Ron Bailey
A Lost Destiny
C S Lewis wrote a science fiction trilogy; the second volume was called ‘Voyage to Venus’. It told the story of a man from earth who arrived on Venus just as that world was being created. Lewis’ Venus had its own Adam and Eve, and its own devil. The man from earth is instrumental in preventing a repeat of earth’s tragedy and as the book comes to its conclusion the whole of the Venus creation is gathered around its own Adam and Eve in happy celebration. The couple wants the visitor from earth to share their celebrations, but he cannot bear the sight and lies face down on the ground. “Don’t raise me up”, he says “I have never seen a real man or a real woman. I have lived all my life among shadows and broken images”.
We have learned to live in our fallen world; we have never known anything better. They say that you never miss what you never had, but I don’t think it is true. We do miss what we never knew although we are hard pressed to explain our longings. The cultures of the world look backwards or forwards to a golden age when things will be as they ought. Where does this longing for Utopia, Shangri-La arise? How is that we can imagine this thing that has never been?
Paul’s letter to the Romans adds a further thought to the accusation of universal sinfulness; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God(1), In that short sentence there lies the hidden half of our tragedy; we have not only ‘sinned’ but we ‘fall short of the glory of God’. We never became what we were intended to be. In the words of C S Lewis, we have spent all our lives among shadows and broken images. Ephesus was a magnificent city; its white stones still glitter in the bright sun. It is a ruin; its glory is gone but just enough remains to give us an idea of what it must have been like in its prime. Our race is the same; it still glitters and is capable of marvelous exploits, but it is a ruin with just enough remaining to haunt us as to what might have been…
What is man? That is a question that has often been asked and answered in a variety of ways. Mark Twain wrote an essay to answer the question and the human race constantly attempts to define itself, but is there a definitive answer? An intuitive shepherd boy asked the question some 3000 years ago and provided some astonishing answers.
What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? 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: (Psa 8:4-6 KJV)
The current scientific consensus is that man is a little higher than the apes. David, the shepherd boy, had a different perspective; man is a little lower than the angels. In fact, the word translated ‘angels’ here is a Hebrew word; elohim(2) and can be translated ‘gods’. David’s vision of mankind is amazing; there is nothing negative in his description. There is no sign of sin or its ravages. This is man as he was created; in the image and likeness of God. Our race was created to be the living link between heaven and earth. In our spirits we were a functioning part of the spirit world of God and angels. In our bodies we were a functioning part of the physical creation. Our unique glory was that we were to be equally at home in each.
David describes mankind as; ‘crowned with glory and honour’. Our race was created to be noble and glorious; instinct with life and power. If we were to give a definition I wonder if it would resemble David’s? Not unless we had the same vision. There is no sin in this definition of ‘man’ because sin is not part of man’s original constitution. It is easy to forget this; we have spent all our lives among shadows and broken images. He was created perfect in an original state of childlike innocence. As a consequence of right choices he would have become holy. God is holy, angels are holy, and man was created to be holy. Man’s holiness would not have been angelic holiness anymore than the angels have divine holiness, but he would have been holy nevertheless.
Our race was given ‘dominion’ over the rest of the sentient creation, but it was not a tyrannical dominion. He was to serve the creation and guard it (3). Man was creation’s masterpiece and its chief servant. His service of God was to be worked out in his serving of the creation; he would have become a co-worker with God. His original ‘project’ was a garden with 3 rivers in it but all the earth was his potential task. He worked, not to pay the bills, but because it was his calling under God. When anything is functioning in the environment for which it was created there is perfect harmony; so it was to have been.
That plaintive cry comes to my mind again; “what hast thou done?” He plunged our race into disgrace and bestiality; that is what he had done. Perhaps we should not be surprised that the scientific consensus is that he is a little higher than the beasts; there is little evidence in his history that he was ever behaved like someone who was a little lower than the angels.
There is a amazing link to this theme in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. In reference to Christ and Adam he says; The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven(4). The first man is Adam, the second man is Christ. There have only ever been two men; the others did not deserve the label, and the first did not deserve it for long. If the definition of man is that he is in the image and likeness of God, and that he is crowned with glory and honour, then there have only ever been two men.
