The Creation, Part 5

Turn with me in your Bible to Genesis chapter 1. We'll conclude our study of the first chapter this morning.

Genesis chapter 1 verses 26 to 31. I'm afraid there's a lot of people in our churches today that have grown up in the church thinking that if they do certain things they will be a certain way. That's because they have not understood Genesis chapter 1 verses 26 to 30. If they understood the image of God, if they understood how God created man and why God created man, what it is they did, where it is they lived, would make no difference to them because they would understand their identity as wrapped up in their creator and how he created them.

So important. We have been talking about the creation in Genesis chapter 1. We have gone over six different elements of what that creation teaches us. We're not going to review them for you this morning. They're in your notes and we would encourage you to buy the tapes if you haven't been here that you might get an entire picture of Genesis chapter 1. But we want to cover the last two elements this morning of what the creation teaches us. And we began it last time we were together and we want to conclude that this morning.

And that is the seventh element that the creation teaches us is that it validates the special worth of man. It validates the special worth of man. Society would tell you that meaning and worth is wrapped up in the things that you do and the things that you accomplish. Scripture speaks against that. In fact, if you follow the rules of society, you're going to have a hard time coping with what the Word of God has to say. Let me give you an example.

The world says you need to love yourself. Your problem is you don't love yourself enough and you need to learn to love yourself more. Well, the Bible says you already love yourself.

In fact, the Bible says in Ephesians chapter 5, no man ever hated himself. In fact, you nurture and you cherish yourself. The problem is not that you don't love yourself. Your problem is you do love yourself and you can't understand why everybody else doesn't love you like you love you. That's your problem, you see. And so we need to understand what does the Bible say. The Bible says deny yourself.

It doesn't say love yourself. It says deny yourself. Well, we don't like that because you see that goes against my feeding of my own inner workings and my feeling good about myself. I don't want to deny myself. I want to accentuate myself and I want everybody to see myself and be a part of who I am. But the Bible says because you already love yourself, you need to deny yourself.

You need to focus on other people. We don't like to do that either. We want people to focus on us. We don't want to focus on anybody else. So we need to understand what the Bible says in Genesis chapter 1 about man being created in the image of God and how that validates the special worth of man.

God created man in his own image. In fact, it's repeated four times image, likeness, image, image. He says it over again in Genesis chapter 5 when we have the genealogy of Adam. This is the book of the generations of Adam in the day when God created man. He made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female and he blessed them and named them man in the day when they were created. I want to talk to you about how the creation account validates a special worth of man by looking at four aspects in Genesis chapter 1.

The first is this. When you speak of the image of God, when you speak of the likeness of God, you're talking primarily about man's personhood. You're talking about his personality. You see, there's something different about man than there is animal. We are both living creatures. We were both created on the same day. But there's something different about man where he is made on the divine pattern, where animal is not made after the divine pattern. When God made you in his image, he's not talking about your material body.

Your material body is not made after God's image. God is spirit. God never had a body until he sent his son Jesus Christ into the world. And then he took on the form of a man. But when God made us in his image, it deals not with our physical appearance. It deals with the invisible part of man. It deals with the immaterial part of man. Man is immortal. You take his body away, he will live forever. Question is, where will you live? Forever. So when you talk about the image of God upon man, you're talking about man's personality.

You're talking about his personhood, the ability to reason, excuse me, the ability to think, the ability to feel because you're an emotional being, the ability to appreciate things, appreciate beauty, the ability to communicate, the ability to fellowship. When God said, let us make man in our image, he told us something about himself. And that is this, God was never alone. God the father always had God the son. God the son always had God the spirit and God the spirit always had God the father. So God tells us something about himself.

Let us make man in our image. God is about relationship. And so when you get to Genesis chapter 2 and God says in verse number 18, it's not good for man to be alone.

God knows something about man that makes him what he is. Man moves and thrives on relationship. Simple as that. That's what the Bible teaches. The second thing you need to understand about the special worth of man is not only personhood, but position.

Position. It says in verse number 26 that man was created to rule over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. He says that again in verse number 28, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth. The second thing you understand is position.

Man has a higher position than the animal. Why? You are designed to have dominion over the animals. You are designed to rule over animals. Now, I like this verse. I like to quote it to my dog and to my cats. I like to tell them that I have dominion over them, that they are still subject to me. They must obey what I say because I am the ruler. Man is the king of the earth. Not animals, not beasts. Man is the king of the jungle, not the lion. Man is. Man has dominion over the beasts. Man is more valuable than animal because God set him up to be the ruler of animals, of fish, of birds, of every living thing.

