See the glory of man or the glory of God ?

"The man is the image and the glory of God." 1 Corinthians 11. 7

"You crowned him with glory and honor, and you gave him dominion over what your hands did, you put everything under his feet." Hebrews 2. 7, 8

Some impressions of a stay in a great European city : the arches of a magnificent Gothic cathedral rise so high that the eye is lost there ; its stained glass windows retrace the detail of many biblical scenes ; a museum rich in hundreds of works spread over almost a millennium, with a variety of subjects, styles, approaches that surprise the eye to each room ; a city center with buildings and mansions in artistically carved stones and elaborately decorated balconies ; a neighborhood on the periphery where recent buildings compete with originality and modernity...

All these works celebrate the glory of their builders or their owners: the museum bears the name of its creator and several rooms that of the donors; the architects of the modern district attach their name to their creations ; street names are reminiscent of past celebrities in the city, etc.

A walk in nature naturally pushes the believer to celebrate the Creator, because he directly perceives his glory in grandiose landscapes, in the fauna or the flora, whereas the visit of a city leads more to see the glory of the man.

Although... Who gave these men the idea of ​​building such an imposing church, still standing after eight centuries ? Who gave these architects and engineers the imagination and science necessary to succeed in these technical and aesthetic feats of these skyscrapers ? Who gave the sensibility to these artists who have so well transcribed their feelings in their works ? Many of the authors of the human works we admire have unfortunately not recognized that they owed their gifts to a Creator whose creativity, wisdom, intelligence and diversity of works they reflect.

But the believer, through the legitimate admiration that he can bring to these achievements, sees the image of his God in the men who made them. The fall and the sin have of course tainted her, but she remains nevertheless. And while recognizing the value of these human works that he appreciates, he glorifies his God who has given men so many extraordinary qualities.

Source (Pleasing the Lord)