Revelation of God's Creative Power, cont.
Genesis 1:20-31
No
one here holds to evolutionary theories, so I am not going to spend our time
today showing the fallacies of such. We are going to continue to peruse what
God has said about his creation. If you are following our outline adapted from
that of Allen Ross, this is how it looks. I. In three days, God ordered
and formed the universe, 1:1-13. A. On the first day God created the
time-mass-space continuum and the basic elements from which he would make our
world. He also brought light into existence and called it Day, the darkness he
called Night. B. On the second day, God created the sky by dividing the
watery mass into waters above and waters below. He called the expanse between
them heaven or sky, and the waters below Seas. C. On the third day, God
separated the dry land from the seas and brought forth vegetation from the
land. II. In three more days, God filled the heavens and the earth with
life, 1:14-31. A. On the fourth day, God created the luminaries, filling
what we call outer space. This corresponds to the first day as he now brings
into existence sources of light that will promote habitation on the earth.
Today
we will observe how God filled the earth with life which was his original
purpose. The first three days he formed the earth so that it could support
life. On the next three days he fills the heavens and the earth that he has
formed. Everything that we see around us every day – the brilliance of the sun,
the starry night, the fields ripe for harvest, the vastness of the sky and seas
loaded with all kinds of creatures, all the animals of the land and our fellow
human beings remind us of the handiwork of God. We see in these his wisdom,
power, providence, love, and grace.
A. Day Four – God Creates the
Luminaries, 14-19.
B. Day Five – God Fills the Sea
and Sky with Life, 1:20-23.
In
its original state, the earth was without form and void. In the first three
days of creation the Lord finished forming the earth so that it could be
inhabited by living creatures. Days five and six describe God’s filling the
earth so it would no longer be a useless void or empty place. He begins with
filling the seas and sky with abundance of life.
1.
This day parallels the second day of creation, 6-8. On that day the Lord formed
a place for these living creatures to inhabit, the seas (which now cover over
70% of the earth’s surface), and the sky which completely surrounds the earth.
Water and air are necessary to sustain the life forms God will create.
2.
For the sixth time, God says something and it happens. This expresses the power
of God’s word which is able to bring into existence that which he calls forth
by speech. What he imagines and plans in the mind is created simply by his
spoken word. What God says will always come to be.
3.
But now, the Lord does something he has not yet done – he brings forth “living
creatures.”
·
This word is usually translated “soul” or
“breath”. It alludes to conscious life, that which has some sense of being or
existence. These creatures will have God’s breath of life in them. This makes
them distinct from the vegetation brought forth previously by the land.
·
This life that God creates is abundant and it
populates the sea and sky. Abundance means teeming or swarming, indicating super
abundant fertility. The verb carries the concept of swift movement back and
forth. Most fish propel themselves with this kind of movement through the
waters. Birds fly be flapping their wings.
·
Also, the use of the verb to create in v.
21 is significant. The other verb used throughout the narrative is to make.
These are essentially synonymous – but the verb to create is used for some new
thing or for creating something out of nothing. It is only used in v. 1, here,
and three times in v. 27. The new thing God creates here is life.
·
Plant life came out of the land or ground, v. 12
– he did not directly make the vegetation; he did not give it his breath of
life. But here, something new and different takes place – life that comes from
God directly. 2:18 tells us that God made the birds and land animals from the
ground. We assume their fleshly nature came from the original elements God
created in v. 2. But then, God called forth all the variety of fish and fowl
and he breathed physical life into them.
4. It is interesting that only one specific category is named
– great sea creatures.
·
These would include, whales, sharks, giant
squid, and the dinosaurs that lived in the sea.
·
But something else may be indicated in this
specific word. Hebrew – tanninim, often translated “dragon” and sometimes
“serpent”. The ancient pagan religions feared sea monsters as chaotic forces
that needed to be subdued by the gods. In Canaanite religion, named Lotan or
Leviathan. But here we see these powerful large sea creatures are made by the
God of Israel. They are not to be feared. They simply reflect the awesome power
of the real God who creates them.
5. God looks upon his creative act and sees that it is good.
But something else that is new occurs – he blesses these living creatures.
·
Here we have the first blessing in the Bible,
repeated in v. 28, God’s blessing on mankind. Blessing presupposes some kind of
relationship between God and what is blessed. In this case, it is upon what God
has brought to life. It is the blessing of the Creator upon the creature.
·
Of what does it consist? The power to procreate,
to bring about more life after its kind and fill the earth. God blesses these
creatures, and humanity with the capacity to continue the creation of life on
the earth and fulfill God’s purpose to further inhabit the land he has made.
C. Day Six – God Fills the Land
with Animals, and Creates Man to Have Dominion over the Earth, 24-31.
This
day parallels day three in which there were two acts of creation. God separated
the land from the waters and caused vegetation to be produced from it. A place
was prepared for animal and human life to be sustained.
1.
God makes the land animals, 24-25.
·
Three categories are mentioned – cattle,
creeping things, and beasts. These are broad categories that we may identify as
domesticated animals, such as cows, goats, sheep, horses, perhaps camels and
donkeys.
·
Creeping things are creatures that move close to
the ground – rodents, reptiles, spiders, etc. Things most women consider
“creepy.”
·
Beasts are wild animals of the field.
·
It is again emphasized that these will produce
according to their kind. They did not evolve from one cell of life into all the
kinds of animal life we have today. What is demonstrated in reproduction by
nature today is what God put in place from the beginning.
