The Good News of a Short Life
Psalm 39
The Good News of a Short Life
Psalm 39
Main Idea: Jesus turns our laments over this life’s fragility into hope in our eternal citizenship.
I. Silence to Lament (v. 1-6)
David turns from keeping his tongue silent in the midst of his distress to avoid sin to speaking out with his tongue to the Lord in prayer to avoid despair.
Psalm 37:3-15: Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land. In just a little while, the wicked will be no more; though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there. But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace. The wicked plots against the righteous and gnashes his teeth at him, but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he sees that his day is coming. The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose way is upright; their sword shall enter their own heart, and their bows shall be broken.
I wonder how many believers stop speaking to God about their pain. Disappointed by unanswered prayers or frustrated by out-of-control circumstances, these people wind up in a spiritual desert unable—or refusing—to talk to God. This silence is a soul killer.
- Mark Vroegop
Lament is a prayer in pain that leads to trust.”
- Mark Vroegop.
Psalm 77:2-4: My soul refuses to be comforted. When I remember God, I moan; when I meditate, my spirit faints. You hold my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
Lament does not give you an excuse to wallow in your questions or frustrations. It is a means to another end. In the same way a surgeon’s cut is meant to heal, so complaint is designed to move us along in our lament. You are not meant to linger in complaint. If you never move beyond complaint, lament loses its purpose and its power. Complaint is central to lament. But Christians never complain just to complain. Instead, we bring our complaints to the Lord for the purpose of moving us toward him. We allow the honest opening of our souls to become a doorway to the other elements of lament.
- Mark Vroegop.
Luke 12:13-21: Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.
II. Lament to Confession (v. 7-11)
David’s lament over the fragility of this life turns into a confession of hope that the Lord is the only one able to deliver and rescue him.
Luke 12:13-21: I have seen a wicked, ruthless man,
spreading himself like a green laurel tree.
But he passed away, and behold, he was no more;
though I sought him, he could not be found.
Mark the blameless and behold the upright,
for there is a future for the man of peace.
But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed;
the future of the wicked shall be cut off.
For the Christian, the exodus event—the place where we find ultimate deliverance—is the cross of Christ. This is where all our questions—our heartaches and pain—should be taken. The cross shows us that God has already proven himself to be for us and not against us.
- Mark Vroegop.
III. Confession to Appeal (v. 12-13)
David’s confession of hope turns into an appeal to his shared identity with the Lord as an exile in this world, longing for something beyond it.
Hebrews 11:13-16: These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
Ephesians 2:19: So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.
The brevity of life and the sadness of death run throughout the Bible and the full revelation of the immortal world does dot remove them. This life is precious. Its joys and loves may be transcended but they cannot be replaced.
- Alec Motyer
There is a Hiding Place
Psalm 32
There is a hiding place
Psalm 32
I. The Blessings of Confessed Sin
II. The Burdens of Concealed Sin
III. The Beauty of Mercy and Grace
What We Love
Psalm 30
What WE love
Psalm 30
Main Idea: What we love drives what we do and affirms what we believe.
I. What Did David Love?
The plain and simple answer is “the LORD” and David tells us why. He describes a double deliverance in the two main stanzas of this psalm.
First, the LORD delivered David from external threats. (v.1-3)
Second, the LORD delivered David from internal despair. (v. 6-10)
C.S. Lewis calls this God’s “intolerable compliment” to those He loves. Having set His love upon us, the LORD will not let us remain who we were when He found us. He will scrub and clean, and break and mend, and squeeze and mold all our life long, relentlessly striving to make us just a little more like Jesus than we ever were and that much more like we shall be when we see him at last.
II. What Did David’s Love Drive Him to Do?
Again, the answer is simple and straight-forward. It drove him to build the Temple. We get a sense of what the Temple meant to him by looking at how he talks about it in his own words.
Psalm 27, the one thing David asks of the Lord and seeks after is to “dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple.”
Psalm 122 indicates that visiting the Temple was David’s “happy place.” “I was glad when they said to him, “Let us go to the house of the LORD!”
According to Psalm 11, “The LORD is in His holy Temple.” It is from there that He sends help (Ps 20:4). It is there that He hears the cries of those who cry to Him. (Ps. 18:6) Those who will worship the LORD do so by “bowing down toward His holy Temple” (Ps. 5:7) and in His Temple, everyone cries, “Glory!” (Ps 29:9) In a life that David describes as being shepherded by goodness and mercy, his highest hope is to “dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” (Ps 23:6)
David’s passion for the Temple is not just exaggerated “religious language” poetically expressed. David literally put his money where his mouth was!
