Crown of Creation
Series: Tapping into Spiritual Vitality - A study in PsalmsPastor Ed Riddick - Sunday, June 3rd, 2007
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Psalm 8 “For the director of music. According to gittith. (wine press)
O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.
“From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.
“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, “what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? “You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. “You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: “all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, “the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.
“O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!“
Genesis 1:26-27 “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” NIV
Colossians 1:13-15 “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, “in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.” NIV
2 Corinthians 4:4 “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” NIV
Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3:18, “We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.” Again Paul links ‘image’ and ‘glory’ together with an important distinction. Paul believed that the reflection of the glory of God in man had been diminished in the fall and that in salvation the Holy Spirit enables believers to increasingly reflect God’s glory. Bray (1991) argues that Paul’s definition of glory is the glory of the gospel of salvation. It is because the Christian is saved, not because he is a man created in the likeness of Adam, that he bears the glory of the Lord in 2 Corinthians 3:18 (Bray, 1991).
A few things should be noted
First, the likeness of God in man indicates that mankind has a special relationship with God.
God’s making man is the only creative act preceded by the divine deliberation, “Let us make man” (Gen. 1:26). All the other creative acts, “let there be,” seem to be more impersonal. Only humanity is said to be created in the “image and likeness” of God (Matthews, 1995). The fact that this is God’s estimation and not man’s is one indication of the importance of understanding the nature of mankind. Adam and Eve were the only creatures created in God’s image, after his likeness. This indicates man’s special relationship with God. “We can certainly say that the image points to the uniqueness of human beings, which consists at least in a special relationship to God … the fact of the image of God tells us that humanity does not truly exist apart from special relationship with God” (Goldsworthy, 1991, pp.96-97).
Unlike the rest of creation that can exist “without engaging with its Creator,” (Bray, 1991, p.224) man is given a unique and personal relationship with God. “He is made for intimate, reciprocal relationship with God” (Ryken, Wilhoit, & Longman, 1998, p.9). This alone explains the uniqueness of man’s person and his worth, the magnitude of the tragedy of his broken relationship with God in the fall and the hope of redemption explained more explicitly in the New Testament (NT). Any attempt to understand humanity without recognizing that we’ve been created in the image of God is totally inadequate (Goldsworthy, 1991).
Second, being created in the image of God is linked to being given dominion over the created order. The focus here is not on the content of the image of God in man but on the function that flows from being the image-bearer. It is explicitly stated and restated that mankind has the responsibility to “rule over” or “rule and subdue” all the animals and over “all the earth” (Gen. 1:26, 28). “The language of 1:26 reflects this idea of a royal figure representing God as his appointed ruler” (Matthews, 1995, p.169). The gravity of man’s dominion must not be overlooked. “Earthly rulers were accustomed when they did not appear in person, to set up their statues as tokens of authority. Thus man, as the image and likeness of God, is to be “in his earthly sphere of dominion a vice-regent of God, he is summoned to represent in the world the sovereignty and the royal prerogatives of God” (Horst, 2003, p.262). The commentator, Walter Brueggemann, (1982) adds clarity to this expression of man’s power and authority to rule when he says, “This man and woman are not the chattel and servants of God, but the agents of God to whom much is given and from whom much is expected” (p.33). Understanding that being created in the image of God led to his function as a co-regent with God will help us not only grasp the tragedy of man’s fall, but also the role of Israel and the church and the awesome grace of God in man’s restoration through Christ.
The terms “image” and “likeness” are not used, but the theme of man’s exalted nearness to God and his co-regency is expressed in Psalm 8. The psalmist clearly has Genesis 1:26 and 28 in mind when he refers to God giving man dominion over creation in much the same terminology (v. 6).
The Psalmist unpacks this theme even more when he says that man is the special object of God’s loving care (v. 4). Man is said to be next to God in the created order and that he has been “crowned with glory and honor” (v. 5). The psalmist talks about the largeness of creation and the smallness of man and poses the question, “what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him” (v. 4)? Let’s look at Psalm 8.
I. It Begins In Worship
“O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”
Passionate and personal!
Conversation – as is all worship (in spirit and truth)
Theme: The excellencies of His name
Everywhere you look
Every nook and cranny proclaim the majesty of God.
Psalm 19:1-6 “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. “Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. “There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. “Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, “which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. “It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat.” NIV
Excellent restaurant, hotel, place to see, teacher, worker
II. Silencing the Enemies of God: The unexpected ways of God!
Matthew 21:14-17 “The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. “But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple area, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant. ““Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him. “Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read, “‘From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise’?” “And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.” NIV
There is nothing they can say except,
Jesus, tell them to shut up!
They have no answer to the free and innocent confession / praise of love / trust of children
Just when things look bad
Or go from bad to worse
When we are tempted to think all is lost!
God does something unexpected!
Luke 19:37-40 “When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: ““Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” “Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” ““I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”“ NIV
We can accomplish so much more than we think!
Yes, you can do it. Yes, give all the praise to God!
III. The reflective question of the day, 8:3-8
The unexpected ways of God – Part 2
Psalm 8:3-8 “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, “what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? “You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. “You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: “all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, “the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.” NIV
In solitude and silent reflection!
Mark 1:35 “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.”
Luke 5:16 “Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”
Mark 6:31 “Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”” NIV
Steps into: (disciplines = work, things we do)
1. Take advantage of the little solitudes of each day
Waking moments, waiting moments, waning moments
Silent table prayer
2. Find time with God in the little walks of the day (times for inner quiet when others around you might not be)
3. Find a “quiet place” inside / outside your home.
4. Practice periods of silence (30 minutes, 1 hour, 1 day)
5. Learn to “listen to the voice of God” in those silences
Object of God’s thinking
Remembering = movement toward us in his thoughts
Purposeful movement
Object of God’s care
“attend to”
Litany of verses:
Psalm 139:13-18 “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. “My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, “your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! “Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you.” NIV
Matthew 6:28-34 ““And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. “Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. “If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? “So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ “For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” NIV
Matthew 10:17-21 ““Be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues. “On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. “But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, “for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. ““Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death.” NIV
Matthew 10:29-31 “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. “And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. “So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” NIV
Isaiah 51:15-16 “For I am the Lord your God, who churns up the sea so that its waves roar— the Lord Almighty is his name. “I have put my words in your mouth and covered you with the shadow of my hand— I who set the heavens in place, who laid the foundations of the earth, and who say to Zion, ‘You are my people.’”” NIV
Isaiah 40:12-15 “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance? “Who has understood the mind of the Lord, or instructed him as his counselor? “Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge or showed him the path of understanding? “Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales; he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.” NIV
Isaiah 40:21-22 “Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded? “He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.” NIV
Isaiah 40:25-31 ““To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One. “Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. “Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God”? “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. “Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; “but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” NIV
Psalm 144:3-4 “O Lord, what is man that you care for him, the son of man that you think of him? “Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow.” NIV
1 Peter 5:7 “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
Philippians 4:19 “And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” NIV
IV. It Ends In Worship
“O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”