Soul Mission: Determine Your Purpose for LivingSample

Looking closely at Psalm 8:6-8, we see the responsibility that flows from man’s rank and recognition in the classification of life:

You made him ruler over the works of your hands;

you put everything under his feet;

all flocks and herds,

and the beasts of the field

the birds of the air,

and the fish of the sea,

all that swim the paths of the seas.

The psalmist discerns a distinct hierarchy of authority and responsibility in nature. Man is Number Two. All the other works of God’s hands, including plant and animal life, are Number Three. Now Number Three challenges Number Two, even as Number Two disregards the Number One position. But God has made man ruler over the works of God’s hands. Even though nature is more powerful in some ways, human beings are placed over nature in rulership. Here is the grid for the Creator’s intent, the human mission, in revelation and nature:

• Man is master and manager, but never the Maker.
• Man is subduer and steward, but never the Sovereign.

Man is subduer and master, delegated as ruler over nature. God has put everything under his feet. Nature has no human qualities. Neither does it have divine qualities. We don’t have to worry about emptying the nature of divinity or humanity because it evidences neither. Creation was given to man by God to subdue it and master it. Humanity retains preeminence over other creatures in value and function. This role was part of God’s original purpose for humankind.