1/20/63

Scripture: Psalm 8

Text: Psalm 8: 1a, 3, 4a; “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is thy name in all the earth! ... When I look at thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast established; what is man ........?”

The eighth Psalm is a song about God, Nature and Man. Some commentators have called it a Nature Psalm; but it is more than that. It has also been called a “lyric echo of the first chapter of Genesis.” It is; but it is also more than that. It might be called a psalm of the Religious scientist. Some of its phrases have become a permanent part of the thinking of thoughtful people.

The third verse gives the great contrast for one who meditates -- the limitless heavens; moon and stars --- and what is man? -- So infinitesimal a part of one very small star --- and yet, says the Psalmist, the same God who created the heavens has crowned man with glory and honor, given him dominion over much of the rest of creation, purposed him to be little less than God. When one becomes cynical and disillusioned, tempted to regard himself, and mankind, as something low, insignificant, wretched; then he will do well to read the 8th Psalm again. For despite man’s lacks and failures, people were intended by the Creator to be something high and worthy. And that is our hope!

It has been said that this ancient cry of the Psalmist is re-echoed in every valid prayer, in every realistic counseling session, and in any science experiment that is conducted with integrity.

What, after all, is man? What is one’s relationship to humanity? What is our place in the universe? The story of man in the opening chapters of Genesis with its description of mankind as seen in Adam -- creature and sinner -- gives us a clue. Paul’s contrast of the “old man” in Adam and the “new man” in Christ provides another starting point for a Christian answer to the question, “What is man?”

We might well begin where the Bible begins --- in the Genesis story. The book of Genesis is fascinating reading when one goes at it earnestly, open mindedly, teachably, with some of the help of good scholars, and in meditative mood.

The book of Genesis has been difficult for some Christians to understand, and to defend before others. But it is better understood in the light of some Old Testament research and archeological discoveries. Increased interest in the story and the symbolic truth to be found in a poetic approach sheds much light on Genesis and changes its role in popular thinking. Genesis is no longer a text book for the anti-evolutionist or a “straw man” for the skeptic. It is a window through which we can get glimpses of the One whom we ask, “What is man?”

The value we may gain from the book of Genesis is related to the way we approach it and the way we react to it. We can react with such naiveté as to try to force it into a historical or scientific mold; or we can try forcing our science into a biblical straight jacket. And I suppose there are still some people who try to do that.

But try to accept the book of Genesis for what it is. It is not meant to be a scientific text. The writer was concerned with a lot more important truths than Lot’s wife turning to salt, or the universe being created in seven 24-hour days. Genesis is book of religious philosophy, a symbol of timeless truths.

The Genesis account of creation is not only the story of an event in time; it is a timeless story of an event which symbolizes the continuous relation between God and his world. Because it raises the ultimate questions, the book of Genesis, in its early chapters, is a profound work.

What does it say to us? Perhaps we can illustrate. A student whose behavior was, to say the least about it, immoral in nature, reminded his college chaplain that he no longer thought much of the Bible. He had gone just far enough in analytical study of it to find out that serious scholars doubt that Moses was the one who wrote all five of the first books of the Bible; that, in fact, they generally believe Moses did not write all of them. And the student, holding forth on this theory that was new to him, asked the chaplain: “Since Moses probably didn’t write all of the Pentateuch after all, doesn’t this mean that the whole Bible may be just a hoax?” To which the chaplain probed in answer: “Never mind Moses. Where were you last night?” So we may say never mind who and where of what Adam was. What about the Adam in you? How about the Adam in me? For Genesis tells us about him (that is, the Adam in us.)

What is the book of Genesis? To the objective reader, it is a collection of early Hebrew, God-revealing stories: the creation of the world (in fact, more than one variation of that account;) the garden of Eden; Cain and Abel; the Flood; the tower of Babel; the founding of the Hebrew nation - Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph. In effect, it is the first part of a continuing history from creation of the world in Genesis I through the rise, vicissitudes, and dispersments of the Hebrew nation.

