When mankind was created, we were created in a position of honor. We were exalted over the rest of creation, for we alone were created in the image of God. We had a special position before God in which we were able to live in his presence, near to him in the Garden of Eden. Of course, this special position was lost and shame entered the world, but we must not let sin cause us to forget the honor of being made in the image of God.
Psalm 8 is very helpful in drawing our eyes to the wonder of the honor given to men. “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens” (Psalm 8:1). David begins with the declaration that God’s name is majestic and his glory is so great that it is above the heavens. There is none like God who created all things. He is above all and he is the one with the greatest honor.
It is the truth that God is high above all things that causes David to wonder, “When I look at 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, and the son of man that you care for him” (Psalm 8:3-4)? The heavens do declare the glory of God and thus they also declare the insignificance of man. Yet, God is mindful of man and cares for him. God not only notices man, but he thinks about him, remembers him, and cares for him. This is stunning.
What is even more amazing is the place that God has assigned to man in the universe. “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” (Psalm 8:5-6). Yes humans are nothing more than grasshoppers in comparison to God, indeed, they are less than that (see Isaiah 40). And yet God has set man over all things and made him only a little lower than the “heavenly beings”.
Read the other posts in this series:
Part 1, “Introduction”
Part 2, “What Are Honor and Shame?”
Part 3, “The Honor of Man”
Part 4, “The Shame of Sin”
Part 5, “The Honor of the King (God’s Anointed One)”
Part 6, “Honor Comes through the Shaming of Your Enemies”
Part 7, “Honor, Shame and Salvation”
Part 8, “Honor through the Shame of the Messiah”
Part 9, “We Need More than a Messiah”
