Knowing God defines who you are

 Psalm 8:1–9 (ESV):  

1  O Lord, our Lord, 

how majestic is your name in all the earth! 

You have set your glory above the heavens. 

2  Out of the mouth of babies and infants, 

you have established strength because of your foes, 

to still the enemy and the avenger. 

3  When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, 

the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 

4  what is man that you are mindful of him, 

and the son of man that you care for him? 

5  Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings 

and crowned him with glory and honour. 

6  You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; 

you have put all things under his feet, 

7  all sheep and oxen, 

and also the beasts of the field, 

8  the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, 

whatever passes along the paths of the seas. 

9  O Lord, our Lord, 

how majestic is your name in all the earth! 

Did you know that because of who God is, you can know who you are?

Through this psalm we see something of the majesty of God and the reality of humanity revealed by David. He firstly begins by extolling God reminding himself that God is; majestic, all-powerful, in charge, magnificent and glorious. So much so that every living thing testifies of God’s goodness, no matter if they can even speak or not! God’s creativity is strong and beautiful, nothing can compare with it. Is this who you know God to be? 

It is good to remind yourself of the nature of God, because no matter what is going on around you or who you think you are, God still remains. He will always have these awesome characteristics, He will never change, He will be the same for all eternity, and He has seen and created all things. Therefore you can trust what He says about humanity. and what He says about you. 

David from beholding God, wonders about man. Considering God’s character, he ponders why does God even care for people? Why does humanity get so much of God’s attention and care? Why does a majestic, powerful, glorious, peaceful creator even bother with mankind?

These are good questions to ask - What is mankind’s significance? Why does God take time to consider and care for you? When you consider who God is, do you ever wonder why he bothers with humanity or even just yourself? David ponders these things and is blown away by the realisation that not only does God think about mankind and look after us, but he has given us authority and power too! Not only is God your creator and sustainer, but He also enables you to have the life you should have. He has given you responsibility, purpose and worth. Do you realise that? Are you living in the truth of that? You have been crowned ‘with glory and honour’ and you have a purpose and responsibility here on Earth (v5-6).

God values you. Yes, you! The almighty, powerful, glorious God likes, loves and looks after you and He has a job for you to do. He has given you glory, honour, power and authority - are you using it?

God has given you a position here on this planet on purpose. Do you think such a consistent, capable and creative God would make a mistake? As undeserving and as incapable as you may feel, you have been ‘crowned’ by the King of Heaven to take responsibility on this Earth. God has given you:

Position ’a little lower than the heavenly beings’, 

Purpose, ‘dominion over the works of your hands’,

Authority, ‘all things under his feet’. 

The question is - what are you doing with what the Lord has given you?

If you are reading this and feel unworthy, then you are absolutely right! You do not deserve the consideration and position that God has given you. Yet He has given it to you all the same. He expects you to use the gifts, talents, skills and position that He has given you to take care of His creation. So, how are you doing that? How are you living up to the reality of who you are in light of who God is? This glorious, majestic, powerful, mighty, creator God has a plan and purpose for your life, are you seeking Him to find it? God has given you a task to do that you are capable of, after all you are only, ‘a little lower than the heavenly beings’! You have a position, purpose and authority and you have a duty to find out what that is and how you can use it to honour God and all He has made. Can you imagine the beauty of the world and mankind if everyone knew and lived their God-given roles and responsibilities? Not everyone may do so or come to know what they are made for, but you can. You can bring positive influence and care into this Earth by stepping up and stepping into what God has got for you. So, like David, take time to appreciate who it is whom has formed you and then go and show His majesty and power through being who He has created you to be!

‘O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!’ God, help us each to remember you and find out what it is you will have us do today. Amen

Who is Jesus?

Just from the opening lines of Hebrews, we can see the richness of who Jesus is. It is by no means an exhaustive list, but here are the things we can pick out from the very start of this book in Hebrews 1:1-4:

Jesus is;
God’s son
Appointed
Heir of all things
Creator
Radiant
Glory of God
Exact imprint
Upholder of the universe
Powerful
Purifier
Majestic
Superior to angels
Excellent

Number 1, Jesus is God’s son. A son has a duty to follow his father, to reflect who his father is and carry out the father’s work and continue his reputation. It carries a responsibility and expectation that seeing the son means you see aspects of the father. As a result of Jesus’ sonship, many of the following attributes listed can be ascribed - like the fact that Jesus has been appointed by the father.

