The Dignity of Humanity
Aug 19, 2025 322
[5] For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. [6] It has been testified somewhere, “What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him? [7] You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor, [8] 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. [9] 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. (ESV)
In these verses, the writer of Hebrews quotes Psalm 8. It’s a beautiful psalm that speaks of the grandeur of creation and the majesty of God: the stars, the heavens, the works of his fingers. And in the middle of all that splendour, God remembers us. Humanity is the pinnacle of creation. God has given us dignity, worth, and value. He has crowned us with glory and honour. He has entrusted us with the responsibility to rule and care for the world under him.
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That’s the vision of Psalm 8. But look again at verse 8: “At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him.” And that’s obvious, isn’t it? When we look at the world today, it doesn’t look like people are ruling God’s world in God’s way. Instead of living under God’s good authority, humanity has chosen rebellion. Instead of caring for creation, we exploit it. Instead of loving one another, we fight, fracture, and shame one another.
Genesis 1 and 2 give us the beautiful design. But by Genesis 3, sin has entered the world. And with sin came brokenness. Brokenness between us and God. Brokenness between us and one another. Brokenness between us and creation itself. And with all that brokenness came shame. We were made to walk with God unashamed, but now we hide from him.
Psalm 8 shows humanity with incredible dignity. Hebrews reminds us that right now, we don’t see it. The glory and honour God gave us is spoiled by sin.
But verse 9 gives a glimmer of hope: “But we see Jesus…” We’ll come to that tomorrow. For now, sit with the tension. You were created for glory. You were crowned with honour. But sin and shame have marred what God intended.
Where do we take our shame? Not to ourselves. We cannot fix it. Not to other people. They cannot remove it. We take it to Jesus — the true and better man, who restores what we have lost.
Reflection
You were made with glory and honour. Sin has spoiled it, and shame weighs heavy. But take heart — tomorrow we’ll see Jesus, the true man, who carries our shame and restores our dignity.
WATCH THIS WEEK’S VIDEO DEVOTION: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1V9oGXid0Ho
Monica Annan
Aug 20, 2025
It is now the obligation of humanity to do away from all sin and Concentrate on pursuing our salvation from Jesus Christ our saviour.