This question was asked by King David, as he pondered the deeper mysteries of life. His attention was not so much engaged with things around him, or with the general concerns of everyday living. His queries had reached a deeper level, “what is man.” Curiosity is certainly of great value to men, and where it is directed determines what discoveries are made. Without curiosity we would never explore anything, never learn anything, and certainly never master anything. This is the process from generation to generation. Someone gets curious about this thing or that thing, and discoveries are made, and advancements in this field or that field of knowledge are the results. The more we focus on something, the better we understand it, and more progress is made in our pursuit of that particular thing.

We live in an awesome period in time. The age in which we live , far surpasses the age in which David lived. The marvels of science and technology are daily wonders to behold. How would David react to seeing a spaceship lifting off this earth to explore the moon? Or even seeing a television being flipped from channel to channel and connecting us with other countries all over the world? I am sure he would be amazed to see someone using an iPhone and speaking with someone in another country, and beholding their image at the same time. I believe his amazement would be off the charts. Even those of us who live in this age of unfolding wonders are still taken aback as some new thing in some field or another emerges to baffle us. As we look around and see so many achievements, creations, and accomplishments by men; the question of David must also resonate within us; what is man?

He is certainly not a robotic creature; the differences among us are numerous. We have different impulses, different talents, and different accomplishments. We can experience the same things yet in different ways. Although we are alike, we are not exactly the same. We often hear the admonition: “be yourself,” don’t try to be anyone else. We are reminded that even our fingerprints are different. We never know from whom the next great thing will come.

Perhaps one thought about mankind that will help us in our considerations; is to reflect upon the reference that we often use regarding man, which identifies him as a “human-being.” He is always ‘being.’ He is being wise or being foolish, being creative, or being dull, being weak or being strong. Man is not a fixed entity, he expresses himself in a thousand different ways, and his capacities are almost endless. He ( or she) may become an artist, an architect, an engineer, a scientist, a musician, and on and on. The possibilities of man appear boundless; because man is a ‘being’ with untold resources within. We never know what possibilities he still possesses.

Whether we realize it or not, we are the most interesting, of all life forms upon the earth. Not only was David intrigued with what man is, but also the fact that God was “ mindful of him.” We are to be assured that we do have God’s special attention. Not from a judgmental or critical perspective, or just to see what we are doing wrong; but from the standpoint of a sense of delight that we are reflecting so much of his image in the unfolding expressions of our being. Isn’t it a good thing to know that God really thinks about mankind, that we are always on his mind? This same passage speaks not only of man, but of “the son of man.” This might be interpreted to mean; from generation to generation mankind holds God’s special attention. And David further says, or the son of man that “you visit him.”

God visits man. Some are more welcoming to him than others, and some know him better than others, but man is very special in the eyes of God. Jesus referred to himself as “the son of man.” He was not ashamed of that identity. The manifold aspects of the ‘being’ of man and his multi-faceted powers to live out the realities of who he is, as one with a divine origin; is still the most interesting saga on earth. As David wrestled with the mystery of man, his focus was not with, who is man?  His all absorbing attention was with the subject, “what is man.” We know from daily observation that man is Tom, Harry, and also Sally and Joan. We all constitute the human race or simply “mankind.” We have our separate identities and our various expressions; that is who mankind is. If the question were simply “who is man,” We would probably say, ‘he is all of us,’ and we would be right. But who we see, as we observe mankind does not really tell us “what man is.”

I believe this was the focus of Walt Whitman’s words in his famous poem (Song of Myself), when he said; “I am not contained between my hat and my boots.” He appeared to be saying, ‘what you see of me is not all there is of me.’ The image of men that we see is not all there is of them. Sure, they are physical; they are tall, or short, handsome, or plain, glamorous, or average. The different images of mankind (male and female) do allow us to identify a person by their appearance. But their appearances which bear many similarities don’t really tell us ‘what they are.’ The question we continue to ponder is “what is man.” The closest we have come to an answer is that he is a ‘being’ inside the outward appearance that meets the eye. Again as Whitman said of himself, and surely this conclusion can apply to all of us is, that it is not what meets the eye that tells the whole story of what we are.

