Psalm 8 showed us who we are; God's intentional creation crowned with Glory and Honor. But as David pondered the awesomeness of God's desire for relationship, he also reveals the 'why' God chose to make us in this way.

Some people think God is a great model train builder, a hobbyist who started things in motion then stood back to watch and see what happens. But nothing could be further from the truth. Our calling isn't passive at all. After God created mankind, He then commissioned them.

The idea wasn't to exploit the earth, but to steward it. To be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and rule, as He would rule it. He designed His own rule of this planet to be carried out by us ... by human beings, made a little lower than the angels, but given precious standing along side them in the family of God. Eden wasn't the finish line, it was the starting point.

To rule under any king means to reflect His character. To reflect His character well, one must know the King intimately. Authority without it quickly becomes overbearing domination and not what He intended. On the other hand, authority rooted and bound in relationship is a blessing to all who find themselves under it.

It was this understanding, even while pondering how or why God would choose this way, that guided King David as he wrote Psalm 8 and when he penned tomorrow's reading, Psalm 139.

David wasn't naive to our goal and purpose as image-bearers of God and neither should we be. Our problem is our understanding of what it means to rule. To us, it simply means to hold either legitimate or coerced authority and to bend the will of others to ours. But that's not His idea of rule at all.

His rule is shaped by love and flourishing. That's the kind of rule He invited us into in the Garden. As we will see in a few lessons, when we get this mixed up, the consequences can be deadly ... eternally so.

How do you think your understanding of what it means to rule has been shaped by power instead of love? What practical steps can you take today to begin to shift that focus? Think of some examples where you have seen this done well; seen it done poorly. Drop some thoughts in the comments.