But Genesis is more than literature, more than history; more than dates and chronologies; more than “begets” and “begats.” It is a symbolic, but realistic presentation of God’s meaning for our lives. It is not a record of dictation, but is a record of God’s revelation and man’s response to what is revealed. It is a picture of man’s consciousness of standing in a unique relationship to God.

What is man? Some ancient British tribes are said to have worked out a system in their legal relationships to determine what a man is worth. A prince was worth 1,500 shillings; an earl was valued at 300 shillings; a yeoman farmer was worth 40 shillings; a slave, nothing.

The modern chemist puts a bargain price tag on us. The human body, reduced to its basic chemicals, is worth, they say, about 98 cents.

Now along come the nuclear physicists. They say that the atoms in a man contain a potential energy of more than 11 million kilowatt hours per pound of body weight. So an average sort of man could be worth about 85 million dollars, if that is any consolation to his ego. I doubt if this would impress the dramatist who described modern man as an onion -- all layers and no core. And there have been other, even less complimentary comments on the essence of physical man.

Let’s look for more than this estimate of man’s physical being when we look to Genesis for the answer to our question: “What is Man?’ There are some responsible writers who now refer to “myth” in the Bible. Perhaps you have rebelled, like I have, at the use of any such word in this connection. But I think we need not be afraid of the word when we understand how it is used. “Myth” in this sense, is not fairy tales, or legend or fable. When it may be said that the Bible, including genesis, contains “myths,” it is simply a way of saying that the Bible uses earthly stories to convey heavenly meanings.

The oriental mind, including the mind of the near east where Jesus was born and lived among Hebrew people, is skilled in using poetic and picture language. When the Hebrew Psalmist wrote, “The Lord is my shepherd,” he was by no means trying to say that God is a tough outdoors man, smelling of grass and dust and sheep wool. He is describing a quality of concern and care that we may recognize here on earth, as describing the tremendous care of God for his people -- for each person, even for me! And how can you describe this concept except by such picture language?

So don’t be alarmed or afraid if you read, or hear, of the word “myth” in referring to Genesis or other parts of the Bible. It is meant to be a good word, that may help us to understand, better than we have ever understood before, what it is that is being revealed to us in the Bible accounts.

Now when we read these stories in early Genesis, what are the facts of man (as humanity) that we notice in the man (Adam)? Haydn Ambrose suggests that at least 4 things can be discerned here.

(1) First, man is a creature; produced; made. Jack Finegan has observed that, “the Hebrew word ‘Adam’ is originally a common noun, meaning ‘man.’ Like the corresponding word in English, it can mean either a human being, thus ‘a man’ or ‘the man’ or all mankind together, that is ‘man’ in the sense of mankind. In Assyrian, which is also a Semitic language, ‘adam’ means ‘made’ or ‘produced;’ according to this possible etymology, man as ‘Adam’ is a being who was made or produced, that is a creature ---- Man, therefore, is a creature made by God out of the common elements of the universe.”

(2) Secondly he is a creature intended to be “perfect.” He lived in Eden. If Eden was a certain geographical garden, all right. But Eden may be more in the soul of man than in some geographical place. We all look back wistfully to Eden. Adam and Eve are in Eden. And each of us has a feeling that we have belonged there too. There is an ideal realm of perfect living which was our proper home.

But it hasn’t lasted. It doesn’t last. (3) And the third fact we notice in Genesis is that ‘produced’ and ‘perfect’ Adam becomes a ‘fallen’ creature. It is a simple story, isn’t it? “Adam, there is right and wrong. There is much that you may do. There is at least this that you must not do. You must not eat the fruit of that tree right there.”

And so what does he do? What do you do? What do I do? “Have a bite, Adam.” “Thanks, don’t mind if I do.” And just as abruptly as that, it is all changed with Adam -- with us. Suddenly Adam and Eve were ashamed of themselves. They knew that they were wrong. When they heard God coming, they hid. The fall takes place every day, for every man is his own Adam. And the Book of Genesis fairly shouts it to us, trying to make us understand!

