Crowned with Glory and Honor.
What was God’s original plan for mankind? Where did it all begin? What happened to mess things up? David wrote of God’s original intent for man:
When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet. (Psalm 8:3-6)1
When God made Adam and Eve, He crowned them in glory and honor. This word “crown” is the Hebrew word “atar.”2 It isn’t like the tiara that a king or queen wears. It means surrounding all over. “Honor” is the Hebrew word “hadar,”3 and it means splendor, majesty, and beauty. When God made man, He created him kingly and majestic. God designed man to be encompassed all around in the splendor of His glory. “Glory” is the Hebrew word “kabowd,”4 and it refers to God’s abundance and riches and dignity. It’s the manifestation of God in all His goodness. Man was created in the image of God to bear His glory. Man was crowned, literally surrounded, with the glory of God like a brilliant light. The word “glory” in Hebrew is also used to denote the heavy weight of authority. The word “kabowd” is derived from the word “kabad” which means “to be heavy.”5 A person with glory has authority, like in the idiom, “He carries a lot of weight around here.” God spoke, and the world was created.6 In the same way, whatever Adam said, it carried the weight of his authority.
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:26-28)
The glory that surrounded Adam and Eve was not only the goodness of God and the weight of authority, it was also their protection. God gave them dominion over all the animals and everything on the earth. They could control everything by simply speaking and creation responded. Contrast that to today where even a microscopic bacteria has enough authority over man that it can kill him. What happened to the glory and honor that God originally intended for man? Tragically, they lost it.
The Good News is that Jesus Christ, the Last Adam, came to restore what was lost through first Adam! In the resurrection of Jesus Christ, He was the Firstborn among a whole new creation who bears the image of God in the earth. God has given us authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and over all the powers of the enemy.7
(from pages 81-82 of Unveiling Jesus)
Want more from Tricia Gunn? Check out excerpts from the Unveiling Jesus 20-part series!
Unveiling Jesus, by Tricia Gunn, is a verse by verse study of the pure gospel of grace. It’s an amazing journey of love, identity, and freedom in Christ.
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1All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New King James Version. Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
2H5849 (atar), Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon, website: http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/Lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=H5849&t=KJV, accessed 5-19-14
3H1926 (hadar), Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon, website: http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/Lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=H1926&t=KJV, accessed 5-19-14
4H3519 (kabowd), Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon, website: http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/Lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=H3519&t=KJV, accessed 5-19-14
5H3515 (kabad), Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon, website: http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/Lexicon/lexicon.cfm?page=3&strongs=H3513&t=KJV, accessed on 6-13-14
6Genesis 1
7Luke 10:19
