Genesis 2:1-3 – Enjoy and maintain a good Sabbath Rest

God completed His creation in six days. Genesis states categorically that He created the heavens and the earth. Things did not just evolve as the theory of evolution would have us to believe. The formless and chaotic mass on earth was transformed. Step by step God made the earth habitable and then filled it with the life forms. Plants, sea creatures, birds of the air and land animals were brought forth to add colour and spice to life. They were commissioned to multiply and fill the earth.

Man is God’s highest creation. He is the crown of all that God had made. Made in the image and likeness of God, man is His representative and left on earth to steward it. To function effectively, God gave man unusual ability and resource. So man could subdue and dominate the earth effectively. God knows that for man to always be at his peak, he not only needs to expend his energy, but he must also rest. So God set the pace by providing and instructing that a day be set apart for rest. It is true that no one can go on and on without rest. Studies had proven that people breakdown mentally and physically when they are made to work without a rest day in a week.      

Rest is critical to effectiveness for both spiritual and physical well-being. So God Himself set the pace and rested from His work on the seventh day. This rest day is known as the Sabbath. It is a day that finds its beginning in God and He hallowed it. He did it here as an example for us, to let us know that He Himself would enforce it.  Sabbath rest is needful for us. We must cease from all our work one day in a week to re-calibrate life and recreate our mind. It’s a day we set apart to honor God. A part of the day is best spent with God and the larger family of His people as we worship Him corporately. The remainder of that day should be responsibly spent so that we can find mental and physical equilibrium. Let’s be sure to keep the rest day and honor God as we honor our body and give it the much needed rest. God does not begrudge us. In fact He wants us to rest. And rest we must if we are to maintain life’s effective rhythm.

Here’s what Eugene Peterson, an author and pastor said concerning it. “Sabbath is not primarily about us or how it benefits us; it is about God, and how God forms us. It is not, in the first place, about what we do or don’t do; it is about God – completing and resting and blessing and sanctifying. These are all things that we don’t know much about……But it does mean stopping and being quiet long enough to see – open-mouthed – with wonder – resurrection wonder…..we cultivate the “fear of the Lord”. Our souls are formed by what we cannot work up or take charge of. We respond and enter into what the resurrection of Jesus continues to do.” Let’s obey and take the rest!

Genesis 1:27-31 – Man and his God-given mission

There we have it, man or human kind, the crown of God’s creation, is modeled after the image and likeness of God. This is a general statement that human kind is thus made. Only when we come to Genesis 2, then we get the detail on how the man and the woman were fashioned. Since it is said that man is created in the image and likeness of God and to understand what that means, the pertinent questions confronting us then are: how does God look like? What do we know about Him? What does it mean to be made in the image and likeness of God?

It is difficult to fully describe God. Simply put, God is the only Spiritual being with absolute and complete moral aptitude and intellect. There is simply no one that can equal Him in His perfect attributes. He is the highest functioning being with an endless capability. He is eternally self-existent and has no end to Himself. Though He is incomprehensible He is knowable. He is truly magnificent and much bigger than all the minds in the world combined together can fully explore. As we have discovered, in the Godhead there is a community – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Remember, God’s signature is three, hence man bears the similitude of the Trinitarian Creator. Every one of us is made with a spirit, a soul and a body. The component of man’s spirit is to worship God, the mind to witness to God and the body to work for God. Man is also made to mirror God’s moral perfection and intellect. This, however, has been marred by the fall. If not for the fall, man would have perfectly mirrored God’s moral and intellect perfection. But even now, by His grace and empowerment in Christ, we can still seek to mirror His moral and intellectual excellence more perfectly. Besides, mankind, made in God’s image, has the capacity to be self-aware and come into self-actualization.

One thing verse 26 also made explicitly clear is this: mankind has distinctive gender! God made the male and He made the female as well. This statement immediately excludes the idea of homosexuality. Without a doubt, we know that the gender of a man and a woman is clearly discernible, and there is no way to see it otherwise. But this one thing must be said, God loves every human being regardless of one’s sexual orientation, and He wants any misconception about His idea of gender changed and transformed in Christ. So let’s remember that He loves all of us and does not want any to perish, but to come to know Him through the knowledge of Christ Jesus.  

Verse 28 reveals God’s mission for man. Man is commanded to be fruitful, to multiply, and populate the earth. He is also called to dress, keep, till and subdue the earth. In other words, man is given dominion over earth and all of God’s creation. He was to be God’s representative on earth. Everything God has created is now put under the subjection of man. To think that God has actually blessed man with an inner resource and capacity to steward the earth! Just think of the vast power man could have wielded had it not been for the fall. He really had supernatural power then. How do we know? Because he was tasked to take care of the whole Garden of Eden. How could he have done it without the unique God-given power? Today, that unique power is latent within man. And with that latent power he still has the capacity to rule and control the land, sea and the sky, and all that they contain, though in a lesser capacity than he originally could. Praise God, we are made for triumph! We are victors and not victims. And there is no circumstance in life that can ever take us down when we maintain our high position in God and exercise His will. We can be on top of things as we walk with God and lean on His strength. Take a wise word from Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your path straight.”