Along with cutting all of the stones that would be needed for the Temple, “David also provided great quantities of iron for nails for the doors of the gates and for clamps, as well as bronze in quantities beyond weighing, and cedar timbers without number... (1 Chron 22:3-5) A little later in that same chapter he says to Solomon: “With great pains I have provided for the house of the LORD 100,000 talents of gold, a million talents of silver, and bronze and iron beyond weighing, for there is so much of it; timber and stone, too, I have provided. To these you must add.” (1 Chron 22:14)
The rest of the chapters talk about how David organized the Levites for the maintenance of the Temple, how he organized the priests for the work of the Temple, how he arranged musicians to rotate through on monthly rhythms to fill the Temple with praise and music, how he structured the administrative infrastructure for guarding and supplying the Temple, and how he drew up the architectural renderings for the Temple.
III. What Did David Believe That Affirmed Such Love?
That there is something more than the current moment that matters most of all. That there is something beyond the Temple that is even better yet.
Psalm 2:10-12: Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son,
lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
Help in Time of Need
Psalm 27
HElp in time of need
Psalm 27
Main Idea: Everyone who trusts in the Lord will not be put to shame.
I. He’s Done it (27:1-6)
Let us learn, therefore, to put such a value on God’s power to protect us as to put to flight all our fears. Not that the minds of the faithful can, by reason of the infirmity of the flesh, be at all times entirely devoid of fear, but immediately recovering courage, let us, from the high tower of our confidence, look down on all our dangers with contempt. Those who have never tasted the grace of God tremble because they refuse to rely on him and imagine that he is often incensed against them, or at least far removed from them. But with the promises of God before our eyes and the grace which they offer, our unbelief does him grievous wrong, if we do not with unshrinking courage boldly set him against all our enemies. When God, therefore, kindly invites us to himself and assures us that he will take care of our safety, because we have embraced his promises or because we believe him to be faithful, it is fitting that we highly extol his power, so that it may ravish our hearts with admiration of him.
~ John Calvin, Commentary on the Psalms
II. He’s Doing It (27:7-12)
A. For He will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble
a. He will conceal me under the cover of his tent
i. He will lift me high upon a rock
ii. And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies
b. I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy
B. I will sing and make melody to the Lord
III. He Will Do It Again (27:13-14)
Colossians 1:15-22
1. He is the image of the invisible God
2. He is the firstborn of all creation.
3. He has made all things in heaven and on earth
4. He has made everything that is visible and invisible
5. All things were created through him and for him
6. He is before all things
7. He holds everything together
8. He is the head of the church.
9. He is the firstborn from the dead
10. He is the preeminent one above all things
11. All the fullness of God was pleased to dwell
12. He is the reconciler of all things
13. He has made peace by the blood of his cross
14. He has reconciled his enemies by his death
15. He will present his people Holy and blameless before Himself
The King of Glory
Psalm 24
The King of Glory
Psalm 24
Main Idea: Jesus is the King of Glory who invites us to glorify and enjoy him forever.
I. The King of Creation (24:1-2)
Psalm 24:1-2: The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof,
the world and those who dwell therein,
for he has founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers
“There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!”
~ Abraham Kyper
John 1:1-3: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.
Colossians 1:15-16: He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities —all things were created through him and for him.
II. The King of the Hill (24:3-4)
Psalm 24:1-2: The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof,
the world and those who dwell therein,
for he has founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.
What are the requirements to ascend ascend the hill of the Lord?
Clean Hands: He must be free from sinful actions and clean in what he does, “literally, innocent, free from guilt.” (Ps 15)
Pure Heart: He must be blameless, free from impure motives, thoughts, and emotions. (Mk 7:14-23)
No False Worship: He must not lift up his soul in false worship. (Ex 20:1-7, Ps 25:1)
No Deceitfully Swearing: No deception or false motives fill his heart, his soul. He knows nothing of dishonesty or deceit. (Ex 20:16, Eph 4:25)
Romans 3:23: For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
III. The King of Glory (24:7-10)
Psalm 24:7-10: Lift up your heads, O gates!
And be lifted up, O ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The LORD, strong and mighty,
the LORD, mighty in battle!
Lift up your heads, O gates!
And lift them up, O ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The LORD of hosts,
he is the King of glory!
Psalm 24:5-6: He will receive blessing from the LORD
and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek the face of the God of Jacob.
Psalm 121:1: I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
My help comes from the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.
The Doe of the Dawn
Psalm 22
The Doe of the Dawn
Psalm 22
Main Idea: The Lord blesses His people though their king suffers.
I. The Problem of Unwarranted Suffering (22:1-21a)
David writes Psalm 22 from the vantage point of an unwarranted sufferer. He is the anointed king of Israel enduring gross injustices at the hands and with the approval of the anointed king of Israel. It is a level of injustice that rightly confuses and outrages us at the same time.
