Sermon Tone Analysis

God’s First Command

Genesis 1:

Line of thought...

God’s chooses to make man in His image

Man and woman are created

God’s first command is to be fruitful

Therefore, central to the image of God is creation and fruitfulness.

Fruitfulness is not a sort of option

Instructive that God’s first command to humanity is to be fruitful.

In this, we see that the

It is a key part of Who God is, and how we respond.

So, this morning, we will look at three aspects...

Examples of how fruitfulness is central to God’s image

How God calls us to be fruitful as spouses

How we live out family life together

God’s Fruitfulness

The first two chapters of Genesis are key in our understanding of the nature of God

The first two chapters of Genesis are key in our understanding of the nature of God

Genesis 1:1

The first picture we get of God in the Bible, is a God who creates.

He starts with light, goes to bodies of water, to plants, to animals, and finally…to us

Ephesians 2:

Wherever God is, He is creating something new.

Eph 2:

Whether it be physical life, or spiritual life, God is always fruitful, and always creative.

He creates out of nothing, and He raises from the dead.

That is the first theme we get of His image.

Silver and gold in the earth, growth in the creatures of the forests, the fruitfulness and unquenchable generosity of the soil, all is the ceaseless work of the God of creation, which goes forward through the labors of mankind.21

God creates the babes in the mother’s body—man being only an instrument in God’s hand—and then he sustains them with his gifts, brought to the children through the labors of father and mother in their parental office.

“Even though a father is an instrument of procreation, God himself is the source and author of life.”22

So, it is not surprising, therefore, that God’s first command to us is to be fruitful!

Our Fruitfulness

Question: Why do you think sexual desire is such a powerful factor in the world?

It’s because God’s first, and most basic call for us, is to create life.

God created these powerful physical and emotional desires, because His first call for humanity was to create more humans!

Be fruitful!

Question: Let’s say you have a presentation.

If you really want people to get it, do you lead with the most important thing, or with something that doesn’t matter much?

This about that…The first words that were uttered to Adam and Eve were, essentially…Make babies.

Now, there are some that God have not blessed with this ability, and they should not feel shame for their lack of fruitfulness.

It is a reality in a broken and fallen world.

Even so, God’s presumption in marriage is the creation of more life.

We see how the church lived this out, and how the Bible points to fruitfulness as a gift!!!

Consistently in Scripture, the birth of children is cause for great celebration!

I have a fear that Christians today sound far more like the world around them than the Word of God when it comes to children.

Our ambitions have far less to do with happy homes within which we celebrate children.

We manage them.

We give them a million activities.

We send them away for half the day.

But do we enjoy them?

Do we LOVE the idea of blessing our homes with children!?

Well, God created marriage for children, and if we wish to think like God, we should act like God.

Make some babies, if you are able!

Parents and Children

Our number one goal as parents is to love our children in such a way that they are compelled to follow the God we follow.

This is not to say your child won’t turn away from a time.

They’re sinners.

It’s not to say you’ll never be saddened.

It’s not to say you’ve had good parents.

It is to say that our mission as parents is to hand to our children the faith once delivered

Characteristics of a Christian Home

Joy (not necessarily happiness)

Order

Grace

Service

Discipline

Purpose

Conclusion: God wants us to create just as He creates, and He wants us to create homes in which the love of Christ is the heartbeat of the household.