Psalm 8:1-6. O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him?
5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under his feet,
Why would God care about us? In this big universe aren’t we wholly insignificant specks? This is the question the psalmist asks in Psalm 8 – what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?
Have you ever asked a question like this? Why am I here? What is the meaning of life? Is my life important? Does God even care about me? Does he even know I’m alive?
Psalm 8 offers us the answer to these biggest of questions. But notice Psalm 8 does not begin with man. It begins with God. God is Yahweh (LORD). God is the transcendent I AM. And God is adonai (Lord). He is the creator of the cosmos. The ruler of the heavenly hosts. Majestic and glorious.
Which makes the question about man all the more appropriate. Why would a God so big care about a person so small? A person like you or like me?
Because we are the crowning glory of his creation. We aren’t just a slightly more evolved animal. We have been made in God’s image and likeness, just below Elohim and yet above the rest of creation. We have been crowned with God’s own glory and honor, his dominion and authority.
But Christian, this is about more than just your position in the created order. This is personal. You fill God’s thoughts. He is mindful of you. And you fill God’s heart; he cares for you. He knows all about you. He is concerned with what concerns you. He loves to hear you laugh and he catches your tears in his bottle. He has numbered the hairs on your head, and planned out the days of your life. He loves you deeply and intensely with his unconditional, loyal, covenant love.
But wait. What about our sin? What about all our failures? What about when we misrepresent God and reject his love? What about when we cast off the crown of glory and honor and replace it with humiliation and shame?
That’s when we take refuge in the reality that Jesus is the true Psalm 8 man. Christ took on flesh and was made a little lower than the angels. God crowned him with glory and honor on the cross. The cross of his humiliation and the crown of his shame was the glory of God’s grace and love on display.
Jesus, the Psalm 8 man, was then crowned by God with glory and honor in heaven. Vindicated in his resurrection, seated at God’s right hand, and enthroned above every power, save the Father himself. All rule, dominion, and authority were given by God to a man, the man Christ Jesus. Jesus, the uncreated and eternal image of God is now the ultimate image bearer. He is the goal of our humanity. The destiny of all creation. The commander of all life, and the conqueror of all death.
What is man? Who am I? Why would God care about me?
Because “to live is Christ.” Because Christ has restored us to our place as the image bearers of God. He has crowned us with his glory and honor, and placed all things under our feet. No more enemies to fear, for Jesus has conquered them all. No more doubting our place in this life, for Jesus has given us his.
You
Do you struggle to believe that God cares about you?
You in Christ
In Christ you are crowned with glory and honor. How does this give your life meaning today?
Christ in you
How might you live from your shared “glory and honor” with Christ today?
***
Playlist: What Is Man?
Click Here to listen to this playlist on Spotify!
***
To see today’s post from the TLIC Family blog –> Click Here
To Live is Christ 