FUNDAMENTALS OF DISCIPLESHIP
RENEWING
THE MIND – XXI
WHAT IS
MAN? - 1
Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this
world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove
what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of IAUE.
Though we have
discussed this somewhat during our series on the Kingdom Heart, the Holy Spirit
has been telling me that we need to delve once more into this topic.
Psalm 8:3 When I consider thy heavens,
the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
4 What is man,
that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
A study of astronomy
is a sure-fired way to bring you to this question. “What is man,
that thou art mindful of him?” We
live our lives on a planet that is miniscule compared to the sun in the center
of our solar system; and yet our solar system is not even recognizable when
viewing an image of our galaxy. All of
the stars that we view in the night sky can hardly be recognized when viewing
an image of our galaxy; and yet our Milky Way galaxy is but one of millions, if
not billions, of entire galaxies that make up the known universe. If you could box up all of the galaxies in
our universe in a single confined space, you would hardly notice it in an image
of our universe, as there is far more unoccupied space than there is space occupied
by heavenly bodies.
Our
solar system as seen in its place within our galaxy,
Our entire night sky. Everything you have
ever been able to see.
Every light in this picture is a galaxy.
Most of them are much larger than our own Milky Way.
A consciousness of
how small we are in the scope of the created universe is utterly humbling. I am reminded of a quote I read many years
ago: “A mountain shames a mole hole
until they are both viewed from the stars.”
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning Elohim
created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face
of the deep. And the Spirit of Elohim moved upon the face of the waters.
Despite the
theorists who imagine our universe emerged from a “big bang” which hurled
masses of debris across the universe that eventually formed the heavenly bodies
we now recognize as planets, suns, black holes, galaxies, etc., the Scripture
says that IAUE created earth first, and the “heaven” about the earth (literally
the sky and atmosphere that surrounded the earth). It was three days later that IAUE created the
sun, moon and stars for signs and for seasons.
Then three days after that, after IAUE had completed the support network
of plants and animals upon the earth, IAUE made man; then He rested from His
works. What does that tell you? It tells you that all of creation was made for
the purpose of supporting man. Man was
the purpose of creation. There would be
no universe, no galaxies, no stars, no planets, no moons were it not for
man. They exist exclusively to minister
to man.
Genesis 1:26 And Elohim 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.
27 So Elohim created man in his
own image, in the image of Elohim created he him; male and female created he
them.
Here we begin to see
what IAUE is doing. When all had been
created and was in place, IAUE created man in His image and after His likeness. Literally, that means He made us to look like
Him in appearance; and He gave us the ability to grow up to become like Him in
his nature and character and personal attributes. IAUE did not make us like the animals. We are not just the highest member of the
food chain. Man was given dominion over
every living creature on the planet to subdue them and to rule over them.
Once we understand
that the entire universe was created for man; we then can understand that man
was created for IAUE. We can look at the
night sky and not feel small. We can
look at the heavens and be in awe that it all exists for us, for signs and for
seasons. The entire universe was made by
our Creator to serve us. Understanding
this elevates our own awareness of how important we are to the heart of IAUE. Every day, every moment we do not live for
and unto IAUE is a day that we live beneath the dignity of our creation; and it
is a day or moment that we fail to experience the fullness of His purpose for
our lives.
Psalm 8 5 For thou hast made him a little lower than Elohim,
and hast crowned him with glory and honour.
6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast
put all things under his feet:
7 All sheep and oxen, yea, and
the beasts of the field;
8 The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth
through the paths of the seas.
When IAUE created
man, He created him to be ever so slightly less than Himself. In other words, no seraphim, cherubim,
angels, Satan or demons are of a higher order of being than man. Man is subordinate to nothing but his
Creator; and to insure His man was related to appropriately by the rest of His
creation, He “crowned him with glory and honour.” Literally, this means he “surrounded man
with nobility and the esteem that is accorded nobility.” If you will, picture in your mind movies
you may have seen where a nobleman walks among the people. They bow their head and genuflect as he
passes by, and they dare not look upon him as he passes for they are not worthy
to look face to face with him. That is
how ALL of creation relates to IAUE’s man…as long as IAUE’s man is walking in
the stature and purpose of his design. Look at this:
Hebrews 12:22 But ye are come unto mount
Sion, and unto the city of the living Elohim, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to
an innumerable company of angels,
Revelation 5:11 Then I looked, and I heard the
voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and
the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and
thousands of thousands,
Myriads of myriads
is literally ten thousands times ten thousand. 10,000 X 10,000 is one hundred million
(100,000,000); and that is just one
myriad. This verse says there are myriads of myriads (untold multiples of this
number). This verse adds that upon that number there are still thousands of
thousands (which is multiples of one million). Why am I pointing out this
astounding host of angels?
Hebrews 1:14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth
to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?
This innumerable
company of angels, every last one of them, is assigned to take care of us who
are the disciples of Messiah. If we can
grasp this idea, it will renew our minds as to our worth in the eyes of IAUE.
These billions of angels, wielding the power and instruction of IAUE, beings
who are not worthy to look upon us face to face, are serving us every minute of
every day. We are the sons and daughters
of the Most High; and all of creation was formed to serve us.
The unimaginable
size of the universe with its countless galaxies is just one testimony to the
love IAUE has for His man. You might say
it is His “over-the-top” gift to us (much in the same way that we desire to
shower those we love with gifts that express how deeply and greatly we love
them; but we are limited in what we are able to do. IAUE is not so limited.). His love for man knows no limit; and He
proved that by sacrificing His own son to redeem man unto Himself after we had
lost our way; and He gave to us the ministry of reconciliation to let man know
that He has opened the way back to His heart.
What is man that
IAUE is mindful of him? The answer is:
Man is the darling of the heart of IAUE.
Nothing would exist apart
from IAUE were it not for his purpose in creating man to be the object of His love. Once we
grasp this truth, how could we not aspire to obey His every word?
Next week we will
answer this question, “What is man?” from a more analytical perspective.
Kingdom
heart: a heart that offers no resistance to the
performance of the will of IAUE.
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