He seems to draw his inspiration for this psalm from a shepherding experience. The imagery he uses to visualize the way unwarranted suffering tormented him parallels the plight of a prey animal under attack.
Our problem with unwarranted suffering manifests in at least two domains. It affects us philosophically and psychologically:
Philosophically, it drives us to ask why is this happening at all? Something in our makeup screams that this is not how the world should work.
Psychologically, it drives us to ask why is this happening to me? When predators are nipping at our heels, it's hard to think of anything else but what is this happening to me!?!
II. The Paradox of Unmerited Blessing (22:21b-31)
The scenario David has just played out may be everyday life on the African savannah with gazelles and lions or in Palestinian pastures among sheep and wolves, but for humans, it is just not supposed to be that way. When this kind of unwarranted suffering comes on and without intervention, we simply don’t have categories for it. It demands an explanation!
It is worth noting that David gives absolutely no detail on how he was delivered. Much less why this whole ordeal happened at all.
Explanations don’t provide what we need most. Outcomes trump explanations when it comes to unwarranted suffering.
The only consolation in the context of unwarranted suffering is the reality of unmerited blessing because “Kingship belongs to the LORD, and He rules over the nations.” (Ps. 22:28)
III. A Prophecy of Ultimate Redemption (Matthew 27:45-50)
Matt. 27:45-50: Now from the sixth hour[f] there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.” And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.
Matt. 27:35 - when they had crucified him - thus piercing Jesus’ hand and feet. (Ps.22:16)
Matt. 27:35 - they divided his garments among them by casting lots!! (Ps. 22:18)
Matt. 27:39 - those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads, as did the villains He was crucified with (26:44) (Ps. 22:7, 13, 17)
Matt. 27:41-43 - the chief priests, scribes and elders mocked him saying, “He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him.” (Ps. 22:8)
John 19:38 - Jesus thirsted, his tongue stuck to his jaw (Ps. 22:18)
Matt. 27:50 - After three hours hanging on the cross watching His life drip slowly away, Jesus “cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up His spirit.” (Ps. 22:14-15)
The main point of Psalm 22 before Jesus: The LORD blesses His people though their king suffers.
The main point of Psalm 22 after Jesus: The LORD blesses His people through their King’s suffering.
The God Who Speaks
Psalm 19
*Unfortunately, we were unable to record the sermon from this past Sunday. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience.
THe god who speaks
Psalm 19
I. A Good Word (19:1-6)
Psalm 19:1-6: The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words,
whose voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.
In them he has set a tent for the sun,
which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,
and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
and its circuit to the end of them,
and there is nothing hidden from its heat
The Universe is before our eyes like a beautiful book which all creatures, great and small are as letters to make us ponder the invisible things of God: his eternal power and his divinity.
-Belgic Confession (16th Century)
II. A Clear Word (19:7-11)
Psalm 19:7-11: The law of the Lord is perfect,[c]
reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure,
making wise the simple;
the precepts of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is pure,
enlightening the eyes;
the fear of the Lord is clean,
enduring forever;
the rules[d] of the Lord are true,
and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
and drippings of the honeycomb.
Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
III. A Final Word (19:12-14)
Psalm 19:12-14: Who can discern his errors?
Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins;
let them not have dominion over me!
Then I shall be blameless,
and innocent of great transgression.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in your sight,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Hebrews 4:12-13: For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
Love of a Lifetime
Psalm 16
Love of a lifetime
Psalm 16
Main Idea: God offers fullness of Joy now and for eternity through the life and love of Jesus.
I. Help! (16:1-2)
In our need we seek to run somewhere, David is stating the truth that he needs the LORD in his time of need.
II. With a Little Help From My Friends (16:3-4)
God sets His people in community so they can spur one another toward Him and His ways. At a soul level, we want to belong somewhere and God hardwired us for community.
This is the battle of our Christian Life. Am I personally, daily seeking the Lord in my life or am I compromising to get what I think I need from a world that is woefully unequipped to carry me in times of trouble and need?
III. Fortunate Son (16:5-6)
IV. How Could I Ask For More (16:7-8)
The Lord speaks to David’s deepest parts. Deep down, the word is literally “kidneys” but that is not very poetic, David knows the goodness of God and hears Him. In his gut the Lord speaks to Him. Deep down we know too. The ways of the Lord aren’t a mystery but we long to satisfy ourselves externally instead of in the deepest parts of our soul.
God is stating the path to life runs through Him and the result is fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore.
It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.
- C.S. Lewis
V. The Greatest Love Of All (16:9-10)
Acts 2:29: Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, 31 he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. 32 This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses.
The Lord God, creator of the universe, gives you this counsel: Follow the path of life through Jesus Christ, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Where is found fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore.
