What is Man?

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Short Summary
The discourse reflects on humanity’s humble position before the majesty of God, emphasizing that despite our smallness in the vast universe, we are known and valued by God, who created us with intricate wisdom. It highlights the importance of living in accordance with God’s will, loving Him by obeying His commandments not as burdens but as a path to fulfilling life, and encourages believers to serve humbly within the body of Christ, fostering unity and love without selfish ambition. The message concludes with assurance of God’s guidance and comfort, inspiring thankfulness and casting out fear through perfect love.

Long Summary
Detailed Summary of the Discourse

Opening Reflection on Psalm 8
– Psalm 8 marvels at God’s creation: the heavens, moon, stars, all set in place by God’s “fingers.”
– The Psalmist contemplates human significance: “What is man that you are mindful of him, and the Son of Man, that you care for him?” (Psalm 8:3, ESV).
– Despite humanity’s lowliness, God made man “a little lower than the heavenly beings” and crowned him with glory and honor (Psalm 8:5).
– God gave humans dominion over all creatures and the earth (Psalm 8:6-8).
– The Psalm ends in awe of God’s majestic name throughout the earth (Psalm 8:9).

Isaiah’s Perspective on God’s Majesty and Human Humility
– Isaiah 57:15 highlights God’s loftiness and holiness: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit” (Isaiah 57:15).
– God simultaneously inhabits eternity and is near to the humble, reviving their spirits.

Contemplating God’s Sovereignty over Time and Space
– The vastness of space and the immensity of time can intimidate humans, but not God, the Creator of both.
– God “is not fearful of the passing of vast epochs of time” and “not intimidated by great spaces in the heavens.”
– He “inhabits eternity” comfortably with perfect control over His eternal plan.

Marvel at the Human Body as Divine Wisdom
– The speaker teaches human physiology and pathophysiology and admires the intricate, perfectly functioning systems in the human body.
– The complexity and harmony of bodily functions (breathing ~17,280 times/day; heartbeats ~103,680/day; ~2.6 billion heartbeats in a lifetime) testify to God’s unlimited intelligence and power.
– This complexity cannot be explained by chance but reflects divine creation.

Biblical Reflection on Human Value and Relationship with God
– 1 Corinthians 8:4-6 emphasizes there is one God, “the Father, for whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.”
– The meaning of life is rooted in existing “for God,” aligning life’s purpose with doing God’s will.
– 1 Corinthians 8:3 states, “But if anyone loves God, he is known by God,” a profound encouragement about being personally recognized by God.
– Being “known by God” surpasses any human honor or recognition.

Warning Against Returning to Legalism and the Importance of Sonship
– Galatians 4:6-9 teaches that believers receive the Spirit of God, cry “Abba, Father,” and are sons and heirs, no longer slaves to “weak and worthless elementary principles.”
– To be “known by God” means embracing freedom in Christ rather than bondage to the law.

The Nature and Growth of Christian Prayer and Relationship
– Mature Christian prayer moves beyond selfish or temporal requests to a deeper relationship with God.
– Prayer becomes a time of sincere communion, thanksgiving, and alignment with God’s will.

The Preciousness of Life and the Value of Christ’s Sacrifice
– A tragic story of a student’s death underscores life’s irreplaceable value.
– No earthly wealth could restore lost life, but the merit of Jesus’ sacrifice is priceless and precious beyond all worldly treasures.

Admonitions to Avoid False Teachings and Live Righteously
– 2 Timothy 2:15-19 warns against irreverent babble and false teachers who “have swerved from the truth.”
– God’s foundation stands firm: “The Lord knows those who are his, and let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”
– Being known by God requires turning away from sin.

Love for God Expressed in Obedience
– 1 John 5:1-3 teaches that love for God is evidenced by keeping His commandments.
– Obedience is not burdensome when understood as a response to God’s love and grace.
– Jesus calls believers “friends,” revealing God’s will and inviting joyful obedience rather than reluctant servitude.

