Happy Sabbath Brethren!

Have you ever wondered about your place? It is natural to ask that question in a variety of situations. When a man and woman get married, there is a period in which the two must acclimate to their roles within the new family unit. If that couple has a child, the child must find their place within the family structure. This will change as the years progress, but that drive to know your place is there. In the microcosm of the family this question can be simple, but the concept expands outwards to our other relationships - friends, coworkers, schoolmates, etc. - and eventually we can come to want to see where we fit in relation to the entire universe.

While the smaller questions can help our human psyche cope with many of our day to day insecurities, the answer to that last question is what will give us purpose in all that we do. King David pondered this in one of His songs "When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?" (Psalm 8:3-4). He was struck by the awesome glory of the awesome glory of the universe. In view of these wonders, why did God make us with a consciousness? Why were we created at all? Are we meant for something more than this temporary life?

Questions like this filter into our minds because we were created with the desire to know where we fit into the universe and seek something beyond our current state (Ecclesiastes 3:11).  Thankfully, God gives us insight to the answers for these questions through His Word. In fact, David, after posing these great questions, gives us some broad stroke answers.

"For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen even the beasts of the field the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea that pass through the paths of the seas" (Psalms 8:5-8).

Here God reveals that a hierarchy does exist. Scripture is clear that God the Father is above all (Ephesians 4:6). Jesus Christ, as the Firstborn Son of God (Colossians 1:18, Psalm 89:27), sits at the right hand of God the Father (Acts 7:55-56, Colossians 3:1-3). Christ is willingly subject to the Father in all things (1 Corinthians 15:27-28). All of creation have their place at the feet of these two Beings.  As the Creators of all things (Colossians 1:16-17) this is right and fitting that the creation is under the dominion of the Creators.

David then states that man has been made "a little lower than the angels." The angels are beings that are created by God (Hebrews 1:7). The purpose of this creation is simply to be servants of the Great God (Hebrews 1:14). We see this in scripture as God sends His angels to accomplish His purpose. God used them in dealing with Lot in Sodom (Genesis 19). God used angels in His giving of the laws to ancient Israel (Galatians 3:19). He has sent messages by the hands of angels (Hebrews 2:2, Daniel 8:15-27). What we see time and time again is that they are in submission to God and God uses them to "minister" or serve His people (Hebrews 1:14). God has given them spirit bodies that cannot die (Luke 20:36). What God has given them makes them "rank" above us for the time being.

What dominion then is given to mankind? Is our current place in the universe meeting our ultimate potential? Next week we will address these questions. I encourage us all to ponder these things between now and then.

I pray that each of you have an edifying Sabbath!

Devin Schulz