By grace I'm saved, grace free
and boundless. Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor. We
are located at 4137 Todd's Road, two miles outside of Manowar
Boulevard. Sunday morning Bible class at
9.45 a.m. Sunday services are at 10.30
a.m. and 6 p.m. Wednesday services at 7 p.m. What is man? I'm reading from
Psalm 8. David says, O Lord, our Lord,
how excellent is thy name in all the earth. Who has set Thy
glory above the heavens? 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. 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? Now that is a question that has
been asked and debated over ever since man had any existence. What is man? Our answer to that question will
tell what we believe about everything else. What we believe about man
will show what we really believe about God, and what we believe
about man's purpose, and what we believe about the meaning
of life. and what we believe about salvation
and really what we believe about everything else what we believe
about man what is man now first I'd like to talk about the origin
of man when we ask this question what is man there are a lot of
men and women who believe that man is something that just happened
we don't know why or how but somehow the chemicals in some
primordial stew all became just right and life was formed and
men have evolved to what they are now over millions and perhaps
billions of years there was no divine purpose in man's origin
It was merely a quirk of fate. This man is the offspring of
chance and must endure his own existence without meaning. It kind of reminds me of when
Aaron made the golden calf. Moses said, what have you done?
He said, well, we threw the gold in the fire and out popped this
calf. And that's the way most people look at the existence
of man. There he is. Perhaps there was a big bang,
some kind of great explosion. The chemicals got just together.
There was life and man evolved from that. A lot of people believe
that. I want to be careful the way
I say this, but to really believe this, And I know the supposed
wise of this world do believe this. This is not a misrepresentation
of the way most people believe. But really, for me to believe
this, I'm either going to have to be stupid, or I must really
want to suppress the truth, because I can't face what the truth actually
says. Now the people that believe this
way are not stupid, they're very intelligent men and women, very
thoughtful men and women. So it's not an issue of intelligence
that causes men and women to believe or not to believe, it's
because of a desire to suppress the truth that God is. And He's in control of everything,
but He's our Creator and we are responsible to Him. That's why people don't want
to face that, because they don't want to face the fact that they
are responsible to Him. But deep down, everybody knows
that God is. There's really no such thing
as an atheist. That's suppressing the truth.
Everybody knows deep down in their souls, when they're all
alone, That God is. They may even be denying it now.
You may be listening and say, listen to that fellow. I don't
believe in God. But deep down, you know God is. And that he will reward the righteous
and punish the wicked. No, I don't believe that man
is the product of some kind of random quirk of fate. There's another view of man.
that says God created life and left man to evolve. There was
an intelligent design. You can believe that God created
life and believe in evolution also. There's just too much evidence,
they would say, regarding evolution to deny it. Things have mutated
or changed, so we have to believe in evolution. Now, I would agree
Things have mutated, things have changed, but I do not believe
evolution. It's against the scriptures.
I bow to what God says. God created man in his own image. Evolution says, look how far
we've come. Look what kind of progress we've
made. Creation says, look how far we've fallen. Now there's
a third view of man. This is what the Bible teaches,
that man is a creature created in the image of God. Therefore, a moral being. Now, animals are amoral. They do not sin. But men created
in the image of God are moral beings knowing good and evil,
and they are either righteous, or wicked. There are only two
types of men in this world, the righteous and the wicked. All men are in one of those two
groups. I'm either a righteous man or
I am an evil man. Now, when we speak of man created
in the image of God, that's why we can say even in man's fallen
state, he has commendable characteristics. I've never known a human being
that didn't have something that was commendable and worthy of imitation. I remember one time I was talking
to an individual and this man was actually, he was a drug pusher. He sold drugs and I was trying
to tell him of the gospel and I was telling him that man is
a sinner and he said, I'm not a sinner, I'm a good person.
