Very good

Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Genesis 1:31

 

So God finished His creation. Every day He had said ‘it is good.’ On the sixth day though God said, ‘it is very good.’

 

That’s the kind of world that God left us. His creation was the epitome of perfection. There was nothing wrong with it. It was pristine. As beautiful as it is today is was more beautiful by multitudes when God said ‘it is very good.’

 

That’s the creation that God left us with, a very good world. No storms. No earthquakes or tornadoes or tsunami or volcanoes. The was the perfect setting for Adam and Eve.

 

More later, but the problem is that man broke it. It’s not prefect today. And the cause was and is sin.

 

One day we will have that earth again. The new heavens and the new earth will be spotless and pristine once again and all the things we have to deal with will be gone. 

Have dominion

 

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” - Genesis 1:26-28

 

One of the things that frustrates me about some parts of the contemporary church is the tendency to turn against anything the world takes interest so that we are not tainted by association with it.

 

One of those things is the concept of environmentalism. Starting about 100 years ago folks began to realise that we can’t keep abusing this world. Non-christians led the way and that we resulted in a lot of them worshipping the creation instead of worshipping God.

 

In reality, we should have been first. God clearly gave us this world and clearly intended for His people to care for it. Environmentalism may have some things messed up and some may use it for their own agendas at least it is away that we can’t keep abusing this old world.

 

I once heard a Christian say that he was going to celebrate Earth Day by burning a bunch of tyres. That kind of attitude is part of what destroys our testimony. I don’t have to be a ‘tree hugger,’ but I do need to realise my responsibility to do my part to care for this marvellous creation and limit the damage that I do to it.

Be fruitful

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” - Genesis 1:26-28

 

God told Adam and Eve to be fruitful and to multiply and to fill the earth.

 

In other words God wanted the world to be full of His people. He did not create the world to be an empty place or a place only to be enjoyed by a few select people. He created a wonderful world and He wanted it to be enjoyed. Not only that, believe it or not, God wanted people to fellowship with.

 

So He told Adam and Eve to go out an start reproducing and filling the earth through bearing children. Thus began the blessing of children and families.

 

But if all we do is have kids and don’t try to produce fruit in their lives all we are doing is carrying on biological functions. As we fill the earth with children we Christians must always strive to produce spiritual fruit in their lives. John wrote that he had no greater joy that to see his children walking in the truth.

 

So, we pray and we teach and we lead and we try to guide them into the truth and hope and pray that they will bear fruit in their lives and fill the earth with truth.

In His image

 

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” - Genesis 1:26-28

 

What does it mean when we read that man and woman were created in His image? We might be tempted to think that we physically look like God. The truth is though that God is a spirit and He does not have a body like man.

 

We are made in God’s image though. We are different from any other of God’s creatures. We alone were created with eternity in our hearts. We alone are made with eternal souls which will live somewhere forever. We are created with a will and a conscience and emotions and the ability to love. We have an intellect and wisdom and a free will and volition.

 

Without any sense of pride we can say that we are God’s special creation. As we will see later God breathed into us the breath of life. We alone have the capacity to know God.

 

What do we do with this specialness? Are we going to respond?  Adam and Eve broke things when they sinned, but we are so special that God had a plan for that.

 

As  Christians we are to show God to the rest of the world. Jesus came to save us, but He also came to show us his to live in such a way that we show the world a glimmer of what God is like

Let there be light

 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day. - Genesis 1:3-5

 

Let there be light – and there was light. The light was good and it divided from the darkness.

 

That’s some heavy stuff. There is an awful lot there

 

First – all there was was darkness. That’s it, a shapeless, empty, deep void in total absolute darkness. And then there was light. There is no greater contrast than darkness and light. Darkness is death and light is life. Darkness means fears confusion and life means clarity. Darkness is blindness and light is life. Darkness is where evil dwells and light is where God dwells.  The world is a kingdom of darkness and heaven is a kingdom of light.

 

In the beginning God said let there be light.  In the beginning there was spiritual darkness. Into that darkness God sent the light of His Son.

 

Both times everything changed. Both times light conquered darkness. This first light was the light of the glory of God. The sun wasn’t created yet. The light in John was also the glory of God in Jesus Christ.

 

So now we can walk in the light instead of in darkness. We have been translated from the kids from of darkness into the kingdom of light.

 

God’s first words were ‘let there be light’ and at the very end of His word God’s light will once again and there will be no more need for the sun.

 

So, let us walk in the light

The Spirit of God

 

The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. - Genesis 1:2

 

God created the earth, but at the beginning it was formless and void and dark. The only sign of life was God’s Spirit moving over the shapeless void.

 

The eternal Spirit of God. He was there at the very beginning and He is still here today.

 

That ought to give us great comfort since the Spirit of God lives in us today. Think about that for a second. The Holy Spirit floating over Creation lives in me.  I am His temple.

 

So is anything going to catch Him off guard? Is anything too hard for Him?

 

And He is in me every day in every situation no matter what. What a joyous truth!

God created

 

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters - Genesis 1:1-2

 

In the beginning God created…

 

How did all of this get here? Look around and see this world and all that is in it and ask yourself how it got here. We really only have two options – either everything came from nothing all by itself, or someone designed and created it.

 

Nothing comes from nothing. Nothing ever could. Nothing could explode in a great big bang and stir up substance from nothing. Nothing could not take on the form of life and nothing could stir that nothingness to life. Life has to come from life and there was only one life in the beginning.

 

Creation is one of the things that Satan wants to throw into disrepute. And it is working. If you talk about Creation today it is like you have two heads. The whole world has become convinced that the world got here spontaneously and life sprung forth the same way.

 

Once the world accepts that it can easily reject God. If no one made all of this, then there is no need for Him. If there is no God there is no accountability. Man can do whatever is right in his own eyes.

 

And that is why we have the mess we have today. Standards mean nothing. There are really no rules if there is no God.

 

A God rejecting world depends on the goodness of man. As we here the vernacular – ‘how’s that working out?’