You don't know what you have

The patriarchs did not find it easy understanding why God chooses to deal with man. So, men like Job and David confronted God with questions. In the days of his trial, Job cried out:

"What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him? and that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him? And that thou shouldest visit him every morning, and try him every moment? How long will not thou depart from me, nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle?" (Ps. 7:17‒19).

In fact, somewhere in that chapter, Job screamed out ". . . let me alone, for my days are vanity" (v.16b). God would not let Job alone. He was in desperate need of a man.

Twice in the Psalms, David exclaimed:

"What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou has made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field, the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas" (Ps. 8:4‒8).

That Psalm began with the words, "O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!" and concluded with these same words. David could not imagine how a God who is so excellent, and has set His glory above the heavens, could bend low to be mindful of man. When he considered the heavens . . . the moon and the stars which God has ordained, he wondered what there was in man to take notice-to the extent that out of the mouth of such babes and suckling He has ordained strength to still the enemy and the avenger (vs.1‒3).

It was difficult to imagine that God, who dwells in the heavens, and man, mere clay and someone less than nothing, would have something to do together. The Bible says, "All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity" (Isa. 40:17).

As if that was not enough, David in another place exclaimed again:

"Lord, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him! or the son of man, that thou makest account of him! Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away" (Ps. 144:3‒4).

David was saying to God, "Man is like vanity, and a shadow that passes away, and yet you still depend on him. Why?" Job and David were asking God, "Why this interest in man? Lord, why are you taking this position, knowing the weakness and frailty of man, and that man can fail? Man has even failed you before."

God seemed to respond: "It is because of my original purpose in history. When Lucifer rebelled and organized the mutiny against My constituted authority, I threw him down to the earth. That mutiny was a declaration of war."

For it is written:

"Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought back but they could not prevail, neither was their place found any more in heaven. That great dragon, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan which deceives the whole world was cast out to the earth. His angels were cast out with him" (Rev. 12:7‒9).

"Since I forbade Lucifer, now transmuted into Satan, from reigning in heaven, I must also forbid him from reigning on earth. Since he and his angels were cast down to the earth, he would want to go there to establish his throne. To this end, I decided to create man and put him on earth to counter Satan and to reign for me.

"I could reign both in heaven and on earth, but I decided to put man on earth to reign for me. That was why I created man. Man was to be an extension of my reign on earth. I did this deliberately....