Psalm 8 reads as follows. To
the chief musician upon Gittif, a psalm of David. O Lord our
Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! Who has set
thy glory above the heavens? Out of the mouths of babes and
sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies.
that thou mightest still the enemy and the advenger. 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? 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 sea. O Lord, our Lord, how
excellent is Thy name in all the earth! 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? What is man? What is man? We come to this psalm in a week
in which in this country at least we have observed an eclipse of
the sun where the moon passed in front of the sun and obscured
its light and countless millions have looked into the heavens
and been amazed at what they've seen. But I wonder out of all
of those who have looked at the moon and the stars and the sun
this week, I wonder how many have seen the handiwork of God
and have considered how small they are on this earth, in this
universe which God has created. And I've asked, as the psalmist
asks here, what is man? that thou art mindful of him
what is man? well if we consider man as he
is today fallen in sin a rebel against
God blinded by the so-called wisdom of this world to the reality
all around him. When we consider how hard the
heart of man is and how blind he is to the reality of what
is all around him, the reality that he is a created being. sustained by the maker who spake
and brought the world and the universe, the stars, the sun,
the moon and man himself into being. When we consider how blind
man is to what is set before his gaze every day, and how he
turns his back on the very God who sustains him, how he turns
his back upon his maker, and he turns his back upon all the
truth concerning his maker, he turns his back on God himself,
and on the Lord Jesus Christ. When we consider how hard man's
heart is, how blind man is, how wicked man is, we might truly
ask of man, and ask of God concerning man, what is man that thou, God,
art mindful of him? We pass through another week,
a week in which, as I've said, there has been this wondrous
sight in the heavens which points us unto God. this wondrous sight,
but we pass through another week in which there have been wars
and rumours of wars, in which there has been violence all over
the face of this earth, in which the evil and the depravity of
man's heart has been exhibited before his fellow man once more,
in which murderers destroy others, innocent people who they don't
even know, in which blood is shed, and in which God's name
is cursed and blasphemed. We've seen another week when
the evil of man has been displayed unto others, and rightly might
we say of man in such a state, what is man that God should be
mindful of him? Why is this world still here?
Why has God not destroyed everyone who has turned his back upon
his maker? Why does God persist with such
a world? Why is God long suffering with
such a people? What is man that he is mindful
of? Well by nature, in this fallen
rebellious state, man is nothing. And in many ways God is not mindful
of man in this state. In many ways God's wrath and
God's judgement rages against man in such a state. And God's
judgment has already gone forth against man in such a state.
When man rebelled against God in the beginning, when innocent
man in the Garden of Eden turned his back upon God and threw away
his innocency and became full of sin and hate, death entered
by sin. And death passed upon the first
man unto all men by natural generation. Sin passed across and death by
sin. And God's judgment is written
upon man from the beginning. We are cursed and we are condemned
already. And you, O man, you, O woman,
you, O child, as one who was born in sin and one who loves
sin and one who hates God by nature, will know the effects
of that judgment on a daily basis. You will feel the death in your
body, you will feel the aches and the pains, you will feel
the weakness and you will feel the strength of your body gradually
going until that day when you're passed from time into eternity. Death is all around us and it's
in us. And spiritual death is that totality
of death which has come upon you in such a way that even though
the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God should stand in front
of you this day, you cannot see Him for who He is. You do not
know God because you're dead to God. You do not recognize
the truth because you're blind to the truth. and you will not
bow down and worship the Son of God because your natural heart
of sin hates and despises Him because He is sovereign over
you and you want to be sovereign over Him. What is man that God
is mindful of him? Nothing. fit to be judged fit
to be destroyed fit to be burnt up and that is what will happen
to man if left to himself and left to his own will and left
to his own ways that is what will happen to you if left to
yourself and left to your own will and left to your own way
if it wasn't and if it isn't for God's grace seen in Jesus
Christ Why is this world still here? Why is man still upon this
world? Because God determines to deliver
a people from their sin. Why? Why has God sent forth his
own son Jesus Christ into this world? to save sinners. Why did Christ come into this
world and suffer the rejection of men? Why did Christ head for
the cross? Why was Christ nailed to a cross
and slain and crucified? Why did God give his son for
sinners? Because there's something in
man that he loves and will save? Because there's some
good in them? Because there's some good in
those for whom Christ died? Because they're not entirely
fallen? Because they're not entirely
sinful? Because there's still some remnant
of good in them? Is that the case? No! That's
what modern man will tell you. That's what false religion will
tell you. They'll tell you that there is
good in everyone. Oh we've got our faults, oh we've
got our failings. We'll accept that no one's perfect
but there's still some good in everyone. there's still some
good that's why God loves us and they preach a message of
a God who loves everybody because everybody still has some good
in them and everybody still has a will which may decide to choose
to do the right thing and choose to follow God and choose to bow
down and believe on the Savior called Jesus Oh they'll tell
you there's some good and this is why God keeps the world going
because he loves everyone. He loves everyone because of
the goodness in them. That's a lie. There is no good
in man. And God's benevolence towards
this world, God's keeping this world going and God's sending
forth his son as a saviour for sinners is not because of the
good in them. We are all gone astray. We have all like sheep gone astray. There is none that doeth good.
