Sermon Tone Analysis

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.

The has the result of showing us 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 doesn 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

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.

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).

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.

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.”

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

“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.

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.”

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.

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 Even to use force to bring the creation under control so that the purposes of God would be established.

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:

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).