All Things Do Not Revolve Around Man

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Nicolaus Copernicus, (1473-1543), was a Polish astronomer, best known for his astronomical theory that the sun is at rest near the center of the universe, and that the earth, spinning on its axis once daily, revolves annually around the sun. That was an astounding discovery, because previous to this discovery, astronomers believed that the sun revolved around the earth. This new theory changed the way men thought about the universe. There is another discovery which can be made, not by observing the universe, but by reading God's word. The discovery is that God, not man, is the center of all life. When men make that discovery, it changes the way they think about God and about themselves. As we shall see, the implications are far reaching.

The discovery that all is God centered rather than man centered is perhaps most succinctly stated in these words found in Romans 11:36: "For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen." There is more theology contained in the three prepositions, "of," "through," and "to," than most people are aware of. Among other things, this verse means that everything was created for God's glory. "The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands." (Psalm 19:1) Everything God has created is to bring glory to Him. "Let the glory of the LORD endure forever; let the LORD be glad in His works…" (Psalm 104:31) The first question in the Westminster Shorter Catechism applies this truth to man individually. "What is the chief end of man?" "The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever."

Contrary to popular opinion, God is the center of the universe, not man. This means that we are to have a theo-centric theology rather than an ego-centric theology. The fact that God is the focal point and center of all makes it a sin for man to be self-centered. The Bible speaks of those who instead of worshiping God, worship themselves. "For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God…" (2 Tim 3:2-4) Those words accurately describe the world in which we live. We are reaping the harvest of what we have sown. As a society, we have encouraged self-centeredness and at the same time have tried to eliminate God from our world. The discovery that Copernicus made changed the way men thought about the universe. When men discover and embrace the truth "For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever;" it changes the way they think about themselves and about God. It makes a drastic change in the way they live.

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