Man

 

Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground.  Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. (Genesis 2:5-7)

A third theme found in Scripture is both similar to the God Theme, but smaller. Instead of notes in the full range of sound from subsonic to supersonic, it is limited not just to the sonic notes, but to perhaps only an octave or two. Instead of a whole orchestra, this theme is played by two or three instruments at most. And while the God Theme may range from the tiniest pianissimo to the double or triple forte, man’s theme is basically piano. It lacks the capacity for either quieter or louder. In places, the notes may follow the pattern of the God Theme and give us something of the feel thereof, but it cannot measure up.

And in this, we find one of the other differences between the God Theme and the Man Theme. There is frustration in the Man Theme. God is perfect. His theme is perfect. Everything about Him is … godlike. Man doesn’t measure up. It’s obvious that he doesn’t measure up. It is also natural that man should desire to be like God. God is man’s example, man’s teacher. Without God’s omniscience, man has no way to know and recognize danger,

The fall was nearly inevitable – so much so that it’s nearly impossible to talk about Man’s Theme without noting that it is broken in places. There are notes on the score that the instruments can no longer play true. We tend to come in early or late, missing our cue and blaming the conductor, the composer, the sheet music – anything but ourselves.

Man’s Theme, then, is reminiscent of God’s Theme, but smaller, lesser, and broken.