There is none righteous, no not one, none. Then there is no righteousness
in man which God should reward with salvation. What is man that
thou art mindful of him? By nature nothing. In that man
as a created being presents a shadow of that which God created in
the beginning. In that man, humanity in the
flesh shows some fingerprint of the handiwork of the Creator
who created man upon this earth in his own image. In that man
still retains something of the wonder of what God created. There
is that in man and in this world and in this creation, which is
a shadow and a picture of what God would have. But in his soul,
in his actions, in his heart, in his deeds, in his mind, man
is evil. And there is no good, nothing
worthy of redemption. But God as creator did create
man in his own image. And God as Creator, when He created
man and this world, said of this world, said of creation and said
of man upon it, it is good. When He created this world and
created man, He said of it, it is good. And God has a purpose
in creation and will bring that purpose through to fruition.
and He will not have the depravity of man, He will not have the
rebellion of man, He will not have the sin of man, take away
from Him that which He ultimately purposed. God had a purpose when
He created us, before man ever fell. And God will not have the
fall, take away what He purposed in creation. But as fallen man,
There is no good in man that God should reward him. What is
man that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that
thou visitest him? The psalmist wonders. because
he wanders from his smallest state when he sees the creation
around about, when he looks up into the heavens and sees the
moon and the stars and feels so small. And when he knows the
weakness of his state and how sinful he is and how he has not
rewarded God according to the blessings that God has given
unto him, how he has taken from God's hand and yet returned so
little, how he never is thankful, how he never worships God as
he should. He wonders that he is still here
on this earth. He wonders that God should continue
with him. And he says, what is man? Why
does God leave me here? Why does God continue with us? Why hasn't he destroyed us utterly? But the answer is not to be found. in fallen man himself. The answer
is not to be found in any good that we may do or say. The answer
is not to be found in our own hearts. The answer is to be found
in another man. The answer is to be found in
another man. The man the man Christ Jesus,
the ultimate man, the man of which Adam and mankind in general
are but a figure. That's the man that God created. When God created the heavens
and the earth and when God created man, natural man Adam was but
a picture of the man, the Lord Jesus Christ. The man that God
would bring forth from the womb of Mary. The man that God would
bring forth as perfect and pure and incapable of falling, without
sin, righteous through and through. The man who would come into this
world of wicked men and lay down his life for a people who deserved
it not. and put his neck under the axe
of God's judgment earned by the sin of that people and walk through
the fires and be plunged into the seas of God's wrath. That's the man, that's the man
of whom Adam, the first man, was but a picture. and that the
man that God is mindful of and the son of man that God visits
what is man that thou art mindful of him and the son of man that
thou visitest him in the first Adam nothing in Christ everything everything. In Christ man is
glorious, wonderful, without peer, without reproach, without
sin, righteous and perfect and pure and glorious through and
through. A man unlike any other a man
without fault or blemish, a man all-powerful, all-wise, all-glorious. What is man that thou art mindful
of him? He is that man who spake and
the heavens were brought into being. The man who spake and
the earth was created out of nothing. The man who spake and
the sun and the moon were put in their place. The man who spake
and the stars were cast abroad in the firmament. The man who
speaks and the world moves and rotates and the moon spins around
it. and the sun shines forth and
gives forth its heat and its light the man who speaks and
all life is brought into being and all life is sustained the
man who speaks and sinners take their last breath and pass from
this world into eternity the man who speaks and those who
come unto Him, crying, Lord, Lord, whom He never knew, are
cast into outer darkness. The man who speaks, and sinners
are judged, and the man who speaks, and sinners are forgiven. The
man who speaks, and life enters into a dead soul, and a dead
sinner opens his eyes, and sees the Saviour crucified for him.
