By The Rev. Ron Purkey
Guest Columnist
Read Psalm 8:1-9
“O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens” (Psalm 8:1).
Any time a psalm is quoted in the NT and applied to Christ; this makes it a messianic psalm. Psalm 8 is applied to Christ in several places in the NT: Matthew 21:16; Hebrews 2:6-8; 1 Corinthians 15:27; and Ephesians 1:22. Read these references carefully, especially Hebrews 2.
The main teaching from Psalm 8 in Hebrews 2 and 1 Corinthians 15 is this: Christ has regained all that Adam lost because of sin. Christ has been exalted above the heavens and thus has glorified God’s name (Ephesians 1:19-23; Hebrews 1:1-3).
God’s glory is no longer in a tent or a temple; it is “above the heavens” in Christ and in the hearts of ordinary believers. When Christ was ministering on earth, he was not praised by the priests or kings; it was the little children who praised him in the temple.
Read Genesis 1:26-28 carefully, and notice that God gave the first man dominion (rule) over the fish, the fowl, and the cattle. Actually, man was made “a little lower than God” and was appointed God’s deputy to rule over the earth. But when Adam sinned, he lost that dominion.
Romans 5 points out that there was a change of “kings”: death reigned (Romand 5:14, 17), and sin reigned (Romans 5:21), but Adam no longer reigned. Instead of a king, Adam had become a slave!
When Christ came to earth, he exercised the dominion that Adam lost. Christ ruled over the fish (Luke 5:1-6; Matthew 17:24-27; John 21:1-6), over the fowl (Luke 22:34), and over the beasts (Mark 1:13; 11:1-7). No one on earth today could control nature the way he did.
When Jesus came to earth, it was God “visiting” men (Psalm 8:4 with Luke 1:68, 78). Notice that David is picturing a night scene (verse 3) because it certainly was night spiritually when Jesus came to earth. But by humbling himself and becoming a servant and dying on the cross, Jesus glorified God and purchased the salvation of a lost people and a lost world.
Hebrews 2:8 points out that we do not yet see all of nature put in subjection to man. There are still floods and earthquakes and plagues. Yes, but we see Jesus! (verse 9) And the fact that he died for us is all the assurance we need that one day, when he returns, his people will reign over a renewed earth.
One final thought: Christ’s work on the cross did not merely undo Adam’s sin and put us back where Adam was. Rather, it gave us much more: it made us like Christ. Notice the repetition of “much more” in Romans 5:9-21.
“What is man, that thou art mindful of him? … O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!” (Psalm 8:5-9).
Read Ron Purkey’s Bible study outlines free at rcpbibleoutlines.com. Purkey has been an ordained Baptist minister for 50 years.