In verses 29-30 we are introduced to an herbivorous statement. The Bible said that God had given man and animals every green plant as food. This is God’s original dietary plan for man. The cause of modern diseases can be traced to the food we consume. Today, if we take the counsel of God and be an herbivore, and take care of the kind of food we ingest, we can still find health, strength and vitality. Let’s prayerfully stay in line with His Word.

The creation of animals and mankind took place on the sixth day. God saw everything that He had made, and said that it was not only good, but very good. Summarily speaking, let’s know that we are God’s most superior creation. And now in Christ, we are His new creation. And we can fulfil the destiny He has for us. So let us make glorifying God and enjoying Him forever our chief end in life!  

Genesis 1:24-26 – Imago Dei – Man in God’s image

Now we enter into the sixth day of creation. On this day, we know that God created the land animals before He created man, the crown of His creation. When God created animals to occupy the land, He again brought fourth different species. Cattle was specially mentioned. But there were other species created as well. They came in all kinds - both that would stand on their feet and all that would crawl and creep. Everything God made was exactly as He wanted it. And God was satisfied as He looked at them. For all that He saw, He knew it was indeed good. There is not much to discuss concerning animals. But we appreciate the animals for their contribution to the meaning of life. Some are useful for farming and agricultural work. Many are lovable and are good for pets that would keep man from being lonely. We all have heard of stories of how some animals are faithful friends to their human masters, to assist them in their handicap. Yes, animals are part of God’s creation to make life colorful and fulfilling. When we come to the creation of man, we see a mark difference. God’s intention becomes very visible, He did not say this of the creation of animals. We can surmise that the whole drift of this creation story is to bring us to this point. That human kind is the ultimate pride and object of God’s creation. God made His intention known. He revealed that He was going to replicate Himself in man and enable His crown creation, made in His image and likeness, to have the capacity to act on His behalf and rule the world.  

As we contemplate from verse 26 onward, we get a hint that in the Eternal Council of God, there is more than one person. Even here we get a hint that this Creator God is plural. Since the plural pronoun “Our” is used, we know that the Eternal Council constituted more than one person. Let’s venture a guess as to who would be in the council. In corroboration with parts of the Bible and what we said earlier in Genesis 1:1-5, we believe that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit must be in that council. Here we can see unity and harmony in the Eternal Godhead. Verse 26 suggests that a discussion had taken placed. The plan was to make man in the image and likeness of God. The phrase, “Let us make…” tell us that divine will and pleasure were involved. The word “let” suggests will and intention and personal pleasure. So God intentionally made us man to be like Him, and for His purpose and pleasure. What a privilege! Man, God’s crown creation, was made in the likeness and image of God! Man was designed with the capability to think, feel and act as God would. We are made to serve God’s purpose and for His pleasure. What a creature! Let’s never behave and act in a way that would lower the dignity of the image of our high and magnificent God! Let’s live to please and honor Him.   

Verse 26 also shows us another intention of God for the creation of man, who would be created with the capacity to act as God Himself would. His intention was for man to rule and have dominion over His created order. Man was to be able to control the creatures of the sea, air, land, and all of earth and the creepy things. To rule the creatures of sea, air and land, man must have the wisdom and capacity to find a way to control the habitat. God’s intention was for man to have that unique capability to do so. What a thought! Man, created in the image of God, has this God-given capability in order to do all that God requires him to do.

The fallen man forfeited this privilege. But in Christ all will ultimately be restored. So Paul prayed for Christians to have the unique power to live for Christ in his letter to the Ephesians. He suggests that God’s power is available for us in Christ. We must learn to tap into that power and live the glorious God-intended life. Here’s what Paul said in Ephesians 1:18-21, “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.”  Praise God! We are the crown of God’s creation. We bear the image of God, or in Latin “Imago Dei.”  

Genesis 1:20-25 – God cares!

In Genesis 1:11-13, we learned that on the third day of creation, God brought forth a variety of vegetation. Plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed came forth. They were of different species and varieties, capable of multiplying themselves. We praise God that unlike artificial plants, vegetation breathe and have life. Plants and trees are life forms. From science, we are told that oxygen is produced in the process of photosynthesis initiated by light. In the process, green plant convert energy from the sun and transform carbon dioxide and water into glucose and oxygen. In respiration, plant produces carbon dioxide as a metabolic by-product. How marvellous it is to think that God even thinks about oxygen and carbon dioxide equation for life. We need oxygen for healthy living and carbon dioxide for rest. And God created vegetation to bring the balance.

