Multiplying Life
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The Multiplier of Life:
The Multiplier of Life:
God Commands Us to Be a Multiplier of Life. (Genesis 1:26-28)
Family - biological
Be fruitful and multiply…be prosperous and increase greatly in number. It’s part of the blessing.
Fill the earth.
You are my image bearers.
Take my image all over my creation, manage this good and blessed creation, and enjoy what I have made for you.
Subdue and Rule - already covered but are a subset of cultivating and keeping.
subdue and rule, originally, is about creation and not about people.
subduing and ruling people occurs after the fall
But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. “It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant,
Should be about servant-leadership.
“Cultivating” is about worship of God through works of service rendered.
Rule also translated dominion
forcefully taking dominion occurs after the fall.
But in its proper understanding - it ties into keeping
“Keeping” is about protecting and providing.
That which God has given you oversight.
Family - spiritual
Families are the building blocks of society and the church
Family and the church keeps society headed in the right direction.
Multiplying the church - the Great Commission.
Dominion - Thy Kingdom Come
We Cannot Multiply Alone. (Genesis 2:18, 23)
We Cannot Multiply Alone. (Genesis 2:18, 23)
Not Good / Good
The one thing that was declared Not Good by God in the original creation. No helper.
Everything God does is for the good of His people, and when it is not good, He turns it into good.
A Helper.
Eve
Imago Dei.
Dignity of being created in His Image.
Not less than man, but equal to.
Same word used of God as our helper.
Suitable For Him
corresponding to - “towards”
interdependence
a partner
Someone to help manage creation.
Can mean alongside him.
Taken from side…
partner, confidant, in this together
a complement to
home and family.
The same, but different
Different bodies
Different physical makeup
Different psychological makeup
Different roles
primary vs. exclusive
Different responsibilities
Different responses
The Church Needs You and You Need The Church
The Church cannot multiply alone.
It is not good for us to try to live this Christian life on our own.
The Helper given to the Church? The Holy Spirit.
“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.
Multiplying the Church is a group effort and we each have a part to play.
But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
For the body is not one member, but many.
so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.
Man vs. Woman (vs. 23) - God determines how that was to happen.
Man vs. Woman (vs. 23) - God determines how that was to happen.
Male (zakar) and Female (neqeba) - Hebrew words that refer particularly to biological sex. (Genesis 1:27)
Hebrew words mean - biology in reference to procreation.
it is also why after parading the animals before Adam, he could not find any suitable partner, which would include procreation.
Each kind of animal had a male and a female. What about me? Where’s my female partner?
“And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.
Man (Ish) and Woman (Ishshah). Gender confusion?
Hebrew terms used to specify genders in particular.
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/can-men-become-pregnant#is-it-possible
A person’s gender may include specific social roles, norms, and expectations that differentiate men and women.
These characteristics are subjective, and they differ among societies, social classes, and cultures. The gender by which a person identifies depends on the individual.
ish does not mean humankind in general, but specifically a man
ishshah defined as one who bears children
What is a woman? - Matt Walsh
An adult female who can bear children.
ish and ishshah can be translated as husband and wife and are connected with the previous terms of Male and Female.
The Spiritual Family - the church
Different responsibilities
It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do.
Differing but equally important roles within the church.
On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary; and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable, whereas our more presentable members have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked,
We are interdependent.
But now there are many members, but one body.
We are partners and work together.
Multiplying in the Context of Dominion. (Genesis 2:19-23)
Multiplying in the Context of Dominion. (Genesis 2:19-23)
The naming of the animals - conferring a blessing and also of declaring one’s domain.
Adam Takes Ownership of His Role
Adam names Eve. (vs 23)
Confers a blessing and declares that woman is now under His domain to care and keep.
Cultivate - serve her in worship of God.
Keep - protect and provide for her.
Be a steward of what God has provided.
To watch carefully over, to preserve, guard, protect.
Adam is accepting His role as head of the family
We don’t manage someone else’s family...
We don’t have more than one family...
We have a responsibility to manage those under our appointed domain.
Our Spiritual Family
God put us together into church families as well.
We have to take ownership of our church family.
What church do you go to?
Membership. You are more than a regular attender. If you consider this your home church, then you are given the privilege to claim this place as “under your domain”.
We have to accept our role in the Cultivating and Keeping of the family of God.
to worship God through acts of service.
to protect and provide for the church.
As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Multiplying In the Context of Biblical Marriage (Genesis 2:21-25)
Multiplying In the Context of Biblical Marriage (Genesis 2:21-25)
Our Marriages Should Be A Reflection of Our Relationship to Jesus.
Our Example (vs 21)
deep sleep - idiom for death…pierced his side…woke him up…brought him his bride.
This is why the issue of marriage is an important one for the church.
For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.
Proper order.
leave father and mother - cords of allegiance and dependency
be joined to his wife - cling, cleave - commitment, emotional, interdependence, affection, loyalty, to keep close to.
Then become one flesh. - intimate, physical union. Oneness. 1+1 = 1
Unashamed in nakedness - a vulnerable openness. Nothing to hide. Trust
Our Marriages Should Be a Reflection of God to the World.
We are not only the Imago Dei as individuals, we are the Imago Dei as a couple and even as a family.
We are to mirror God’s Image to the world.
Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.
God is love. We exhibit God’s love by how we love each of our family members.
God is just. We exhibit God’s justice by being accountable to each other and owning up to our mistakes.
God is forgiving. We exhibit God’s forgiveness by forgiving each other.
God is merciful and compassionate. We exhibit God’s mercy and compassion by being kind and considerate of each other.
Just like the Trinity is in fellowship and union with each other, so our family relationship should reflect the same.
Not to push the analogy too far, but Father, Holy Spirit, and Son.
Father, Mother, Child.
We Want to be a Family of Families that Reflect the Love and Character of God.
We Want to be a Family of Families that Reflect the Love and Character of God.
My Desire is for Lighthouse Fellowship to Be a Godly Example of Marriages to the Greater Corsica Area.
I would love it if we were considered a marriage center and tying in to the tag line - we are a refuge for marriages in a storm tossed world.
This doesn’t mean we have perfect marriages.
It does mean we are striving to look more like Christ and treat each other like Jesus did us.
Application Questions:
Men, have you accepted proper dominion over your family?
Your role as head of the family.
Cultivate - serve her in worship of God.
Keep - protect and provide for her.
provided the necessary means for your wife to thrive, prosper, and grow?
If not, let’s do so. Let’s even recommit. Pray.
But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her,
Husbands, do you love your wives as Christ loved the church?
This is a high calling and responsibility and to be done in worship.
We do not rule and subdue women.
We serve and love.
Let’s stop and ask God to help us. Pray.
Wives, do you place yourself under your husband’s headship?
Voluntarily putting oneself under the rule and authority of another.
Creation had no option to come under the Rule and Dominion of. Goes back to the choice, choosing God’s way, choosing life.
Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.
women are to respect their husbands.
Let’s stop and recommit to doing so. Pray.
Do your marriages and family show the world a picture of God the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit?
Is God at the center of your family?
Does the blood of Jesus cover the doorposts and lintels of your home?
Is your home filled with the Holy Spirit?
Let’s recommit to doing so. Pray.
Family Prayer Song