Sunday, May 26, 2013

A Search for Hope: Good News about Suffering and Evil

A Search for Hope


Romans 5: 1 – 5.


Introduction

On a typical week, I try to begin working on my Sunday morning sermon the first thing Monday morning.  Monday morning was a typical Monday morning.  I started reading through a Scripture I thought would be appropriate for the Sunday before Memorial Day.  I even looked on the Veterans’ Affairs website to read through the statistics of how many men and women have died while serving in the U.S. military.  I planned to preach about our freedom as U. S. citizens to worship Jesus and live out our faith in every area of life.  We have freedoms that Christians in other countries do not enjoy.  These freedoms have been earned and defended at a high price—over one million men and women have died in service to our country so that we can be free.
At the end of the work day on Monday, I had the beginnings of a pretty good sermon.  But something happened Monday afternoon that made me change my mind—the tornado in Moore, Oklahoma.
Monday night, I was glued to the television news as they showed pictures of the devastation and speculated on how many people died in the tornado.  It was especially difficult to imagine the nine children who died when the tornado hit the school.
If you follow the daily news, you know this has been a very difficult six months.  It all started with the Sandy Hook school shooting in December.  Then, there was the explosion in West, Texas; the Boston marathon bombing; and now the tornadoes in Oklahoma.  I say tornadoes, because the Moore, Oklahoma tornado on Monday distracted us from the tornado that hit Shawnee, Oklahoma on Sunday.  That tornado destroyed 89 homes and took two lives.  (I have four pastor friends in Oklahoma who have been affected by the tornadoes—FBC, Oklahoma City; FBC, Norman; North Haven, Norman; and University Baptist, Shawnee.  If you want to contribute to disaster relief, you can contribute to Red Cross, Southern Baptist Disaster Relief, Texas Baptist Men, or give to our church and we will send to these four churches as they help their communities recover.)
Of course, these national stories are not the only stories of suffering that affect us right now.  We are experiencing several difficult situations on a local level.  Many of us are grieving and asking questions about Lizzie Wallace’s cancer and the waitress who was struck by lightning last week.  We are asking questions and trying to make sense of all this suffering.
On Friday, I had an interesting conversation with two young men who are not members of our church.  We were talking about all the suffering in the national news—Sandy Hook; West, Texas; Boston Marathon; and now the tornadoes.  One man said, “I wish there was a TV channel for good news.  We could watch it when we get tired of all the bad news.”  Of course, you can probably guess what I said to him.  I said, “Come to church on Sunday and hear the Good News.”
That’s what I want to do today.  Given all the bad news we have heard lately, I want to share some Good News about suffering and evil today.


Romans 5: 1 – 5.


It is entirely possible that Paul is making a political statement in his reference to “peace with God.”  At the time Paul wrote the Book of Romans, most Roman citizens would acknowledge that they were living in peaceful times.  There were no civil wars going on within the Empire, and there were no external wars with other nations.  However, this peace was made possible through the presence of Roman soldiers in every corner of the Empire.  It was an enforced peace.  People lived in fear of what would happen if they disturbed the peace.
According to Paul, there is a better kind of peace.  This peace was not accomplished by soldiers’ threatening to kill other people.  This peace was accomplished when Jesus gave his own life on the cross.
Perhaps Paul has in mind the Jewish concept of Shalom.  We usually think of Shalom as the Hebrew word for “peace,” but it is much more than that.  Shalom is actually the word for “wholeness” or the state of being “complete.”  In this sense, Peace is not the absence of conflict…Peace is finally being made complete or whole…No longer lacking anything… Finally being the person God intended you to be.
It should not surprise us that Paul describes this state of Peace in theological terms.


Romans 5: 1 – 2…  1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 


This Scripture begins with the word “therefore.”  That tells us this passage is linked to the passage that comes before it.  Romans 5: 1 – 11 is a kind of conclusion to Romans 4.  In Romans 4, Paul uses the story of Abraham from the Old Testament to illustrate the connection between faith and righteousness. 
According to Genesis 15: 6, Abraham believed God and God credited righteousness to Abraham.  Paul uses this verse to teach us that righteousness is not something we earn for ourselves.  Paul says that righteousness does not depend on circumcision or on meticulously keeping all the commandments found in the Old Testament Law.  Instead, righteousness is something God credits to us (or gives us as a free gift of God’s Grace) when we have faith.

