In order to understand whose name will be entered into this book, we must go back to the beginning of what we know about mankind .
Do you remember playing a game where there were clues hidden that if properly understood led to the next clue and finally to the prize or reward ?
That's how we are going to learn about this Book of Life.
We will discover along the way there is a kingdom , unseen by human eyes, but real nonetheless .
This kingdom is a very important clue as we seek our prize.
Let's begin with what we can know about God and mankind . Mankind means both men and women genders .
As we look at creation around us, we are filled with a sense of awe and wonder.
We might think something like this :
("Your" means the LORD God)
Psalm 8:3-8 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. "
Let's unpack the above and see what we learn about "kingdom" rule . Remember to have a kingdom we must have a king, subjects under the rule of the king , and a place where the king rules .
I will put my observations to the questions in parentheses.
Who is the king? (God, the LORD)
What did God do ? ( created and set in place the moon and stars and the heavens where God put the stars and moon; created the earth and all the creatures that live in the seas, on land or fly in the air; created "heavenly beings" or angels ; created man - meaning male and female ; )
What do we learn about man and man's relationship to God and creation?
(Have you ever been overwhelmed looking into the night skies on a clear , moonless night? If not , come visit me! The immensity of the universe makes me feel very small ! But look what we see about God , our creator !
God is mindful of us- of you!
God cares for us- for you!
God crowns us with glory and honor ( I don't know about you, but this amazes me)
What does it mean " put all things under his feet "? ( under the authority or rule - must obey )
God honors man by delegating authority to rule over all things on the earth ! Dominion to take care of what God made!
Sum up these observations.
God created everything . Only God is self existent .
God delegated to man ( not to heavenly beings ) the stewardship of the earth
God created man desiring intimate relationship with man ( God is always thinking of us and cares for us )
So God is the king . Man is the subject. The heavens and the earth are the kingdom .
But I think we need a closer look at this subject of kingdom rule and why today things on the earth are such a mess .
Join me for the next clue as we take another look at man's creation .
Next post:
Man's creation and what went wrong
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