Created In His Image

Good Morning!

Genesis 1 (English Standard Version)
The Creation of the World
1In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
3And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
6And God said, "Let there be an expanse[a] in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters." 7And God made[b] the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. 8And God called the expanse Heaven.[c] And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.
9And God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear." And it was so. 10God called the dry land Earth,[d] and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
11And God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants[e] yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth." And it was so. 12The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.
14And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons,[f] and for days and years, 15and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth." And it was so. 16And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
20And God said, "Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds[g] fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens." 21So 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. 22And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth." 23And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.
24And 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. 25And 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.
26Then God said, "Let us make man[h] 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."
27So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
28And 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." 29And 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. 30And 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. 31 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.
Footnotes:
a. Genesis 1:6 Or a canopy; also verses 7, 8, 14, 15, 17, 20
b. Genesis 1:7 Or fashioned; also verse 16
c. Genesis 1:8 Or Sky; also verses 9, 14, 15, 17, 20, 26, 28, 30; 2:1
d. Genesis 1:10 Or Land; also verses 11, 12, 22, 24, 25, 26, 28, 30; 2:1
e. Genesis 1:11 Or small plants; also verses 12, 29
f. Genesis 1:14 Or appointed times
g. Genesis 1:20 Or flying things; see Leviticus 11:19-20
h. Genesis 1:26 The Hebrew word for man (adam) is the generic term for mankind and becomes the proper name Adam

As I said yesterday, when you believe the first four words (In the beginning, God), it becomes easier to believe the rest of creation’s story. If you don’t believe the first four words, then believing God created anything is impossible. You and I don’t have that problem – we know God is and has always been and will always be – so we understand how He created light and darkness; land and sea; the heavens and all the stars that dwell in them. We have no problem understanding that God created both the lamb and the lion, the hippopotamus and the gnat; the eagle and the crow. Every good and wonderful thing comes from God – and everything He created is good – even the mosquito that bit me on the shoulder last night.

The last thing that Moses recorded as God creating was humans. And Moses said we were created in the very image of God. Imagine that! We are the very image of God. I could go into my Sunday school lesson about how we know God in three different ways: God the Father who is a Spirit; God the Son who became flesh; and God the Holy Spirit who is indwelling – and how man has a body, a soul and a spirit – but that’s for another day. Suffice it to say that God created us to have perfect fellowship with Him. And we can have that fellowship with Him when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

Reading the 28th verse reminds me of the time we took a whole bunch of children fishing at Mr. Fred’s. We talked with the children about how God had given us dominion over the fish – and one little girl took it very literally. She put her baited hook into the lake and began chanting “here, fishy fishy”. Within a few minutes, we were taking a fish off her line. Jesus said a child shall lead them – and I guess that is true in this instance.

In the very last verse, God makes the observation that everything He has made is very good – and then He rested. You and I are part of that everything He made was very good. I realize that we can find a lot of fault in ourselves – and others too. But God declared His creation very good. And that makes me feel good this good day.

Agape’

Mr. Jim