If you read straight through from Romans 4 to Romans 5, it is possible to think that Paul has changed the subject here, since he doesn’t use the word “righteousness.”  Actually he does use it.  “Righteousness” is a noun which means to be in a right relationship with something—either a right relationship with the Old Testament Law or a right relationship with God himself.  The word “Justify” is the verb form of the same word.  To justify something is to put it in a right relationship.
In one sense, “Justify” is a legal term from the courtroom.  A defendant stands before a judge to receive his sentence.  If the judge declares the defendant “not guilty,” he has been justified—placed in a right relationship with the law of the land and a right relationship with society at large.
I think there are several important points about Paul’s notion of “justify.”
First, it is important to note that this is written in the passive voice.  We do not work our way into a right relationship with God.  No one can be good enough, righteous enough or even religious enough to satisfy what God requires.  Instead, God does the work to make us righteous.  We do not do the work to make ourselves righteous.  Righteousness does not originate from inside—either our spiritual or intellectual life.  God does the work of righteousness for us and credits that righteousness to our lives. 
Second, we should note that the act of justification is an event in the past—“since we have been justified.”  God accomplished the work to make us righteous in the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.
Third, it is important to note that we are justified through faith. On one hand, Paul says we are no different from Abraham.  Abraham was not justified by his ability to keep the Law, because the Law did not exist when God credited Abraham as righteous.  Abraham was not justified by circumcision, because there was no such thing as circumcision when God credited Abraham as righteous.  Abraham was made righteous by God, because Abraham believed God.  On the other hand, Paul tells us there is both an objective and subjective side to being made righteous.
Salvation is an objective and accomplished fact.  When Jesus died on the cross and rose again, he accomplished our salvation.  The crucifixion and resurrection happened one time in history.  It was a once and for all / complete act of salvation which does not have to be repeated.  In that sense, salvation is an objective fact.  However, there is a subjective side to salvation in that it must be received by individual people through faith.
The person who has been justified through faith experiences peace with God.  This is not peace as the world gives—peace that is a temporary absence of conflict.  This is the peace that only God can give us—peace which is best described as a new kind of relationship with God.  Our relationship with God is no longer defined by the sin that separates us from God and which deserves God’s full wrath.  God has given us the one thing we could not do for ourselves.  God has invited us to experience Peace and wholeness which are only possible when we are in a proper / righteous relationship with God.


Romans 5: 3 – 5…  3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.


According to Paul’s words in verse 3 – 5, there is a purpose in suffering.  “Suffering produces perseverance, perseverance (produces character), and character (produces) hope.”
We ought to read these words in light of what Paul says later on in Romans 8: 28, “And we know that in all things God works together for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose (NIV).”
Suffering by itself is inanimate.  It has no life of its own and cannot accomplish anything in our lives by itself.  Paul tells us to think of suffering as an instrument or tool, which can be used by God to accomplish God’s good purpose in our lives.  Through suffering, God teaches us how to persevere.  Through perseverance, God develops our character to become more like the character of Jesus.  Through character development, God instills hope in us—a hope that does not disappoint.  This is a hope that will be fulfilled when God keeps his promises.
One way to think of this is to make a very common illustration about the way our physical bodies grow and develop.  There is only one way to grow your muscles and to make them stronger.  Muscles grow when they face resistance.  Without resistance, our muscles would become weak and flabby.
In the same way, suffering is exercise for our spiritual lives.  We grow spiritually to become the men and women God wants us to become—molded into the image of Jesus our Lord—through suffering and perseverance.  This is the reason why Paul tells us to rejoice in our sufferings.  When we suffer, it means God is using the difficulties of life to make us stronger in faith and in character.  It means God isn’t finished working on us.