The field of psychology and it’s many branches focuses more on what’s inside the man, than what appears to the naked eye. And this is a good thing because they are trying to determine what is happening within a person that is affecting how that person expresses himself to the world around him. We know that philosophers and sages and the deeply spiritual personages, have also had their glimpses of the inner realities of this creature we call man. Through the pages of history and the current view of man, our knowledge and understanding of ourselves has increased. But, no one has completely solved the riddle and laid to rest entirely, what man really is. The closest we have come to an understanding is still the fact that man is much more than his physical image, and that he has enormous capacities for things beyond our fondest dreams,

Perhaps an even more direct answer to the question can be found in the book of Genesis where it is written, “God created man in his own image.” There it is: man bears the image of God. Where is that image? Not his body, not his face, but within himself. Now this is where the mystery of man is shrouded. He bears the image of God. Now that fact does throw light on why man is so remarkable, but it still does not fully answer the question. Now some reading these words will probably say; wait a minute, didn’t you just point to the answer that man is made in the image of God? And that it is this image that explains what he is? Yes, you are right. But the whole story is not fully told. Man does reflect the image of God in varying degrees. This is also why he is definitely said to be “the offspring of God.” So he is both the image of God and the offspring of God. But does that tell us everything that completely defines him? I would have to say no! I guess this is starting to get a little frustrating to some. Many of you who are reading this chapter are now thinking, ‘wait another minute.’ You just told us the central fact of the whole thing regarding man. His identity is connected to God himself. That’s true . But now, think about God. Who is God? If man is the image and offspring of God, then the big question is really, “who is God?”

It may be that an incident in scriptural history can shed some light on this question. I’m sure you remember when God met Moses and gave him his call to be the deliverer of the Jews from their Egyptian bondage….Moses asked a reasonable question of God; He said to God…who shall I tell them sent me? God said to Moses, tell them, “I Am has sent you.” What an answer that appeared to be no clear answer. The “I Am” tells us that “He Is,” he exist, he is permanent, a definite reality. But what is he, how can he be explained? Well here is the kicker, you really can’t fully explain or interpret him. He said “I am that I am,” or “I am what I am.” We see a lot of what God is by the whole of creation. We see the heavens, the earth, mankind. These things are his handiwork, but the whole complete revelation of what he is remains contained within himself. Why is this so? I think it’s because we cannot handle the truth; the full truth of all that God is. Remember when Moses said to God , “show me your face.” And  God said , “ no man can see my face and live.” It would be too much for us to handle to know all that God is. We know some things about him by his works, and to some degree , his personal visits into our lives, but much remains a mystery.

Now back to mankind. If man is the offspring , and image of God, the whole story of what he truly is, still remains concealed from us. We might ask the question, who has ever seen the complete man? We see unfolding expressions of him in what he has thought, what he has done, and what he continues to reach for. He cannot be neatly packaged. Jesus said “You  are Gods.” And he implied that they didn’t even know it. What an assessment. I might say, ‘we are more than we know, and more than we show.’

Well, we have come quite a way into our considerations of David’s question. As we have gotten our feet wet a little bit, we now realize that this is a pretty deep subject. In case some of you may still be a little perplexed that man cannot be explained in a simple way; and my apparent response has been that we know more of man as we watch him unfold; that suggestion may satisfy some, but others may be looking for a clearer analogy. Ok, consider the birth of a child. When it enters this life, all the potentials it has are hidden within it. We can’t see it, and neither can anyone else, and certainly not the child. But as the child grows, it becomes more conscious of its feelings, and the impressions from things around him. He continues his journey of unfolding and his self-consciousness becomes stronger. Then his thoughts and imaginations mysteriously assist him in the learning process of his personal identity. As the developing man or woman continues his or her journey in personal growth and understanding, they become more distinct in who they are as individuals and we can recognize them as persons truly unique from anyone else.

I think it’s a good thing for us not to forget that there are possibilities within us that we have not even begun to consider. You will remember that I mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, that curiosity is of great value to men and where it is directed determines what discoveries are made. The better our self-understanding is, the better persons we can become. Obviously, that is a great challenge because there are so many things that man can master, once he begins his personal search and identifies his definite interest. It is written concerning man that “He has put eternity in their hearts.” There is so much within man waiting to be discovered, and sometimes we discover alone and sometimes with the collective help of others. We do share the same essence and that essence is more than meets the eye.

Good question, the philosophers say

We were discussing that, just yesterday

No answer yet, they said with a sigh

Perhaps we’ll know as time goes by

Now I’m aware of the biological fact

A written genealogy, I can easily track

But how came something so small

To grow into manhood and become so tall

Coming gradually into consciousness

Gaining in responsiveness

The union that brought me into being

Was not by design or creative seeing

Just love or passion, or some felt need

Something akin to planting a seed

But there’s a secret behind the true origin here

We’re instruments only, though it might not appear

I think I will know, just as I die

I came from Him and not from I