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Studies in Genesis, The Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Day, Lesson IV, Genesis 1:14-31
In our study of Genesis we have been given witness to God’s Creation Word going forth during the first three days.
For on the first day God moved upon the face of the waters, a face wherein darkness dwelt and on that day God said Let there be light and there was light and God divided the light from the darkness.
And again on the second day division took place for God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters dividing the waters from the waters.
So immediately division took place, separation took place for now the earth was given an atmosphere, and the world became a vast greenhouse, a place for lush and sumptuous growth.
So the third day came and God continued his creative acts by gathering the waters unto one place and bringing forth dry land, land upon which living creatures may dwell and prosper.
At the beginning the earth was without form and void but here in these first three days form is taking place and voids are being filled for God creates with purpose and His purpose will always be fulfilled.
On that we can always depend!
This purpose continues into the fourth day.
So let us read Gen 1:14-19 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: 15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. 16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. 17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, 18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. 19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. The earth and the seas and the dry land with its plants are now ready for signs and seasons, for days and for years. They are now ready for light from the sun and its reflected light from the moon. So God puts in place the sun, the moon and the stars to mark and measure time and direction. God knows exactly what his creation needs and therefore He provides for those needs. The creation itself, as created, always reaches out to His hand for its needs to be met. This is a principal with God for He is always the provider, providing for everything, and I mean everything He has created. He gave the sun the exact space coordinates where to place its great glowing mass.
He set the moon in the exact spot in the heavens for it to do its best for the earth and every day the tides obey their bounds.
God is not a God of chance who would just throw these bodies into space by some big bang and let them do their own thing.
No such thing as placing the sun a few million miles more or less or whatever!
When we see all things fit together it is easy to hear God’s loud declaration that the heavens declare His glory.
There is no other conclusion to make when seeing such intricate balances in all created things than to bow down to our Creator.
Anything less than that is blasphemy uttered from the mouth of fools!
The beauty of the Earth, the beauty of the sky, the beauty of the heavens is now displayed by God’s creative hand.
The fourth day is complete and soon the sound of birds will be heard, with fish swimming and jumping and whales frolicking in the sea, for the fifth day awaits God’s creative power.
Gen 1:20-23, And 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. 21 And 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. 22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. 23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
The plant life, grasses and trees and herbs created on the third day were physically tied to the earth with no legs for walking, no wings for flying but on this fifth day God’s new creation is given freedom to move about.
For God tells the waters to bring forth moving creatures that hath life to live under the water and moving fowl that fly above the earth and every living moving creature that moves upon the earth.
So God fills the earth with life.
Under the earth, on the earth and above the earth.
And all created at the same time for all are dependent upon one or more of the other.
Again all created to reproduce after their kind.
Grasses to grass, trees to trees, herbs to herbs, fish to fish, and birds to birds.
The earth is alive and life will soon be further enhanced for God has yet to bring forth land animals and man from the dust of the ground.
We are to note the great emphasis God gives with regard to each living creature fitting into a category He calls “after their kind.”
So “kind” is a grouping of creatures within which lives variations but kinds are made by God to be sacred for one kind does not become another kind.
There are many different forms of dogs but all dogs fit into one kind and a dog can never bring forth a cat.
An honest study of fossils will reveal continuity which means species or kinds are unchanged in all their documented history.
The way fossils look when first appearing will be the way they look when last appearing.
Also fossils are always revealed in a fully formed state.
There is never an evolution within the kinds.
For God made all kinds to be fully formed.
In fact all the vast evidence given by God within His creation points to God himself and anyone who denies this, God calls a fool for the evidence of a master designer, a creator is so overwhelming only a heart deceitful above all things and desperately wicked could deny such overpowering proof.
The fool has indeed said in his heart, NO GOD FOR ME!
This is the conclusion of a wicked heart!
Think of Brother Lauer’s presentation last Wednesday relative to the scientific world with regard to their intense loyalty to the theory of evolution which always puts aside with great passion any mention of creative acts by an all-powerful God.
The Scientific World in general has said, NO GOD FOR ME!
For this world has decided in all of its intricate study of God’s creation to exclude any thought that God brought all that it studies into being.
And when it discovers that which has been unknown to the world how it celebrates and self-glories but denies any glory to the One who brought it into existence.