Of course, we should not take this to mean God is the cause of our suffering…
A couple of weeks ago, I preached about the character of God.  What are the necessary characteristics which make God God?  We could come up with a long list of God’s characteristics, but it is possible to summarize the character of God into four perfections.  God is perfect in Goodness; perfect in Love; perfect in Wisdom; and perfect in Power
If God is perfectly Good and Loving, then God only gives good and loving gifts and therefore does not cause human suffering.  If God is perfect in Wisdom and Power, then God is capable of using the worst human circumstances to accomplish Good and Loving purposes. 
Suffering does not come from God.  In fact, the Bible does teach us about a strong connection between evil and suffering.  This connection goes all the way back to the story of creation and fall in Genesis 3.
When God created the first man and woman, he placed them in a Paradise we call the Garden of Eden.  As long as Adam and Eve lived in the Garden, they experienced Paradise.  There was a perfect relationship between humanity and God.  There was a perfect relationship between human man and woman.  There was a perfect relationship between humanity and creation.  But, this only lasted until sin entered into creation.  When Adam and Eve sinned, all of these relationships were broken.
Sin is a spiritual problem.  It separates humanity from God.  But, sin also has physical consequences.  The relationship between man and woman was broken—God told the woman she would desire after her husband, and he would rule over her (no longer a perfect relationship).  The relationship between humanity and creation was broken—God told the man that the earth was cursed as a result of their sin, and Adam would have to labor and toil to eke out an existence from the land (the world was no longer a Paradise).
This is a very important part of the Christian worldview.  The culture around us may challenge us, “If God is a good God, and if God is all-powerful, then why didn’t God create a world without evil and suffering?” 
There are two answers to this question…
First, we believe that God is both Good and all-Powerful.  If God is only Good, then he is not Powerful.  He does not have the Power to direct our lives and circumstances.  If God is only Powerful, then God is not Good.  This view gives God responsibility for everything that happens—both good and evil.  But if God is both Good and Powerful, then God does not cause human suffering.  When suffering happens, God can use our suffering to bring about something good out of evil.
Second, we can say that God did create a world without evil and suffering.  Evil was not God’s creation.  Evil is the result of human freedom and the fall.  God placed the first humans in Paradise, where everything was in perfect harmony.  But this Paradise did not last very long.  It only lasted until sin entered into what God created as good.
Perhaps it would be helpful to use the definition of evil offered by Saint Augustine of Hippo.  Saint Augustine said, “Evil is the privation (or absence) of good.”  What God created to be good (human free will) was used for evil when it ceased to be good.  We might think of something as simple as a knife.  A knife is neither good nor evil.  But a person can use a knife for either good or evil purposes.  A knife can be used to make sandwiches, or a knife can be used to cause harm to another person.  Evil and suffering are the results of something good gone bad—human freedom used to serve selfish purposes.
When we speak of the fall, we acknowledge two ongoing realities.  On one hand, sin infects all of human life.  All humans have a sinful nature, which affects the choices we make on a day by day, minute by minute basis (a spiritual reality).  On the other hand, sin has changed our relationship with the entire created order (a physical reality).  Both humanity and the created order are fallen.  This explains why we deal with evil on a personal, spiritual level and why we experience natural, physical evil in things like cancer, hurricanes and tornadoes.
The Christian Gospel describes a redeemed humanity through faith in Jesus.  AND, the Gospel describes a redeemed creation—the New Heaven and New Earth—which will replace the old order of things at the Second Coming of Jesus.


Conclusion

The problem of suffering can be summarized in the question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?”  Of course, the Christian answer is that there are no good people.  We are infected by sin and live in a world affected by evil.  We needed a Savior to defeat the sin, suffering and evil common to all of us.

Our only hope in a world of evil and suffering is not a good answer.  Our only hope is the Good News.  God created a good world, a Paradise.  God’s good world fell into sin.  But, God loved humanity so much that he sent his Son to be our suffering Lord.  Ultimately, we will not be comfortable in this world without Jesus, because we were created for a different world.  We were created for Paradise.  Jesus died and rose again so we can live in a better world—the world we were created for.

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Perfects Mothers (In a Perfect World)


Perfect Mothers (In a Perfect World)

