“What Is Man?”

Sunday, January 23, 2022

We are all a bit puzzled with ourselves. What kind of critter am I? We surprise ourselves and disappoint ourselves, and ask, “What is man?”, a question that Bible writers and others have asked over the millennia.

Job in the midst of trial had a rather dim view of life. “Man, who is born of woman, Is short-lived and full of turmoil”(Job 14:1 ). It seems as if he answered the question even before asking it. But he does, in another place, ask, “What is man that You magnify him, And that You are concerned about him,That You examine him every morning And try him every moment?” (7:17-18). It is hard to be a creature under the painful and penetrating gaze of God, especially when things go poorly for us. But we are, after all, God’s creatures. We belong to Him. And, of all creatures, we were made in His image, and therefore bear special responsibility to act as His representatives in this world. We are accountable. And God is watching.

David asks the same question, not in despair, but in wonder at being drawn into the execution of God’s works: “O LORD, what is man, that You take knowledge of him? Or the son of man, that You think of him?” (Ps 144:3). He says this after acknowledging that it is God “Who trains my hands for war, And my fingers for battle;” (v.1). What is man, that we could actually be elevated to partner with God in the accomplishment of His works. Not that we can do anything independently of Him, but that, in His grace and mercy, He lifts us to the level of participating with the Divine. What is man, indeed!

But the question, “What is Man?” finds its best answer in Jesus. He is the One who takes on human flesh to demonstrate what “Man” was always supposed to be (Adam, “the Man,” failed to do so). Psalm 8 in the Old Testament, picked up by Hebrews 2 in the New, makes this clear: “what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” (Ps 8:4). Jesus reveals the true, intended nature of manhood when He stoops so low to serve those who have nothing to offer, embracing humility, even humiliation; and then embracing the glory that is given even as He establishes righteousness and subjects all enemies under His feet. This is man. Made from dirt, and to dirt we return. Capable of genius, both evil and good. Redeemed by Christ, to be what we were always meant to be, in Christ. What is man? And how do you fit in?