And I said, how can you say that? He said, well, just today I saw
some lights on in somebody's car and they left their lights
on and I went and turned out the lights for them. And I didn't
have to do that, but I did that because I'm a good person. I
thought, well, is that what you're going to say when God says, why
should I let you into heaven? Well, I turned somebody's lights
off once. Now, it's commendable that that fellow did turn his
lights off. That's a good thing. But that doesn't make man a good
creature in any way. Now, according to the Bible,
God created man for his own glory. Proverbs 16, verse 4 says, God
hath made all things for himself. Revelation 4.11 says, Thou hast
created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created. Now the purpose of man, if you
want to know what the meaning of life is, or your purpose in
life, the purpose of man is to glorify God. Every individual human being
is going to glorify God. That is the purpose we will serve. We're either going to glorify
His grace, or we're going to glorify His justice. Now, if I'm saved, if I'm brought
into glory, I'm going to be a trophy of His grace. Someone as sinful
and weak and helpless as me, actually being brought into God's
presence and being made just like Christ, God gets all the
glory in that. No glory goes to me. We don't
give any glory to man's work. We don't give glory to man's
free will. This is the work of God and the work of God alone.
Salvation is of the Lord. Every saved individual would
glorify His grace. The scripture says we're saved
to the praise of the glory of His grace wherein He hath made
us accepted in the Beloved. Now if you're a believer, you
know this. If you're saved, God gives all the glory and you glorify
Him. And if you're lost, if you end
up not believing, if you're condemned on Judgment Day, you, or if it
happens to me, we will glorify His justice. You see, God always
pays His debts. And if a man is sent to hell,
it's going to glorify the justice of God. That man is getting exactly
what he deserves. Exactly. All men will serve to
glorify God. Now, what is man? He's a creature. He was created for the glory
of God. And man is a fallen creature. You can read about this in Genesis
chapter 3. When Adam and Eve ate of the
fruit, their eyes were opened and they became dead in trespasses
and sins. God said, in the day you eat
thereof, you shall surely die. They ate of that fruit. Now,
they didn't die physically at that time. They were still alive.
As a matter of fact, according to the Scriptures, Adam lived
another 900 years after this took place. But in the day you
eat thereof, you shall surely die. Now, that's talking about
spiritual death. What can a dead man do? A dead
man cannot do anything. He can't see. He can't speak. He can't hear. He can't smell.
He can't feel. He's dead. And the natural man,
while he's alive to sin, he's dead in trespasses and sins.
He's unable to do anything to save himself. He's unable to
believe. He's unable to repent. He's unable to love God. He is completely and totally
depraved and totally unable to do anything to save himself. Man is a fallen creature. That's what led David to say
that man at his best state, his best state is altogether vanity. Now David asked this question. What is man that thou art mindful
of him? Or the son of man that thou visitest
him? Now there are only two possible
responses to that question. What is man that thou art mindful
of him? Many men think that they are
entitled to God being mindful of them. They're entitled to
God's love and to God's blessings. He made us and he ought to be
concerned for our happiness and welfare. This is the attitude
that comes out in anger against God's sovereignty. Now, what
am I talking about? It's true that God made man And
it's true that there are righteous men and that there are wicked
men. And if a man is righteous, it's
because God has done something for him. All men are by nature
evil. But God has done something for that man that he did not
do for that other man. If you have a saved man and you
have a lost man, God made a difference between the saved man. He did
something for that saved man that he did not do for that lost
man. Now, if God loves all men the
same, what does the love of God have to do with salvation? Nothing. If God wills the salvation of
all men the same, what does the will of God have to do with salvation?
Nothing. If Christ died for all men the
same, the people in hell and the people in heaven, what does
the blood of Christ have to do with salvation? Nothing. If God
the Holy Spirit calls all men the same, what does the Holy
Spirit have to do with salvation? Nothing. It's what man does.