The world glories in finding things but we are to glory in the God who brought into being that which they find. Imagine that!
Can there be any greater example of desperately wicked hearts?
Think of God’s wrath that awaits such hearts!
So the world has completed its fifth day with light, firmament, seas, dry land, whales and birds flying and God now moves to bring forth animals and man on the sixth day.
For we find in Genesis 1:24,25, And 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. 25 And 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.
The day of the animals has come, animals that again fit into the category of kinds.
And this again reminds us of a God of diversity for the kinds seem to be endless.
God made the animals in such great varieties and shapes and sizes and colors and in many He reveals to us His sense of humor for can any not have a smile when just looking at a giraffe, the hippopotamus, the great elephant, the monkeys and the frogs and the turtles.
The numbers are so vast that even in our time all have not been discovered.
God is life and He displays that in his creation so vast and lively now on this sixth day.
And on this day He will gather the dust of the ground to display that which will have dominion over all that He has brought forth for man is next to come by His creative power.
Genesis 1:26, And 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.
The animals are now created and then God says, Let us make man in our image . So right here we are told man is not included as one of the animals for man is a separate and distinct creature that is made in the image of his creator. Man then is made with the characteristics of his creator.
And here we learn that his creator describes Himself as “US” which indicates the creator sees himself in more than one part for “US” is a plural description.
So we know from God’s word that this description of Himself as “US” is consistent with the fact that there is One God in three persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
So take note that we are made in the image of whom God calls “US” all three persons, all three known as the Trinity. God has not said this about any of his previous creatures.
Man is unique in that he is the only creation of God to be made in God’s image.
And in that image is a connection with God, an intimacy with God as God is intimate with His Son and with His Spirit for in this act we begin as sons of God. No other creature is given this connection.
God walked with His son Adam in the Garden and Adam knew God.
So being made, unique from animal life there is an unbridgeable gap between man and animals for we are distinct in our moral, intellectual and spiritual capabilities.
Only by being made in the image of God, God could through His Son, really become man who has His image, and enter into the salvation process for His fallen creation.
God has no such plan for any other creature.
There is no indication that even angels are made in the image of God for God has no plan of salvation for those angels who decided to be loyal to Lucifer.
So God decided to make man in His image and this means that man will possess personality, knowledge, feelings, and a will.
It means man will be a moral person, making moral judgments for man is given a conscience.
It also means man possesses spirituality, which means he is able to commune with God for he is spirit.
We know from God’s word that God is spirit and has no physical or human body; that is until the incarnation but at the creation God’s image is not expressed by the physical.
But God, the Spirit sees, He hears, He smells, He touches, He speaks, He thinks, He plans and has given those capabilities to man for that is part of His image.
Now as the Creator, God has dominion over His creation and because we are made in His image he is free to give us 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.
Dominion means: Sovereign or supreme authority; the power of governing and controlling.
It means: Power to direct, control, use and dispose of at pleasure; right of possession and use without being accountable; as the private dominion of individuals. Look around today and listen to the climate change advocates.
It is obvious who has dominion here for no other creature is being asked to do anything about this but man, for man indeed has dominion.
Man is at the top of the hierarchy of all of creation and has the ability to affect his environment for this is God’s order of things.
Man is the God given steward of the earth and is not to take this responsibility lightly for where else can man find a home?
Fortunately those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ will have a home with our Lord for even in the stewardship of the earth man will fail.
So we read of this unique creation in Genesis 1:27-31, So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28 And 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. 29 And 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. 30 And 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. 31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. So again God declares that He created man in his own image.
This is so important he repeats this truth.
Because of this we are savable from a fallen state for God knows what will become of Adam and Eve in the Garden.
We also see on this sixth day that Adam and Eve came forth as fully formed creatures.
No long period was needed for an all-powerful creator who simply says Let there be and there will be.
Using time to explain our existence is simply a ruse to exclude instantaneous creation for no one can prove such a hypothesis.
But the scientific world as usual is fixed upon error for it has chosen to mandate the evolutionary process and all ideas must fit into this process or be automatically excluded.
This is nothing new in the scientific world for all one has to do is to look back in history and see this thinking repeated over and over. Principles thought to be invincible have been gathered in the trash heap of history.
And so too will be the fate of evolution. |