Human Life’s Purpose and God’s Instruction Manual
– Just as a car comes with instructions for optimal use, the Bible provides guidance for living an optimal life spiritually and practically.
– God’s laws are designed for human flourishing, though sin has clouded human judgment about right and wrong.

Jesus’ Warning Against False Professions of Faith
– Matthew 7:21-23 warns that not everyone who calls Jesus “Lord” will enter heaven, but only those who do God’s will.
– Mere outward works or claims are insufficient without a genuine relationship with God.

The Body of Christ as God’s Masterpiece
– The human body is a marvel, but the “body of Christ” (the church) is God’s ultimate masterpiece.
– Romans 12:4-8 describes the church as one body with many members, each with different gifts used to serve others lovingly.
– The Message Bible’s translation of Romans 12:10 encourages believers to “practice playing second fiddle”—valuing supportive roles that create harmony and joy, much like an orchestra.

Christian Fellowship and Humility
– Philippians 2:1-3 exhorts believers to unity, humility, and counting others more significant than themselves.
– Perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18), replacing fear of punishment with confident trust in God’s goodness.

Comfort in God’s Shepherding Care
– Psalm 23 evokes God’s guidance and protection: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me” (Psalm 23:4).
– God’s goodness and mercy follow believers all their lives, assuring them of eternal fellowship with Him.

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Major Bible Verses Cited:

– Psalm 8:3-9
– Isaiah 57:15
– 1 Corinthians 8:3-6
– Galatians 4:6-9
– 2 Timothy 2:15-19
– 1 John 5:1-3
– Matthew 7:21-23
– Romans 12:4-8, 10 (Message Bible)
– Philippians 2:1-3
– Psalm 23:4

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Overall Message:
God’s majesty and wisdom are revealed in creation and especially in humanity. Despite human lowliness, God is mindful of us and has given us purpose and honor. To live meaningfully, we must recognize that we exist for God, be known by Him through love and obedience, and find joy in our roles within the body of Christ. Genuine relationship with God casts out fear and brings eternal hope and peace.

Transcript

In Psalm 8 we read, When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon, the stars, which you have set in place, what is man, that you are mindful of him, and the Son of Man, that you care for him. Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands. You have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth.

Foreign.

The prophet Isaiah has a wonderful, meaningful statement in this regard. It acknowledges the loftiness of Jehovah, God, and the lowly place that humankind possesses. Isaiah 57:15. For Thus says the one who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is holy, I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.

When we see the images of the planet Earth from so far away, it boggles the mind both in respect to the distance, the vast emptiness of space around us, and the enormous amount of time it would take to travel from Earth to anywhere else, and the ages now passed of human history. Time intimidates us, space intimidates us, but neither intimidates the Creator of space and time, and that is our great God. He is not fearful of the passing of vast epochs of time.

He is not intimidated by great spaces in the heavens. He created them. He’s the master of them.

And yet, despite that perspective, what is man that you are mindful of him?

How is it that you, the inhabiter of eternity, God, inhabits eternity. You know, you might look around and look at eternity from his perspective and turn to him and say, nice place you’ve got here, right? He’s not intimidated by eternity. He lives comfortably in it. There’s just enough room for his eternal plan to be fulfilled.

I teach, in part, human pathophysiology and physiology, and the more I teach, ponder it. The more I speak of it to my students, the more profoundly affected I am by the wisdom of God in creating the human body.

It is mathematically impossible. Unless someone possessed of unlimited intelligence and unlimited power brought that intelligence and power to bear upon the creation of intelligent beings, it would be impossible for all those systems to just click together and function perfectly.

As you sit there this Afternoon. You are breathing. If you were not, you would not be sitting there.

Most of us breathe about 12 times a minute.

So if it’s 12 times a minute and 60 minutes in an hour and 24 hours in a day, that means in an average day, you and I will together breathe 17,280 times without even thinking about it.

Without even thinking about it, our heart will beat maybe on average about 72 times a minute. Which means that every hour that amazing mechanism is pumping blood through our body at a rate of 4320 beats per hour. You want me to do the math for how many times a day I will.

