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Mankind
January 29, 2011

This time of year as I go for walks after dinner, I cannot keep myself from looking at the heavens of the night sky. A few nights back as the moon was rising, it rose behind a cloud set an angle. For those few moments, it appeared that the moon was encircled by a ring, much like Saturn. Orion is prominent in the night sky and as I look at Orion's belt, the moon, or any other heavenly object, I sometimes wonder if at that same moment in time, somebody else living on another continent may be looking at the same heavenly object. I realize how small we are, and I am reminded of the words of the Psalmist.

Psalm 8:1-9
To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm of David. O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger. When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; 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. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas. O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!

Looking into the heavens of the night sky that stretch beyond human sight, the enormity of the universe provided a glimpse of the greatness of God. David knew the weakness of man, yet marveled at God's continuing creation through the birth of babies and fragility of infants. Through his power of creation God is able to bestow physical life to a baby while still unborn, and begin working with that person while in a state of total need and move towards a spiritual existence. This must confound Satan and the last enemy of death. David wondered what made mankind special in the eyes of God as he looked into the night sky. He knew that even though we are lower than the angels, God gives us glory and honor by giving us dominion over everything on our planet. David knew how excellent was God's name.

When God created mankind, it was to be in the image and likeness of God. Mankind was the final creation of creation week, before God rested on the Sabbath Day.

Genesis 1:26-31
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. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And 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. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Our ultimate glory is not yet revealed. While we have dominion over all that is on this orb, and as we look into the night sky that stretches beyond what the eye can see, we must realize that eternity as a spiritual child of God is our ultimate glory.

1 Corinthians 15:50-58
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

God's final creation will be our transformation as children of God. As we live our lives as Christians, as we are led by the Holy Spirit, we can look towards the heavens of the night sky to be reminded of the greatness of God, and be resolved to stay focused on the work that God had given us to do.

All verses are from the King James Version.
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