Faithfully Responding to Suffering
Psalm 13
Faithfully Responding to Suffering
Psalm 13
Main Idea: We can respond faithfully in suffering through honest complaint, bold prayer, and choosing to trust.
Lament is how we bring our pain and sorrow to God. It is how we live between the reality of our hard life and our trust in God’s goodness.
Lament is a neglected dimension of the Christian life for many Christians today. We need to recover the practice of honest spiritual struggle that gives us permission to vocalize our pain and wrestle with our sorrow. Lament avoids trite answers and quick solutions, progressively moving us toward deeper worship and trust.”
- Mark Vroegop, Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy
I. Honest Complaint (13:1-2)
We can honestly and transparently come to God with our pain. Our pain and suffering are real. We do not need to “suffer in silence” before God. God gives us permission to lament.
We bring our complaints to God, because we seek to move “upward and inward”, to move further towards Him. So, our complaint actually opens the door to the next part of lament, and that is prayer.
II. Bold Prayer (13:3-4)
We should not hesitate to ask God specific, bold requests in our suffering.
The various trials of life can become a platform to reaffirm our dependence upon the Lord. The requests of lament can become the place where we celebrate our need for God’s help. In this way, our requests become more than just expressions of need. These petitions are prayers of faith anchored in what we believe about God . . . . The point of those requests is not only to meet a need. The point is to rely upon God.
- Mark Vroegop, Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy
Pray boldly and specifically. Don’t give up. We pray because we are not self-sufficient. By our prayers we show that we depend on God – He is worthy of that trust.
III. Choosing to Trust (13:5-6)
Rather than focus on his perceptions of God’s neglect – David chooses to trust in the reality of God’s salvation.
Our hope in suffering is not because we know when our suffering will end, or even if it will end in this life, but because we know and trust the character of God.
It is not “my faith” that is my strength and my salvation; it is my God. It is not the strength of my belief; it is the strength of the One in whom I believe.
Three things about God that David places his faith in:
1. David places his faith in God’s character
Hesed is translated by different versions as: faithfulness, lovingkindness, steadfast love, mercy, unfailing love, faithful love.
Exodus 34:6-7: “The LORD passed before him [Moses] and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.”
2. David places his faith in God’s covenant promises
Exodus 6:5-8: Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the LORD.’”
But, God is not interested in a market transaction, a contract whereby He will do something if only we will do something. Instead, God is interested in the relationship, the covenant that he has already established with us. And, our response to His covenant with us, in the midst of suffering, is not to look to our performance, but to trust in His grace.
3. David places his faith in God as the true and ultimate source of his salvation
Awesome Wonder in the Majestic God-Man
Psalm 8
Awesome Wonder in the Majestic God-Man
Psalm 8
Main Idea: Psalm 8 invites us to renew our wonder and joy in the majesty of Christ seen in His condescension for us through the old and new creation.
“Through the dark valleys of lament and pleas for deliverance of Psalm 3-7, we arrive at the crest of Psalm 8 to a welcome prospect of breathtaking beauty and awesome delight. Psalm 8 introduces us to the first experience of joyful praise and adoration in the Psalter. Here in Psalm 8 if just for a moment, darkness and suffering are driven away by the commanding vision of the sovereign God of the created universe and His unfathomable care for humanity.”
- Gerald H. Wilson, Psalms, Application Commentary
I. The Majesty of God Displayed in the Universe (8:1)
David uses the art of contrasting 4 times in Psalm 8. This is the first contrast. David contrasts God’s glory in the earth and His glory above the heavens (1 Kgs 8:27)
II. God’s Majesty Displayed in Using Weakness to Defeat Strength (8:2)
David contrasts the seeming power of His big enemies with the small, helpless and weakest humans on earth.
This verse has both a literal and a figurative meaning (Mt. 21:14-16; 1 Cor. 1:28-29)
Matthew 21:14-16: And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, “‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?”
III. God’s Majesty Displayed in Using Weakness to Defeat Strength (8:2)
David contrasts the creation of the space with the creation of mankind and it causes him to feel with fresh forcefulness his smallness compared to the bigness of God.
IV. God’s Majesty Displayed in the Rule of the Second Adam (8:5-9)
The final contrast is seen in how God uses lowly men to rule his world instead of mighty angels.
The big picture here is God becoming man to fulfill Genesis 1:26-31 to bring all things under the subjection of man through Jesus. The apostles of the New Testament applied these verses to Jesus (Heb. 2:5-9; 1 Cor. 15:25-28).
Hebrews 2:5-9: For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. It has been testified somewhere, “What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him? You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his feet.” Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
“It costs God nothing to create nice things: but to convert rebellious wills cost Him crucifixion”
- C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity