The Beginning Of Earth -- Every Aspect Of God’s Creation Was Judged To Be Very Good By God Himself.
Fall Study: Genesis 1 Through Genesis 11:
Previously:
The God Of Beginnings.
The God Of Order and Fullness.
This Time: Mankind Is Made In His Likeness.
Some Of The Topics In The Next Few Weeks:
Mankind Receives Bounty And Boundaries.
Mankind Has A Purpose Thru Worshipful Partnership.
Mankind Is Deceived By Pride.
Mankind Receives Grace In Judgment.
Antagonistic Unbelief.
Man's Ways Or God's Ways.
We Now Should Know With Full Certainty:
That God Is Great:
On The Earth.
In The Heavens.
And He Alone Is GREAT !!
That God Is Good Because He Is Majestic:
In His Care. He Is Mindful Of Us. He Seeks Us.
In His Creation. He Created Us. He Sustains Us.
THE
COMMENCEMENT OF THE CREATION WORK: 1: 1-2.
THE CONTINUATION OF THE CREATION WORK: 1: 3-25.
THE COMPLETION OF THE CREATION WORK 1: 26 THRU 2: 1-3.
QUESTION:
A. The Four Great Questions Of Life Are: Who Am I? Where Did I Come From? What Is My Purpose? Where Am I Going?
Genesis 1:26-31 Gives An Answer To The First Three Questions.
NOTE: These Questions Can Only Be Answered Through God’s Inspired Revelation Of His Creation Of Man On The Sixth Day.
B. The Answer To Mankind's Human-Ness Is Found In His Relationship To God.
Until Man Finds God, Existence Is A Dilemma And Life Is Meaningless.
I. THE IMPORTANCE OF MAN 1:26a.
A.
And God Said:
His Creation Was Immediate And Complete.
Man Is The Creation Of A Sovereign God.
The Answer For Man Is Found In His Relationship To God.
B. Let Us Make Man:
The Plural “us” Undoubtedly Refers To The Trinity.
This Is The First Major Revelation In The Old Testament Of The Godhead Is Not A Single Component Part.
Only Mankind Among The Creatures Of God:
Can Understand An Experience With A Triune God.
Can Worship God In Spirit and In Truth.
Can Enter Into A Saving Relationship With A Holy God.
C.
In Our Image, After Our Likeness;
What Does It Mean To Be Made In The Image / Likeness Of God?
To Be Made In The Image And Glory Of God:
Shows The Dignity And Glory Of Man.
Made To Have A Specific Role And Purpose In God's World.
Made To Reflect God's Character Out Into The World.
Made To Represent God And Rule This World On God's Behalf.
Made To Harness All Its Potential And To Care For It.
Made To Make It Where Even More Life Can Flourish.
In Biblical Times, The "image of god" Was Understood.
All Lived Under The Rule Of A King As god's image On Earth. Kings Claimed To Have Authority To Carry Out The Will Of gods.
Kings Would Create Idols From Wood, Stone, Metal.
These Handmade Idols Were "images of god" on earth.
Israel Was The One Nation That Did Not View Kings As gods.
It Was Prohibited To Create Idols Or Images Of Their God:
BECAUSE GOD HAD ALREADY MADE IMAGES OF HIMSELF.
In
The Beginning Of The Bible, We See God As:
The All-Powerful Creator.
The King Of The Earth.
Having Authority Over Creation.
Giving Humans All Authority To Rule Over Creation.
By Making Humans In His Image.
During
These Bible Times Of The Writing Of Genesis:
Elite Kings Ruled And Subdued The Earth
The Bible States It Is The Task Of All Mankind Not Just a Few.
How
Are We Expected To Rule The Earth?
Ruling Over The Earth Means To:
Cultivate It,
Harnessing Its Raw Potential,
Developing God's Creation As Planned.
But The Spread Of Sin And Suffering Has Hindered This Purpose.
So,
Jesus Is The New Human, The Perfect Image Of God.
Gen 5 states, After The Fall Of Adam, All Are Born In The Likeness Of Adam Not The Likeness Of God.
Born Of The Man Of Dust.
But, Jesus Restores Us To The Image Of God Being Born Of The Man Of Heaven.
Christ Coming To Earth To Live As A Man, God Shows Us What It Truly Looks Like To Live A Life In The Image Of God.
Through Christ's Example, We See That This Life Is One Of Servitude And Goodness To Others No Matter What They Do To Us.
Jesus Even Confronts All Of The Evil And Destruction That We Have Created As Rulers Of The Earth By Taking On The Full Force Of It When He Died On The Cross.
Through His Life, Death, And Resurrection, Jesus Provided:
An Answer To The Question What Is The Image Of God.
A Way By Which All Of Mankind Could Have A New Birth.
A Way To Be Filled With The Love And Goodness Of Christ
A Way To Begin Acting Fully In God's Image.
A Way For All True Believers Rule Over Creation Properly.
A Way For The Images Of God With Christ As Their Salvation.
The
Image Is Creativity, Communication And Morality:
Mankind Has Capacity To Communicate In Spirit With God
That Distinguishes Him From The Animal World.
God Is Spirit (John 4:24), And He Can Only Be Known Through The Spirit In Man Rom. 8:16).
It Is The Spirit In Man That Enables Him To Worship.
A.
Creativity:In Genesis 1 We Read, “God Created (made).”
This Activity Involves Imagination And The Ability To Think In Conceptual Terms.
Man, Being In The Image Of God, Can Also Make Things, Not To The Same Degree That God Does, For Man Cannot Make Things Out Of Nothing.
Yet Man Can Compose A Symphony, Design A Computer, Paint A Picture, Etc. An Animal Cannot Do This.
NOTE. Man Was Originally Designed To Use His Creativity For God.
B.
Communication: Genesis 1 Said That God Speaks And So Does Man.
Man Is The Only Creature That Can Talk.
Animals Make Sounds But They Do Not Convey Ideas Through Verbalizing.
NOTE. Man Was Originally Created To Communicate With God And Man.
C. Morality: In Genesis 1, God Pronounces Many Things Good.
God Is A Moral Being, And Man Shares That Character As Well.
Man Has The Capacity Of Distinguishing Between Good And Evil.
All Men In Every Society Have Some Sense Of Right And Wrong, Which Is Not Found In The Animal Kingdom.
NOTE: Man Was Originally Created As A Moral Creature.
When God Created Man In His Image, The Glory, Dignity And Value Of Man Was Set Forth.
(Psa. 8:5 “For Thou Hast Made Him But A Little Lower Than God”).
If Man Came From Slime Through Chance, As The Evolutionist Says, Then Man Is Faced With A Horrifying Dilemma: He Has No Planned Beginning, No Purpose, No Future.
Only The Bible Makes Man Valuable Because He Is A Creature Of God.
Men Are Not High Forms Of Animals But Are The Creation Of God.
II.
THE AUTHORITY OF MAN (1:26b):
Again, Mankind Was Given The Task Of Ruling And Governing The Earth By Exercising Dominion Over Everything Within The Earth.
To Subdue Its Forces,
To Master Them,
Bring Them All Under His Control And Direction.
The Whole Course Of History Is Simply The Record Of Man’s Attempt To Fulfill These Divine Injunctions.
NOTE:
The Final Fulfillment Of This Command Will Be In The Millennium.
III.
THE DUTY OF MAN (1:27-28):
A.
Genesis 1:27 Speaks Of Male And Female, Which Shows That Man Is A
Sexual Creature.
Man Was Commanded To Be “fruitful And Multiply, And Replenish (fill) The Earth” (1:28).
B. Genesis 1:28 Says That God Commanded Man To “subdue” The Earth; That Is, Man Was To Have Dominion Over It.
IV.
THE NUTRITIONAL SUSTENANCE FOR MAN (1:29-30):
A.
Originally All Animals Were Herbivorous (plant Eaters).
Note: Apparently Animals Did Not Become Meat Eaters Until After The Fall. Before The Fall, There Was Abundant Plant Life.
B.
Man, In The Beginning, Was Also A Vegetarian.
God Did Not Give Man The Permission To Eat Meat Until After The Flood (Gen. 9:3).
V.
THE APPROVAL OF MAN (1:31):
God Saw His Creation Of Man And He Said, “It Was Very Good.”
God Was Pleased With His Creature Man.
VI.
CONCLUSION:
A. Man Was Created With Glory, Dignity And Value With The Capacity To Worship God And The Authority To Rule The Earth.
Why Is It That Man Has Not Lived Up To His Potential?
It Is Because Of Sin:
Whatever Else Is True Of Man, It Is Certainly True That Man Is Not What He Was Meant To Be.
NOTE:
Sinned Marred Man’s Image But It Did Not Eradicate It. (Gen. 9:6;
James 3:9).
Salvation Is All About Restoring To Man In Christ What He Lost In Adam (Col. 3:9-10; Eph. 4:24).
B.
The Fall Resulted In The Corruption Of Man’s Will, Mind And
Emotion. Sin Is Why Man Can Create, But Everything He Creates Has A
Twist Towards Evil.
Sin Is Why Man Can Communicate, But Not Only Does He Communicate Truth And Beauty, But Also Lust And Hate And Filth And Bigotry And Death.
Sin Is Why, Though He Still Knows Moral Values, He Denies Them And Rationalizes Them To Exalt Evil.
Sin Has Devalued And Shamed Man, So That The Image With Which He Was Created By God Has Been Marred By Sin.
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