009 – Foundations 009 – The Crown of Creation

Foundations

009 - Foundations 009 - The Crown of Creation

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by Jarod Hinton

Intro: Last time we spoke of the dominion, or stewardship, we have been given over creation. A position of great honor and trust, as well as being the final creation of God in the Creation week. Mankind is, in a very real sense, the crowning achievement of Creation.

• Made in the Image of God (vs. 27)
  • In what ways are we like God?
    • Most significant: Three parts to our being – Body, Soul, Spirit
      • All humans have this image, and are therefore worthy of respect.
    • Scripture says God has hands, eyes, feet, arms, a mouth, ears…so do we.
      • If someone doesn’t have these, have they lost the Image of God? Of course not, because of the first way we are like God. (Body, Soul, Spirit)
    • What meaning is found in this truth?
      • All mankind are in God’s image – includes every race, shade of color, country, age, background, level of intelligence, and gender.
      • Prohibits racism or other kinds of prejudice.
  • Male and Female
    • God has created men and women as equals, yet different.
      • Woman was created to fill the role of helper. (Gen 2:18)
      • Man was created to lead.
    • Both have equal value before God and both are made in his image.
      • Eve made on same day as Adam. Gen. 2 gives further detail about day six. (Estimated to have only taken a few hours to name the animals.)

• Receives the Blessing of God (vs. 28)
  • Be Fruitful and Multiply
    • First blessing given to mankind; is key element for completing rest of blessing.
    • To Bear Fruit = to be successful.
      • Can be applied to having children, but people can be fruitful without having children.
      • To seek success is something God intends for us to do, but we must remember how to measure success.
      • Success is not measured by – Possessions, Positions, or People.
      • Success is measured by – fulfilling our God-given purpose.
        • To Glorify God and enjoy Him forever.
    • Multiply = have children.
      • To multiply ourselves means literally to have plenty of children.
      • Whether it’s one child or twenty, we should have a quiver full. (Ps. 127)
      • Great tragedy of western civilization is we view children as a burden instead of a blessing. (Perhaps part of the reason Europe is being overrun by Muslims is because they are simply out-birthing everyone.)
      • Scripture calls children a blessing and reward, and portrays them as such
      • Must be done with wisdom and discernment. (Life of mother, etc.)
      • Many people say they want to have some kind of impact upon the future. They want people to remember them and appreciate the difference they made for those in the future. The best way to influence the future is to influence children and build them into the leaders, builders, teachers, and parents of the future. The society of tomorrow sleeps in your cradle today!
  • Replenish the Earth
    • Some teach this provides proof that the earth was created and then destroyed between Gen. 1:1-2. But the Hebrew does not support that viewpoint.
    •  “Replenish” = “maw-lay” – to be full of. (Trans. 195 times as fill, filled, or full.)
    • Old English meaning of “replenish” was “make full, fill, stock with, inhabit.”
      • Modern examples – research = search completely, relax = to lax (fish).
    • Is saying “fill the earth”.
  • Subdue it
    • “kawbash” = to tread down. Subject, force, keep under, conquer.
    • Illust. Gardening (tending to for specific plants) or Mountain Climbing (conquer).
  • Have Dominion
    • “Raw-daw” = to rule, dominate, subjugate.
    • The governance of the earth was given to mankind from the very beginning. We have authority over the animals, sea creatures, and birds.
    • Includes freedom to use the resources of the earth for our needs and prosperity.
    • Cannot abuse these resources, but neither are we to be ruled by them.

• Something to Behold (vs. 29-31)
  • Man’s Food
    • Plants yielding seeds –
      • Includes the things you can make from plants. (Bread, Salsa, etc.)
    • Tree bearing fruit with seeds in the fruit.
    • God gives us a picture of how their life was intended to be before death came into the world. (No hunting for meat, etc.)
    • What people eat is important to God, because it speaks to the source of our life.
      • Garbage in, garbage out.
    • Applies spiritually also.
      • We should pay attention to what spiritual food we eat, and its impact upon our daily lives.
  • Animal Food
    • Every green plant
    • At the beginning, animals were not eating each other. This is significant to note as we move forward in this study.
  • Everything was VERY good
    • God beholds his Creation, and observes that he has done a very good job.
    • No faults, no mistakes, nothing out of balance…everything was perfection, in complete harmony and peace. (Including mankind.)
    • This is true of EVERYTHING God does.
      • He has never once made a mistake (Not even when creating you!)
      • When he sent Jesus to save us from our sins, it was accomplished VERY well.