2 Corinthians 12: 7 – 10.


Introduction

I have a confession to make…Mothers’ Day sermons are stressful for me.
Earlier this week I described my Mothers’ Day sermon as “Standing in front of the church, trying to be an expert on something I know nothing about.”  I am not a mother.  I have never been a mother.  AND, I will never be a mother.  But, I do have an appreciation for mothers…I honestly do not know how you do all you do.
One way I could resolve this stress is to preach a sermon about how to rear your children.  I’m not sure that helps me very much.  Before I had children, I had three theories on how to rear godly children.  Now, I have three children and no theories.
Another thing about Mothers’ Day that stresses me out is to think about all the women who feel left out on Mothers’ Day.  There are some women who intentionally stay away from church on Mothers’ Day, because it is simply too painful to come to church.  Mothers’ Day is hard for some women, because they have a desire to become mothers and cannot.  Divorce, singleness or even infertility makes motherhood impossible for some women.  While I do want to be sensitive to these feelings, I also want to celebrate godly mothers as a part of worship on Mothers’ Day.
And, there is one more thing that is stressful about Mothers’ Day.  Some women come to church and suffer in silence, because they do not think they measure up.  For example, some preachers tend to preach from Proverbs 31 on Mothers’ Day.  Have you ever read Proverbs 31?  That is an impossible standard!  She works outside the home and provides for her family’s financial needs.  She runs an orderly household by cooking for her family and making all their clothes at home.  She is recognized as wise and knowledgeable on all subjects.  AND, her children hold her in high esteem.
When we hold this woman up as our standard, we make a lot of mothers feel guilty.  They feel guilty, because they don’t think of themselves as “perfect mothers.”  If you don’t think of yourself as a “perfect mother,” then I have some good news.  First, I will not preach on Proverbs 31 today.  Second, I believe there is only one place where “perfect mothers” exist…Perfect Mothers exist only in a perfect world.  Since we don’t live in a perfect world, there is no such thing as a perfect mother.
Early this week I read an article by a woman who wrote about a favorite childhood memory.  She used to love to play with her friend’s dollhouse.  She arranged the furniture exactly the way she wanted it.  She put the pots and pans on the stove exactly the way she wanted them.  Then she arranged the family of dolls (mother, father, children and dog) exactly the way she wanted them.  Everything would be perfect when she left her friend’s house.  But, when she went back to play the next day, nothing was the way she left it.  The furniture had been moved; the pots and pans were in the “wrong” places; and the family was no longer posed like the perfect family.
That makes me think of what mothers must experience every single day of their lives.  You do everything in your power to create the “perfect home.”  But, how long does it take for your “perfect family” to mess up your “perfect home?” 
If you want a “perfect home,” you should get a dollhouse and a pose-able family.  Real families do not live in “perfect homes.”  Real families (and real mothers) have to learn how to deal with “messy homes” and “messy relationships.”  As long as we live in an imperfect world, we have to deal with the mess.
So, how can we as both mothers and Christians live in a messy world?  I think the answer comes from the Apostle Paul as he tells us about his weakness. 

2 Corinthians 12: 7 – 10.

 7 To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

These verses serve as a kind of conclusion to a larger section (2 Corinthians 10 – 12) where Paul feels the need to defend himself to the Christians at Corinth.  Apparently, some “super-apostles” have come into the churches of Corinth and criticized Paul and his ministry.  They build themselves up by tearing down Paul.  They claim to be closer to God than Paul is, and they “prove” it by comparing all the good things in their lives to the difficulties in Paul’s life.
I really don’t think Paul wants to boast about his ministry or his relationship with God…but he feels forced to boast.  And, Paul does have a ministry pedigree to boast about.
Paul had a thorough Jewish upbringing.  He was an Israelite who could read the Old Testament in the original Hebrew language.  He was a child of Abraham who advanced in the Jewish religious tradition (in other places he tells us he was a Pharisee).  This Jewish background led him to believe that Jesus is God’s Promised Messiah.  Of course, he did not come to this conclusion on his own, or through his knowledge of the Bible.  Paul had a personal encounter with Jesus, while Paul was persecuting the Christian church in Damascus.  There was even a time when Paul was “caught up” into Heaven and experienced a divine vision where he heard Heavenly things which could never be put into words.
Paul’s encounter with Jesus changed Paul’s life.  He gave up all of his religious pursuits in order to become a “servant of Christ.”  He went on numerous missionary journeys to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles and plant churches in Gentile cities.  The churches of Corinth were a result of Paul’s ministry.
Corinth was one of Paul’s success stories.  But not all of Paul’s ministry was successful.  As a result of his preaching the Gospel, Paul had experienced sufferings of many different kinds.  He worked hard for Christ but also spent time in prison.  He preached faithfully but also was whipped, stoned and beaten by rods.  He trusted God to meet all his needs but also found himself in shipwrecks and poverty.
There were times when Paul felt successful and strong.  But, there were other times when Paul felt failures and weakness.  In fact, he tells us that he had to live every day of his life with a constant reminder of his weakness.


