01-10 God Makes Man--Part 3
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Genesis 1:28-31
Genesis 1:28-31
Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations (3290 No Absolute Limits)
3290 No Absolute Limits
After satisfying himself that there must be some absolute limits to human strength, speed, agility and endurance, Brutus Hamilton, coach of the U.S. Olympic team about 70 years ago, compiled a list of what he considered to be the “ultimate” in track and field performances. No one, said Hamilton out of confidence based on long experience, would ever run the 100-yard dash in less than 9.2 sec. or the mile in less than 3 min. 57.8 sec. No one would ever put the shot more than 62 ft., throw the discus more than 200 ft., do better than 7 ft. 1 in high jump, 27 ft. in the long jump, or 16 ft. in the pole vault.Since then, in every case, someone has.
The human body is such an amazing act of God’s creative wisdom. It is capable of truly remarkable feats: World Records
This relates to the end of Genesis 1 as God summarizes the responsibilities He is placing on man and woman (which He has created in His own image) to share regency over His creation in a way that God’s control, authority and presence is mediated upon the earth by the crowing jewel of His creation—mankind.
As we come to the end of ch 1—there are 3 key ingredients for man (humans) to fulfil the divine responsibilities placed on him on this 6th day of creation. This reveals the direct and personal involvement of God with respect to all aspects of His created universe. In other words—contrary to those who think God is responsible for creation but designed within that creation for it to run itself and He stepped away and today has no personal involvement with and does not intervene within His creation. This was popular in the 17-18th century (even among founding fathers) but has renewed interest by those who consider themselves to have no religious affiliation yet still believe in “God.”
1. Divine Enablement
1. Divine Enablement
Following God’s purposeful self-deliberation in vs 26 “let us make...” He creates man in His own image (vs 27). We’ve explored why this makes man unique above all other aspects of the created universe. But one of the purposes for creating man in His image—according to His likeness was for them “to rule over...”. God did not purpose to step away from his creation and from personal intervention but that man would become a vice-regent: to exercise dominion over a kingdom which is delegated by a sovereign.
This is precisely what God has done. God is LORD (Yahweh—Ex 3:15) It is the personal name of the covenant God which will quickly be revealed in Gen 2. God is Lord. He exercises control over His creation:
John Frame:
What he intends to do, he accomplishes. Nothing is too hard for him (Jer. 32:27; Gen. 18:14). His word is never void of power (Isa. 55:11). His prophecies always come to pass (Deut. 18:21–22).
This is what we often call the sovereignty of God. Everything that happens in the world comes from him. He is the one who sends rain, thunder, and lightning (Pss. 65:9–11; 135:6–7; 147:15–18). He makes things freeze, then melts the ice. The smallest details of nature are under his control: the falling of a sparrow, the number of hairs on your head (Matt. 6:26–30; 10:29–30). And the events that we call random, that we ascribe to chance, are really God at work.
33 The lot is cast into the lap, But its every decision is from the Lord.
Not only in little inconsequential matters but in the grand scheme of things He also controls these matters:
He determines what nations will dwell in which territory (Acts 17:26). He decides what king is to rule, when, and where (Isa. 44:28). He decides whether the purpose of a nation will stand or fall (Ps. 33:10–11). And he decided, once, that wicked people would take the life of his own dear Son, so that we, we sinners, might live (Acts 2:23–24).
Lordship is a matter of controlling—directing the course of His creation (to its intended goal) and God’s lordship means there is also authority (God is the supreme Lawgiver) who has the right to tell His creatures what they must do—they are obligated to Him (b/c they are creatures and God owns everything).
1 The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it. 2 For He has founded it upon the seas And established it upon the rivers.
11 Thus says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker: “Ask Me about the things to come concerning My sons, And you shall commit to Me the work of My hands. 12 “It is I who made the earth, and created man upon it. I stretched out the heavens with My hands And I ordained all their host.
10 “For every beast of the forest is Mine, The cattle on a thousand hills. 11 “I know every bird of the mountains, And everything that moves in the field is Mine.
8 ‘The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine,’ declares the Lord of hosts.
4 “Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine. The soul who sins will die.
This authority is absolute (with no right to reject/rebel against it). It transcends all other loyalties.
