Today I want to look at a question that one of the great characters of the Old Testament once asked: "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?" (Psa 8:3-4)

What is man? The Psalm goes on to describe the blessings that he has been given by his Father in Heaven: " For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all [things] under his feet: All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, [and whatsoever] passeth through the paths of the seas." (Psa 8:5-8)

We seem to have been given quite a bit of authority in regards to the things on earth, but there is one more line to that Psalm, and that also is significant: "O LORD our Lord, how excellent [is] thy name in all the earth!" (Psa 8:9)

Now, it seems that this particular Psalm is important to our understanding of the New Testament also, for it is quoted almost word-for-word in the book of Hebrews. The verses are Heb 2:6,7 but they are really just identical to those I've shared above. Hebrews goes on, however, to link the phrase "son of man" to Christ, explaining how it is that man has again been crowned with glory and honor: "Thou hast put all things in subjection under his [man's] feet. For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man." (Heb 2:8-9)

The author here explains that the Psalm speaks well of God's dealings with man, but that it is not fulfilled in the "natural man," for "we do not yet see all things put under him." It is, however, fulfilled in Christ, the "last Adam," as we see in verse 9, for all things are put under HIM, even death itself. It is also fulfilled in us, who are in Christ.

And this is what I want to look at tonight - Who and what was Christ exactly? Why was He called "Son of God?" Was He anything else, and what does that mean to we who follow His way? The more clear we become on these things, the more we will understand who we are, and our witness to others will go forth with new power, for we can speak with authority.

"And he said, 'The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know His will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of His mouth. For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard." (Acts 22:14-15) This was said to Paul at his conversion, but it also applies to every one of us who would seek to win souls for Heaven. Notice that cannot speak of what we have not seen, and not experienced... what we do not KNOW. So let us look at our Redeemer, that we may know Him, and: "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." (John 17:3)

So who was Christ? What was the nature of the Messiah? I'm sure lots and lots of verses must spring to mind. Let's look at a few of them: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God." (John 1:1-2) We all know these verses, and the next one: "All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made." (John 1:3)

It seems He is also the Creator - and this is indicated even at the very beginning: "And God said, 'Let there be light:' and there was light." (Gen 1:3) From this very first act of creation, and all the others that follow it, the Father creates by speaking; He creates by His Word, and our Messiah is called that Word.

Now if I speak a word, what am I doing? I am causing something to come out from me, and I am using my breath to bring it forth. Now we can use our own bodies as parables for understanding this, for we the Church are likened to the "body of Christ. Now it is written: "Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man." (Mat 15:17-18)

It is what comes out of a person that is a true representation of who he is. For this reason Christ taught: "But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned." (Mat 12:36-37) Now why did He say this? Salvation isn't in any way based on works, BUT, if our words are evil, and our time spent in foolish talking, it means that we do not know Him anyway. Our words are reflections of our personality, our character, whether we are born again or not.

So, if I speak words, I am bringing out of myself something that is a true representation of my nature. Do we see that? And also, I claimed that I used my "breath" to push out the words, to form them. What is God's breath? "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." (Gen 2:7) We'll come back to this verse again in our examination of what man is, but what is it that our Father puts in us to make us living beings? And when we are born again, what does He give us a "new" one of that makes us new creatures? His Spirit. The Spirit is what gives us life: "But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you." (Rom 8:11) "And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them." (Rev 11:11)

So then Christ was "brought forth" from the Father by His Spirit. Now we of course need to be a little careful here, for some will take this concept and therewith claim that the Son is a created being. That's not the case here. The verses from John are explicit: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (John 1:1)

That Word _was_ God, and fully. See, the analogy to our bodies is not adequate here. No likness or human concept will ever be able to fully capture it. We are humans, and we are always learning, and growing, and changing. Something can occur to me that I didn't know 5 minutes ago. But this is not the case with God: "For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed." (Mal 3:6) Therefore if the Father brought forth something of Himself, it means it was ALWAYS with Him. John's verses reflect this also: "The same was in the beginning with God." (John 1:2)

For those who claim that Christ was a created being because He is called the "firstborn," I'd say to them that He was not called this until He was born in a human body. Not until the New Testament; search the Scriptures and see if it was not so... Before that He was called The Lord (IHWH): "And the LORD said unto Satan, 'The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?'" (Zec 3:2)

He was truly the first (pre-eminent) one born of Yahweh, but He existed long before that "incarnation" - "Jesus said unto them, 'Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I AM.'" (John 8:58) He did not say, "Before Abraham, I was," as if He were bound by time, but "I AM." This was the name God the Father gave to Moses: "And God said unto Moses, 'I AM THAT I AM,' and He said, 'Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.'" (Exo 3:14)

Those who deny the divinity of Christ say that He never in His life claimed to be God - but that's not true. Look at what the teachers of the law did after He told them this: "Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid Himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by." (John 8:59)

Had He just claimed to be a "Son of God" in the natural sense, in the way we understand the term "son," they would not have accused Him of blasphemy, for they knew well: "But now, O LORD, thou art our Father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand." (Isa 64:8) And whosoever is loved by and loves the Father is counted a son: "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not." (1 John 3:1)

So the Son was claiming equality there, something far greater than merely sonship in the sense that Adam was a son of God. This is what truly aroused the anger of the Pharisees and Sadducees. "And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, 'Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?'" (Luke 5:21) Who indeed?

