be: and let them know that God ruleth in Jacob unto the ends of the earth. Psalm 66:7; He ruleth by his power for ever; his eyes behold the nations: let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Psalm 72:8-11; He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. 9They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust. 10The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. 11Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him. v. 2: Out of the mouth of babes, children who play in the streets, and sucklings, babies still drinking milk from their mother, God perfects praise! Through the praise of humble children, God can cause the enemy and the one taking revenge to be defeated. Or literally, to rest and cease from their labor of revenge or their work of violence. This Psalm is referred to by Jesus in Matthew 11:25 and relates to our coming to Him, the meek and lowly One. Then in the cleansing of the temple, when the Scribes and Pharisees were so envious of the children praising Jesus with loud Hosannas, Jesus quoted this Psalm! Matthew 21:16
When David considered the heavens and the vastness of the universe, he was humbled. He saw God as the Master Creator who made the heavens as the “work of his fingers.” Just as an artist would sculpt a figure or paint a picture, so creation is His work of art. God is the All-powerful master potter who fashioned the glory of the heavens, the moon and stars with his fingers! There is beauty and order in all God’s universe, from the vastness of the galaxies to the intricacies of the cockroach! Our knowledge is far ahead of what David understood because of the increase of knowledge and technology, and we should even more than David praise God for the heavens and the stars, which he has ordained. A. Man is CREATED, lower for a time than the angels in rank (v.3-5a) Angels are immortal spirits. Man is destined to die and return to the dust. Man is restricted to earth. Angels are not confined. Angels have direct access into the very presence of God. Man does not. And David also knew that he was so small in comparison to heaven’s immensity. He cries to God, “What is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou visitest him?” This Psalm looks back at the first week of creation when God created man on the sixth day Genesis 1:26-28: And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. This passage is like a thread, and when you pull it, the message of the Bible unfolds. We see the Triune God in fellowship with Himself, and this type of communication appears in many places of Scripture (Psalm 45:7; Psalm 110:1; Isaiah 48:16). These verses reveal to us that man is made:
The Bible knows nothing of evolution, from Genesis to Revelation, man is made by God to bring Him glory. Man is the crowning point of God’s creation, the most complex and highly organized if His creation, and possessing something that no animal has. All men are made by ONE GOD, and therefore God is absolutely sovereign over all the earth.
Image speaks of the same form and likeness describes a similarity. Man is superior to the animal and is not related to the animal in any way. Man receives his spirit from God and thus is an immortal spirit that will live somewhere forever. These words do not describe a physical likeness, for God is Spirit, but a moral, verbal, rational, spiritual, intellectual and IMMORTAL likeness. We are divinely formed and divinely activated, for God breathed into man the breath of life, His very breathe. Our spiritual desires, moral sensitivities (or conscience), are all gifts of God and are part of the basic human package as His image-bearers. What animal shows a desire for worship? Or has a hope for immortality? Experiences a true sense of guilt? What animal has learned to read, write, invent, make clothes, or cook their food? Man stands alone, physically, intellectually, and spiritually. Although God does not have a physical body, He designed man’s body to work in ways that He works without a body! God can see, hear, smell, touch, and speak, and so can we in our physical body. Our posture, our intellect, our emotions, our communication skills all demonstrate the image of God stamped upon us. Both men and women, though different, are image bearers of God. Man is the warrior and hunter, he is the head and initiator, he leads. Man likes to pursue, whether to hunt for a deer or for a wife. Man is the adventurous pursuer. Man is like God in that God is the HEAD, He is the man of War, who seeks and saves the lost. Women are beautiful and mysterious. Women are more relationship oriented and they love to be pursued, and they are image bearers of God in that God loves for us to pursue Him, to seek Him and His righteousness. Although sin has marred and defiled the perfect image in which we were created, all people still bear in them aspects of the image of God. Unsaved men have a sense of right and wrong. It may be marred, but still man makes moral judgments. And this demonstrates that there is a moral Creator.
