Episode 24: The Creation of the World, Part 2- Days 5-7
Sunday, October 12, 2014
Peace to Live By Episode 24: The Creation of the World, Part 2- Days 5-7 - Daniel Litton
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[Transcripts may not match broadcasted sermon word for word, and may contain extra material that was cut from the broadcast due to time constraints]
Last week we looked at the creation of the world as pertained to the first four days of God’s creation process. We learned about how God was in the beginning before anything that existed. We saw God create the earth and the universe, and how he created what the earth looks like, as it pertains to the waters and dry land. We noted the creation of the universe—the stars, our own solar system, and the planets in our solar system. We pondered the creation of the Sun and the Moon.
Today, I want to continue our study on the creation of the world, and we are going to look at the creation days 5 through 7. In these days, God created all animals and the first human. Then, finally, after everything he created, he rested from all his work on the seventh day. So, there is a lot to consider here. And there’s a lot we need to understand, and understand it through a correct mindset, one that sets aside theories like Evolution in understanding the beginnings of humans and animals.
So, today, I want us to consider Genesis chapter 1, and were going to look at chapter 1 verses 20 through 31, and then chapter 2 verses 1 through 3. These verses will be our primary text. I will be using the English Standard Version of the Bible today, just like last time. Let’s start in Genesis chapter 1, and verse 20. This is creation Day Five:
“And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.” (ESV)
On Day Five, we learn that God created both sea creatures and birds. Undoubtedly, there would have been more water on the earth than land, just as there is today. We learned last time that the original setup of the world had one large piece of dry land—one continent—and one large ocean, which was everywhere the content wasn’t, obviously. Remember, too, that the setup of the atmosphere was different. It didn’t rain on the earth, as every morning a mist would come up from the ground to water the living planets and trees, which were created on Day Four. Genesis chapter 2, verse 5 and 6 tell us, “When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground” (ESV). So, the makeup of the earth was different back then. The waters in the sky, which the writer of Genesis, Moses, mentioned in Genesis chapter 1 and verse 7, would not break forth until the Flood of the Noah. This would be the first time it would rain on the earth—during the days of Noah.
So God created, on Day Five, all the sea creatures and birds. This includes the great sea creatures, like giant whales, dolphins, sharks, etc, and the dinosauric sea creates which we no longer see today. And God also created the birds—animals like the bald eagle, hawks, owls, and their kinds. He also created the dinosauric birds. With each and every animal, God created them with a unique, genetic code. Each of them is unique, and one cannot turn into another—as evolution proclaims. Remember, when Charles Darwin came up with his theory in the 1800s, he didn’t know DNA existed. Unfortunately for him, DNA discredits his theory. DNA is a very meticulous code found in all living things, and animals do not change from one animal into another. Every code is unique and complex to the particular living thing in question.
Let’s take a look a Day Six of creation: “And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.” First on Day Six, God creates the land animals—which is a vast variety of animals. He created the livestock animals, like horses, cattle, sheep, and pigs. He created other “creeping animals” like snakes, alligators, etc. He created “beasts of the earth” like the Tyrannosaurus Rex, bears, lions, and wolves. And again, everything God made he did so with a unique DNA footprint. And God saw that all of it was good, and indeed it is good.
I want to take a moment here and talk about dinosaurs. According to what we just read about creation Day Six, dinosaurs had to be created on that day. This means that they lived alongside humans beings at least until the Flood of Noah. But how could dinosaurs live alongside humans and the humans live? I don’t think its fair to say that dinosaurs and humans lived in the same areas, though, they obviously crossed paths with each other from time to time. Let’s look at what is written in the Book of Job about one particular dinosaur. This is the Lord God speaking: ““Behold, Behemoth, which I made as I made you; he eats grass like an ox. Behold, his strength in his loins, and his power in the muscles of his belly. He makes his tail stiff like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are knit together. His bones are tubes of bronze, his limbs like bars of iron. He is the first of the works of God; let him who made him bring near his sword!” (Job 40:15-19, ESV). So, this particular dinosaur was a vegetarian, and probably was the Sauropoda as we call it today.