Now later, God expresses His will to be with His creation and specifically with His people. Ch 12 is the record of God taking Abram to be His people. In Exodus He establishes the temple and would dwell among the people…and would be their God and they would be His people (theme repeated in Bible).
As vice-regent man would be delegated this control, authority and since He is the image-bearer of God—would represent the presence of God on the earth to the glory of God.
But the only way to do this would be thru divine enablement...vs 28 “and/then God blessed them...” (male and female—vs 27).
It is God’s blessing that would enable man and woman to be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, subdue it and rule over God’s creation. The blessing could only come from God since He alone can give life.
39 ‘See now that I, I am He, And there is no god besides Me; It is I who put to death and give life. I have wounded and it is I who heal, And there is no one who can deliver from My hand.
6 “The Lord kills and makes alive; He brings down to Sheol and raises up.
The blessing comes before the Lord charges man to do anything. Gordon Wenham writes
“This command, like others in Scripture, carries an implicit promise that God will enable man to fulfill it.”
1 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.
2 “I will establish My covenant between Me and you, And I will multiply you exceedingly.”
20 “As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him, and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.
3 “May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples.
11 God also said to him, “I am God Almighty; Be fruitful and multiply; A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, And kings shall come forth from you.
2. Divine Commands
2. Divine Commands
There are 2 overarching commands that are given by God to the man and woman (notice “God said to them…”)
A. To Procreate
A. To Procreate
“be fruitful, and multiply and fill the earth.”
This command is usually interpreted “Have lots of children.” (I’ve even heard that the only ones who are obedient are those with at least 4 kids—multiply?!?).
From the beginning God’s plan for procreation was to be one of the revealed purposes for marriage and that marriage was designed by God to be between 1 man and 1 woman. We see this definition in Gen 2:22-24.
God designed male and female for this purpose—that 2 shall become 1 flesh: the most intimate bond of all human relationships. It is within that union that the command to be fruitful and multiply is blessed by God and the designed means for Him to be glorified as the earth is then filled by humanity. Now, we know that is is possible for men and women to procreate outside the bond of marriage (and this is the rebellion of the human heart and a result of sin)—but that is not God’s purpose and His blessing is reserved for that union. Now, all life is precious and the Lord is capable of restoring this b/c He is gracious and compassionate.
You can note how the command to be fruitful and multiply is God’s creativity in designing living creatures able to procreate. But as MacArthur writes:
“It is a unique and beautiful expression of God’s love for humanity, that He created us with the ability to procreate and thus produce more creatures made in His image. And not only did He want a world full of them, but He also designed men and women to partake in the joy of fulfilling that purpose.”
Children—the fruit of the womb are a joy and blessing from the Lord.
3 Behold, children are a gift of the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward.
The idea of multiplying (not just having lots of children) but having influence on successive generations is possibly in the mind of God here. Henry Morris III comments that “fathers have for millennia chosen husbands for their daughters-and many societies still practice that custom. Even in the sophisticated Western world, fathers still try to influence the marriages of their children, knowing that there are many, many consequences of raising children and extending families.”
This necessitates influence on successive generations.
B. To Rule Over Creation
B. To Rule Over Creation
God’s command given to both man and woman (to them) is to rule (trss have dominion) and to subdue (the earth). Before looking a bit closer at what this command consists of, it is important to think about why there is a need to subdue the earth and rule over it.
The Nelson Study Bible gives 4 possibilities:
(1) Sin would ruin the earth, and people would have to expend great effort to live there (see 3:17–19). (2) Satan would defy the will of God and make all good efforts difficult. (3) The earth left to itself would not remain good. Instead, God planned that people would need to manage and control it. (4) The beauty of the earth was only in the garden that God planted (see 2:8); the rest of the earth would be hostile.
Of course, at this point there is no flaw in God’s creation. Though sin is provisioned for in the eternal purpose of God, it has not yet entered into that creation. But responsibility is still given to man to rule God’s creation (not just Adam but all humanity is charged with this responsibility).
To rule is the term used for treading the wine press (Joel 4:13). It carries the added idea of ruling (often associated with oppression—in negative sense of the the term).
To subdue carries the idea of to subjugate, to humiliate (to force into the humiliation of slavery—Neh 5:5) or even in the violation of a woman (Esther 7:8). Sometimes it was used of the military subjecting the population of a city (Num 32:22,29) and even the Lord treading our iniquities under foot.