Everything that creeps on the face of the earth. Man has the position of overseer, of ruler, of having dominion over them. Christ would solidify that over in Matthew chapter 6, verse number 26, when he said these words, Look at the birds of the air that they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them.

Are you not worth much more than they are? Answer, of course we are. We're worth much more than the birds of the sky. And yet the Lord God takes care of them. He feeds them. He shelters them. But you're more worthy than they are. You're more valuable than they are. Turn with me over to Psalm chapter 8.

Psalm chapter 8. The psalmist said, When I consider thy heavens, verse number 3, The work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained. What is man? That thou dost take thought of him, and the son of man that thou dost care for him. Yet thou hast made him a little lower than God, and dost crown him with glory and majesty. Thou dost make him to rule over the works of thy hands. Thou hast put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes through the paths of the sea.

You see that? God has made man more valuable than all animals. Man did not come from animal. Man is more valuable than animal. He is made in the likeness of God, in the image of God. That gives him personhood, gives him personality, the ability to have relationship with other people, and ultimately with the God of the universe. It gives him position over the earth, over every living creature upon the earth. Because you're special to God. You're of great worth to God. And therefore, God has made you the ruler of those animals.

The third thing you need to notice about how the creation validates a special worth of man is in the area of provision.

That's found in verse number 29. Provision. Then God said, Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed, it shall be food for you. And every beast of the earth, and every bird of the sky, and every thing that moves on the earth, which has life, I have given every green plant for food, and it was so. The third thing that validates a special worth of man in creation is not only his personhood, and not only his position, but his provision.

God has provided something for man that he did not provide for the beasts of the field. The beasts of the field, the birds of the air, they eat grass. They eat leaves, but man was designed to eat fruit, to eat vegetables. He gave that to man. He provided man with the good things. Aren't you glad he didn't give you grass to eat? Aren't you glad he didn't give you leaves to eat? Can't you see your mom saying, eat all your grass before you go out and pray tonight? Make sure every one of those leaves are gone before you go out and play with your friends.

Instead, it's vegetables. Instead, it's fruit. It's the good things. You see, man was a vegetarian before the fall. Man was not given permission to eat meat until after the flood. That's very important, and we'll look at that in a moment.

But man was provided the good food, the fruits, and the vegetables, whereas the animals were provided the leaves and the grass. But the fourth thing I want you to notice about the special worth of man and how the creation account validates that is in the area of propagation.

That's the fourth area. Verse number 28. And God blessed them, and God said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. Three things I want you to notice about this propagating responsibility.

We know that animals are to be fruitful and multiply. We know that there's some kind of reproductive process in the the plants as well. The Bible speaks of that in Genesis chapter 1 as well. But there's something different about man. When man is involved in reproduction, he is creating more people in the likeness of God, in the image of God. So when it comes to propagation, he says be fruitful. That's reproduction. Multiply, that's multiplication, and fill the earth. That is distribution. God said I want you to be fruitful.

I want you to reproduce yourself. To do that, God says I want you to have at least one child. Say that to Adam and Eve. I want you to have at least one. Be fruitful. Reproduce yourself. When you reproduce yourself, you are creating more people in the image of God after the similitude of God. And so God says I want you to be fruitful.

I want you to have at least one more like yourself. Reproduce yourself over again. And some say well, what if you can't reproduce yourself? What if you're physically incapable? Maybe God wants you to adopt a child and take responsibility that way that you might nurture and train that child. I don't know what God's plan is for your life. But you need to go back to Genesis 1 and see what God says about the blessing of propagation.

And then he says be fruitful and multiply. Are you ready for this? That's more than one. Right? Reproduction is one. Multiplication is more than one. Now the next question always comes how many is more than one? Well, I don't know what it is for you. I know what it is for us. I don't know what it is for you. It's six for us. Okay, for you it might be two, for you it might be three, for you it might be 16. I don't know. But God says be fruitful and multiply.

God never took back what he said. Now know this. There are 613 commands the rabbis tell us in the Torah or the Pentateuch. That's the first five books of the Old Testament.

The very first command is Genesis chapter 1 be fruitful and multiply. That's the very first command. But they have an argument about that. They're not sure whether or not it's a command or a blessing. They can't figure it out. I want to let you know something. If God gives you a command, it's a blessing. Whenever God commands you to do something or not do something, it's to bless your life. God wants to bless your life. One of the ways God blesses your life is by giving you children. Now some of you are saying you don't have the children I got.

