In the last part lesson, we learned how God created the world using His infinite wisdom and a little on how He created us. In this lesson we have the blessing of understanding how God came to create man and the lives He gives us to lead.
In Genesis chapter 1, let's take a moment to remember how God created us:
“26Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." 27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." 29Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so.”
As we can see above, God gave mankind special blessings so let’s elaborate on those and a couple others. Upon creation God made us perfect creatures, making us in his likeness, that is, Holy or without sin. Here we see this point made in Ephesians 4 “24and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” Sometimes you’ll hear Christians refer to what is called the Old Adam/New Adam. We are constantly in sin and in need of a Savior which will be the topic of our next lesson, but when Christians are freed from their sins, they are the New Adam, Old Adam has a heart heavy with sin and is in need of a savior from sin.
In Genesis Chapter 2 we see a little further into the creation of Earth, namely the creation of Adam and Eve, along with the very special blessings God gives them, along with the rest of us.
“4This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created. When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens— 5and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground, 6but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground— 7the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. 8Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 10A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. 11The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12(The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.) 13The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. 14The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. 15The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." 18The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." 19Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found. 21So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. 22Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. 23The man said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman, ' for she was taken out of man." 24For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. 25The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.”
God also gives us authority over his creation as seen in verses above from Genesis 1. Of course we covered this heavily in our last lesson, but I would like to emphasize what a great blessing this is. From Psalm 24 verses 1 and 2 we know, “1The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; 2for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.” So what a gift it is that God gives us food from the plants He created, and use of His animals for a multitude of purposes with them. And think of later blessings like meat(Genesis 9:3), clothing and building materials like trees and stones. To go back to God’s first blessing of being created in God’s image is that Adam had God’s knowledge, now combine this with the blessing over authority of God’s creation, God brings animals to Adam to be named and he rattled off names as easy as 1, 2, 3.
In Genesis chapter 2 God gives us another great gift that sets us apart from other creation. When Adam was naming the animals he noticed that lambs had counterparts for each other and lions had lionesses but man had no counterpart. The Lord God agrees with Adam and from him, creates Eve. This is the first marriage. Adam declares to God that he and this woman are one and it was perfect. Amazing even that within Adam’s first hours with the animal naming, new delicious fruits and gardens and rivers to explore, he sees his wife and understands, with the perfect knowledge of God, that this is what is important. We will talk about Christian marriage more in the future, but understand now that it is absolutely a blessing from God.
That final blessing I would like to cover is that God gives us the opportunity to serve and obey Him. In the above verses of Genesis chapter 2 verses 15 through 17 we see one of the first things God does is have Adam tend to His garden. Understand, God didn’t create us to be His slaves, for Adam, this was a labor of love. He gives Adam a command also forbidding him to eat of the fruit from the tree of good and evil. Before we were sinful and needed the Ten Commandments, God gave this command. He does this out of love and for our best interest, much like the Ten Commandments now. He gives us His law so that we may live perfect lives so we can be with Him. He also gives the blessing of worship for Him. That is what that tree was, in that it was an altar, in which Adam could look upon and respect God, not a test or a temptation.
On top of all these rich blessings God still finds ways to take care of us. It’s easy to know without the next lesson that we’re not still living in the Garden of Eden and that we are without holiness and all powerful knowledge. But the world keeps on ticking and there are things we know that we can just depend upon. In Genesis chapter 8 God reveals that we can depend on always having seasons with a reliable schedule. “"As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease."” You’ll notice that these are gifts reserved for everyone too, not just those that worship him as seen in Matthew chapter 5, “45that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”
When God cares for His world, He supplies all of His creatures with the things they need to survive. He can go about this two ways. The first is through the natural means using the very things He created. He also does so through miracles when He wishes to bless us with those. One of the most famous examples is when Jesus fed the five thousand using five small barley loaves and two small fish which can be read about in John chapter 6.
One of the most amazing ways God cares for us as believers is the use of His angels to serve us, a special gift. Hebrews chapter 1 tells of God’s messengers serving us. “14Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?” Also Psalm 91 lets us know about the great faith we can put in God in the way of Him sending His angels to help. “11For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; 12they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” A quick side note on angels; angels were created some time during the aforementioned six days and are their own creation, there are a finite number and when a believer dies, while their soul goes to be with God in Heaven, they do not become angels.
Another way God cares for his believers is that he causes all things to serve our eternal good. In Romans 8 we are assured. “28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” In other words, God always works toward us coming home to Him. God loves us and that’s why He gives us many ways to come to know Him so that we can have a redeemer who can make us Holy again one day.
For the most part of this lesson we’ve read a lot about what God has done for us. Now let’s take a look at not only what we can do for Him, but more importantly, what He wants us to do in response to these great gifts. The first thing we will do is that we will acknowledge that He does this out of grace. Grace is God’s undeserved love. Psalm 100 says, “1Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. 2Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. 3Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. 4Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. 5For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.”
Another way we respond to God for all these things is that we will gladly praise and thank Him in all things; and trust Him as our Provider and Protector. We as humans have more than we could ever need or deserve and it should bring us joy to sing praises to Him and thanksgiving. We should do this in all things, giving thanks for our jobs, food, health, families, and whatever other blessings are bestowed on us. 1 Corinthians 10:31 states, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” And we should trust God to provide what we need, especially in the way of food and clothing as Jesus tells us in Matthew 6, “25“"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
Truly God has blessed us with a planet that meets every need along with special gifts as Christians and gracious love. I pray these words were educational to you and more importantly filled your heart with love. Next time join us when we discuss how sin entered the world and God promised to send a savior for mankind.
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