11 King David also dedicated these to the Lord, with the silver and gold that he had dedicated from all the nations which he had subdued:
16 “Yet you turned and profaned My name, and each man took back his male servant and each man his female servant whom you had set free according to their desire, and you brought them into subjection to be your male servants and female servants.” ’
19 He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, You will cast all their sins Into the depths of the sea.
All of these images have the idea of violence or at least the use of force and maybe even suggests the hostility of that which needs to be subdued—to bring it into subjection. To subdue the earth would require Adam and Eve to use force to bring the creation under control so that the purposes of God would be established. I think it shows us—that even in the perfect world, the creation needed to be sustained (according to God’s purposes).
James Boice notes a problem that results from the condition of sin in Gen 3. “In his sin man either tends to dominate and thus violate the creation, subjecting it to his own selfish ends, or else he tends to fall down and worship the creation, not realizing that his debasement is brought about in the process.”
To avoid the extremes is where we would find a true fulfillment of God’s command. In the creative wisdom of God He has also designed man to be capable of learning and growing. Man would have to learn (acquire knowledge) about the earth, earth’s systems and processes, to master the environment and utilize that knowledge in a productive manner that would benefit all humanity, the creation itself, and bring honor to the Creator. So we’re capable of vast learning—manifest in the Garden as God:
15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.
I mentioned last time that the Xn ought to be the best environmentalist—not b/c we bow down and worship the creation but b/c we understand God’s purpose for creation and have in us the desire to glorify God in everything.
Israel understood that they were designed by God to be caretakers (not only of family but also of the welfare of the earth). In their agrarian economy—they cared for their livestock:
10 A righteous man has regard for the life of his animal, But even the compassion of the wicked is cruel.
23 Know well the condition of your flocks, And pay attention to your herds;
4 “You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing.
16 The heavens are the heavens of the Lord, But the earth He has given to the sons of men.
Now again, sin alters everything. In this condition all the more effort is required to bring creation into subjection and it seems like a never-ending task—in many ways, it will not end until the Lord takes away the curse.
There are so many variety of ways that even fallen man has maintained dominion of God’s creation…planting and harvesting crops (everything involved in that—research GMOs, etc.), domesticating and caring for animals, in some ways—even the world’s response to COVID was the result of having dominion over God’s creation (mass communication, scientific discovery), the ability to harness earth’s resources—power, wind, solar power, reservoirs).
3. Divine Provision
3. Divine Provision
29-31 How does God sustain life (He maintains total control—even that which is delegated to mankind)? He makes provision for what is necessary. What He creates He preserves.
Note how everything is herbivorous (plant eating) both humans and animals—there was no death of living beings (nephesh) prior to Gen 3.
Victor Hamilton writes “humankind survives on a vegetarian diet. What is strange, and probably unexplainable (from a scientific position), is the fact that the animals too are not carnivores but also vegetarians.”
Hamilton, V. P. (1990). The Book of Genesis, Chapters 1–17 (p. 140). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
God makes provision for His creation and in the final commendation regarding the creative activity of God:
31 God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
“Very good.” Where God calls the individual elements of creation “good” He reserves the superlative “very” to speak of creation in its entirety. Very—exceedingly, or “very greatly”.
There was harmony and perfection at the end of the 6th day and it served as a perfect reflection of God who created it all. It was all that He intended it to be. Nothing fell outside of that intent.
This is, of course, not what we experience today. Sin has affected everything within God’s creation. Man is fallen, creation is subjected to futility, even the work God gave man to do has been made severely more difficult and we understand this is not the end.
For it is Christ alone who does what no man ha been able to do. He will
8 the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.
14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,
That victory was accomplished at the cross. And we are waiting for the final culmination of all Christ secured.
24 then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. 25 For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. 26 The last enemy that will be abolished is death. 27 For He has put all things in subjection under His feet. But when He says, “All things are put in subjection,” it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him.
Then the saints will reign with Christ and it is in the Millennial kingdom (1000 yr reign) that earth will be restored to that condition of Gen 1:31. All the effects of sin will be erased, the curse lifted…the world will finally get a glimpse of what Eden was intended to be. And it all centers around the work and person of JC. We remember that today as we come to the Lord’s Table and honor the Man Christ Jesus.