Every day the heart beats on average about 103,680 times. In a year, the human heart will beat about 37,324,800 times.

So, being of a somewhat curious mind, I took my current age and you can figure out how old I am if you do the math, you know, pull your calculator out. Well, oh, but in my lifetime, my heart has pumped blood through my body 2,612,000,736 times. Well, accounting for an occasional PVC, it might be a few last, but that’s it. 2.6 billion heartbeats in a lifetime. Without even thinking about it.

What is man? That he is an object of your attention. I was reading recently in First Corinthians chapter 8.

Now, I’ll preface this. Sometimes when I read the Bible, looking for a verse that I. I’m looking for a verse will pop up in the context that I wasn’t looking for, and it hits me. It has a major impact, and this is what happened to me as I read First Corinthians 8, verses 4 through 6.

And you’ll understand as I read it why I might have been interested in reading it.

The apostle says, therefore, as to the eating of food offered, offering, offer to idols. We know that an idol has no real existence and that there is no God but one. For although there may be so called gods in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, yet for us there is one God, the Father, for whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

Meditating on verse six of God from whom are all things and for whom we exist. You know, that’s one of the biggest questions that our greatest philosophers have pondered for ages. What is the meaning of life? Or reversing the equation, what gives life meaning? And the answer is so clear right here.

That we exist for God, and that should give us a clue as to our attitude in daily life, how we want to conduct the course of our life. The course of our life should be conducted with a view to doing the will of God as perfectly as possible, despite our imperfections, which we admit, and to obey the will of God. In this we exist in the most complete and fulfilling sense, doing the will of God. It gets a little better.

I backed up to read the context, and here it comes, the verse that had such an impact on me. Now as I read it, I don’t know if it’ll have the same impact on you as it did on me, but in the context of my current prayer life, the context of my current Christian life of service, this really hit me. I backed up and started reading 1st Corinthians 8:3.

But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.

If you love God, you are known by God.

Now there are earthly gods and earthly lords. There are people of great power, people of great fame, and if it word got back to us, you know, the leader of this country was asking about you, you’re known to that person. We might feel a little sense of flattery, not that that would be important, but to know that we are known of God is amazing. There we are on that pale blue dot hanging in the midst of billions of miles of empty space.

By the way, I disagreed with Mr. Sagan’s point that there’s no evidence that anyone is coming to save us from ourselves soon.

Well, got my Bible on my phone tells me so. He’s coming to save us soon.

But to be known by God.

In Galatians chapter 4, the apostle is rebuking the brethren of Galatia because they seemed ready to give up on the life of faith and try to base their relationship with God on obedience to the Jewish law. They were going to return to the law, and Paul is admonishing them, don’t do that. Think about this. Verses 6 through 9 of Galatians 4, and because you are sons, God has sent the spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, abba, father, so you are no longer a slave, but a son.

And if a son, then an heir through God. Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. But now that you’ve come to know God, or rather be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of this world whose slaves you want to be once more? In other words, you want to give up the freedoms that you have in Christ and go back and be enslaved by the commands of a law that continually demonstrates your inability to perfectly live it out, to be known by God.

Just spend some time pondering that in your prayers at night or if your prayer time is 3am like mine, my body just wakes up and my brain kicks into prayer mode. Think about that. That you, God, have known me.

The previous two speakers have addressed well, the attitude of thankfulness that our lives should be invested with just for that small favor that God recognizes us as his children. What a blessing.

I think that as a Christian develops, becomes more and more mature, their prayer life becomes more skillful, and here’s what I mean by that. The prayer life isn’t, oh, Lord, please let the Toronto Blue Jays win the World Series, right? Why not, Michael?

Yeah, why not?

Or Lord, give me that advancement at work, or Lord, give me this and give me that. All things of a temporal nature. But as we come to understand what is really valuable. What is really valuable, it’s the relationship we have with God and the life we have with Jesus Christ in him that’s valuable.

Had a tragic experience at work about a year ago.