But God didn’t stop on Day Six with the creation of the land animals. The Bible also tells us that God created a man and a woman on the sixth day. We read, continuing in the passage: “Then 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 birds of the heavens and over the livestock and 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.”
Continuing on Day Six, first God created a man. Now, man was created superior to the rest of the creation, and not equal to the rest of the creation. Men and women are superior beings. Now, God gave mankind dominion, and he did this “over” all of the created plants and animals. That is why—in this day and age—man is able to eat animal. Animal should not freely eat man, but man can freely eat animal. Men and women can have farms whereby they raise animals. They can tame animals for their own purposes, like we have domesticated dogs and cats. They can breed animals for their purposes. But this does not give mankind free license to abuse animals in any way.
But how do we know Eve was created on Day Six with Adam? The creation of Eve by God is discussed in more detail in Genesis chapter 2. But this text does not seem to indicate it was the same day as Adam. However, we know it was the same day from a verse in Genesis chapter 5 and verses 1 and 2, of which it says, “In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created” (1-2ex, KJV). This text, then, clearly shows us that Eve was created on the same day as Adam.
Really, though, that’s not even necessary, for let’s continue the text. Notice how it says “them”: “And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.”
We note from this text that God gave “every green plant for food.” So, humans were originally created as vegetarians. Now, some of you who are vegetarians today will surely like this. Being a vegetarian is a healthy way to live. But, remember, nowadays God gives us, as humans, all animals to eat. It’s okay to eat them. We read the following in Acts chapter 11 the following from the Apostle Peter. In this text, he is talking about a vision he had just had: “Looking at it closely, I observed animals and beasts of prey and reptiles and birds of the air. And I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’ But I said, ‘By no means, Lord; for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ But the voice answered a second time from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, do not call common’ (Acts 11:6-9, ESV). So, God makes it clear that it’s good to eat meat from animals. God provides us meat and it should be accepted with thanksgiving.
I want to take a few moments here and examine the creation of man and woman a little closer. Now, Genesis chapter 2 gives us a more thorough account of Day Six of creation, as I’ve already mentioned. Let’s go ahead and read that account. Let’s pick up in verse 5, and read through verse 9 to get started: “When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground—then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”
First, I would like to note that God breathed in the man the breath of life, and this made the man a living soul. So, the man’s body could not function apart from the soul. The soul was necessary in order for the man to be alive. This is why man, nowadays, cannot create a Frankinstien. You cannot place body parts together in a lab and create a living person. Even if the technology was available to do so, it wouldn’t work. Cloning is possible, but all you are doing there is creating a replica of what God has already created, and God will grant the person a soul. It takes outside intelligence for life. Humans can play God, but that cannot create the materials that God originally made. All they can do is replicate God’s materials; they don’t use their ‘own’ materials.
Second, consider that God created “The tree of life” and “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” It would be the latter of these two supernatural trees that Adam and Eve would ultimately break the command of God and eat of it’s fruit. These trees were supernatural, by today’s standard though they weren’t supernatural back then, in that they had capabilities would pertained to spiritual things. The first tree, we learn later, gave the power to live forever (in one’s current state)—that is, the tree of life. Now, the second tree gave the power to know good and evil.
Let’s continue to read from Genesis 2: “A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is the Gihon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush. And the name of the third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
What I want to focus on here is that when God created the man, his primary purpose was to work. And so we, as man, do work even to this day. Working is something God created for man to do. It is part of his purpose. King Solomon noted this important point in the Book of Ecclesiastes. He said:
“What gain has the worker from his toil? I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God's gift to man.” (Ecclesiastes 3:9-13, ESV)
So, we learn here that God wants us, as humans, to enjoy our work, and that the work we do is his gift to us. That’s why your work should, when possible, correspond to your passions. You should like to do what you are doing in your career. Otherwise, it’s probably not for you. And last time we talked about the fact that God worked six days, resting on the seventh, and that this is a good model for as, as humans, to follow. This does not mean employers should have their employees work six days. We need at least one day off, besides the day of rest, for chores at home.