The man who speaks and dead souls arise from graves and come forth. For Lazarus comes forth and sees
his Lord and Saviour. The man who speaks and those
who thought they were without hope see a Saviour who loved
them and gave himself for them. The man who speaks and the power
of his gospel goes forth and hard hearts are melted and broken. and faith arises in the heart
to believe and lay hold of him and trust in him. The man who
speaks and the sheep hear, and another they will not hear. The
man who speaks and his people follow. The man who speaks and
the gospel saves and gathers in the church, against which
the gates of hell will never prevail. The man who speaks,
and all things are done as he commands. What is man that thou
art mindful of him? In Christ everything, all-powerful,
all-glorious. The one who speaks is unlike
any other, the one who is called the Word of God. because his
voice is God's voice embodied in words. God speaks through
this man. What is man that thou art mindful
of him? He is the speech of God, the
power of God in the gospel, the salvation of God. He is the prophet
that God sent forth, the messenger, the apostle that God sent forth. He is the king that God ordained
and set upon His throne. He is the priest that God sent
forth with a sacrifice to deliver His people from their sins. He
is the sacrifice that that priest slew and offered up and shed
the blood of. He's the sacrifice whose blood
was sprinkled upon the mercy seat. He's the great warrior
that rode into battle and was struck down but rose up again
and came forth victorious. He's the warrior that returns
from battle with blood-soaked garments, with a people whom
he has delivered from his enemies. he's that great warrior that
leads that people up into glory and says behold behold the people
I have loved behold the people I have saved oh what is man that
thou art mindful of him and the son of man that thou visitest
him in Adam by nature nothing but a sinner in Christ, a glorious
Saviour. O Lord, our Lord, how excellent
is Thy name in all the earth, who has set Thy glory above the
heavens. Where has God set His glory above
the heavens? He has set His glory in Christ,
the Son of God. when Christ rose from the dead
and ascended up victorious on high. And God set him the sun,
shining forth in glory from the heavens, and said to a world
in darkness, Behold the Lamb of God, behold my son, hear him. And his light shone forth in
the darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. But to those
in whom the light shone, to those whose hearts were open for the
light to shine within, they discovered that His glory, as the Son of
God, transcended every other glory. There was a glory they'd
seen in the law of God. In the truth of God, in the oracles
of God, in the scriptures of God, there was a glory they'd
seen in the prophets, so it's brought forth those scriptures.
But all glory faded when the Son of God came into their hearts. The law was given by Moses, but
grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. O Lord, our Lord, how
excellent is Thy name in all the earth, who has set Thy glory,
Thy Son, the Son of God, the Son of righteousness, above the
heavens. O look up and see the man that
God is mindful of, the Son of man whom He has visited. Out
of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because
of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.
Babes and sucklings born of God, with their eyes open to see that
which man hid from them, see the Saviour, and see the victory
he's had over his enemies and their enemies, and see him sat
in glory. and when they consider the heavens
and the work of his fingers and the moon and the stars and cry
out what is man that thou art mindful of him they look up and
see the man seated in glory above the heavens they see the sun
shining above the glory of the moon shining above the glory
of the stars shining above the glory of all the heavens Why
in verse 3 does the psalmist mention the heavens, the work
of God's fingers, the moon and the stars but not the sun? Because he's mentioned the sun
already. Because the sun is the man whom
he considers in verse 4, because the sun is that glory which is
set in the heavens. He looks at that which is at
the sun's feet. He looks at the stars and the
moon and the heavens and sees beyond them the light of the
sun, risen and ascended and glorified. He sees the true man, the Saviour,
the Lord Jesus. And says, what is he? What is
this man? How wonderful is this man? How glorious is this man? No wonder God is mindful of him. No wonder. Oh the natural man
cannot see it. Man puffed up by his own natural
wisdom cannot see it. But when man's brought down to
nothing and when the power of the Gospel sent forth by God's
messengers comes forth And the Spirit of God comes upon a dead
soul and speaks by the voice of Jesus Christ to those who
lie in the graves and they're brought forth and live. They're
made to be babes born of God. And these babes, these little
children that Jesus received, these babes born of the Spirit
have more wisdom than the wisest of men in this world. for they
know who this man is they know who this savior is and they know
who the sun is glorified on high oh lord our lord how excellent
is thy name in all the earth there is a symmetry to this psalm