Christ’s qualification is plain to see. In his incarnation he was the one Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; (5) He was determined to carry this role through all his trials. Satan tempted Him by demanding that he prove He was the Son of God. Christ’s answer begins; “it is written man shall not…”(6) His life on earth was as the representative of the race; He was the second man.
What a culmination of tragedies had eclipsed God’s creation designed to be in His own image and likeness From his glorious beginnings to disgrace and degradation. From a being designed to be the dwelling place of God, he has become infested with an alien spirit. From a being with the capacity to be indwelt with God’s own life, he has become the carrier of Sin and Death. Man had become a magnificent ruin, haunted by a rebellious spirit. God’s glorious plan appeared to be wrecked by a cosmic vandal; the race of Man was spoiled beyond repair.
I am trying to be disciplined in the telling of this story but I cannot resist the temptation at this point to run ahead just a little. There have only ever been two men, but there will be more… The writer to the Hebrews had this in mind when he said; But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands: Thou hast put all things in subjection under his 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. For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. ( ). The disgraced race had a champion and he has prevailed; we shall know again the glory from which Adam fell, and more…
Blessings abound where’er He reigns;
The prisoner leaps to lose his chains;
The weary find eternal rest;
And all the sons of want are blessed.
Where He displays His healing power,
Death and the curse are known no more;
In Him the tribes of Adam boast
More blessings than their father lost.(7)
Notes:
1. (Rom 3:23 NASB).
2. Elohim sometimes refers to angels and judges and often God Himself. It is a word that is used to signify someone as ultimate authority in a given situation. This fits well with the context of Psalm 8.
3. And Jehovah God taketh the man, and causeth him to rest in the garden of Eden, to serve it, and to keep it. (Gen 2:15 Youngs Literal Translation)
4. 1Co 15:47 KJV
5. Heb 1:3 KJV
6. Matt 4:3,4
7. Heb 2:6-10 KJV
8. Isaac Watts: Jesus shall reign where’er the sun…
C S Lewis wrote a science fiction trilogy; the second volume was called ‘Voyage to Venus’. It told the story of a man from earth who arrived on Venus just as that world was being created. Lewis’ Venus had its own Adam and Eve, and its own devil. The man from earth is instrumental in preventing a repeat of earth’s tragedy and as the book comes to its conclusion the whole of the Venus creation is gathered around its own Adam and Eve in happy celebration. The couple wants the visitor from earth to share their celebrations, but he cannot bear the sight and lies face down on the ground. “Don’t raise me up”, he says “I have never seen a real man or a real woman. I have lived all my life among shadows and broken images”.
We have learned to live in our fallen world; we have never known anything better. They say that you never miss what you never had, but I don’t think it is true. We do miss what we never knew although we are hard pressed to explain our longings. The cultures of the world look backwards or forwards to a golden age when things will be as they ought. Where does this longing for Utopia, Shangri-La arise? How is that we can imagine this thing that has never been?
Paul’s letter to the Romans adds a further thought to the accusation of universal sinfulness; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God(1), In that short sentence there lies the hidden half of our tragedy; we have not only ‘sinned’ but we ‘fall short of the glory of God’. We never became what we were intended to be. In the words of C S Lewis, we have spent all our lives among shadows and broken images. Ephesus was a magnificent city; its white stones still glitter in the bright sun. It is a ruin; its glory is gone but just enough remains to give us an idea of what it must have been like in its prime. Our race is the same; it still glitters and is capable of marvelous exploits, but it is a ruin with just enough remaining to haunt us as to what might have been…
What is man? That is a question that has often been asked and answered in a variety of ways. Mark Twain wrote an essay to answer the question and the human race constantly attempts to define itself, but is there a definitive answer? An intuitive shepherd boy asked the question some 3000 years ago and provided some astonishing answers.