Thorn in the Flesh

Paul does not define his “thorn in the flesh” for us.  But, that has not stopped people from trying to determine what it was.  Some people suggest that Paul struggled with some secret sin—like lust.  Others suggest that Paul is referring to a specific person—either an unnamed woman who was believed to follow him around or Alexander the silver worker who caused Paul a great deal of harm.  More commonly, the suggestion is made that Paul dealt with an ongoing physical problem—like malaria, epilepsy, eyesight problems, and on and on and on…
Notice that Paul uses two phrases in verse 7 to refer to this weakness.  He calls it both “a thorn in my flesh” and a “messenger of Satan.”  This leads me to believe three very important things about Paul’s weakness.  First, it was a physical problem that affected his flesh—his body.  Second, it was a physical problem which caused him spiritual anxiety.  It was a “messenger of Satan,” and it was evil.  Third, Paul did not believe that God had done this to him.  It came from Satan, not God.
This leads me to believe that Paul is describing an eyesight problem.  In Galatians 4: 12 – 15, Paul told the Galatian Christians that he was not actually planning to spend time preaching in their region.  Instead, an illness caused him to stop in Galatia instead of traveling to another place.  He gave us a clue about this illness by telling the Galatians that they would have “torn out their eyes and given them to Paul if they could (Galatians 4: 15).”  Then, he closed the Book of Galatians by saying “see what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand (Galatians 6: 11).”  Perhaps this meant that his eyes were so bad that he had to dictate his letters to a secretary and then write a personal greeting in his own handwriting. 
If I am right about Paul’s eyesight problem, then we can say that his illness kept Paul from doing everything he wanted to do.  He was limited in his travels.  He was forced to travel with his own physician.  And, he couldn’t write as frequently as he would have liked.  Paul’s eyesight problem might have kept Paul from doing everything Paul wanted to do, but it could not stop God from using Paul despite his limitations.
Paul’s weakness was living proof that God can take something evil and use it to accomplish good things in each of our lives.


Not the Answer He Was Looking For

Paul did not believe his physical problems were caused by God.  However, he did have enough faith in God that God was capable of healing him and taking away his “thorn in the flesh.”  So, Paul prayed…and he prayed…and he prayed.
Have you ever prayed for something and felt like God did not answer your prayer?  Unanswered prayer is one of the biggest challenges to the Christian faith that we face.  Sometimes we pray and do not get what we asked for.  How do we explain that?
Paul found himself in the exact same position.  He knew that he would be more effective as a missionary and church planter if he didn’t have to deal with his physical limitations.  He was not praying selfishly.  Paul wasn’t praying for more money or for a more comfortable life.  He was praying that God would expand his ministry and that Paul could accomplish more for the sake of the Gospel.
But, Paul didn’t get the answer he was looking for…
You have heard other preachers say the same thing I am going to say about unanswered prayers.  There is no such thing as an unanswered prayer.  God always answers.  But, God does not always answer the way we want him to.  Sometimes God answers “Yes.”  Sometimes God answers “No.”  Sometimes God answers “Wait.” 
When Jesus taught his disciples about prayer (Matthew 6: 5 - 8), he set up two different kinds of people who pray.  Some people pray publically so they can be rewarded by the applause and compliments of other people.  Some people pray privately so they can be rewarded by God.  But, we will be rewarded when we pray. 
Of course, it is obvious how God rewards us when God answers “Yes.”  We get a new job, a healed body or a healed relationship.
When God answers our prayers with a “No” or a “Wait,” the reward is not so obvious.  Yet, there is still a reward.  The reward might not be what we had hoped for, but there is a reward.  The reward in God’s “No” or God’s “Wait” is the reward of greater faith.  Perseverance makes our faith grow stronger.  Perseverance demonstrates that we do not have the strength to make it on our own and that our desires are not always the best thing for us.  God knows what is best for us and shows us his ways are higher and better than our ways by answering “No” or “Wait” to some of our prayers.
The reward of faith can only come from a private prayer life.  The reward of being applauded and congratulated by other people comes by praying for show.  However, you can only have one of these rewards.  You must choose which you prefer.  If you pray for applause, that is the only reward you will receive.  If you pray for increased faith, that’s the reward you will receive…But be prepared.  You might not like the way God grants increased faith.  Sometimes it comes through the answers “No” and “Wait.”