My. One of my very best students missed the final examination and I sent her a message through a communicating application we use and didn’t hear back from her, and I said, I hope to see you tomorrow. When I got home, my phone was ringing. It was another one of my students.

And they said, did you hear about Amy?

And you know, sometimes when somebody asks you a question like that and you can instantly tell something is horribly wrong. Amy didn’t come for her final exam because a neighbor who had mental health issues and was a convicted felon owned a handgun and he killed Amy, her son and her mother.

We were devastated.

It impressed on me this fact, and I shared this with the students.

If we went on a fundraising drive and depleted all the resources of every country, all the money, all the gold, all the jewels, everything of value, we put it together in a gigantic pile. It could not buy Amy back.

Life is so precious, and we’re thankful to God for realizing that fact. The preciousness of life, well, it certainly does reflect on the value of our Lord Jesus. Sacrifice doesn’t. Certainly does. More than all the gold, the jewels, the pearls, everything of value in this world, more precious is the merit of his sacrifice.

Praise God.

There was debate. Well, hasn’t there always been debate among Christian people? Of varying degrees. But in Second Timothy, Paul is admonishing Timothy about controversy that was raging in the church at that time, and Paul tells him Essentially Timothy oh, by the way, I’m reading 2 Timothy 2, 15:19 do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed rightly handling the word of truth.

But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They’re upsetting the faith of some and then these comforting But God’s foundation stands bearing this seal. The Lord knows those who are his, and let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.

The foundation stands sure. The Lord knows those who are his, and if you are his, you are known of him, and if you are known of him, depart from iniquity. Run away from it.

In First John 5, verses 1 through 33 we read this Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. By this we know that we love the children of God when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is this is here’s the definition, working definition. This is the love of God that we keep his commandments. In fellowship with one of the brethren recently, someone I truly, deeply respect, the question was asked, how do we know if we really love God?

I don’t think there’s a blood test we can take. Maybe they could put electrodes on our head and make some measurements and come up with a conclusion that, yeah, that looks pretty positive, that they love God. By what barometer or method do we know that we love God?

And there’s a dividing line here. Jesus told his disciples that I call you now, my friends. I formerly called you servants, but now I call you friends. Why? Because all the family secrets are being revealed to you.

The entire will of God is being made clearly known to you, and not just what the principles are, but but the value of the principles, why they’re important, and the effect they have on life.

And so rather than being servants who are told, do this and we might do it, but we might be muttering under our breath or grumbling that we feel so overburdened by having to do this, and why do they always keep bossing me around? I’m tired of this, and as soon as I can, I’m going to retire from this service.

Servants in service.

But for the family of God, his will is their delight. Didn’t Jesus, say that, lo, I come to do thy will, O my God. Thy law is written in my heart, and so a family member loves the Father and understands what the rules are all about and understands the good fruit that is born from obeying those rules, and so again, I read in 1st John 5, 3, this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.

But I didn’t finish reading that verse, did I?

It gives us the assurance that his commandments are not burdensome.

And going back to the beginning of our presentation this afternoon, it speaks of God from whom are all things and for whom are all things, and this is part of the for whom are all things that we obey his will. But in obeying his commandments, we realize this isn’t burdensome.

Humanity has been so jaded by the experience with sin and evil that their perceptions of what is right and what is wrong is often very blurred.

Judgment in their minds has been corrupted. Or we’re so used to the ugliness that people demonstrate all around that we feel that’s just the way it is, but it isn’t.

God created the human race to lead godly lives, and, and with those godly lives, you know, you buy a new automobile or some new piece of electronic equipment, and there’s the instruction manual, and it explains to you how to use that device or how to keep that car in good condition to keep things running optimally.

I think there may be a parallel between that and us reading the word of God, which explains to us how to live lives optimally, both for the present and with the prospects of the future, optimal life.

Again, I am so thankful that I am known of God, that you are, too. That’s what brought us together this Thanksgiving convention this weekend.

Jesus words of warning in Matthew 7, verses 21 through 23, he acknowledges that there would be people who would profess to be Christians, but who were not in actuality.

