Genesis, In the Beginning - II
Genesis 1:26-2:3
August 26, 2007
John Ryan

Genesis 1:26 God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.
The final act of creation - man and woman.
The ultimate act of creation - God placing His glory in man.
Image and likeness refer to the real essence of something that makes it unique. We are like God in the fact we have passion, emotions, reason, etc. What makes Him unique is that all of who He is - is perfect, holy. This is His glory. The overwhelming greatness and awesomeness of God is His holiness.

II Cor. 11:7 - a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God,

Our primary purpose here on earth - to know God and reflect His glory. It is the glory of God in us that lets us have relationship with God. (Colossians 1:27)
Our secondary purpose here on earth - to be God's steward over the earth and all its creation. Dominion means to rule over and to govern. We are God's representatives here on earth to govern over the earth. We are above all creation here on this earth.

Genesis 1:27 ... male and female he created them.
Evolution has never had an answer for how male and female members of any species appeared. According to Darwin's Theory - all life cam from one primordial soup and specifically from one cell. How the single cell evolved into the complex animals we have now is not fully known by evolutionist but even more mysterious is the appearances of the sexes. Here God creates males and females - part of His master plan for mankind's enjoyment and for mankind's ability to fulfill God's next command.

Genesis 1:28 "Be fruitful and multiply ..."
God gave man three commands after He blessed them. After He said, my pleasure is on you for you to know me and to succeed according to my will.

1) Reproduce - Have children and have many of them. This is God's will but sin will definitely skew all of these commands.
Logic tells us that originally there had to be one parent. It is inconceivable that two or more totally independent individuals could each give rise to offspring that turn out to be the same biological species. Very recent publications?? have cast some interesting light on this issue. A study of the Y-chromosomes of 38 males around the world indicated one common male parent, mathematically estimated, to go back 270 000 years but with a lower possible limit of 27 000 years. (Louw Alberts, "Christianity and The Enquiring Mind".

2) Subdue the earth - This implies that in order to have dominion there would be work required. Subdue means to bring under subjection. The animals and the plants would require work if they were to be governed as God's stewards.

Work - has always been a part of God's plan. It is not a curse but it was not made to make us happy or make us right with God. It was given as a secondary part of our purpose. But the purpose, was to carry out our role in being God's steward on this great gift we call earth. It is the means (work) to the end (being a steward in relationship with God Almighty). We have made work the end (how to have significance and or relationship with God) to the means.

3) Dominion - Again the idea implies that man is a steward as He governs.

Genesis 1:29-30 29 God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant ...
Apparently, the scripture states that mankind and animal-kind were created as vegetarians. In Genesis 9, we see that this changes. All plants were given to man - but obviously, not all things were edible for food - ie. bark, grass, etc.

Genesis 1:31 God saw everything that he had made, ... it was very good."
God's evaluation of all He had done was this - "it was very good."
All God made was not only good - but very good. The entire creation of this earth please The creator greatly. Before sin entered this world, all God made was very good. We can see that we were created as a pleasure to the Father. How does He view us since the fall? Are we a bother? Are our sinful lives despised by Holy God? Do we bring shame to the One who took such great pleasure? What are you worth now?
Consider this - the value of something is what one is willing to give. Before creation - God saw the sin to come and planned to give His only Son for our sin-full lives. Before creation, during creation, after creation, and after the fall you have been found worth much to the Creator.
(Matt. 25:34; Eph. 1:4, 3:9-11; II Tim 1:9; Titus 1:2; Rev. 13:8, 17:8)
Why? Your worth is not based on what you do or don't do, it is based on who He is - Perfect Love. He created you, reached out to you in Jesus, and now restores you because of His goodness not ours. In Christ, He once again looks at His creation and says - "you are very good - you are completely loved." (II Cor. 5:17,21; Eph. 3:17-19; )

II Corinthians 5:17, 21/ 17 If anyone belongs to Christ, there is a new creation. The old things have gone; everything is made new! 21 Christ had no sin, but God made him become sin so that in Christ we could become right with God.

Genesis 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished,
This word denotes a finality to the creative acts of God. Are new planets being birthed? Are new people being birthed? Are new islands forming on our earth? The answer to all these questions are yes. Are there new species or new laws of physics or new materials being created. The scripture says no and even science seems to says no. (See the 1st law of Thermodynamics.)

Genesis 2:2-3 2...he rested on the seventh day from all his work ...
On the seventh day, God rests. Does God grow weary? Does God need rest? The scripture says no. (Ps. 121:3-4/ 3...He who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.) Why the rest on the 7th day? God made the day holy. Literally, He set the day aside and made the day for Him. The Hebrew word (the language of Genesis and the OT) for "cessation" is the word "sabat" where we get the word for Sabbath. God established a day that would be set aside for rest. It would have many purposes.

Purposes of the Sabbath Under the Old Covenant

The Sabbath was a day created by God for man to be a means by which our living pattern could imitate His. (Mark 2:27; Ex. 20:3-11) Work is followed by rest as God did in creation.

1) It was a day of rest for God's people. Man is limited and was designed to need rest even before the fall. Mental and physical rest are needed by all.
(Gen. 2:2; Deut. 5:14)
2) It was a day of rest for God's people to worship - to think about and enjoy what God had accomplished.
(Ps. 92 - This was song about the Sabbath; Is. 58:13)
3) It was a festival that directly celebrated redemption as a part of God's story. He is Redeemer and was to be remembered as such on the Sabbath.
(Deut. 5:14-15)
4) It also held the promise of the ultimate salvation that God would accomplish for His people. (Hebrew 4:1-10; Gen. 3:15)

The Sabbath Now...
Some Christians hold that this day is a command we are all still to keep. And, some keep this day on Saturday is was originally established. Most Christians follow the early church's lead in two areas:
1) The Sabbath is no longer a command of the law that we keep. (Col. 2:16-17; Gal 4:9-10)
2) Sunday has replaced Saturday as the day of rest and worship. (Acts 20:7; I Cor. 16:2)

Is There More For Us Now?

We are not bound to the legal requirements of the Sabbath but God has designed principals for our good. These were given before the law on the 7th day of creation. Remember, these are principals, they are not law.
1) We should find one day to rest from our work and meet with God.
That does not mean we should not rest or worship on other days. We should live a life of constant renewal in rest and worship. However, if we do not set aside one day, we run the risk of never really ceasing or stopping to fully rest or fully devote or hearts and mind to worship.
* Whatever it is that you do for a living, you should take a day and not do it. If possible, there should be a day where we cease from work and rest our body and mind. Doctors say this would drastically reduce the stress in our lives even for those who love their job.
* This day should also be a day of worship. Meeting God is the point. This can be done alone, with others, outside in creation, or in your closet.
* This day should be a day you remember that you are a new creation in Christ and that you do not have to work to make yourself right with God. (II Cor. 5:17, 21)