What Is Man?
HEBREWS 2:6
ALL THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE, ESPECIALLY THE NEW TESTAMENT EPISTLES, not only tell us much about who God is, but also who we ourselves are and how we are to live our lives in response to what the Bible reveals. Therefore, the answer to this question in Hebrews should be of utmost interest to us all.
“THE ‘GREAT SALVATION’ MADE AVAILABLE IN CHRIST IS A PRIVILEGE BEYOND DESCRIPTION – that much is made clear in 2:3. But now the writer of Hebrews unveils a further aspect of God’s eternal and cosmic purpose. The redeemed. we are told, will inherit ‘the world to come’ (2:5). In order to make this new assertion, the writer returns to an earlier subject, namely, the lowly role of angels in God’s economy. He does so both to link his new thoughts to the earlier exposition and to introduce his next great theme, namely THE HUMANITY OF CHRIST. This theme begins here in 2:5-9 but continues to the end of Hebrews 2, as we shall see. Jesus is the Son of God, the sovereign Lord and creator of all things – but, asserts the writer, He is also true man. Even more, He is the representative man in whom humanity achieves its zenith and fulfillment. IN CHRIST, THEREFORE, WE SEE WHAT NEW-COVENANT HUMANITY (IN THE FORM OF THE GLORIFIED CHURCH) WILL ONE DAY BE.” – Andrews
AS YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE TRAGEDIES OF OUR TIMES IS THAT THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE DO NOT BELIEVE THAT THEY WERE CREATED BY GOD. They believe, instead, that their existence is attributable to chance. Today, God is mocked while man is exalted…
NAS Romans 1:18-25 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. 24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, that their bodies might be dishonored among them. 25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
NAS Psalm 14:1 For the choir director. A Psalm of David . The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does good.
“WELL MIGHT THE PSALMIST CRY OUT IN WONDER, ‘WHAT IS MAN THAT YOU ARE MINDFUL OF HIM?’ The question he poses has been debated by philosophers down through the ages. The answer we give will determine the direction of our lives and the nature of our society. The Scriptures have no doubt. Man is God’s special creation, designed to serve Him and enjoy an eternal destiny of glory. This destiny if fulfilled in Christ. Sadly, Christians are sometimes intimidated by the world’s philosophies which claim the intellectual high ground and despise the simplicity of biblical truth. But we should not be intimidated by the arrogance of human wisdom. The New Testament authors certainly were not, for they saw that wisdom for what it is. ‘Where is the wise man?’ Paul asks…
NAS 1 Corinthians 1:20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
“The wisdom of God, he tells us, is wiser than man.
“TODAY ALL QUESTIONS REGARDING THE NATURE OF MAN ARE USUALLY ANSWERED IN TERMS OF THE THEORY OF EVOLUTION. Man, they say, is just a superior animal. He has risen from among the apes by a process of evolution over many millions of years. There was no divine purpose in His origin: it was merely a quirk of fate. Thus, man is the offspring of that blind goddess, chance, and must endure his own experience with meaning. How different is the Bible’s account of human origin! Mankind is a special work of God, created by God in His own image and thereby differentiated from the animals. Although he shares much in common with the animal world, yet he is utterly different, possessing as he does a spiritual nature and an eternal soul. Furthermore, unlike the animals, he is accountable to God. Since he bears the image of God, he also bears responsibilities towards God. He alone among the inhabitants of the physical world is capable of sin and rebellion against the Creator. It is obvious, even to a child, that what we believe about human origins must affect our behavior in the world. If we are the products of evolution, then let our rule of life be the survival of the fittest. But if we are offspring of a holy and righteous God, then let us serve Him with reverence and fear!” – Andrews
THE TITLE OF THIS BLOG CAME ORIGINALLY FROM PSALM 8:4…
NAS Psalm 8:4 What is man, that Thou dost take thought of him? And the son of man, that Thou dost care for him?
NKJ Psalm 8:4 What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?
ESV Psalm 8:4 what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?
NET Psalm 8:4 Of what importance is the human race, that you should notice them? Of what importance is mankind, that you should pay attention to them,
NIV Psalm 8:4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?
THE QUESTION IS PROMINENTLY REPEATED IN HEBREWS 2:6. You’ll recognize it from last week’s blog. Given modern sophisticated man’s derision of God and embracing of something as groundless and heretical as evolution, I think this passage in Hebrews deserves additional attention. I hope you agree…
NAS Hebrews 2:6 But one has testified somewhere, saying, “What is man, that Thou rememberest him? Or the son of man, that Thou art concerned about him?
NKJ Hebrews 2:6 But one testified in a certain place, saying: “What is man that You are mindful of him, Or the son of man that You take care of him?
ESV Hebrews 2:6 It has been testified somewhere, “What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him?
NET Hebrews 2:6 Instead someone testified somewhere: “What is man that you think of him or the son of man that you care for him?
NIV Hebrews 2:6 But there is a place where someone has testified: “What is mankind that you are mindful of them, a son of man that you care for him?