The appointment Jesus received means he has been; given authority, entrusted and ordained. Jesus not only carries the Father’s attributes, as the consequence of being God’s son, but he has also been commissioned. Jesus has work to do.

For Jesus, the job he was commissioned with was no easy task. His duty was to draw God and people together again. To bridge the gap between divinity and unsacred man. To breach the wide chasm of the holy, pure God, and sinful mankind. What a job! His father entrusted him to carry out this task, knowing that Jesus is the only one able to do it. No-one else bears the; characteristics, capabilities or commission to achieve this task. No-one can work hard enough, try hard enough or be enough to reach God without Jesus. God knew Jesus could and would do what was required. He knew Jesus carried the weight of sonship and his appointment. Only Jesus could bridge the gap, even if it would result in torture, abandonment and death.

Doesn’t that sound strange?
The fact that although Jesus is, ‘the heir of all things’, he suffered. He bled, he died, he felt pain and loneliness. Jesus -  the one who deserves complete honour, respect and adoration, the one who owns all of creation, the one who has unlimited power - was still living under duty and obedience!

Jesus has all power and authority, possession of the whole universe, yet he acknowledges and accepts the will of the father. Jesus still did things he didn’t want to do, he still acted in obedience even though all of creation can’t exist without him - What a contrast! A powerful, mighty, creator, and an obedient, loving, sacrificial son.
Jesus not only demonstrates his power through mighty works, miracles or creation, but he also displays incredible power through his obedience, sacrifice and forgiveness. No wonder that God’s glory is demonstrated in him!
God’s presence is perceived and felt when Jesus is present - the beauty, perfection, wonder and magnificence of God is shown through Jesus. Many people who met him know he was different, the people, the outsiders, those in power and authority, even the religious people realised Jesus was different - there was no denying it. No-one could quite pinpoint his ‘otherness’, but it was clear that he was different to all other people. That must of been because he showed the glory of God - no-one had seen or experienced it before. It was weird and different, inspiring and scary. Jesus could show the glory of God because he is, ‘the exact imprint’ of God. Jesus is an exact reflection of God, not a fake or a cheap alternative, but the genuine article - 100% God. Total holiness, power, goodness and righteousness walking the Earth. Jesus showed who God is all the time. He, as the; son, anointed, heir, creator, imprint and glory of God, is also the one who, ‘upholds the universe by the word of his power’. Wow! Not only was Jesus involved in creation, but this phrase shows that Jesus is continually sustaining creation. Jesus is interested and invested the continuance of what He has made, and still works to uphold his creation. He is just as interested and invested in your life now as he ever was - are you as interested and invested in him?

So, to recap - Jesus is God’s son, 100%, He has authority and power. He was around at the beginning of the universe, and he is still involved in it’s functioning. So how does this effect us?
The very next phrase answers this as Jesus has made, ‘purification for sins’. Not through some ritual, but this obedient son of God, this 100% God-man, the anointed creator made it possible for us to be cleansed and restored relationship with God. He did this through love. He loves God and us more than himself, so this powerful and majestic Jesus gave up all he had in order to give you the chance to know freedom from all you’ve done wrong. Jesus is not a distant eternal entity, but completely invested in all that he has made, and that includes you. He is so invested in fact that he willingly gave himself over to be beaten, tortured, disowned and separated from his Father in order to give you the opportunity to see his Father. Jesus was killed because he wanted you to know something of the purity he knows. To give you the chance to know the Father he knows. You don’t have to live anymore with the stigma or reputation of your wrongs if you accept that Jesus has got it covered. He took all your punishment to allow you to walk free. Are you?

Then, after Jesus had completed the job, just to make sure that we realise the awesomeness of who Jesus is - he goes and sits on the heavenly royal throne, right next to his Father!
Jesus now sits in heaven, in his rightful place. Surrounded by heavenly beings and angels whom he is greater than.
People can have an awe about angels, we hear accounts of people meeting them, both past and present and we are impressed and probably a little jealous! Yet, these heavenly creatures, these messengers, protectors who sit in the presence of God are much less than Jesus. Jesus is, ‘much superior’ and ‘more excellent’ than they. Let us treat with reverence and awe the name of Jesus as those in heaven do. Let us be more inspired by Jesus than we are by anything else.

So, today, consider the power of the name of Jesus, what does he mean to you? What should he mean to you? How does your acknowledgment of who he is effect your life?