(4) Fourth, this ‘produced,’ ‘once-perfect,’ ‘fallen’ man is a creature who ‘can’t go home again.’ There is no going back to Eden, no return to innocence, no recapture of childhood. When Adam and Eve were driven from Eden, the cherubim and a flaming sword (how else can anyone say it?!!) -- a flaming sword turns every way to guard the garden’s gateway. You can’t go back!

So there we are! Produced, once perfect, fallen, evicted! And that is where a vivid story ends. It is a “myth;” it isn’t just an eyewitness portrait of a beautifully arranged garden with a couple of human beings and a snake in it; it’s a picture of you and me!

And yet, if the story ends there, it also begins there. This story of man in Genesis foreshadows the salvation wrought by the same God-of-things-as-they-are. For another one came to the earth, as much of God as could be poured into the flesh of one person. In Jesus Christ we behold a man more readily seen. Real people knew him, saw him, touched him. More than that, they learned to know him, believe him, trust him, love him, follow him in spirit and in truth. The salvation brought by this new “Adam” did not remove the desires and longings which God somehow planted in man. But, through suffering and death and resurrection, he illumines, and disciplines and eventually fulfills them. We can not return to the innocence of Eden, but we can look forward to reception into the kingdom of repentant sinners which is salvation indeed.

So what is the Christian view of man? He is produced, once perfect, fallen, evicted as Genesis tells us. But he is much more ---you are much more. We are all of these things in relationship to God. The relationship may be that of eviction and estrangement; or it may be that of return and reconciliation, but we mortals always stand in some relationship to God.

To the Christian believer, this has special meaning. Said John, “Beloved, now are we sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be. But we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” The Psalmist had sensed this when he exclaimed “For thou hast made him only a little lower than the angels; -- little less than God!” That’s what man is too!

But it isn’t automatic. It is a struggle between the old Adam’s position in Genesis and the new Adam’s position in the vision of John.

A Norwegian sculptor has created statue which may be seen in Oslo. It is called “Man.” It depicts a man fighting to get out of an immense wheel. According to Paul, that is where we are. “O wretched man that I am,” says Paul, “I often find that I have the will to do good, but not the power. That is, I don’t accomplish the good I set out to do, and the evil I don’t really want to do I find that I am always doing!” (Do you recognize that story in your life?) Paul continues, “It is an agonizing situation, and who on earth can set me free from the clutches of my own sinful nature? I thank God that there is a way out through Jesus Christ our Lord.” [Romans 7: 19-25].

This may be theological language for the simple, welcome truth that God accepts us, forgives us, and welcomes us into his kingdom. The story of Adam in the book of Genesis is our spiritual biography. We may be grateful that the Bible does not say, “blessed are the righteous” (who is that?) -- But it reports Jesus as saying, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness ---- for they shall be filled.” [Matthew 5: 6].

Listen to the book of Hebrews: “In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son.” [Hebrews 1: 1-2].

There is a telling cartoon which shows two tired Kentucky pioneers, each with his skinny dog, meeting on a bleak February morning. One asks, “What’s new out here, neighbor?” and the other answers, “Nuthin’ -- nuthin’ at all --- ‘cept down at Tom Lincoln’s cabin. I hear Nancy Lincoln’s had a baby boy. But nuthin’ ever happens out here.”

Seems like all of the world that knows about Abraham Lincoln has some idea of the importance of a son in the Tom Lincoln household, and has a notion that something did happen in Kentucky!

There was another Son born in Bethlehem of Judea some time ago. It wasn’t much of an event to some people. But to some it has become the event. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” [John 1: 1, 14].

If the first Adam is so much us as to be our despair, the second Adam, Jesus Christ, is so much God as to be our living hope!

People are healed, not by their own struggles (though all must try, without ceasing, and in sincerity.) Nor are they healed by some mystical raptures. But we are healed in trustful acceptance of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. Let us therefore, trust him with a great hope. For if we have lost our Eden, we can still move forward to a kingdom of forgiveness and salvation. So let it be for each one of us. Amen.

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Dates and places delivered:

Wisconsin Rapids, January 20, 1963

Waioli Hui’ia Church, January 28, 1973