it opens with these words and it closes with these words oh
lord our lord how excellent is thy name in all the earth Well
it opens and closes because that surrounds all the message in
this psalm. Our God, our Lord, His name is
excellent in all the earth. But the symmetry also shows us
the reflection between man in Adam, the first Adam, who's referenced
in the middle of the psalm. and man in Christ, the second
man, the last Adam, of which Adam was but a picture. There
is this sense in the natural realm, in which our Lord's name
is excellent in all the earth, but there is a sense, oh what
a sense, in which his name, in Christ, in the man, is excellent
in all the earth this earth and the earth to come this heaven
and the heaven to come oh when you see this man how you will
rise up with the psalmist and shout oh lord our lord how excellent
is thy name in all the earth what is man that thou art mindful
of him this is two men we consider. The first man and the second
man, the first Adam and the last Adam. If all you see is the natural
man, if all you see in this psalm is the natural man, if all you
see in the world around you is the natural man, then you are
blind indeed. And when you come to see this
other man it will be too late. Oh may God make you to be, by
grace, a babe and a suckling, born of the Spirit of God, because
of that great victory which this man wrought upon the cross. Yes, there's a symmetry. There's
a symmetry. 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, 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 sea. Well this is true of
man in the natural realm. he's over all the created creatures
God gave him a glory but in comparison to the heavens above and the
vastness of the earth and the vastness of the universe he's
so small so small but truly not all things are
under his feet the creation is but man is so
small and so weak yet in Christ all things are under his feet
he has dominion over the works of God's hands he is over all
he's over all in the last Adam in Christ man is wonderful and
God is mindful of man in Christ mindful mindful. And when God judges man in Adam,
when God judges the fallen depravity of man rightly and justly, he
will judge it to exemplify his righteousness, that righteousness
which he set forth in judgment when he took his son, the man,
the last Adam. and slew him upon a cross that
he might save a people taken from amongst the children of
Adam, the first man, and washed them clean, and make them to
rise again from the dead in Christ as sons of God, as new men, new
men, new creatures with a new humanity, a perfect, a righteous
humanity, wed to their Saviour Jesus Christ. He will make them
to be as the man. He will make them to be one with
the man. He will make them to be what
they were just a picture of in Adam. He will truly make them
to be crowned with Him, with glory and honour. He will make
them to have dominion with Christ over all things. Oh, the position
they have in Christ. Oh, the salvation. Oh, the contrast
there is between these two men. Where are your thoughts? Where
are your goals? Where are your ambitions, oh
man? Are you of the earth, earthy? Never rising up above what you
can see in this world. captive by your own sin. If you are, your hopes are worthless. In 1 Corinthians 15, where Paul
speaks of the resurrection of the dead, he says, If in this
life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the firstfruits
of them that slept. For since by man, the natural
man, came death. By man. Christ Jesus, came also
the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even
so in Christ shall all be made alive. Everyone that's in Christ
will live. Are you in Christ or are you
in Adam? Are you of the first man or the
second man? Are you dead or will you live? as in adam all die even so in
christ shall all be made alive are you in christ but every man
in his own order christ of firstfruits afterward they that are christ
that is coming then come at the end when he shall have delivered
up the kingdom of god when he shall have delivered up the kingdom
to God, even the Father, when he shall have put down all rule
and all authority and power, for he must reign till he have
put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be
destroyed is death. for he hath put all things under
his feet. But when he saith all things
are put under him it is manifest that he is accepted which did
put all things under him. All things are under Christ's
feet except God himself of course. And when all things shall be
subdued unto him then shall the Son also himself be subject under
him that put all things under him that God may be all in all. Oh, there's a resurrection day
approaching. A day in which those who are
in Adam will be raised and cast into a lake of fire. And a day
in which those who are in Christ will be raised up with Him until
everlasting life. And that last enemy, death, shall
be no more. What sort of man are you? What sort of man are you? What do you know of this man? The author of the epistle to
the Hebrews writes of this man also. He says in chapter 2, verse
3, how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? which at the first began to be
spoken by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him.