After God had created the luminaries to regulate the days, years and seasons on the fourth day, He then worked on creating creatures of the sea and birds of the air. These He made on the fifth day. Fishes and sea creatures of all kinds, huge and small, came into being. They teemed the seas since then and still do today. Notice that God created the environment for them first. He had the open space created on the second day, and the seas and earth formed on the third day. All these, of course, were to prepare the living habitat for plants, the creatures of the sea and of the air that He would soon create. How thoughtful! God’s creative genius is more than what our mind can fathom and explore! On the same fifth day, God not only brought forth the sea creatures, He also brought forth the winged birds of the air. Again they came in all shapes and sizes. Truly God loves variety. He made all things – plants, seas creatures and birds of the air in all varieties and species.      

Here we can see that God only makes good stuff. For when God saw the works of His creation, the creatures of the sea and the air, He was deeply satisfied. So we are told that everything created so far was good. In verse 22 God commanded these sea creatures and birds to be fruitful and multiply. They were blessed and commanded to fill the seas and earth. So He made different species and He made them capable of multiplying and reproducing themselves after their kind. God loves variety and He also loves abundance. This suggests that God must have the capacity to sustain them all. He had taken upon Himself to take care and to provide for the needs of His creation. If God already thought about these life-forms and creatures, and care about them that are less valuable than us man, His crown creation, how much more will He consider us?

Hence the Psalmist’s summation in Psalm 8:3-4 is this, “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained; what is man that You take thought of him, and the son of man that You care for him?” 

Then again think of what Jesus said in Matthew 6:26, “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?” He truly cares for us!

Genesis 1:14-19 – Seize the day! Maximize!

On the fourth day of creation described in Genesis 1:14-19, God introduced the luminaries: the sun, moon and the stars. These are important features as they help to regulate days, years and seasons. God has all these lights hung in the heavens so that their shine can brilliantly reach the whole earth. The sun is the great light that He had created to rule the day, and the moon, the lesser light to rule the night. He also had all the tiny little stars that twinkle and rightly lighting up the night sky. These are the signature of God’s hand. He spoke the word and the luminaries came into order. Hallelujah!

We cannot imagine a night that’s bright and a day that’s dark. If it were, the routine of life would be topsy-turvy. There are people who claim to be more nocturnal in orientation, so they believe they function better at night. The question is, would this go against the grain of God’s intention? Nights are best for rest and sleeping, and days are best for working. Perhaps that’s why Jesus said, “Work while it is yet day, for night will come when no man can work.” Daylight is provided for working, darkness of night is provided for good sleep. Light of the luminaries regulates our time for work, for rest and for sleep. Hence if we handle day and night rightly, we will certainly be the most effective, productive people for His glory. Every day is important. We must work well in the day and also sleep well in the night, so that the good cumulative effect of life will be brought to its maximum.  God longs to give us days of life. How we regulate our days helps to regulate our life. The days then collectively go to make months and years.

The days, years and seasons are brought about through the earth rotation and also her revolution around the sun. It rotates around an axle at a certain plane of its own to regulate time. And also revolves around the sun to regulate the time of the year and seasons. Based on the movements different parts of the earth will experience different seasons at different times. This is not a scientific discussion, so we shall not deal with this in detail. Suffice to say, the changes in the weather, ecology, and amount of daylight is discernible in each season. And there are four seasons in a year: summer, winter, spring and fall. Of course we mustn’t forget the evergreen season like ours. Here again we conclude that God provides variety. Though man, the crown of God’s creation would be created on the sixth day, this crown of creation would be totally wired up to adapt to the days, years and seasons. Our God had wonderful forethought before He created us. How marvelous! How wonderful!

The world would be absolutely perfect had not been for the fall of man. The environment and nature would be in absolute synchronization that would have brought perfect temperature, weather and ecology. Today even after that fall, though nature is not in total harmony, we still experience a degree of good functioning order. However, imperfect as their function may be, we still see glimpses of the glorious hand of the great architect of the universe working behind the scene. God not only created the sun, moon and stars but also is now sustaining it. We must learn to enjoy the beauty of the night sky and the warmth of the daylight. Man must rightly and responsibly handle the earth and enjoy the seasons. Different season brings with it different challenges. As God’s children, remember to “Carpe Diem!” That is to take full advantage of each moment, seize the day, maximize our life for God!      

Genesis 1:6-13 – God created the environment, earth, seas and vegetation

In just seven verses from Genesis 1:6-13, we see a description of several things that God had created – the environment, the earth, the seas and the vegetation. He had them created over two days. We are first told that God separated His physical creation into two halves. The top expanse stored the water from above. It must be water of the snow and the dew. We are told that there were also waters below the expanse. The purpose for this description is to tell us of the preparation God made for the creation of life forms. How considerate is God? As we had said earlier, He is a God of plan and purpose. He knew that the life forms He would soon create would need living area, so He put them in place first. All this He did on the second day. If God thought about such minute details, dare we think that He is oblivious of our needs? God thinks of us all the time. He has plans installed for us beyond our wildest dreams. He challenges us to unlock His plan and the dreams He has for us.