What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? 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: (Psa 8:4-6 KJV)
The current scientific consensus is that man is a little higher than the apes. David, the shepherd boy, had a different perspective; man is a little lower than the angels. In fact, the word translated ‘angels’ here is a Hebrew word; elohim(2) and can be translated ‘gods’. David’s vision of mankind is amazing; there is nothing negative in his description. There is no sign of sin or its ravages. This is man as he was created; in the image and likeness of God. Our race was created to be the living link between heaven and earth. In our spirits we were a functioning part of the spirit world of God and angels. In our bodies we were a functioning part of the physical creation. Our unique glory was that we were to be equally at home in each.
David describes mankind as; ‘crowned with glory and honour’. Our race was created to be noble and glorious; instinct with life and power. If we were to give a definition I wonder if it would resemble David’s? Not unless we had the same vision. There is no sin in this definition of ‘man’ because sin is not part of man’s original constitution. It is easy to forget this; we have spent all our lives among shadows and broken images. He was created perfect in an original state of childlike innocence. As a consequence of right choices he would have become holy. God is holy, angels are holy, and man was created to be holy. Man’s holiness would not have been angelic holiness anymore than the angels have divine holiness, but he would have been holy nevertheless.
Our race was given ‘dominion’ over the rest of the sentient creation, but it was not a tyrannical dominion. He was to serve the creation and guard it (3). Man was creation’s masterpiece and its chief servant. His service of God was to be worked out in his serving of the creation; he would have become a co-worker with God. His original ‘project’ was a garden with 3 rivers in it but all the earth was his potential task. He worked, not to pay the bills, but because it was his calling under God. When anything is functioning in the environment for which it was created there is perfect harmony; so it was to have been.
That plaintive cry comes to my mind again; “what hast thou done?” He plunged our race into disgrace and bestiality; that is what he had done. Perhaps we should not be surprised that the scientific consensus is that he is a little higher than the beasts; there is little evidence in his history that he was ever behaved like someone who was a little lower than the angels.
There is a amazing link to this theme in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. In reference to Christ and Adam he says; The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven(4). The first man is Adam, the second man is Christ. There have only ever been two men; the others did not deserve the label, and the first did not deserve it for long. If the definition of man is that he is in the image and likeness of God, and that he is crowned with glory and honour, then there have only ever been two men.
Christ’s qualification is plain to see. In his incarnation he was the one Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; (5) He was determined to carry this role through all his trials. Satan tempted Him by demanding that he prove He was the Son of God. Christ’s answer begins; “it is written man shall not…”(6) His life on earth was as the representative of the race; He was the second man.
What a culmination of tragedies had eclipsed God’s creation designed to be in His own image and likeness From his glorious beginnings to disgrace and degradation. From a being designed to be the dwelling place of God, he has become infested with an alien spirit. From a being with the capacity to be indwelt with God’s own life, he has become the carrier of Sin and Death. Man had become a magnificent ruin, haunted by a rebellious spirit. God’s glorious plan appeared to be wrecked by a cosmic vandal; the race of Man was spoiled beyond repair.
I am trying to be disciplined in the telling of this story but I cannot resist the temptation at this point to run ahead just a little. There have only ever been two men, but there will be more… The writer to the Hebrews had this in mind when he said; But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands: Thou hast put all things in subjection under his 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. For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. ( ). The disgraced race had a champion and he has prevailed; we shall know again the glory from which Adam fell, and more…
Blessings abound where’er He reigns;
The prisoner leaps to lose his chains;
The weary find eternal rest;
And all the sons of want are blessed.
Where He displays His healing power,
Death and the curse are known no more;
In Him the tribes of Adam boast
More blessings than their father lost.(7)
Notes:
1. (Rom 3:23 NASB).
2. Elohim sometimes refers to angels and judges and often God Himself. It is a word that is used to signify someone as ultimate authority in a given situation. This fits well with the context of Psalm 8.
3. And Jehovah God taketh the man, and causeth him to rest in the garden of Eden, to serve it, and to keep it. (Gen 2:15 Youngs Literal Translation)
4. 1Co 15:47 KJV
5. Heb 1:3 KJV
6. Matt 4:3,4
7. Heb 2:6-10 KJV
8. Isaac Watts: Jesus shall reign where’er the sun…
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