Psalm 8:1-6; Hebrews 2:8b-10, 14-15
Related Sunday School Lesson, Family Bible Series, Sept. 11

 

Our Original Purpose, Psalm 8:1-6

I graduated high school in 1970. In that year the population of the world topped out at 3,912,211,699. As I write this lesson, the population has just surpassed 6,534,661,250. That is an increase of over 2.5 billion people. Is it possible that God, the creator and ruler of the universe, could have a life-purpose for each and every one of them? King David certainly believed that He did.

In Psalm 8, David is so overwhelmed with the majestic greatness of God that he begins and ends the Psalm declaring, “Oh Lord our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!” Looking up into the star-studded sky, he becomes so filled with the wonder of God’s creative genius that praise and worship burst forth from his innermost being.

He continues in verse two by telling how our great and awesome Creator is also involved in the lives of those He created. Remembering his encounter with Goliath, as well as other experiences he had as a youth, he is able to affirm that God uses mere children to reveal His mighty strength.

David was little more than a child and not yet old enough to fight in Israel’s army when God manifested His strength through him in an unquestionable way. Without a piece of protective armor, he faced Israel’s dreaded enemy, the Philistine giant, and slew him before the two watching armies. He did this in the name of the LORD.

In light of God’s awesome creation, David finds it incomprehensible that God would even give a thought to being involved in the personal lives of human beings (verse 3). Even more astonishing is the fact that He would care for them with such a special love. The only appropriate response to this reality is praise and worship!

Verse 5 says, in the HCSB translation, that God created man a “little less than God and crowned him with glory and majesty!” In this verse the KJV translates “God” as “angels,” while the NIV translates “God” as “heavenly beings.” The point that each of these translations is consistently making is that God designated an exalted role for humanity. After all, we find the foundational truth in Genesis 1 that God created man in His own image. Of all of His creation, only man bears His image.

The Scriptures reveal to us that mankind has a higher purpose in God’s creative order than any other created being on earth, one of His major purposes being to rule over His creation as a steward. However, the effects of sin have marred man’s ability to know and understand God and His ways and have made it very difficult for man to discover and fulfill God’s original intent.

 

Our Restored Purpose, Hebrews 2:8b-10, 14-15

Because of God’s great love, He made a way to reverse the awful effects of sin and restore purpose and hope for mankind. Quoting from Psalm 8, the writer of Hebrews refers to Jesus and says that He “was made for a little while lower than the angels.” By the will of God, Jesus actually became a man in order to suffer the curse death that he might redeem man from his sin and spiritual blindness.

No man, in his unredeemed state, can ever discover and fulfill God’s creative purpose for his life. As a result, he lives his life aimlessly searching for meaning and purpose, but cannot find it outside of a relationship with his Creator. When the sinner comes to understand that Jesus died and was resurrected in order to restore him to his created purpose, he is then at the threshold of God’s salvation.

At the moment he repents of his sin and places his faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ as his only hope of salvation, his standing with God changes. Suddenly he is delivered from the kingdom of darkness and transferred to the kingdom God’s Dear Son. The Holy Spirit takes up residence in his life and begins to help him to know and understand that he was truly created by God and for His purpose.

As a new member of God’s redeemed family, he begins to grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord and His ways. As he studies the Word of God, he discovers that his Creator/Savior desires daily fellowship with him. This fellowship produces a growing faith and confidence in God.

As this journey continues, he finds that the willful presentation of his life is an act of worship and brings pleasure to God. As his mind is continually renewed through the study of God’s Word, he discovers what the will of God is. As he adjusts his life to God’s will, he proves it to be “good, acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:1-2)

There is no pleasure in life that compares to knowing that your sins are forgiven, that you have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, and that you are living a life that has purpose and meaning. A life lived in relationship with God is accompanied by an overflowing abundance of blessings. It gives the peace of mind you have longed for and generates within you a growing passion to know and do God’s will.

God desires that every human being be redeemed from the awful effects of sin and the certain tragedy of living an empty and meaningless life. He offers abundant life through His Son, Jesus, and desires to use each redeemed individual as an instrument in His hand to declare the majesty of His name in all the earth.