NET Notes (Psa 8:4) – 10 tn Heb “What is man[kind]?” The singular noun אְנושׂ (‘enosh, “man”) is used here in a collective sense and refers to the human race. 12 tn Heb “and the son of man.” The phrase “son of man” is used here in a collective sense and refers to human beings. For other uses of the phrase in a collective or representative manner, see Num 23:19; Ps 146:3; Isa 51:12.
“THE PSALMIST EXPRESSES AMAZEMENT THAT GOD SHOULD BE ‘MINDFUL’ OF MAN AND ‘TAKE CARE’ OF HIM – THAT HE SHOULD BE CONCERNED IN ANY WAY WITH HUMAN BEINGS.” – Andrews
THE DIFFERENCES IN OUR ENGLISH BIBLES IN THEIR TRANSLATIONS OF TWO KEY WORDS IN PSALM 2:6 INTEREST ME: “MINDFUL” OR “TAKE THOUGHT” AND “CARE FOR” OR “VISIT.” It is not unusual to find differences in the translations of both Hebrew and Greek words in our English Bibles. It happens all the time. Being a Hebrew and Greek professor, it is not also not unusual for me to be interested in those differences. Generally, differences in choice of words translators select are slight. But sometimes they are significant and produce imposing questions in our minds. Either way, I enjoy the study.
THE VERSE, BOTH IN THE PSALMS AND IN HEBREWS, PROMPTS A NATURAL QUESTION…
GOD IS SO GREAT AND MAN SO INSIGNIFICANT. GOD IS SO HOLY AND MAN SO SINFUL. God is eternal, but man is mortal. Why, then, should God care about man at all? The psalm answers its own question – and does so by reference to God’s plan and purpose.
MAYBE YOU’RE LIKE ME AND WOULD HAVE DARED ANSWER, “BECAUSE HE CREATED US AND, IN SPITE OF OUR SERIOUS DRAWBACKS AND LIMITATIONS, LOVES US.”
AS ALMOST EVERY BIBLE STUDENT HAS EXPERIENCED WONDERFUL SECONDARY BLESSINGS – CAN AND OFTEN DO – COME UNEXPECTEDLY OUT OF THE PURSUIT OF THE PRIMARY.
WHAT IS MAN? THE BIBLE TELLS US MAN IS SOMETHING OF A PARADOX, an enigma. All one need do is read practically any chapter of the Pentateuch (the first 5 books of the Old Testament) to see clear evidence of man’s moral weakness and propensity to sin. And yet, in the first chapter of that same Pentateuch, we read or God’s special exaltation of man…
NAS Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
MAN IS CREATED IN THE VERY IMAGE OF GOD HIMSELF!
1:24–31. Day six was Creation’s climax for it included mankind. Though man was the last creature mentioned in the account, he did not evolve; he was created. Human life was created in (lit., “as,” meaning “in essence as”) the image of God (v. 27). This image was imparted only to humans (2:7). “Image” (ṣelem) is used figuratively here, for God does not have a human form. Being in God’s image means that humans share, though imperfectly and finitely, in God’s nature, that is, in His communicable attributes (life, personality, truth, wisdom, love, holiness, justice), and so have the capacity for spiritual fellowship with Him. God’s purpose in creating human life in His image was functional: man is to rule or have dominion (1:26, 28). God’s dominion was presented by a “representative.” (Egyptian kings later, in idolatry, did a similar kind of thing: they represented their rule or dominion by making representative statues of themselves.) However, because of sin all things are not under man’s dominion (Heb. 2:8). But Jesus Christ will establish dominion over all the earth (Heb. 2:5–8) at His second coming. – B.K.C.
“WHAT IS MAN?” MAN IS KING! Yes, man is lowly and weak and prone to sin. But man is also God’s greatest creation
MAN IS THE CROWN OF CREATION – The crown of God’s creation is a new creature, a creature that can sound the heartbeat of its Creator. That creature, made male and female, reflects God’s own relational richness. The human family is to join God in the ongoing work of creation. The earth below and the sky above with all their inhabitants are too beautiful and too good to be left alone. They need the tender care and close attention that only God’s favored creature can give. – BibleGateway.com
“WHEN GOD CREATED MAN, HE MADE HIM IN ONE WAY LOWER THAN ANGELS. It is not that he is lower than angels spiritually, nor is less loved by God. Nor is he lower than angels in importance to God. Man is lower than angels only in that he is physical and they are spiritual. What does this mean? Just this: angels are heavenly creatures, while man is earthbound. Obviously this is a limiting and major difference, and man is therefore now of a lower rank. But there is a time limit for this inferiority. The present chain of command is temporary. God has a destiny for man that will elevate him to king, when he will be on at least an equal basis with angels. When man is one day given the right to rule the earth, all God’s creation will be put under man’s feet. That is the revelation of man’s destiny.” – MacArthur
NAS Genesis 1:28 And God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
THAT’S WHAT MAN IS!
– Professor Thomas A. Rohm