Grace Is Sufficient

Even though Paul didn’t get the answer he was looking for, God did answer Paul’s prayer.  God answered with, “My Grace is sufficient.”
As a pastor, one of the things I do is to pray with people who are facing difficult situations—surgery, hospitalization, the dreaded cancer, and sometimes the certainty of death.  Many times I have people tell me that they don’t know what they would do without prayer (even when God does not answer “Yes” to our prayers). 
Prayer is important, because it is a reminder of God’s presence.  God is not an absentee landlord or even a cosmic watchmaker who has set everything in motion and steps away.  God is interested and involved in our lives.  God demonstrates his presence by sometimes answering “Yes” to our prayers.  Other times,, God demonstrates his presence by promising to be with us always, even as we “walk through the valley of the shadow of death.”
No matter what we face, God promises to be with us.  God’s Grace is sufficient.  God’s Grace will get us through the most difficult trials of life.


Conclusion

Paul has a lot he could boast about, but he prefers to boast about his weaknesses.  That sounds so strange to our modern ears.  When I am weak, then I am strong.  We have a hard time imagining someone who boasts about weakness, because it never happens.
Have you ever heard a presidential candidate boast about his weaknesses?  I have never heard anyone in a presidential debate say something like this, “I’m a pretty smart guy; I was born into a political family; and I have a lot of connections.  But I really have no idea what I am doing.  I’m probably the second best candidate in the race.  Vote for me, and I will try my best.”
Have you ever known a business leader who brags about what a mess his or her business is?  “Sales are lower now than when I first took over the company.  People are quitting every day.  Shareholders have lost all confidence in our company and in me as the leader.  Things are going great!”
Ultimately, this is what Paul is saying about his ministry and is setting a personal example for us to follow.  Paul has learned to depend on God and his Grace in the messiness of life, because Paul’s weakness drives him to depend on God’s strength.
If I were strong in every situation, then I would be tempted to brag about my strength.  But, if life is messy and painful, then God gets the glory / credit…We cannot make it on our own strength.  Weakness reminds us that we need to depend on God.
When I am weak…God remains strong!

Sunday, May 05, 2013

God and Creation


God and Creation


Psalm 8


Introduction

There are five basic ways people describe God’s relationship with the world.
1.        The world is all there is.  God is not real.  The only things that are real are the things we can perceive through our senses.  (Materialism)
2.        God and the world are the same.  Everything is God and God is everything.  (Pantheism)
3.        The world is a part of God.  The world is God, but God is more than the world.  God is a combination of everything and everyone in the world.  (Panentheism)
4.        God is not the world and does not exist in the world.  God sets the world in motion but does not interfere with what is going on in the world.  (Deism)
5.        God is not the world, but God exists in dynamic relationship with the world.  God is concerned about the world and acts in the affairs of the world.  (Theism—the Jewish and Christian view of God)

Last Sunday, we sought an answer to the question: “What can we say about God?”  The simplest answer to that question is that we can only say what the Bible says about God.  The Bible is our authority on God.  The Bible is God’s revelation of himself to us.  The Bible was written for the purpose that we might know God.  Therefore, if we want to describe the way God relates to the world, we must turn to the Bible.
In the first book of the Old Testament (actually, in the first verse of the first book), we discover something very important about both God and the world.  Genesis 1: 1 tells us, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”  This tells us that God is not a part of the world, and the world is not part of God.  God is separate from the world.  God is the creator…The world is the creation.
However, Genesis is not the only place where we read that God is the creator.  This is a foundational theme which runs throughout both Old Testament and New Testament—God is real, God is separate from nature, and God is the creator.

Psalm 8: 1 – 9.



Psalm 8: 1 – 2…  1 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!  You have set your glory above the heavens.  2 From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.