Continuing in the Genesis 2 passage, we read: “Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” Now out of the ground the LORD God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.” (Genesis 2:5-25, ESV)
So, man and woman are the most distinctly intricate creatures God created. Humans are the highest creatures of God’s created order. Let’s consider what the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15, and verses 39 through 41. He said: “For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory” (1 Corinthians 15:39-41, ESV). Only men and women are truly able to enjoy the beauty of God’s creation. Birds sing for joy because they are fed, but humans are able to truly understand God’s nature and beauty and bounty that belongs to it. Hence, we worship God as a result—at least those of us who know him. Why do those who don’t know God worship themselves as if they were a god? They can’t create one thing of God’s creation like he did.
We also see with the creation of woman the first marriage, which was God ordained. So, God sets the created order of marriage between one man and one woman. Even nature itself in this day and age displays this, though, humans have tried and do pervert marriage. It is impossible for two people of the same sex to get married because the very essence of marriage means it’s God approved. If it’s not God approved, it’s not a marriage. Even with a government backing of the so-called ‘marriage,’ it’s not a ‘real’ marriage; it’s just a civil union no matter what you call it. Perversions of marriage like homosexuality and polygamy developed only after the fall of mankind in Genesis chapter 3. They were not God ordained.
I want to quickly dig up evolution again, and talk about it brief in the understanding of the creation of men and woman. Remember, according to what we just read a little earlier, God created both men and women. Evolution, whether it be naturalistic evolution or theistic evolution, could not have created man, according to Genesis. This is because in order for evolution to work, you have to have animals dying. According to the Bible, death never occurred before Genesis chapter 3 (see Genesis 3:21). So, it’s not possible for men and women to have been created through the process of evolution. Rather, they were created by God on the sixth day of creation. It takes more ‘faith’ to believe that a human was created through the process of evolution—randomly or naturally occurring processes—than to just believe that God created a person. A human is just too complex to come about naturally. And remember, too, that if people came about naturally, then all rules and morality are pointless: it’s every person for him or herself—it’s survival of the fittest.
And, so, let’s go back to the beginning of Genesis chapter 2 and finish the creation account. It is completed with the following: “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.” Therefore, God finished creating the heavens, plural, and the earth, and all the living creatures which reside in them. God is sole Creator of the universe, the sky, and earth, including all living things then. And this would include obviously any living things outside of the earth.
In closing today, you know, we’ve talked about quite a bit here. Perhaps some of this has been familiar to you—with the creation of animals and mankind. Perhaps some of it has been new. Maybe you are considering, in your own heart, that God really did create the world—that it didn’t come about through some so called ‘natural’ process like evolution. If God created the world, which I believe he did, that means we are accountable to him. That means that we do, today, as humans, matters.
In light of this truth, we then should be sure that we know God as best we can, and that we are seeking to be pleasing to him—make him happy, because, after all, he is God. Perhaps today you’ve been pricked in the heart. It could be possible to that you realize that what I have been saying is true. Don’t get your ‘own’ personal feelings about the creation or morality, or whatever they be, confuse you today. God has set standards in his created order, which are good standards, and they are right and true. God isn’t trying to hurt anyone—he wants everyone to be happy. But true happiness only comes in knowing him, and agreeing with his created order of things.
Today, if you would like to know God, to know him personally—to have a personal relationship with him, then your at the right place today. He is waiting for you to make that decision. He wants you to accept him as your personal Father, since he created you and made you in his image. He has provided a way for you to come to know him. As it is, everyone is originally separated from God because of sin—things we’ve committed in our lives against God. But God has provided a way for this sin problem to be dealt with through the death of Jesus on the cross, some 2,000 years ago, and through belief that God rose him from the dead. Jesus died and was raised so that anyone who wants to can come to know God—to be friends with him.