And when men hear that God elected some, but didn't elect all, and
when Christ died for the elect, but He didn't die for all men,
and God the Holy Spirit only calls invincibly His people,
they say, that's not fair, because they think they're entitled to
God's blessing, whereas man, by his sin, has forfeited God's
blessing. Now, there's the attitude that
This is not right. You ought to be mindful of man. And then there's the attitude
that David expressed when he said, What is man that thou art
mindful of him? And that's every believer's attitude. Why would you even look our way? We're so sinful. We sinned against
you. We're wretched creatures. What
is man that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man that
thou visitest him, why would you look my way in favor?" You
know, Romans 9.13 is a quotation of Malachi chapter 1, where God
says, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. Now, does God love everybody? I know he didn't love Esau. He
said, I've hated him. And people were coiling horror
at that. How could God not love Esau? It's easy to see why God
didn't love Esau. Esau was a wicked man. He didn't
think God was worth a bowl of soup. He traded his heritage,
his rights of the firstborn for a bowl of soup to Jacob. He didn't
have any regard for God. He was a profane man. I can see
why God hated him. I can see why God would hate
me in and of myself. I'm a sinful man. I don't deserve
his love. What a believer is amazed by
is his love for Jacob, his love for sinners. Oh, what is man
that thou art mindful of him? What is man? Man is God's creature. A fallen creature, but God's
creature. and obligated to God. God's not obligated to him. He
is obligated to God. Now it's true men are unable
to obey God, but they're still held responsible to obey God. Man is a fallen creature and
by nature God's enemy. That's what man is. by nature
God's enemy. The carnal mind, Paul said, that's
the fleshly mind, the mind we all have by nature. The carnal
mind is enmity against God. It's not subject to the law of
God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the
flesh cannot please God. Now this fallen nature is a result
of the fall of our first parents in the garden. I've already spoke
some about that. But it leaves us like this, Ephesians
chapter 2 verse 1 says, And you hath he quickened who were dead
in trespasses and sins, wherein in times past you walked according
to the course of this world, according to the prince of the
power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children
of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation in
times past in the lusts of the flesh, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh of the mind, and we were by nature the children
of wrath, even as others." Now, because God is mindful of man,
David said, what is man that thou art mindful of him? Because
God is mindful of man, there are two types of men. I've already
touched on this. The righteous and the wicked. The saved and the lost. There are righteous men and there
are wicked men. Now, there are sheep. And they're
goats. A sheep can never become a goat.
And a goat can never become a sheep. Now because God is merciful,
oh I'm so thankful he is, because God is gracious, he elected,
he chose a vast number out of Adam's fallen rebel race to be
saved. Now remember this about election.
A lot of people, when they hear about election, at first they
get mad. They think, how can it be fair? Election doesn't
keep men from being saved. Election is God's choice to save
men who wouldn't have been saved unless He was pleased to choose
them. Paul said, we're bound to thank
God always for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the Spirit and belief of the truth. Now I realize that many
men will have no love for the God who elects and controls all
things. They feel that God is obligated
and they feel that men are entitled to His blessings as His creatures
and they really don't believe they're sinners. But to all those
who believe they are sinners, they enter into the spirit of
David when he says, What is man that thou art even mindful of
him? And these men that hate the Lord,
they will glorify his justice. But these men who love the Lord,
These men who are made righteous by Christ, they're going to glorify
His grace. Now, how is it that a man is
made righteous? They're righteous and wicked. Well, a man is made
wicked He inherited Adam's nature, and he's wicked by wicked works,
by what he does, by the sin he commits. A man is made righteous,
truly righteous, because his sin was placed upon Christ. It became his. That's why Christ
died on the cross. He came as a representative man.
He kept the law for those the Father gave him. Their sins were
placed upon Him on the cross. He was made sin. He was made
guilty before God. God's wrath came down upon Him.
