Sermon Tone Analysis

In order to serve God well, we not only have to know what he is but also what we are in relation to him.

For the sake of time this evening, I will assume that we know something about God.

But what do we know about ourselves?

Are we like everything else in creation, or is there something unique about man?

Why are we here?

What is our purpose?

What are we?

These and many other questions have occupied man’s mental energy since the dawn of time.

Not basing his ideas on Scripture, man’s answers reveal a broad diversity of opinions that are always incompatible with the views of other men.

But we can place them all under the broad umbrella of /humanism/, since they begin with man as the point of reference.

Some exalt man’s ability to reason.

Others delight in the fact that man is incapable of uncovering any meaning or purpose to his existence.

Most take it for granted that man’s powers of observation are true and accurate.

In any case, the one thought that prevails is that man is the measure of all things.

Whether we’re talking about the humanism of ancient China, the humanism of the Renaissance (at which time man and his achievements were depicted in art as bigger than life) or its modern form as represented in the Humanist Manifestoes of 1933 and 1973, makes no difference.

Humanism is man’s belief that he is his own greatest potential.

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Different Humanisms

Now, you might think that I am going to say that humanism is evil and ought to be avoided by those who take their Christian faith seriously.

Of course, if we limit our discussion to the forms of humanism that I’ve already mentioned, there can be no other conclusion.

Each of them rejects the Bible’s view of God, man and the world, and offer a substitute religion in its place — a religion with man himself as god.

This is Humanism with a capital “H.”

It’s the kind of humanism that Paul condemned in the first chapter of Romans when he wrote that men /changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator/ (v.

25).

But what I am actually going to say is quite different.

Capital “H” Humanism expresses the depths of man’s depravity, but Biblical humanism is absolutely necessary if we would serve Jesus Christ faithfully.

And I will add one thing more surprising thought to this: only Christians have the right to be called humanists in the true and proper sense of the word because only the Bible offers a true understanding of man’s origin, meaning and dignity.

Think about it this way.

Those who call themselves humanists (in our day we sometimes call them “secular humanists”), in spite of their belief that man has risen above the animal kingdom, really reduce him to the level of animals.

After all, man is only one small blip in the long history of evolution.

Adolph Hitler to the contrary, modern man does not even come close to Nietsche’s “superman.”

And nowhere is this more evident than in ethics.

Jerry Rubin, the left-wing social activist of the 1970s, expressed it best: “If it feels good, do it.”

That’s the way animals live.

Animals have no conscience, no sense of consequences, no understanding of their role in God’s world.

Naturally, this kind of ethic appeals to sinners, who already lust after the pleasures of the world.

If television and movies are an indication of what’s really going on in our society today, then we have to conclude that our canine friends are more discriminate in mating than many people are.

God’s law is out.

Impulse is in.

The ultimate expression of secular humanism’s real hatred of man can be seen in the fact that man insists on applying the curse of God to himself.

Rather than preserving human life, he wants to destroy it.

By all means, let’s spare the life of a man who murders his family in cold blood or kidnaps and tortures children.

The lives of those he hurt mean nothing at all.

Nor do the hundreds of thousands of unborn children whose lives are sacrificed on the altar of mother’s convenience every year in this country.

Hitler sanitized his killing operation in the 1940s.

Today, Planned Parenthood and other anti-life operations do the same.

Why?

Because they want to hide the ugliness of death to make death more appealing.

Human­ists also support­ the right to die.

There are numerous organizations in the United States that actively promote suicide, most of which participate in the World Federation of Right to Die Societies.

Dr. Kevorkian and Derek Humphry are their heroes.

How can anyone in his right mind claim that such things encourage man to reach his fullest potential?

Humanists want to save every rodent and owl on the planet.

Killing animals for meat or fur is taboo.

But the only human life they want to protect is that of murderers, rapists and child molesters.

That’s right, secular humanism, contrary to all of its protests, is really antihuman!

Secular humanists, because of their epistemic /pou sto/, cannot admit this fatal flaw to their theory.

Instead, they try to turn the tables on those who really do value human life.

J.I. Packer explains how sin affects man’s thinking in this regard: “Sin perverts instincts not only in our bodies but also, more fundamentally, in our natures, leads us to turn our backs on God, go our own way, do our own thing, live for ourselves, realize Satan’s image in our life style instead of God’s, and then turn around and challenge Christian ideals as antihuman, bigoted and pathetic.”

The Bible, on the other hand, reveals man’s true dignity.

It says that man is the image of his Creator.

Animals do not bear God’s image.

For that matter, nowhere does the Bible expressly say that angels do, although that seems to be the case.

But man does.

Of all the things that God made, only man is described as the image of God.

God communicates with man through his Word.

He allows man to communicate with him in prayer.

He has even appointed man to act as his steward in managing the rest of creation.

Moreover, the second table of the Law protects such things as man’s life, family, property and reputation.

Plants and animals do not have such protections.

And finally, God has chosen to redeem and restore a part of humanity in spite of the fact that we have sinned and fallen far short of our original glory.

He sent his only begotten Son to be the Savior of his people.

I challenge any one to name any other part of creation to whom God has shown so much kindness.

The obvious answer is that there is none.

Whether we talk about man in his original condition or humanity as redeemed by the blood of Christ, man is unique and glorious.

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What is Man?

Hamlet, the title character in Shakespeare’s play, spoke of man in exalted term.

He exclaimed, “What a piece of work is a man! how noble in reason!

how infinite in faculty! in form and moving how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world! the paragon of animals!” (Act II, Scene 2).

Yet, for all of his eloquence, he was singularly unimpressed.

Perhaps this was due to the fact that in his melancholy he both overstated man’s dignity and failed to recognize the effects of human sin.

In any case, Psalm 8 takes a different approach to the subject.

It reads as if David stepped outside of his palace one evening and for the first time really noticed God’s handiwork.

He stood in awe of the glory of God displayed in the heavens, and saw the moon and the stars as the work of God’s finger.

He pondered the fact that these heavenly bodies manifested such glory only because God had ordained that it be so.

This, in turn, made him contemplate his own significance.

Compared to the great expanse above, he asked, /What is man, that thou art mindful of him?

and the son of man, that thou visitest him?/

Man seems so puny and unimportant, why would God take any interest in us at all?

Have you ever wondered about this?

When you’re in an airplane looking out the window, and cars, houses and factories start to look infinitesimally small, do you contemplate your meaning and purpose?

Or when you visit Yosemite with its 4000-foot high granite walls, do you start to feel rather microscopic?

Well, there’s a sense in which you should, but it’s not because the moon or stars have greater value than you.

It’s because the glory of God that’s revealed in all of these things, including you, is greater than you.

And ultimately that’s what David wants you to see.

On the other hand, the creation itself should not make you feel insignificant.

Look at the Holy Spirit’s answer to David’s questions in verses 5 and following.

Not even the Renaissance offered such an exalted view of humanity.

The answer comes in three parts.

First, God made man /a little lower than the angels/.

This in itself is absolutely remarkable.

In the Bible angels have a power and a glory that go far beyond anything that we know by experience.