Notice that the word “Lord” is used twice in verse one.  The first use of “Lord” is spelled in all capital letters…L-O-R-D.  In the Old Testament, this is the way all English translations render the Hebrew word Yahweh, the personal name for God.  This is the name God revealed to Moses at the burning bush in Exodus 3.  At the burning bush, God called Moses and sent him to rescue God’s people from slavery in Egypt.  Moses asked who was sending him.  God answered “I Am.”  The Hebrew name Yahweh is derived from the Hebrew word Hayah, which means “I Am.”  This name is only used to refer to the One True God of Israel.
The name Yahweh is closely associated with the story of the Exodus.  The Exodus is a story of salvation.  God heard the cries of his people and sent Moses to rescue them from slavery.  When Moses led the Hebrew people out of slavery, he also led them to Mount Sinai.  At Mount Sinai, God established the Hebrew people as the nation of Israel—God’s chosen people and the people who entered into a covenant relationship with God.  Salvation is more than just God’s rescuing us.  Salvation also involves relationship with God.
The second use of “Lord” is not written in all capital letters.  In Hebrew, this is the word “Adonai.”  Adonai can refer to the One True God, or it can refer to a human master.  It indicates someone who is the lord, the master or ruler of another person.
So, Psalm 8 begins with a profession of faith…Yahweh is both the God of salvation and our sovereign Lord.  Yahweh is the God who saves us and enters into relationship with us.  He is the ruler of Heaven and Earth.  All of the earth should recognize that Yahweh is the Lord.  His glory can be seen in his created works.  His praise can be heard even from the lips of children and infants.


Psalm 8: 3 – 5…  3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?  5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.

There is no biblical story associated with this Psalm.  However, we can figure out the context from what is written in verses 3 – 4.  These verses describe a familiar scene.  The Psalmist is looking at the vastness of space.  He is probably sitting outside at night, looking up at the stars and the moon.  And while he is sitting there, he begins to feel small and insignificant.
The Psalmist did not know everything we know today about the universe and the way it works.  For example, he did not know that the moon is 238,900 miles away from earth or that the sun is 93 million miles away from earth.  But, he knew enough to feel small.  All he knew was that God had created a wonderful and beautiful and infinitely huge creation.  He knew that he was only a part of all God had created.
With all of our scientific discovery and easy access to knowledge, this is something that we still have a difficult time acknowledging.  We know that the moon is 238,900 miles away.  We know that the sun is 93 million miles away.  But, we still think we are the center of the universe.  We think of ourselves as the most brilliant mind in the universe…When, in reality, we are not the creators of the universe.  We are merely a part of God’s creation.  We have never actually created anything by our own power or intellect.
In verse 3, the Psalmist makes a connection between Yahweh (the God who saves us) and the God who created heaven and earth.  This is a remarkable confession of faith.  It stands in stark contrast with what most ancient people believed about God and creation.  Most ancient people worshipped the creation and believed that nature was divine.  The Psalmist confesses that nature is NOT God.  Nature is merely a creation of God—a work of God’s hands and fingers.


God Is Creator

The Bible places a lot of significance on God as the creator.  It is significant that nature is NOT God.  Nature is the work of God’s hands.  It is also significant when we consider the way God created the heavens and the earth.  God created everything out of nothing.  Before God created, there was nothing.  God did not use any preexisting materials.
If God created everything out of nothing, then God’s work of creation is different from creative work we might do.  We use materials and stuff to build and create something new and different.
If God created everything out of nothing, then all of creation depends on God for its existence.  Without God, there would be nothing.  There would be no heavens (sky, clouds, sun, moon and stars).  There would be no earth (land, sea, plants and animals).  There would be nothing under the earth (cells, molecules and atoms—the building blocks of matter).  And, without God, there would be no human life!

When the Psalmist realized how small he truly is and that he is only one part of God’s vast creation, he expressed an existential crisis.  He asked the question, “What is man?”
I think it is important to note that he did not ask, “WHO is man?” or even “WHO am I?”  This is a very impersonal question…What is a human being?
There are several ways we can answer this impersonal question.  A human being is an animal life form.  A human being is a complex organism made up of atoms, cells and molecules which have to be in perfect balance in order for life to exist.  A human being is a body with many different parts and internal organs linked together by blood vessels and nerves.  But, none of these answers are satisfying, because they do not describe the purpose or meaning of human life.
A human being is creation of God.  In the story of creation, the human beings were God’s final creations.  They were not created in the same way as the other created beings. 
One difference is that human beings were the only created beings which were not created by God’s spoken word.  God spoke, and there was light and dark, sun and moon, earth and water, plants and animals…  But, when God created human beings, God stooped down and got his hands dirty.  He took dirt and shaped it into a man.  He took a rib and used it to build a woman.  Human beings were personally and intimately made by God’s hands.
Another difference is the fact that God created human beings (both male and female) in the image of God.  Another way to say this is to quote Psalm 8:5, “You created him a little lower that the ‘heavenly beings’…”
Technically, the Hebrew word here is the word Elohim, the plural form of the word El.  A simple translation of El is god.  A simple translation of Elohim is gods.  However, the Old Testament rarely uses the singular El to refer to the One True God.  More commonly, it refers to God as Elohim, in the plural. 
I believe the best way to interpret this phrase is to say that God has created human beings a little lower than himself.  We have been created in the image of God, but we are NOT God…We are NOT little gods.  You may be small, but you are special to God.
Instead, we have been created by God and given purpose and meaning in life.  God has given us a responsibility to work alongside God in God’s creation…


