Every day we get to enjoy the beauty that surrounds us of God’s creation. The recent warm stretch has brought out the blooms and buds on many trees and shrubs and the birds have seemed to anticipate the arrival of spring as their songs fill the air.
To me, the best part of the day is early morning, right before sunrise. The stars are so bright and when the air is clear, it seems the expanse of heaven is simply a canopy of light, and the stars that fill it, are dancing splendidly just for my enjoyment.
Sometimes as I walk, I’m transfixed at the beauty and I remember a song we learned in the Winthrop Chorale. The words go like this:
When I gaze into the night sky,
And see the works of your fingers;
The moon and stars suspended in space!
Oh, what is man that You are mindful of him?
Taken directly from Psalm 8:4 where David himself is awed by the creation of Almighty God and utters these words, “What is man…?”
Though vast and innumerable, though brilliant in their display, though it exceeds our ability to comprehend, it is not the universe nor the stars and planets of which it consists that our God rejoices in: it is man and man alone! It is for man God created this universe! It is to man that God gave dominion over all that there is! It was for man that God would robe Himself in flesh and die for his sin! It is man that God has chosen to fellowship with! It is man that God loved so much that He gave! That is what man is!
When God created the heavens and the earth, day followed night without interruption for discussion or explanation, until on the sixth and final day God said to the heavenly host, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him, male and female He created them…” Man is the climax of Gods creative work, so it is man that God values so greatly!
And truly it is YOU that God values so greatly! Yes, you! Perhaps like David, you say, “But what am I that God would be mindful of me?” Simply put, you are His created child, made in His image, given free will and with life breathed into you by the Spirit of God Himself. It is you He gave His only begotten Son to seek and to save, to offer you the salvation that makes you a completed part of His family for all eternity. That’s who you are. Others may be more talented, more intelligent, more attractive, but none are more loved!
Conversely, the opposite might be true. There might be few that are as talented, few who are your equal in intellect, and few who are more attractive. God still sees you as His child, created in His image, given His life, and in need of His salvation. But, since you’re so splendid, it might take a little longer for you to realize that! Still, God loves you as He does everyone else and has the same desire that you as well as everyone who is not your equal, come to the salvation He freely offers.
Surely the night sky, just before sunrise is beautiful. Several times, as I have looked to the south, I’ve seen falling stars streak past, and the beauty of that stirs me so that from such a simple vision, I find a joy that lasts for several days. Yet, in the eyes of God, the One Who created the heavens and the earth, there is no vision lovelier than one who recognizes God for Who He is and then turns from himself and calls on God his Creator and asks for adoption into the Family of God through the sacrifice of the Son of God, Jesus Christ.
The creation of the heavens and earth was a most wonderful thing. The Lord tells us in the book of Job, that when He created the world, “…all the sons of God shouted for joy!” Still, there is another creation that is more favorable in the eyes of God: the rebirth of one who in repentance, comes to faith in Jesus Christ. So much so that what happened at creation happens again, as Jesus says in Luke 15:10, “… I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth…”
That’s who man is, who you are. One for whom Christ died, and one, who, when born again through Jesus Christ, brings God so much joy! Aren’t you glad that God was and always is, mindful of us?