2. The apex of God’s creation – mankind, 26-31.
It is clear
from this passage that humanity is the capstone of God’s creative plan. Man is
distinct from all that God has thus far created because he is made in God’s
image. Let’s note a number of things concerning God’ design for each one of us.
1) God’s Plan
for Mankind – “Let us make…”
·
Here we have a plural verb again that has caused
much discussion. What is the meaning of this since it appears that God is
talking to himself or to a group of people? One perception is that God is
speaking in the council of heaven, composed of his heavenly hosts. This verb
form is used three other times in OT with this connotation. However, there is
no indication in the Bible that angels are made in God’s image, or that humans
are in any way related to the image of angels.
·
What we have here is the plurality of God which
is indicated in the name Elohim, a plural noun describing the majesty of God.
It seems to me that God is deliberating within himself as a tripartite or
plural being. We know that all three persons of the Trinity were involved in
creation. Perhaps this is their deliberation concerning the creation of
humanity.
·
We cannot derive a doctrine of Trinity from this
alone, but it leaves room for the plural concept of the One True God. Also, it
anticipates the plural nature of humanity which God is about to create. The
human race consists of male and female, not male alone, not female alone, but
both. The Creator God determined to make the human race through the creation of
the first man and woman.
2) The Pattern for Mankind – “…in Our image, according to Our
likeness.”
·
This is what scholars refer to as the Imago Dei,
and there are mountains of material discussing what the image of God means. But
we’ll just consider the basic idea.
·
An image may refer to a statue, a model, a
replication of something. Of course, it is not the actual item being replicated,
but a copy of it. Likeness also indicates this – we in some way are like God,
but we are not God, and we are not going to become gods.
·
That likeness to God can be seen in numerous
ways – we are self-conscious, we can think and reason, we can communicate
through language, we have emotions and a will. We are also aware of
metaphysical truths, that there is more to life than the physical, material
world around us. We are moral, spiritual beings that have a desire to worship
something.
·
The first man and woman communed with God and
desired His fellowship. In these ways we are like God, but that image was
marred in the fall. Through Christ, that image is recovered and we can once
again become like God by reflecting godly qualities and attributes.
3) The Purpose for Mankind – twofold.
a. Let them have
dominion.
·
The divine image enables man to have dominion
over all other forms of life God created in the world, 26. He is actually
commanded to exercise this dominion in v. 28.
·
Dominion indicates reign or rule – humanity is
to rule over realm of nature. This does not mean we worship nature as pagans
do. It means we have a responsibility to care for what God has created and have
the same kind of concern for it as God does.
·
This is related to the verb to subdue in v. 28. It
is usually used in a military context of conquering and ruling an enemy. But
here it connotes bringing under one’s control for one’s advantage. Commentators
take this to mean that man should study his environment, learn of its potential
and resources. He is to use these things for the good of humanity. We might say
that science and technology are a part of exercising our dominion over the
earth.
b. Be fruitful and multiply.
·
God blesses mankind in the same way he blessed
the animal kingdom. He created him with the capacity to reproduce life on the
earth. But this is only acceptable in God’s order and design. Humanity consists
of both men and women. There are only two genders, male or female. There is
only one way to experience God’s intended blessing of procreation. That is when
one male and one female come together in a relationship of love and matrimony
to bring into being a family. That is the pattern that he can bless.
·
We will discuss this more in chapter two. But
one reason that will surely bring God’s judgment on a nation is the perversion
of this truth that we see so much of today.
4) The Provision for Mankind – 29-30.
·
This indicates that in God’s original design all
living creatures were to be sustained by plant life, whether on land or in the
sea. The focus here is creatures on the earth.
·
We may assume that all vegetables, grains, and
fruit in their original state contained all the vitamins, minerals, and
nutrients that animal and human life needed for a perfect diet.
·
It seems that after the fall this may have
changed. We know that animal sacrifice was offered to God by Abel in Gen. 4. We
do not know if the offering was eaten. We do know that after the flood God
ordained that man could derive nutrition from animals.
5) The Proclamation of God concerning His Creation, 31.
·
As the Lord looked upon his completed creative
work, he saw that what he made was not just good, it was very good. It was
perfect and whole.
·
Henry Morris comments – there was “no struggle
for existence, no disease, no pollution, no physical calamities…, no imbalance
or lack of harmony, no disorder, no sin, and, above all, no death!”
God’s perfect plan to form and fill his
universe is complete. That is the truth, that is the source of our existence.
It even hints at our purpose for life. We were created to be the image bearers
of God on this planet. We were given everything we needed for life and work. We
were blessed with the capacity to reproduce, to create new life through a holy
union with a life partner. We were equipped with godlike qualities to rule our
environment for our good and God’s glory. Unfortunately, all that changed at
the fall.
But in God’s goodness, mercy, and love he
took upon himself the likeness of man and entered this world of sin and death.
Jesus Christ, God’s Son, was the express image of God’s person. That means he
perfectly represented God in the flesh to humanity. He succeeded where the
first man failed. Through his sacrifice we can reclaim God’s image – Christ in
you the hope of glory! Do you know him today?
If so, you have the capacity to reflect
God’s image in this sin darkened world. You can bear the fruit of the Spirit,
you can put away the old man and his lusts, you can be a godly husband, wife,
or child. You can serve God and others and be used in His mission to bring
those with His broken image into newness of life – a new creation, similar to
what God intended from the beginning. By God’s grace and power, may we
determine to bear his image before our world today!
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