And His very righteousness, His perfect obedience, is the righteousness
of every child of God. Every child of God is righteous
in Him. Now, He is mindful of us. Thank
God for everybody that needs mercy. for everybody that needs
grace, for everyone who cannot stand before God on their own,
but they need Christ to stand for them. He's mindful of us
because He is mindful of His covenant. David said in Psalm
111, verse 5, he will ever be mindful of His covenant. David
said when he lay dying in 2 Samuel 23, verse 5, although my house
be not so with God, yet hath He made with me an everlasting
covenant. That's talking about the covenant
of grace. Yet hath he made with me an everlasting covenant ordered
in all things, and sure, and this is all my salvation, and
this is all my desire, though he make it not to grow. The reason
he's mindful of every believer is because he is mindful of his
covenant. You see the Lord made a covenant
The father made a covenant with the son. He gave him a people. And he said, you represent them.
You save them, and they'll be your eternal bride. And that's
exactly what the Lord did as he walked upon this earth. Just
as the high priest had the names of the children of Israel on
his heart, so does Christ. He always remembers his people,
and he always remembers his covenant. Psalm 115.2 says, Thou hath been
mindful. The Lord hath been mindful of
us. Now, He was mindful of me in
eternity past when He stood as my surety, as my guarantee. When God the Father looked to
Him, He ceased to look to me for anything. He looked to Christ
wholly for everything I need. How the Lord was mindful of me
in eternity past. And when He became flesh, there
was a time when the Son of God, the uncreated Son of God, actually
became flesh. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. When He became flesh and when
He kept the law perfectly, He did so being mindful of me. You see, He came as a representative
man. What He did, He did for His people. Matthew 1.21 says,
Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people
from their sins. He was mindful of me on the cross. Now, listen to me real carefully.
Most people believe that when Jesus Christ was dying, He was
making salvation available. He was paying for everybody's
sins. He was making salvation possible for everybody. But there's
something you need to do. You need to accept what He did,
or the fact that He paid for your sins won't do you any good.
It's your acceptance of Him that makes what He did work for you.
If you don't accept Him, then what He did won't work for you,
and you'll end up going to hell. In other words, salvation is
in some way dependent upon what you do. Now listen to me. That is salvation by works. There's not a drop of gospel
in that message. When Jesus Christ died, He didn't
make salvation available. He actually saved. He had the
names of His people on His heart. He said, shortly before He died,
in His great high priestly prayer for His people, I pray for them.
I pray not for the world, but for them which You've given Me.
for they are Thine. He said, Thou hast given Him
power over all flesh that He should give eternal life to as
many as Thou hast given Him. On the cross, He was mindful
of me. He's mindful of me now as my
intercessor. He stands in the presence of
God for every one of His people. Wherefore, he is able to save
them to the uttermost that come to God by him, seeing he ever
liveth to make intercession for them. And he will be mindful
of me in his return." He's coming for me. Every believer can say
that. He is coming for me. I'd like to read a couple of
scriptures from the book of Isaiah. In Isaiah chapter 49, The Lord says this, beginning
in verse 15. Can a woman forget her sucking
child that she should not have compassion on the son of a womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will
I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee. upon the palms of my hands, thy
walls are continually before me." That's what the Lord says
to every believer. And then in Isaiah 54, verse
17, he says, No weapon that's formed against thee shall prosper. And every tongue that shall rise
against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage
of the servants of the Lord. And their righteousness is of
me. Now how can this be? There's
only one answer. There's only one answer. It's
found in the glorious mystery of being one with Christ. John said, Herein is our love
made perfect, that we may have boldness on the day of judgment,
because as he is, So are we in this world. Is Christ righteous? I am too. Is Christ accepted
by the Father? I am too. In Him, I am complete. In Him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead, and you are complete in Him. What is man that thou
art mindful of him, and the Son of Man that thou visitest Him? Now, these divine visits represent
communion, fellowship with the living God. God has fellowship
with men through the Lord Jesus Christ. What is man? Well, there are saved men and
there are lost men. And the saved men are saved because
of the man, Christ Jesus. Now, we have this message on
cassette tape. on CD and on DVD, you write the
church, call or email and we'll send you a copy. This is Todd
Nyberg praying that God will be pleased to make himself known
to you. That's our prayer. Amen.