Carol Swenson
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Sermon Outlines for Growing Christians
What Is Man?
Psalm 8
Introduction
“What is man?” The question of the psalmist as he stood gazing at the heavens is still a matter of some mystery today.
On the one hand we see man feeding the hungry, caring for the sick, and singing the praises of God. On the other hand we see him ignoring his starving brother, bombing his enemies, and cursing God with every breath. You and I are members of the same human race to which Cain, Judas, and Adolf Hitler belonged. “What is man?”
The Bible answers this question from at least three different perspectives.
I. The Man We Were—We Are Creatures
A. We were created by God.
1. According to scripture our existence is not the result of blind chance or some mindless natural process. We are the direct result of God’s creative activity. “You have made us,” said the psalmist (Genesis 1:26-28;2:7).
2. Our existence is, therefore, purposeful. Our lives have meaning.
B. We were crowned by God.
1. The psalmist emphasizes the exalted state humans share by virtue of God’s creation. We are a “little lower” than divine, crowned with “glory” and “honor.”
2. Our worth as humans is not relative to our perceived value to our fellow humans. Our worth is absolute, established and proclaimed by the God who made us.
II. The Man We Have Become—We Are Fallen Creatures
A. The Bible has no illusions about fallen humankind.
1. While declaring the dignity which man has by creation, it is also clear to expose the degradation to which he can stoop.
2. The same psalmist elsewhere confesses, “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight” (51:4).
3. Other biblical writers affirm man’s sin (Romans 3:9, 10, 23; 1 John 1:8).
B. According to the scriptures humans are personally responsible for the evil which we do.
1. It is characterized as rebellion against God (Genesis 3).
2. It is the source of many of the great tragedies which befall us and rob us of our joy. Our lives are something far less than they could be because we are something far less than we could be.
III. The Man We Can Be—We are Redeemed Creatures
A. The man we can be is really the man we were created to be.
1. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature” (2 Corinthians 5:17). There is a sense in which redemption is recreation. It is the recovery of our created natures.
2. The final biblical portrait of redeemed humanity pictures the saved back in God’s presence, free to partake of the tree of life (Revelation 22:1-5).
B. This was the purpose for which Christ came.
1. Jesus believed in man. He was able to look beyond our perversities to see our possibilities.
2. The common people heard him gladly because to Him they were not common. He was constantly reminding people of their worth in God’s eyes.
Conclusion
A famous artist once took his easel to the heart of Paris. He secured a studio overlooking a back street. His attention was captured by a man below—a common derelict, dirty and unshaved, spending most of his days in a drunken stupor. He decided to paint him, but not as a bum. He painted him clean, well-groomed, an image of self-respect. Then he showed the portrait to the man. “That’s not me,” he said. “It can’t be.” Replied the artist, “When I look at you, this is the man I see.”
“If that is the man you see,” said the derelict, “then that is the man I will be.”
God honors us by seeing us not just as we are, but as we can be. For “while we were still sinners …” (Romans 5:8).
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