Psalm 8: 6 – 8…  6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: 7 all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, 8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.

Human beings have a higher status than anything else in creation.  But, we need to recognize something about our status.  Our status in creation is a derived status.
In verse five, we read that God has “crowned us with glory and honor.”  In verse six, we read that God “made us rulers” and “put everything under our feet.”  This is royal language and should make us think of God as the ultimate King of the created order.  God, as King, has assigned us a royal responsibility to serve as his representative in creation.  Human beings are not the ultimate King.  But, we do have a royal assignment from the King.  Our assignment is to participate with God in preserving and sustaining God’s creation.
God has made human beings the rulers over flocks and herds (domesticated animals), wild animals which can be tamed and wild animals which cannot be tamed.
As we think of humanity as “ruler” over creation, we need to keep in mind God’s intention for rulers.  Worldly rulers wield power over their subjects in order to promote themselves and to keep other people in subjection.  Godly rulers use power selflessly in order to serve other people and to meet their needs.
When we apply this to humanity’s relationship to creation we can talk about the biblical view of dominion.  In the creation story, God created humanity and gave them dominion over creation.  Dominion is not the same thing as domination.
Some people think humanity is supposed to dominate creation by exploiting the earth to the point of using up all natural resources.
Dominion is more like stewardship.  It is recognizing that the creation does not belong to us.  It belongs to God.  God has entrusted the creation into our hands.  We are to use God’s creation, to enjoy God’s creation and to take care of God’s creation by making sure that future generations can also use and enjoy God’s creation.
If we think of ourselves as stewards or caretakers of God’s creation, then we can affirm two things about God and his relationship with his creation.  First, God has created us—he has given us life.  Second, God has provided for our needs through his creation.


God Sustains His Creation

If God created everything out of nothing, then all of creation depends on God for its existence.  But, that is not all…  Creation also depends on God to sustain and to preserve our existence.  Without God’s sustaining presence, the world would collapse into nothingness.  Every moment and at all times, God is involved in his creation.  God creates life and preserves life by providing for all of our needs.
As human beings, we have learned how to manufacture goods, and we have mastered agriculture to cultivate the land to produce food.  BUT, we cannot create something out of nothing; and we cannot make seeds grow into produce.  We cannot provide for our own basic needs—food, water and the air we breathe.


Conclusion

Psalm 8: 9…  9 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Psalm 8 ends exactly the same way it began…O LORD, our Lord…  These are the same words we read at the beginning of the Psalm.  But, they sound a little different now.
The LORD, Yahweh, is the Creator of Heaven and earth.  The LORD, Yahweh, has created you and provided for all of your needs.  The LORD, Yahweh, wants to be your Lord—your ruler, your master, the leader of your life.  God, the creator and sustainer of life, is worthy of our worship and our lives.
If God is the creator, and I am a part of God’s creation; then I am NOT God.  Instead, I have been created by God and have been given a meaning / purpose by the God who created me.  God created me.  God sustains me.  God invites me to find meaning / purpose in life by participating with God in taking care of creation.
Physical life comes from God.  But, so does spiritual life.  God has met all our physical needs through creation.  God has met all our spiritual needs through his Son, Jesus. 
The Creator has not left us to figure things out for ourselves.  God is already involved in your life as the creator and sustainer of life.  In addition, God loved you so much that he has actually pursued you.  He demonstrated his love for you through the life, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.  Now, he invites each of us to enter into a proper relationship of Creator and creation—a relationship of worship and service. 
The God who created you is the God who sustains your life and offers you salvation.  God is worthy of your worship and is worthy of all of your life.