God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders,
and with diverse miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost according
to his own will. For unto the angels hath he not
put in subjection the world to come whereof we speak. But one
in a certain place testified, David the psalmist, by the Spirit
of God. 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 crownest 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 so the author
quotes the psalm now we see not yet all things put under him
but we see Jesus But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than
the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory
and honor, 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
under glory to make the captain of their salvation perfect through
sufferings. But we see Jesus. We see Jesus. Do you see Jesus? Do you see
Jesus, this man, who was made a little lower than the angels
for the suffering of death? Oh, what a man. If you see Jesus,
oh, what a man you see in the Gospels. When the people saw
what the man Christ Jesus did, when he saw the wonders and the
miracles he performed. When they saw how he healed the
sick and made the blind to see and the deaf to hear and the
lame to walk. When they saw how he called out
to Lazarus who was dead in the grave for days and called out
to him, Lazarus come forth and Lazarus arose from the dead.
when they saw the storms and the tempest on the sea and how
Jesus called out and said, be still. And the wind and the seas
obeyed him. The people who saw said, what
manner of man is this? What manner of man is this that
the winds and the sea obey him? What is man? that thou art mindful
of him. What is man? That all things are under his
feet. What manner of man is this? He
speaks and even the wind and the sea obey him. Even the wind and the sea. He's the son of God. the light
that shines in the darkness. He who has been set as God's
glory above the heavens, verse 1. He of whom the moon and the
stars are but figures and pictures. The stars, as we see in Revelation,
are often used to depict those lights which are sent forth in
the darkness as messengers of God. The servants of God, the
prophets, preachers, apostles, those whom God sends forth with
His glory are sometimes referred to as stars. They come as lights
pointing to the light. Much smaller than the moon, much
smaller than the sun, but they reflect the light of the sun. They come forth shining. And
the Samish looks at the heavens and he sees the stars as it were,
and sees the messengers of God who come forth. And he wonders
how glorious is the one of whom they speak, the sun. The moon is set forth as a type
and a figure in the scriptures. It reflects the glory of the
sun, but it simply reflects. If you look at the moon on a
bright, moony night, you see it shining, but the light that
you see reflected off its surface is the light of the sun reflected.
It has no glory in itself. It's set forth in the scriptures
as a picture of the law of God. God sent forth the law to show
unto man that man's a sinner and could not live in a manner
in which he should. And the law set forth something
of God's glory, something of His righteousness. But it had
no glory in itself. It was a reflection of the light
of the Son of God. There's no glory in itself. All
the righteousness that the Lord demands is found in the Son of
God. It's found in the sun, not the
moon. Yet people worship the moon,
they go to the law, they go to the reflection and think that
they can live up to its standards. And they go to the reflection
which has no light in itself when the gospel sets forth the
light. O man, to which man have you
gone? to which man? This man, the man
Christ Jesus, when he came into this world of darkness, was made
a little lower than the angels, even for the suffering of death. He loved the people, chosen out
of the generations of the first man Adam. chosen before ever
they were made, chosen before ever they were born, chosen in
himself. God chose them in Christ, before
ever they were made of Adam, that ultimately they should be
one with Christ. And when he was chosen, when
they were chosen, it was decreed that the Son of God must suffer
death, if they were to be his. He must deliver them from the
fall, which they were a fruit of. He must deliver them from
the fall, which held them captive. He must deliver them from that
sin, which had entered into their hearts. He must deliver them
from the condemnation of the law, which found them utterly
without righteousness. Utterly sinful. Utterly condemned. He must put himself under that
condemnation. He must go in their place and
say to his God, don't punish them, punish me in their place.
He must say to that law, bring your curse and your penalty upon
me. I will pay the price. I will die that they should live. And God took him to the cross.
