What is Man to God?

“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 honour.”  Psalm 8:4-5

I originally entitled this blog as “Undeserved”.  Why “undeserved”??  The answer is obvious to anyone who has been saved by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and has experienced the freedom from the guilt of sin and the joy that comes from knowing that the Lord is ever present with each believer through the infilling of the Holy Spirit.  And for those who do not know the Lord in a personal way, undeserved means exactly what it says.  Humans do not deserve one iota of God’s favor because it is all of His grace.  Our “works” have nothing to do with God’s acceptance of us through our repentance and faith in Christ.

The Psalmist David asked the most honest question, as I phrase it the way that true seekers ask, “Why?  Why did You even make man knowing that he would be disobedient right from the start?  Why give man such a privileged responsibility to have dominion over all things that You have made?  Why did You make man just a little lower than the angels?”  Angels were created by God as sinless and immortal beings.  They are of a higher intelligence than man because their service to God is of the utmost importance.  They have work to do that no mortal man can do.  Satan was an angel who was cast out of heaven along with his associates because he wanted to be the sovereign ruler.  We know that Satan is very intelligent.   After all, look at all he has accomplished in this sin-cursed world.  He may be highly intelligent, but he is also very wicked.  Most people who live evil lives are rather smart mentally but lack any understanding of the spiritual life.  Think of the con artists who persuade little old ladies to give up their life savings.  How about politicians who pull the wool over the eyes of their constituents enough to gain their votes every election cycle?

God created man to worship Him and gave man responsibilities, privileges, dignity, intelligence, and the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of folks.  But what has man done with these blessings?  There are many unselfish and caring folks who have made a big difference in the lives of others.  Some dedicate their lives to helping others in different roles, such as teachers, health care workers, police officers, firemen, and others.  There are men who have answered the call to preach the gospel and lead folks to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.  Missionaries have given their lives to serve in remote areas where people have never heard the gospel.  However, these are the exceptions.  The majority of the world’s inhabitants have squandered the blessings of God and their potential to serve the Lord with their talents and abilities causing them to miss God’s enriching purposes for their lives.  Instead, they have decided to ignore Him and live apart from Him.  If they only knew what joy they would receive in service to Him.  God has rewarding work for anyone who is willing.

God must be extremely mindful of us sinners to allow His Son, Jesus, to die a horrible, excruciatingly painful death so that we could be reconciled to God and become a member of His family.  All I have to do is look at all the majesty God has created–the sun, moon, stars, flowers, a beautiful spring day, and the faces of my grandchildren and wonder why He would ever bother with someone as insignificant as me.  He crowned man with honor and glory as undeserving as man is.  Thus, should we not strive for excellency, not to be deserving, but because of His love for us and because we love Him for who He is?