If you had the children I had, you would not say they're a blessing. They are a burden. That's not true. Because those little blessings running around, Psalm 127 says they are arrows in a man's quiver. Psalm 128 says they're like olive branches around your table. They are a great value to you. And blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. There's lots of land. The earth is not full. God says I want you to be fruitful and multiply and that I want you to distribute those people all over the world.

God is into people. God's into multitudes of people. He wants to see things happen in the lives of people. For God's to love the world that he gave his only begotten son. He loves a world of people. And so he wants his people to have more people so that he is represented all around the world. And God says I want to bless your life.

I want to give you kids. And I want you to have those kids to have more kids. That they might have more kids. That the whole earth will be filled with people who sing praises to my name. God's in their relationship. Husband-wife relationship. Parent-child relationship. Family's relationship with their heavenly father. The creation account validates the special worth of man when you see his personhood, his position, his provision, and his responsibility to propagate the earth. The last thing we need to see in Genesis chapter 1 is that it articulates for us the eternal will of God.

Genesis chapter 1 verse number 31. And God saw all that he had made and behold it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning. The sixth day. God looked over creation. Looked at all that he had made and said this is very good. No longer was it just good. Now it was very good. Went off and said it this way. Instead of the usual simple formula we have here at the conclusion of the story of creation. A more elaborate and imposing statement that points to the general harmony prevailing in the world of the almighty.

On the previous days the words that it was good were applied to a specific detail. Now God saw everything that he had made the creation in its totality and he perceived that not only were the details taken separately good, but that each one harmonized with the rest. Hence the whole was not just good but very good. This is important because this one verse totally negates any evolutionary process whatsoever. There's no survival of the fittest. There's no evil. There's no bloodshed. There is no death.

God said as he looked over those six literal days and saw everything that he had done said this is very good. If there is any evolutionary process that would mean that God would say that death is good. That would mean that God would say that that evil would be good. God never says that. Because there was no death. There was no evil. There was nothing wrong. Everything was perfect. Everything was sinless. Everything was just as God had created it perfect. And thus he said it is very good. Intrinsically it is good because God created it and God is good.

But it goes beyond that to good and purpose. It's good because there's a purpose behind it and Revelation chapter 4 explains that. Excuse me. When it says worthy art thou Lord and our God to receive glory and honor and power for thou didst create all things and because of thy will they existed and were created. The 24 elders the church of Jesus Christ fall down before the throne and their proclamation centers around creation. It's interesting because Revelation chapter 5 with the 24 elders and all the angels they praise him for his redemption.

The point is this. Unless you know God as creator, you cannot know him as redeemer. That's the point because that's the order of the bible. He is first of all creator before he was ever redeemer.

And when you understand the God of creation and all that he made was good you can't help but praise his glorious name. It was Isaac Watts who said these words. I sing the goodness of the Lord that filled the earth with food. He formed the creatures with his word and then pronounced them good. Lord how thy wonders are displayed where'er I turn my eye if I survey the ground I tread or gaze upon the sky. Isaac Watts said wherever I look wherever I go whatever I run into I see the goodness of God. Our God is good.

It's the goodness of God Romans tells us that leads man to repentance. Did you know that? It's the goodness of God that leads man Romans 2.4 to repentance. It says over in Psalm 145 these words verse number nine the Lord is gracious and merciful slow to anger and great and loving kindness. That's verse number eight. Then verse number nine the Lord is good to all. I wonder have you experienced the goodness of God. The bible goes on to say this the Lord sustains all who fall and raises up all who are bowed down.

That's how good God is. Have you fallen down? God wants to raise you up. The eyes of all look to thee and thou does give them their food in due time thou does open thy hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing. God satisfies the desire of every living thing. That's you. God not only sustains the lowly but he satisfies your longings. That's how good God is. And then the Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his deeds. The Lord is near to all who call upon him to all who call upon him in truth.

He will fulfill the desire of those who fear him. He will also hear their cry and save them. God he wants to sustain those of you who are lowly. He wants to satisfy all your longings but more than that God wants to save the lost. If you're here today never give your life to Christ and I help you understand that Jesus Christ in all of his goodness wants to save your soul. Everything after six days was perfect. There was no sin, no death, there was nothing wrong. It would soon be how long after that we don't know man sinned and the image of God was now marred and therefore man now needs to be recreated in that image that he might best represent God to a lost world.

God wants to save your soul. If you're here today never give your life to Christ may I urge you that day today is the day to make sure you understand that God created you to have a relationship with him. Let's pray.