Saturday, August 6, 2011

How it all Began (part 2)

How it all Began (part 2)

Genesis Chapter 1

20And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. 21And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 22And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. 23And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

24And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. 25And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

26And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. 29And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. 30And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. 31And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Sermon

In the last sermon, we looked at the first 19 verses of the first book of Genesis, we still have 12 left so I will finish off with those 12.

But first a little background info on the book of Genesis. The author of this book of the Bible is Moses, who lived a very long time after these occurrences in the first chapter of Genesis. So it would seem that Moses took all his information about the beginning of creation from tradition. And that nothing is first hand information. So how can we be certain that the information contained in this book is correct?

Well, as Christians we believe that the Bible is the true inerrant word of God and that there is no false material in it whatsoever. And we should note that Moses had a very close relationship with God, and that God created the world. And more than likely God told Moses all firsthand information, which probably differed from the traditional stories told at that time.

But it’s only by faith that we can really believe what is written in the word of God. That is why sometimes when you are trying to argue the truths of the Bible with a non-Christian you just seem to be getting nowhere, they just haven’t been given faith by Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.

So that’s enough said on the background of the book for now, so let’s get on with the passage before us.

20And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. 21And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 22And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. 23And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

These are the first creatures that God created.

Here’s a little fun fact: About 70% of the world is covered in water, so there’s more sea than there is land. So I’d feel kind of privileged if I were a fish.

You know, I think God really loves the sea creatures, we don’t tend to care for them in the same way that we do the land animals and yet they are all part of God’s creation!

24And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. 25And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

Now God creates the animals on the land. All for His honour and His glory.

Isn’t it interesting, both the human and the slug have exactly the same purpose on this earth? To glorify God. Yet the soul of the slug ceases to exist on the day of it’s death, and yet our sould will live for eternity. Quite a solemn thought isn’t it?

26And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:

Notice that it is all in the plural here, let US, in OUR, after OUR, not me and mine... It doesn’t mean that there are a lot of Gods; the Bible specifically says that there is only 1 God. But what I think is really meant here, is that God is talking about the trinity here, one God, yet three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, you might remember that at the beginning of the chapter it mentions the Spirit of God!

Exactly how one God can have three persons to His character, I don’t know and I’m not sure anyone else really does, or will do until God reveals it to us in Heaven.

26And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:

We are made in the image of God. Or we WERE made in the image of God, we don’t look so perfect after years of sin making its toll on our image. But we are still physically very similar to the appearance of God Himself.

And because we are made in the image of God we ought to look after our bodies. I believe that it is wrong to eat unhealthy food, not to get exercise, and to wilfully get fat. Christians should be aware of their physical appearance and health, but yet to not make it their god. The key is to do all things as unto The Lord. I go to the Gym a lot, I eat healthily, and the Lord has kept me healthy to do the will of God in any way He sees fit. Could I do that if I were unwell?

26And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

God has made us stewards of this world, not to use it for our pleasure, but the look after it that it may bring forth glory to the One that created it.

It is acceptable to take animals as food, it is acceptable to make them into pets and to tame them.

It is NOT acceptable to waste resources; it is not acceptable to beat an animal for your pleasure, which is marring God’s creation; It is not acceptable to deface the globe in any way that is not for the advancement of God’s glory.

We are stewards not lords!

27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

You know I’m so glad God gave us women; I just wouldn’t know what to do without them!

And notice that here both men and women are mentioned as being in the image of God, in that respect both sexes are on equal terms.

28And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

Here God gives us the command to multiply. Meaning that it is a very good thing for a man and a woman to marry.

You know, I love going to weddings, because it is a great example of God taking the church as His bride. There’s just so much you can learn from the relationship between a man and a woman.

29And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. 30And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

You see, even here will God is in the flow of creating everything for His honour and His glory, He takes a little time to think of puny little man and our needs for food. God is a really caring God!

31And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Everything God does is good! God is a good God! Do you remember what Paul said in Romans 8?

“All things work together for good”

All God’s plans are perfect and good, and we really are blessed that such a great God would look down on us sinful human beings.

Praise the Lord for everything.

The Lord bless His word.

Amen!

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