If you would like to accept Jesus today as your personal Lord and Savior, then follow my lead in this prayer:
God, today I come to you and ask that you forgive me of the wrongs I have committed against you in my life. I give my life over to you because I want you to be my true Father. Please forgive me of my sins and help me to live the life you want me to. I believe Jesus died and rose for me so that I might have a new life. Father, please change my life, and make me become like Jesus. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
-Daniel Litton
Last week we looked at the creation of the world as pertained to the first four days of God’s creation process. We learned about how God was in the beginning before anything that existed. We saw God create the earth and the universe, and how he created what the earth looks like, as it pertains to the waters and dry land. We noted the creation of the universe—the stars, our own solar system, and the planets in our solar system. We pondered the creation of the Sun and the Moon.
Today, I want to continue our study on the creation of the world, and we are going to look at the creation days 5 through 7. In these days, God created all animals and the first human. Then, finally, after everything he created, he rested from all his work on the seventh day. So, there is a lot to consider here. And there’s a lot we need to understand, and understand it through a correct mindset, one that sets aside theories like Evolution in understanding the beginnings of humans and animals.
So, today, I want us to consider Genesis chapter 1, and were going to look at chapter 1 verses 20 through 31, and then chapter 2 verses 1 through 3. These verses will be our primary text. I will be using the English Standard Version of the Bible today, just like last time. Let’s start in Genesis chapter 1, and verse 20. This is creation Day Five:
“And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.” (ESV)
On Day Five, we learn that God created both sea creatures and birds. Undoubtedly, there would have been more water on the earth than land, just as there is today. We learned last time that the original setup of the world had one large piece of dry land—one continent—and one large ocean, which was everywhere the content wasn’t, obviously. Remember, too, that the setup of the atmosphere was different. It didn’t rain on the earth, as every morning a mist would come up from the ground to water the living planets and trees, which were created on Day Four. Genesis chapter 2, verse 5 and 6 tell us, “When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground” (ESV). So, the makeup of the earth was different back then. The waters in the sky, which the writer of Genesis, Moses, mentioned in Genesis chapter 1 and verse 7, would not break forth until the Flood of the Noah. This would be the first time it would rain on the earth—during the days of Noah.
So God created, on Day Five, all the sea creatures and birds. This includes the great sea creatures, like giant whales, dolphins, sharks, etc, and the dinosauric sea creates which we no longer see today. And God also created the birds—animals like the bald eagle, hawks, owls, and their kinds. He also created the dinosauric birds. With each and every animal, God created them with a unique, genetic code. Each of them is unique, and one cannot turn into another—as evolution proclaims. Remember, when Charles Darwin came up with his theory in the 1800s, he didn’t know DNA existed. Unfortunately for him, DNA discredits his theory. DNA is a very meticulous code found in all living things, and animals do not change from one animal into another. Every code is unique and complex to the particular living thing in question.
Let’s take a look a Day Six of creation: “And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.” First on Day Six, God creates the land animals—which is a vast variety of animals. He created the livestock animals, like horses, cattle, sheep, and pigs. He created other “creeping animals” like snakes, alligators, etc. He created “beasts of the earth” like the Tyrannosaurus Rex, bears, lions, and wolves. And again, everything God made he did so with a unique DNA footprint. And God saw that all of it was good, and indeed it is good.
I want to take a moment here and talk about dinosaurs. According to what we just read about creation Day Six, dinosaurs had to be created on that day. This means that they lived alongside humans beings at least until the Flood of Noah. But how could dinosaurs live alongside humans and the humans live? I don’t think its fair to say that dinosaurs and humans lived in the same areas, though, they obviously crossed paths with each other from time to time. Let’s look at what is written in the Book of Job about one particular dinosaur. This is the Lord God speaking: ““Behold, Behemoth, which I made as I made you; he eats grass like an ox. Behold, his strength in his loins, and his power in the muscles of his belly. He makes his tail stiff like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are knit together. His bones are tubes of bronze, his limbs like bars of iron. He is the first of the works of God; let him who made him bring near his sword!” (Job 40:15-19, ESV). So, this particular dinosaur was a vegetarian, and probably was the Sauropoda as we call it today.
But God didn’t stop on Day Six with the creation of the land animals. The Bible also tells us that God created a man and a woman on the sixth day. We read, continuing in the passage: “Then 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 birds of the heavens and over the livestock and 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.”