So now, if the Son was "brought forth," but was also God, how are we to understand this? The Scriptures give the answer: "But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." (2 Cor 4:3-4) "Who is the image of the invisible God, the Firstborn of every creature." (Col 1:15)

Now, we know the Father is a Spirit, and therefore cannot be seen by our earthly eyes. It is for this reason (and others) that the Son was sent, that Aspect of God that could be seen, and felt, and touched, a perfect Image, and a perfect Representation of who the Father was: "For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." (Col 2:9) And: "Jesus saith unto him, 'Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?'" (John 14:9)

There is, I think one other issue which might have people questioning whether or not the Son was fully God, and it is this: He did not encourage people to worship Him while He was on earth. "And Jesus said unto him, 'Why callest thou me good? There is none good but One, that is, God." (Mark 10:18) "And Jesus answered and said unto him, 'Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.'" (Luke 4:8)

Now, some people DID, there are at least 13 verses in the Gospels alone where the Son was worshipped while on earth, beginning with the 3 Magi, I say only that He didn't tell people to. He would always redirect their praise to the Father: "I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me." (John 5:30)

Now it seems in these, and a few other verses, that He is drawing a distinction between Himself and the Father: and yes, there is a reason for this. From the verses above, we saw that Christ the Messiah was the Image of God; but what does the Bible say about images? "Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God." (Lev 26:1) "And Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD, and they provoked Him to jealousy with their sins which they had committed, above all that their fathers had done. For they also built them high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree." (1Ki 14:22-23)

The fact that He also was God made it okay for those who did worship Him to do so - but it was important for Him, it seems, that the people who worshipped understand that their praise was going to the Father, who sent Him, and who sustained Him while He was "in the likeness of sinful man."

Here are two more brief passages to conclude this point, and to "cement" the concept in our minds, one written by prophecy, and one from a witness who saw Him in Person: "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." (Isa 9:6) In this, "His name will be called... Mighty God, The Everlasting Father." "And again, when He bringeth in the Firstbegotten into the world, He saith, 'And let all the angels of God worship Him.' And of the angels He saith, 'Who maketh His angels spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire.' But unto the Son He saith, 'Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom." (Heb 1:6-8) And here the Father Himself calls Him God, commanding not only men, but angels also to worship Him.

Now, back to our original question: "What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?" (Psa 8:4) What is man? We are told in Creation: "And God said, 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." (Gen 1:26) And the verse we said we'd come back to: "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." (Gen 2:7)

Man was formed (originally) in much the same way as Christ - in the Image of God, and by His Holy Spirit. There is, of course, an important difference, in that no man is or was pre-existent. Christ was Lord before He "emptied Himself" and took on a human form. Man was made a "living being" only at the time of the creation of his physical body, and not an instant before. Christ created all things, so they are His inherently, but He gave dominion to man over certain things as a gift - we have no authority but what He graciously commits into our care. Mankind is not God in any sense, but he can (and this is where we come in) be a representation of Him just as Christ was - an image.

Now, someone had asked me to expand a little on some of the ideas I had presented in my last study, that of "continuing in prayer." I find that there is one concept that I did not cover in that one that will be of relevance here, and it's directly connected to us being "in Christ." Here is a verse I had been thinking of: "For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith." (Mark 11:23)

Our Messiah was made in the image of God. He was brought forth as the Word of the Father. Now we, who were originally made in the image of God as a people, have this opportunity again through Christ. "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God," (Rom 12:2) "Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son." (Col 1:13)

When we are born again, we are born of the Spirit - that same Spirit that raised Adam from the earth, and will raise those who have died in faith again from the dust of their graves. And when we have accepted the sacrifice for our sins, we are again conformed to this original image. "Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." (2 Peter 1:2-4) "Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as He is, so are we in this world." (1 John 4:17)

Now, notice how important the Word of God is! It meant damnation or salvation for all the universe; and if we are in His image, how important are our words? Remember our discussion of words earlier - that they are a true representation of the inner person, for "from the heart man speaketh."

Now look at the verse above, and see if we can notice something important: "For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith." (Mark 11:23) It concludes with "he shall have whatever he says," not "whatever he said then." This reminds me of something said by James: "Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? Let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom." (James 3:13) And further: "Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh." (James 3:10-12)

Seeing that we are transformed into the image of Christ, should not our words reflect this blessed truth? And I'm not speaking just of prayers, or just of witnessing, I mean always. How does this connect to prayer? In this way: Yes, we may pray, and even remain in prayer, but Christ declared that a man who believes in his heart will have whatsoever he _says._ If I pray continually for x but then I start saying, "Oh, I don't know... does God really want me to have this?" Or, "Will He really do this for me?" Or "Yeah, I prayed, but I don't really expect anything." Well, you've just really confused the Spiritual pipeline. The angel carrying your incense will stop halfway to Heaven, look down and shake his head at you :)

Often we may pray a beautiful prayer, but if the moment the Amens fall from our lips, we take a position of doubt, or unbelief, we've just cancelled all the wonderful words we've said. And I don't think that's just in terms of the specific thing we prayed for either: "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness?" (2 Peter 3:10-11)

I used that verse in the very first study I gave in Crosswalk, about the words we use being important, and I keep finding new applications for it. When we come to realize that our words are power, for we are made in the image of a Father whose word was the Savior, then we will have still more confidence in our prayers. "Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof." (Pro 18:21)

Let us therefore speak faith in what way say. Every time we say things like, "I'm weak," or "I can't do this," or "It's too difficult," or, "I try, but I always fail," - those are statements made outside of faith. And worse, outside of truth, for it's written: "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." (Phil 4:13)

So whenever we are tempted to say things like those above, we can remember whose children we truly are, and that our prayers are heard, and then our words will be filled with grace and power... and love.

David.