Jesus said, not everyone who says to me, lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day, many will say to me, lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do many mighty works in your name? In other words, they’re saying, hey, wait a minute, you owe me.

They can say that all they want.

And Jesus said, then will I declare to them, I never knew you depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.

So it is easy in some instances to misconstrue what the Christian message is all about. Some feel it’s all about saving souls now to prevent them from going into an eternity of torment from which there can never be any hope of relent. Not even a care package of Reese’s Bars. Right? And I say that too belittle the idea.

Some religions, never mind, but they feel that they’re doing a great work for God. But they’re doing a great work maybe, but it is not the work that God really wants.

I spoke earlier of the wonder of the human body. All those chemical systems, all those hormones that we secrete that work in balance with other hormones and regulate organ function and maintain very narrow parameters, parameters of physiologic measurement within the human body. I’d say that’s miraculous, and as I mentioned to you, the more I teach it to my students, the more I feel like I’m preaching God to them. How else could it exist?

The human body is a masterpiece of divine wisdom and construction.

But that’s not the master work. As far as creating a body, there is a body that God is creating. Unbeknownst to virtually everyone on this planet, it is a body that is his masterpiece. It is the body of the Christ.

And this is one of the ways that we can have a fulfilling Christian life, is to find our role in the body of Christ and to help one another along the way, to offer words of comfort, words of encouragement, words of incitement, words of joy.

In Romans 12, we read starting with verse 4, as in 1 body we have many members, and the members do not have all the same function. So we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another, having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them. If prophecy, public teaching do that in proportion to our faith, if service in our serving, the one who teaches in his teaching, the one who exhorts in his exhortation, the one who contributes in generosity, the one who leads with zeal, the one who does acts of mercy with cheerfulness. Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil, hold fast to that which is good.

Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.

Five minutes. Okay, so my voice pitch might rise up and my speech might become very rapid. I think we can make this. I’m going to read to you the same verses from a translation called the Message Bible, a translation by a pastor Eugene Peterson, who tried to put the Scriptures in practical, everyday language for his congregants, and in particular, I’m just going to read, for time’s sake, verse 12 of Romans 12, Romans 12:10.

He translates that. Be good friends who love deeply. Practice playing second fiddle. Have you heard that expression before? Playing second fiddle.

Practice playing second fiddle. What does he mean by that? Well, when I read that, I thought of a quote by Leonard Bernstein, the famous composer and conductor, and someone was interviewing him for one of the newspapers, and they asked him, Mr. Bernstein, what is the most important part in the orchestra? Most people would say, well, the first violin, because they’re playing all the melody lines and all that beautiful, flashy stuff that’s most important. No, Mr. Bernstein said the second fiddle.

I can get plenty of first violinists, but to find someone who can play the second fiddle with enthusiasm, that’s a problem, and if we have no second fiddle, we have no harmony.

Think what an orchestra would sound like if they all just played the same note. But branching out. Second fiddle, third fiddle. Playing the viola, playing the cello, the bass, the trombone.

Bernstein was highlighting the importance of. Of supportive roles in music, and we can build off that by extension, in life. How can we enrich the lives of others? Do we have to be the first violinist?

Or can we play an enthusiastic second fiddle that brings harmony and joy and beautiful music to their hearts?

The idea aligns with the ancient wisdom. Aristotle had a concept of philia, which meant the mutual goodwill of everyone taking care of each other, and we just read of the biblical notion of the body having many parts each. Essential closing. Philippians 2, 1, 3.

If there’s any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, and here’s the punchline. But in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

There’s no fear in love.

Thankfulness. I think Brother Jeff implied this thankfulness can cast fear out of our hearts. Thankful for that experience, Lord. Thankful for that experience. Perfect love casts out fear.

Fear has to do with punishment. Whoever fears has not yet been perfected or made mature in love. As I reflected on that, I thought of Psalm 23, so precious to us all, and especially those verses that give us this. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

And that being so. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil.

My cup, it runs over. Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. We’re thankful. Amen.

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