Continuing on Day Six, first God created a man. Now, man was created superior to the rest of the creation, and not equal to the rest of the creation. Men and women are superior beings. Now, God gave mankind dominion, and he did this “over” all of the created plants and animals. That is why—in this day and age—man is able to eat animal. Animal should not freely eat man, but man can freely eat animal. Men and women can have farms whereby they raise animals. They can tame animals for their own purposes, like we have domesticated dogs and cats. They can breed animals for their purposes. But this does not give mankind free license to abuse animals in any way.
But how do we know Eve was created on Day Six with Adam? The creation of Eve by God is discussed in more detail in Genesis chapter 2. But this text does not seem to indicate it was the same day as Adam. However, we know it was the same day from a verse in Genesis chapter 5 and verses 1 and 2, of which it says, “In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created” (1-2ex, KJV). This text, then, clearly shows us that Eve was created on the same day as Adam.
Really, though, that’s not even necessary, for let’s continue the text. Notice how it says “them”: “And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.”
We note from this text that God gave “every green plant for food.” So, humans were originally created as vegetarians. Now, some of you who are vegetarians today will surely like this. Being a vegetarian is a healthy way to live. But, remember, nowadays God gives us, as humans, all animals to eat. It’s okay to eat them. We read the following in Acts chapter 11 the following from the Apostle Peter. In this text, he is talking about a vision he had just had: “Looking at it closely, I observed animals and beasts of prey and reptiles and birds of the air. And I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’ But I said, ‘By no means, Lord; for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ But the voice answered a second time from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, do not call common’ (Acts 11:6-9, ESV). So, God makes it clear that it’s good to eat meat from animals. God provides us meat and it should be accepted with thanksgiving.
I want to take a few moments here and examine the creation of man and woman a little closer. Now, Genesis chapter 2 gives us a more thorough account of Day Six of creation, as I’ve already mentioned. Let’s go ahead and read that account. Let’s pick up in verse 5, and read through verse 9 to get started: “When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground—then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”
First, I would like to note that God breathed in the man the breath of life, and this made the man a living soul. So, the man’s body could not function apart from the soul. The soul was necessary in order for the man to be alive. This is why man, nowadays, cannot create a Frankinstien. You cannot place body parts together in a lab and create a living person. Even if the technology was available to do so, it wouldn’t work. Cloning is possible, but all you are doing there is creating a replica of what God has already created, and God will grant the person a soul. It takes outside intelligence for life. Humans can play God, but that cannot create the materials that God originally made. All they can do is replicate God’s materials; they don’t use their ‘own’ materials.
Second, consider that God created “The tree of life” and “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” It would be the latter of these two supernatural trees that Adam and Eve would ultimately break the command of God and eat of it’s fruit. These trees were supernatural, by today’s standard though they weren’t supernatural back then, in that they had capabilities would pertained to spiritual things. The first tree, we learn later, gave the power to live forever (in one’s current state)—that is, the tree of life. Now, the second tree gave the power to know good and evil.
Let’s continue to read from Genesis 2: “A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is the Gihon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush. And the name of the third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
What I want to focus on here is that when God created the man, his primary purpose was to work. And so we, as man, do work even to this day. Working is something God created for man to do. It is part of his purpose. King Solomon noted this important point in the Book of Ecclesiastes. He said:
“What gain has the worker from his toil? I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God's gift to man.” (Ecclesiastes 3:9-13, ESV)
So, we learn here that God wants us, as humans, to enjoy our work, and that the work we do is his gift to us. That’s why your work should, when possible, correspond to your passions. You should like to do what you are doing in your career. Otherwise, it’s probably not for you. And last time we talked about the fact that God worked six days, resting on the seventh, and that this is a good model for as, as humans, to follow. This does not mean employers should have their employees work six days. We need at least one day off, besides the day of rest, for chores at home.