And God took their sins. And God laid them upon Him. And
God made Him to be their sin. And God took that law and brought
its judgment and wrath and penalty down upon Him. He took the moon
as it were and placed it in front of His Son. The moon, the law,
concealed the glory of the Son of God for three hours upon the
tree. The world has looked and seen
this eclipse this week of the moon concealing the glory of
the sun. And the natural man sees nothing. but the darkness of the moon
in front of the sun. He sees a natural phenomena. He sees something wonderful to
behold but he sees nothing more. And yet that very act, that very
phenomena that he's been looking at this week is that which shouts
out to this world in darkness that the Son of God The light
of the world was slain upon Calvary's cross. He was judged for the
sins of his people. The darkness of their sin and
the darkness of the judgment of the law, the moon, concealed
his glory. And the wrath of God, the fires
of God poured out upon him. That's what that's telling us. that my son, God says, was crucified
for sinners. Behold my son, look upon him
in the hours of darkness, look upon him as he trod in the winepress. as he was trodden in the winepress,
as his blood was brought forth, as he was slain and crucified
for my people, look upon him as he took their sins away and
believe. What is man? This man was crushed
and slain but he delivered his people from their sins. The psalm is addressed to the
chief musician again. Upon Gittif, a stringed instrument. Psalm of David. Gittif is referenced
as an instrument on Psalm 8, 81 and 84. Three places. And it has an allusion, if you
read about its meaning, to Gath and to Edom. And Edom is the
treading of the winepress. Here in the depths of this psalm,
which contrasts man in Adam with man in Christ, which contrasts
the two men and the deliverance of the dead in Adam from their
sin and their being brought to life in Christ through his death,
here at the heart of this psalm is the three hours in the treading
of the winepress. which is why we see three Psalms
upon Gittif. Three hours of darkness in which
the son was destroyed, in which he was judged, in which he was
condemned for the sins of his people, in which his blood was
shed, in which he was trodden in the winepress. Three hours. Three hours. We read in verse 8, speaking
of his dominion over the work of God's hand, we read, The fowl
of the air, the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through
the paths of the seas, he rules over it all. But who truly passed
through the path of the seas? Christ did. The seas over this
earth are a picture of our sin and condemnation and judgment.
when Noah was put in that ark. And God judged the wickedness
of all men. He sent a storm which flooded the entire earth and
the seas covered all land. And Noah and his house, by God's
grace, were brought through the judgment safely. Brought through
the waters while Christ in those three hours of darkness waded
through the waters of the seas of sin and judgment. He waded
through, he passed through, he was the only one who could pass
through. He was the ark in which his people
like Noah and his household dwelt, in which they were placed by
God, covered with the pitch on the ark. inside and out the blood
of Christ to conceal and to cover and to prevent the judgment coming
upon them. He was the ark which led them
through the seas, which led them through the seas of judgment
onto the other side. Only Christ could pass through
such seas. Only Christ could pass through
such paths. Only Christ could pass through
such judgment in order that His people in Him should be delivered
in order that his people in him should be made perfect in order
that his people in him should be made righteous only he is
the son of god could suffer the darkness that concealed his glory
that took it away as the moon took away the light of the sun
for three hours only he could wade through that darkness and
come out the other side and bring his people out the other side
in him a people who because of what he suffered for them came
out the other side perfect without spot or blemish perfect and pure
in Christ, white as snow. righteous. A people who once
you might have said what are they as man and you'd have said
nothing but vile sinners but when you behold them in Christ
the other side of death, the other side of the darkness, the
other side of the hours on the cross, you look at them in Christ
and see only Christ and you say what is man? What are they? What is God's man? What is God's
people in Christ? pure, perfect, holy, righteous,
beautiful, glorious, wonderful, saved. And God has set his Son,
and God has set his people in his Son, his bride in his Son,
above the heavens in glory. O Lord our Lord, how excellent
is thy name in all the earth, who has set thy glory above the
heavens. He's taken his Son, the man,
the last Adam, plunged him into death. brought him through and
exalted him the other side of death in glory he's ascended
into glory and the sun shines forth and his people shine forth
in him oh have you seen this light you who sit in the darkness
of this world have you seen the light the people that sat in
darkness have seen a great light have you seen this light have
you seen this man Have you beheld the heavens, the work of God's
fingers, the moon and the stars which He ordained? And have you
seen the light which shines forth in glory in the heavens? Have
you seen this man? What is man, that thou art mindful
of him? And the Son of Man, that thou
visitest Him? What is man? Nothing by nature. Nothing in the first Adam. Nothing
but a rebel. Nothing but sin. Nothing but
worthy of condemnation. Nothing by nature. What is man? Nothing by nature. But wonderful
in Christ. Glorious in Christ. Righteous in Christ. By nature he's vile, he's dead. But in the last Adam, he is over
all. All things are in subjection
under him. All things are under his dominion. He rules over all. He rules over
all in His Saviour. And He rules because Christ rules. What is man? Christ is the second
man, the last Adam, the Saviour. And He's wonderful. And He's
glorious above the heavens. No wonder then that the psalmist
opens and closes by shouting out, O Lord our Lord, how excellent
is thy name in all the earth! How excellent is thy name in
all the earth! What is