B. Man is CROWNED, to rule with Him over all things (v.5b-9) God has given man a crown and made man to rule with him. Man has a royal destiny and is created to rule and reign with God. The words “subdue” and “dominion” imply that man will meet opposition and anticipate conflict with evil, but man is created to have dominion over the created universe. We must recognize that every scientific achievement or technological advance, every feat of engineering and new scrap of knowledge about the way our universe works is the result of God giving man dominion over the earth. God has given man the mandate and the ability to subdue the earth and to have dominion over it; to conquer and then to rule. This gives man the right and ability to study nature’s intricate processes, to understand amazing aspects of our world, and to apply that knowledge in invention and discovery for the greater good of the earth. Henry Morris says, “This twofold commission to subdue and have dominion embraces all productive human activities. Science and technology, research and development, to study and then to apply are all ways of expressing these concepts.” Despite the undeniable fall of man into sin, man has been a mover of mountains, a builder of bridges, a digger of deep wells, and a conqueror of the planet. But interwoven into every one of man’s successes and triumphs is the reality of sin and despair. Atheists often accuse Christians of denying science. How absurd! We applaud good science, and as a matter of fact, every scientific discovery and technological achievement is possible only because God has crowned man with this ability. Yet man uses the powers that are God-given to boast himself against God and even deny Him! Man very often uses science and its twin of technology of denying God and abusing man. Man may be destined to die and return to dust, but God has a plan that destines many to reign with Him. Whereas angels are God’s servants, we are made to enter God’s eternal kingdom, to reign with God as kings. What happened? Sin has entered the heart of man, and people live more like slaves than kings. Because our first parents, Adam and Eve, sinned and the image of God was marred, now man kills, cheats, and steals in order to have dominion. Rather than ruling with God, man seeks to rule and have dominion apart from God. Man often rules for his own glory and fame and not for God’s glory. Man studys the earth’s phenomena and denies the God who allowed him to learn. Man invents things and makes idols that lead him away from God rather than to the One who made him. In spite of all this, God is mindful of man and visits him. But we see Jesus! This is quoted and fulfilled by Jesus in Hebrews 2:6-9. But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him? 7Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands: 8Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him. 9But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. But we see Jesus, the Captain and Forerunner of our salvation, providing redemption through His shed blood and bodily resurrection, defeating our great enemy death. We see Jesus, obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, rise again and be exalted higher than any name that is in heaven! Is it not also amazing how Jesus had dominion over the fowls of the air, over the cattle and hogs, over the fish of the sea, during His earthly life? He exercised in perfection and without sin the dominion lost by Adam. Today He is on the throne and “all things are in subjection under his feet.” 1 Corinthians 15:27; For he hath put all things under his feet. Ephesians 1:22; And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church. That means all authority is given to Him and are in complete subjection to His word and will! This is why by faith we need to see Jesus for salvation and then in daily relationship we need to ever look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. As Christ rules as King over all the redeemed earth, we will sit on His throne with Him and man will be crowned in Christ. The cross has conquered the curse and man can experience his true destiny when he is IN CHRIST JESUS! Through Christ we are made to be kings and priests to God and His Father! Revelation 1:5 Through Christ we are a chosen generation and a royal priesthood! 1 Peter 2:9 And that is why only through Jesus can we rule and reign with God as Kings and Priests. Although this passage is clearly applied to the perfect Man, Christ Jesus, who will reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, it also applies to all men who are redeemed by the blood of the King who will therefore reign with Him. Daniel 7:18, 27: But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever. And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. Romans 5:19; For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. Matthew 25:21,23; Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things; I will make thee ruler over many things; enter thou into the joy of the Lord. Matthew 25:34; Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 2 Timothy 2:12; If we suffer, we shall also reign with him. Revelation 2:26; He that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations. Revelation 3:21, To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with Father in his throne. God our Father created us to be kings, but the disobedience of our first parents robbed us of our crowns. But God sent His Son, so we see Jesus, crowned with glory and honor, who came to earth to redeem us from sin and death to make us Kings. Today the Holy Spirit empowers us to “reign in life by one, Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:17). When you crown Jesus Christ as Lord of your life, you are a King and not a slave; a victor, and not a victim. O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! |