Continuing in the Genesis 2 passage, we read: “Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” Now out of the ground the LORD God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.” (Genesis 2:5-25, ESV)
So, man and woman are the most distinctly intricate creatures God created. Humans are the highest creatures of God’s created order. Let’s consider what the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15, and verses 39 through 41. He said: “For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory” (1 Corinthians 15:39-41, ESV). Only men and women are truly able to enjoy the beauty of God’s creation. Birds sing for joy because they are fed, but humans are able to truly understand God’s nature and beauty and bounty that belongs to it. Hence, we worship God as a result—at least those of us who know him. Why do those who don’t know God worship themselves as if they were a god? They can’t create one thing of God’s creation like he did.
We also see with the creation of woman the first marriage, which was God ordained. So, God sets the created order of marriage between one man and one woman. Even nature itself in this day and age displays this, though, humans have tried and do pervert marriage. It is impossible for two people of the same sex to get married because the very essence of marriage means it’s God approved. If it’s not God approved, it’s not a marriage. Even with a government backing of the so-called ‘marriage,’ it’s not a ‘real’ marriage; it’s just a civil union no matter what you call it. Perversions of marriage like homosexuality and polygamy developed only after the fall of mankind in Genesis chapter 3. They were not God ordained.
I want to quickly dig up evolution again, and talk about it brief in the understanding of the creation of men and woman. Remember, according to what we just read a little earlier, God created both men and women. Evolution, whether it be naturalistic evolution or theistic evolution, could not have created man, according to Genesis. This is because in order for evolution to work, you have to have animals dying. According to the Bible, death never occurred before Genesis chapter 3 (see Genesis 3:21). So, it’s not possible for men and women to have been created through the process of evolution. Rather, they were created by God on the sixth day of creation. It takes more ‘faith’ to believe that a human was created through the process of evolution—randomly or naturally occurring processes—than to just believe that God created a person. A human is just too complex to come about naturally. And remember, too, that if people came about naturally, then all rules and morality are pointless: it’s every person for him or herself—it’s survival of the fittest.
And, so, let’s go back to the beginning of Genesis chapter 2 and finish the creation account. It is completed with the following: “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.” Therefore, God finished creating the heavens, plural, and the earth, and all the living creatures which reside in them. God is sole Creator of the universe, the sky, and earth, including all living things then. And this would include obviously any living things outside of the earth.
In closing today, you know, we’ve talked about quite a bit here. Perhaps some of this has been familiar to you—with the creation of animals and mankind. Perhaps some of it has been new. Maybe you are considering, in your own heart, that God really did create the world—that it didn’t come about through some so called ‘natural’ process like evolution. If God created the world, which I believe he did, that means we are accountable to him. That means that we do, today, as humans, matters.
In light of this truth, we then should be sure that we know God as best we can, and that we are seeking to be pleasing to him—make him happy, because, after all, he is God. Perhaps today you’ve been pricked in the heart. It could be possible to that you realize that what I have been saying is true. Don’t get your ‘own’ personal feelings about the creation or morality, or whatever they be, confuse you today. God has set standards in his created order, which are good standards, and they are right and true. God isn’t trying to hurt anyone—he wants everyone to be happy. But true happiness only comes in knowing him, and agreeing with his created order of things.
Today, if you would like to know God, to know him personally—to have a personal relationship with him, then your at the right place today. He is waiting for you to make that decision. He wants you to accept him as your personal Father, since he created you and made you in his image. He has provided a way for you to come to know him. As it is, everyone is originally separated from God because of sin—things we’ve committed in our lives against God. But God has provided a way for this sin problem to be dealt with through the death of Jesus on the cross, some 2,000 years ago, and through belief that God rose him from the dead. Jesus died and was raised so that anyone who wants to can come to know God—to be friends with him.
If you would like to accept Jesus today as your personal Lord and Savior, then follow my lead in this prayer:
God, today I come to you and ask that you forgive me of the wrongs I have committed against you in my life. I give my life over to you because I want you to be my true Father. Please forgive me of my sins and help me to live the life you want me to. I believe Jesus died and rose for me so that I might have a new life. Father, please change my life, and make me become like Jesus. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
-Daniel Litton