Why Man? Understanding Humanity’s Place in God’s Plan
Bob Yandian
“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?” Psalms 8:3-4
In other words, “Lord, with all this out there… what in the world is man? Why did You make him, and why do You even think about him?” That is what this letter is about. Why Man? Why are you here? Why am I here? What is the purpose of humanity on this planet?
Lower Than Angels, Yet Crowned with Glory
Psalm 8 goes on to answer its own question, “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.” Psalms 8:5-6
The Hebrew word translated “angels” here is “Elohim.” People sometimes argue, “Well, it says we were made a little lower than God.” And that’s true in a sense, but the New Testament settles the issue for us. In Hebrews, when this verse is quoted, the Holy Spirit uses the Greek word “angelos”—angel. Not God. Angel.
By creation, man was made lower than the angels. Angels are superior to us in strength, knowledge, and mobility. They travel at the speed of thought. They can stand here one moment and be at the farthest edge of the universe the next. You and I? We have to put one foot in front of the other. We get tired. We need sleep. We forget things. We are limited.
Yet God took this weaker, slower, more limited being, and did something staggering: “You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands.”
By creation, we are below angels. By position and authority, we are placed above them. The gap between creation and position is at the heart of why man exists.
Lucifer, the Ancient Earth, and the Lost Dominion
Ezekiel tells us Lucifer was the anointed cherub that covers, the highest-ranking cherub. Cherubs are the highest-ranking angels; God is called the One who dwells between the cherubim. Lucifer was not just a cherub—he was the anointed cherub, the chief over the highest rank. Under him were the other cherubs, seraphim, and the rank and file of angels. You could say it this way: there was the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, and then Lucifer—and then all the angels under him.
God placed Lucifer on an Earth that, in those ancient ages, looked very much like heaven: rivers, mountains, trees, precious stones. Ezekiel says: “You were in Eden, the garden of God… every precious stone was your covering.”
But pride rose up in Lucifer. He began to admire his own beauty, his wisdom, his wealth and power. He said in his heart, “I will exalt my throne… I will be like the Most High.” And in that rebellion, sin was born in the heart of the highest angel God ever created. When Lucifer fell and became Satan, one-third of the angels chose to go with him.
God judged the Earth that Satan had ruled over. Darkness covered the deep. The waters froze. Chaos reigned. That’s the scene we walk into in Genesis 1:2. Then the Holy Spirit began to brood over the waters, and God started restoring the Earth—separating land and sea, calling forth light, setting things in order again.
But this time, when God finished, He didn’t put Lucifer back in charge. He made a new kind of ruler.
Enter Man: A “Lower” Creature with Higher Authority
On the last day of restoration, God created Adam and Eve. Satan must have stood by and watched. He might have thought, “Surely God will put one of the great archangels here this time. Maybe Michael. Maybe Gabriel.” But God didn’t.
Instead, God formed a man from the dust of the ground. No wings. No instant travel. No supernatural strength. This man had to walk. He had to sleep. He had to learn. Compared to Lucifer and the angels, he was fragile, slow, and weak.
Satan must have thought, “This is it? This is who You’re putting in charge?”
But 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” (Genesis 1:26).
God placed man—this “lower” creature—over the works of His hands. Adam was given dominion over the Earth and, by extension, authority over Satan who was still present on the planet. That must have infuriated Satan. A weaker being, made of dust, was now given the position he had once enjoyed.
Man was placed here to settle once and for all the conflict between the fallen angels and the elect angels, and to prove forever that God was right and Satan was wrong.
Adam’s Failure and the Last Adam’s Victory
We know what happened next. Satan came into the garden, appealed to Eve’s curiosity, twisted God’s Word, and tempted them to step outside of simple faith and obedience. Adam and Eve surrendered their authority through sin, and Satan seized the lease to this planet.
God still owned the Earth, but Satan became the illegal leaseholder. He even told Jesus in the wilderness, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish” (Luke 4:6) —and Jesus did not argue with that claim.
But God already had a plan.
He promised the woman that her seed would one day crush the serpent’s head. That meant the Redeemer would have to be born—not an angel, but a man. From that point on, Satan began to watch every child, every family, every godly line. That’s why he stirred Pharaoh to kill Hebrew babies in Moses’ day, and Herod to kill babies in Bethlehem in Jesus’ day. He was hunting the Seed.
At the cross, the Seed of the woman—Jesus Christ, the last Adam—took the curse Adam brought and bore it in His own body. He died for all mankind, descended into the heart of the Earth, and then, three days and three nights later, rose in victory.
In Christ, we are called new creations. Where we were once born “in Adam,” under Satan’s dominion, when we believe in Jesus, we are reborn into Christ—the last Adam—who has dominion again over Satan and his works.
So why man? To stand in Christ as living proof that God’s judgment on Satan was right all along.
The Angelic Conflict and the Great Commission
Every single day, as a believer, you are part of this angelic conflict. Every time a sinner hears the gospel and chooses Jesus Christ, another nail is driven into Satan’s coffin. Every new birth shouts into the face of fallen angels, “God was right. You were wrong.”
Man’s Will: The Deciding Factor
Neither God nor Satan can override human will. God, in His sovereignty, chose not to force people to love Him. Satan, in his rebellion, does not have the authority to force people to reject Christ. Both can influence. Both can appeal. But only man can decide.
This is why we preach. This is why we pray. We ask the Holy Spirit to remove blindness, to draw, to convict, to reveal Jesus. But we cannot make the choice for anyone, and neither can Satan. Every “Yes” to Jesus is another eternal testimony that God was right when He sentenced Satan to the lake of fire. Every soul won is another voice against the lies of Lucifer.
Why Man?
Why did God make a being lower than angels in strength and wisdom, and yet place him in a higher position of authority? Because man is God’s chosen witness in the angelic conflict.
We are here to:
Prove that God’s Word works in our lives.
Walk in the authority Jesus purchased for you.
Preach the gospel so others can be transferred from Adam to Christ.
Demonstrate, to angels and demons alike, that God was right in sending His Son, and right in judging Satan.
Satan is already a convicted felon; he just hasn’t been locked up in the final prison yet. His sentence is passed, and the day is coming when he will be bound, then cast forever into the lake of fire.
Until that day, you and I are living evidence in this Earth that God’s plan is perfect. We are here to settle the issue once and for all in the sight of all creation:
God was right.
Satan was wrong.
Jesus is Lord.