What God did on the third day was recorded in verses 9-13. On this day, He gathered the water below the heavens into one place so that dry land would become visible and He called the dry land, earth. Then he had the waters under the heavens, probably stored in different parts of the earth, to be called seas. Bear in mind in verse 2 we are told that the earth was already present. He first created the heaven (sky) and the earth. And in verses 11-12 we see the description of natural science. The vegetation God caused to sprout up had no relationship to the sun and rain as yet. It sprout up none the less due to the yielding power of the earth. These verses did not just indicate the power that the Sovereign God can wield, but also capable of bringing forth a variety of plants, fruit-bearing plants. God is creative and so we can find variety. God multiplies so we find seeds capable of bearing fruit. In other words, He did not just cause a single type of plant to sprout up. What came forth out of the earth were of different kinds and species, capable of multiplying themselves. This is borne up by the seeds they contain and the fact that they are capably of bearing fruits. Variety of species add spice to life.

Can we understand than that God made us creatively different? In the Godhead there is unity, yet in them we find diversity. God wants us to be like what we see in the Godhead, different functions and yet performing harmoniously. We must discover ways to amalgamate our differences in personal life and with the lives of other different believers. This will help us to make our varieties into one single organized coordinated whole, to reflect the glow, the beauty and glory of God. Remember, God’s creation is orderly in beauty and in symmetry, displayed in all her brilliance. Like them, when our lives are well ordered, we will have beauty and symmetry. We don’t have to be envious of what others have, and bemoan what we do not have. We are all different species, intended by God to add to the beauty and symmetry of His creation. We are also capable of reproducing ourselves in others, through the function of discipleship. So that there will be more people to love, honor and serve Him. We all need to be blooming where we are planted. That’s the plan of God! Find it and cultivate it!        

Genesis 1:1-5 – God, His Spirit and His Word

Genesis begins with the Immortal God. These first five verses show us the Godhead – Father, Son and Holy Spirit at work in creation. God, the Father is one of the three key components in creation. The other two are the Spirit and the Jesus the Spoken Word. We see this in collaboration with John’s Gospel. The apostle himself began in the very first verse of his Gospel saying, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Hence Jesus is God’s Spoken Word. In these three we have a clue to the truth of the Trinitarian God at work. God of course is the Father. The Holy Spirit that hovered over the dark formless mass needs no explanation. And Jesus the Son is depicted here as the Spoken Word. Here we see the key and vital Trinitarian components at work in creation. In their collaborated effort, the Trinitarian God created space and matter out of time. Heaven is the space, earth is the matter. And both are bought into time at a point in time and continue to be. “In the beginning” signifies time, “heaven’ signifies the space and “earth” signifies matter.

Not only did this God make matter and space and brought them into time, the Sovereign Creator also brought orderliness out of chaos and formlessness. Remember before the Godhead – God, the Father, His Spirit and Jesus the Word went into action, the earth was just a chaotic mass. It was without form and was empty. God initiated it, the Holy Spirt hovered over it and Jesus, the Spoken Word of God brought order and form on earth to pass. From this, we recognise the ability of our Trinitarian Almighty to bring orderliness and effectiveness into our listless life easily. He wants to do that for each of us so that we can have orderliness in daily living

How is our heart today? Is it in a state of flux, feeling chaotic and empty? The sure remedy is found in God the Father, the working of the Spirit in us and the sure Word of Christ Jesus. Draw near to God, allow the Spirit to hover over the emptiness, and find relevancy in the Word of Christ Jesus to appropriate today. Not only does God want to bring about orderliness in our life, He wants to bring light to clear our confusion. As He brought light on the first day of Creation, He wants to bring light to our present confusion. Light is good because it helps us to see through darkness. His Word will always bring the much needed light to deal with our darkness. With His light, we will be able to identify, determine and distinguish the areas of our life that are in a state of confusion. And then through His Spirit and His Word, the light we will be given to bring clarity and liberty.

Are we at the verge of giving up on the ministry or church? Together with our Trinitarian God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit, let His light be ushered into our life for a season of refreshing and effectiveness. Through His Spirit and the instruction of His Word, God will help us to separate and distinguish between what’s important and critical, and from the urgent but not important. Light always separates darkness. So do let the light of God spearhead the search so that we can distinguish between what is still unclear so that He may bring clarity, liberty and vitality to our life.

What we definitely need daily is God, His Spirit and the Word of Christ Jesus. Be sure to draw near, wait to be filled with His Spirit and seek to be instructed by His Word. Remember, being in God is an interactive relationship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Let’s do it!