"What is man that thou art mindful of him?
and the son of man that thou visitest him?
- Psalm 8:4
From the very beginning of man's creation Satan has sought to devalue and destroy life and the living, all because man bears the mark of his creator. We were made in the image and likeness of God. We hold the highest place in all of creation. No species of being even comes close to the capabilities that we possess. We are God's special handiwork. That is why it so grieves the heart of God when men treat so lightly the life they have been given.
According to Psalm chapter eight, there was a time in young David life where he inquired of the Lord as to why his thoughts were so mindful over man. As he gazed up into the heavens and saw how wonderfully designed this world was, and then observed the condition of men and how treacherous, deceiving, vile, and base they lived their life, it left him bewildered at the constant intervention God played in caring so compassionately for man. God had to take David aside and show him his original intention in creation. He had to open his eyes to see how glorious man once stood in the face of God. To think of the honor bestowed upon man, to have the privilege of being clothed with his glory, and to be placed in a position as a steward over all the earth, had to weigh heavy on his heart. Especially, knowing how far man had fallen from his esteemed estate.
That's why David came to later declare: "I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well" (Psa. 139:14). He understood the value and preciousness of life. If you remember, Paul wrote to the Hebrew Christians and informed them that when Christ came into this world he did not take upon himself the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham (Heb. 2:16). In other words, God himself never sought to redeem the fallen angels that left their estate with Lucifer's rebellion, but he came to take upon himself flesh and blood to save man after having fallen from his most holy estate in the garden! Notice the purpose for him doing this: "...that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil" (Heb. 2:14). David once said, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints" (Psa. 116:15). The word "precious" means costly or weighty. It was never in God's original plan for death to hold sway over man. In fact, the Bible tells us that death is an enemy. It's the last enemy that shall be put under foot (1 Cor. 15:25, 26).
There is something about life that holds such purpose that we must come to the realization that everything we do with our lives must bear the mark of its sanctity. The very fact that God is holy and everything he does is holy, is a clear indication that anything short of living a holy life is squandering the very life he gave us to live. Every breath we take should remind us that we are not our own. That we have been "...bought with a price, and that we are to glorify God in our body and in our spirit..." (1 Cor. 6:20). Why? Because they are God's! God himself breathed into us the breath of life. More importantly, he resolved the fallen condition within our lives by making us a part of his own workmanship in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:10). The Lord said, "I have come that ye might have life, and that ye might have it more abundantly" (John 10:10). Every form of degenerate living is actually a mockery to the finished work of Calvary. For any one of us to live for ourselves, to think for ourselves, to care only for ourselves is contemptuous to the very idea of the preciousness of living our lives for him who gave us our very life.
The Lord once said to me, "If you want to have my honor on your life, then begin by honoring the life I have given you!" This starts with recognizing how precious life is, even from the moment of conception. Every day we live we must take into account that our life is not our own, and that it is to be lived as an honor and tribute to the blessed Savior, who died for us and who rose again that we might esteem the sanctity of our life in him!
