WHAT IS MAN?

4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

Psalm 8:4

After creating everything, God wanted a special creature to have dominion over everything he had created, one who will be like him and express his image to other creatures. He called this special creature MAN. 

The idea was that because he was invincible, MAN will become the visible representation of his true nature. 

"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."

Gen 1:26.

But, it was as if God’s plan was thwarted, because we didn’t see Man having dominion over all things. Instead we saw that Man through his disobedience became subject to SIN and DEATH (Sin and death had dominion over Man). 

At a particular time God regretted why he had created Man (because the Man of dominion he envisioned wasn’t what he saw). There was therefore a need for a new Man, one that will have dominion over everything. 

Although we didn’t see Man having dominion as sin and death always got the better of him, but we saw something unique in the time of Jesus. A man who could walk on waters, raise the dead, heal the sick, was without sin, condemned sin and resurrected from the dead. He had complete dominion. Even the government of his time couldn’t stop him, the soldiers sent to guard his grave bowed at his glory. Jesus is the Man God saw, when he said let us create Man. 

8 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.

9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.

Hebrews 2: 8-9.

The Man Jesus is the man of complete dominion. Worthy of note, is the fact that God pluralized the word MAN, by saying let them have dominion. He obviously wasn’t talking about one person. Man to God is divided into two which is- the head and body. 

Figure 1: MAN IN GOD’S EYES

The Head is Christ and the body is The Church (which includes you and I). So, you see when God was saying let them (The head and body) have dominion, he was talking about us too. 

22 God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. 

23 And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself. 

Ephesians 1:22-23.

What is Man? Man is Christ and the Church where God’s Spirit dwells.