Honor—Lost and Restored

THE Prophet David wrote, “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 has made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of Thy hands; Thou has put all things under his feet.”—Ps. 8:3-6

David was a man of reverent meditation and of earnest prayer, and in his meditations he was much impressed by the greatness of God, and by contrast, the puny abilities of man. “He wrote, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge.” (Ps. 19:1,2) And it is in the eighth psalm, already quoted, that David explains how the greatness of God revealed in the heavens had raised the question in his mind concerning what and who man is that the great Creator should be so interested in him.

David was a prophet of the Lord, and while the prophets of the Old Testament did not understand the full intent of their prophecies, they did grasp the fact that God’s interest in man would cause him to send a Messiah who on behalf of the human race would “visit” him and bestow rich blessings of peace and joy and life. So David raised the question as to what is man that God should thus deal so wonderfully with him, and bestow such rich blessings upon him.

David’s inquiry concerning man’s nature, and his place in the divine plan for the earth, is both a statement of fact and a prophecy. It states the facts concerning man’s original creation, and while man’s original glory and dominion were lost because of sin, David’s statement may be understood also as a prophecy of the time when this glory and dominion will be restored. This is clearly set forth by the Apostle Paul in Hebrews 2:6-9.

Quoting David, Paul writes, “One [David] in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honor, and didst set him over the works of thy hands: … But now we see not yet all things put under him. But we see Jesus.”

At times we may be inclined to apply the expression, “We see Jesus” to all the holy and admirable qualities we see in Jesus. We see his love, his patience, his mercy, his spirit of forgiveness, and we see his spirit of self-sacrifice in laying down his life as the Redeemer and Savior of the world. These are all good and proper things to “see” in Jesus, but they are not what Paul had in mind when he used this expression.

Let us note the sequence in Paul’s thought: “We see not yet all things put under him,” “but we see Jesus.” Here Paul is explaining what we do and do not see so far as the outworking of the divine plan is concerned. We see not yet all things put under “man,” which is the ultimate object of the divine plan, but we do see the first essential step in preparation for this glorious consummation of the Creator’s purpose.

Man was originally given dominion and earthly glory, but he lost these because of sin, but now we “see” Jesus stepping into the scene of action—“We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor [as Adam originally was]; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.” Here in a few eloquent words Paul sets forth the divine plan for the redemption and recovery of man from sin and death, and his restoration to his original earthly glory and dominion.

Here is a wonderful example of the clarity with which the New Testament interprets the Old Testament prophecies. Except for this explanation we could easily conclude that David, in the eighth psalm, is merely referring to the dominion which the Lord gave originally to his human creation. But Paul reveals it to be a prophecy as well of what is yet to be, and explains that we “see” the beginning of the fulfillment of this prophecy—we “see” Jesus who came to earth as a perfect human for the suffering of death, that he might give his life as a Redeemer of mankind.

Here we “see” Jesus as a substitute for the original perfect man, and the sacrifice of this life in death as the price of redemption—a corresponding price. It is this that was involved in his tasting death for every man. How clearly does the apostle thus set forth the philosophy of the ransom, and at the same time explains the meaning of David’s prophecy!

While we “see” not yet all things put under man, nevertheless we do “see” Jesus made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, and because we know that already he has suffered death for the redemption of the fallen race we can look forward with rejoicing to the time when we will “see” the plan of recovery complete, and man restored to his original glory and dominion.

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