More on the Creation of Man -- 4/6/08

Sunday, April 6, 2008

MORE ON THE CREATION OF MAN
Gen. 1:25-2:25

Three weeks ago we considered the creation of man in God’s image, focusing on Gen. 1:26-27. In that message I made some very strong statements. I suggested to you that when God created mankind, He was acting on behalf of His Son. He created man in order that He might take out of the human race a bride for His own Son, just as Abraham sent His servant to a far country to find a bride for Isaac. And as Abraham’s main concern was not for the bride Rebekah, so God’s main concern is not for man, not even for those who will make up the bride, but for His Son Jesus Christ. I posed the question: “So does that make it seem that man is only a means to an end, that man was created only to bring honor and glory to the Son?” I answered the question by saying that is exactly right, that God created man in order to glorify His Son Jesus Christ.

For some of us, those were rather harsh words. I did receive some questions. “But doesn’t the Bible speak of God’s great love for man? What about John 3:16? Etc.” Those are very good questions. My purpose was not to say that God doesn’t love man, but my purpose was to emphasize God’s goal to glorify His Son. God giving glory and honor to His Son and God loving man are not opposed to one another. However, when I spoke so strongly about God’s ultimate purpose in bringing glory to His Son, some of you felt like I was denying God’s love for man. Here is the reason why. It is because modern Christianity has lost its appreciation for the glory of God and has distorted what the Bible says about God’s love for man. Let me repeat that again in order that it may sink in: It is because modern Christianity has lost its appreciation for the glory of God and has distorted what the Bible says about God’s love for man. And we have very much been conformed to the ideas of modern American Christianity.

So this morning we will speak more about God’s love for His people. I suspect some of you wish we could have done this the very next Sunday instead of waiting three weeks. I believe that is because our concept of God’s love for us is distorted. We’re more concerned about guarding the concept of God’s love for man than protecting the truth of God deserving all the glory in the universe. Here are two truths: God is working to bring honor and glory to His Son and God loves His people. Both are true, but most of us have been smothered with the latter largely to the exclusion of the former.

Now let’s come back to Genesis 1 and the creation of man. Lord willing, at the end of this message, I will come back to the relationship between God’s glory and His love for us.
Let’s read our text from Gen. 1:25-2:25…
And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 26. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. 29. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. 30. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. 31. And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day…. 2:1. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. 3. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. 4. These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, 5. And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. 6. But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. 7. And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. 8. And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9. And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 10. And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. 11. The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; 12. And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone. 13. And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. 14. And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates. 15. And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. 16. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. 18. And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. 19. And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. 20. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. 21. And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; 22. And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. 23. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. 24. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. 25. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and they were not ashamed.

We are looking at four aspects of man’s creation that set him apart from everything else God created. First, we looked at the fact that God made man to relate. That is the central truth in the concept of being made in God’s image; we are made to relate. While it is true that man relates to man in a way that no animal is able to do, the supreme relationship for which God designed man is a relationship with Himself. Mark it down. Grasp this concept and never let it go. The one thing that differentiates man from the rest of creation is the fact that He has the capacity to relate to God in a personal way. Praise God that He made us in His image. Yes, man is the crown of God’s creation. Everything else God created was in preparation for His creation of man.

This morning we will look at the other three aspects of man’s creation which set him apart from everything else…

I. God Created Man to Rule

Even before God made man, He expresses His design. Let’s read it in verse 26, “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” When our text says, “Let them have dominion over,” it simply means, “Let them rule over,” as seen in the translation of the NASV and the NIV. The Amplified reads, “And let them have complete authority over.” Do you get the idea? God gave man the responsibility of ruling over the rest of His creation.

Notice that there is to be no competition concerning who is to rule. Here in verse 26 the Lord goes back through the other living creatures—the fish, the birds, the cattle, and even the creeping things. The phrase “over all the earth” may refer to all the beasts, the wild animals. God’s design is for man to rule over all of them.

First of all, it is important to emphasize again that man is indeed the pinnacle of God’s creation. Though there is great beauty and majesty in the animal kingdom, there is not a single creation of God that is on a par with man. God gave man the authority to rule over everything else that He had created. Now that is certainly not a license to abuse God’s creation. God’s design for rulership does not make it okay to tie a dog to your bumper and drag it all over town. We read these words in Prov. 12:10, “A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast; but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.” On the other hand, the animal rights movement largely disregards the God-given authority of mankind to rule. It tries to set animals on a par with man, and that is not of God.

Now should there be any question about man’s elevated position over creation, notice that the same identical principle is stated again after it is stated that God made man. Let’s read it in verse 28, "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." Now we are told that God tells man to subdue the earth and rule over all the creatures in it. The term “subdue” further emphasizes the fact that man is above the rest of creation.

Now listen to me very carefully. In God’s command to subdue the earth and rule over the rest of creation we see His love. What father doesn’t give to his beloved son great responsibility? When we give responsibility to someone, we are expressing a certain trust in that person. We are demonstrating that we believe that he can accomplish the task. In placing man over the rest of creation, God is expressing love for man.

This theme becomes clearer as we read through chapter 2, as we did earlier. Understand that in 2:4 we have a second account of creation, but now we have more details. We read in verse 8 that God planted a garden in Eden and he put man in the middle of the garden. After giving some details about the garden, the writer then says in verse 2:15, “And the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.” The NAS says “to cultivate it.” That seems to be the idea. There is a sense in which the Lord didn’t really need man to cultivate this beautiful garden. There was no danger that any of the plants would die. Even without man, there was great beauty there. Nevertheless, he sets man in the garden and gives him the responsibility and privilege and cultivating the garden. Basically, I take it that man was to work with God in making it even more beautiful for His glory.

Then in chapter 2 we read that God brought to Adam all the animals He had made and had Adam name them. That was quite a responsibility. Nevertheless, God gave great Adam much authority in this area. If he was going to rule over creation, then he would start by appropriately naming the creatures God had made. Listen to verse 19, "And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof." The Lord didn’t correct Adam. When Elia was very young he was given the privilege of naming his fish. He named the fish “Bebep.” Because they loved him and wanted to express that love, they gladly accommodated themselves to a name that was a bit unusual. Surely the gap between parents and a three-year-old is nothing compared to the gap between God and man!

Yes, God made man to rule. Surely God intended man to do so for His glory, for much later He would say through the apostle Paul, "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God" (I Cor. 10:31). In giving man this responsibility, God expressed His love.

II. God Made Man to Reproduce

Let’s read it again in 1:27-28…
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

Three weeks ago we mentioned the fact that the creation of human beings as male and female had a lot to do with relationship, because the marriage relationship is the most intimate relationship known to man. But make no mistake about it, the fact that God created mankind male and female is not only for the purpose of a special spiritual and emotional relationship. God made them male and female in order that they might fulfill the command that He gave them in verse 28, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth…” Man would never be able to fully subdue the earth and have dominion over the rest of creation unless he became fruitful and multiplied. God made them male and female in order that they might reproduce.

You will notice that the King James says, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.” What about that word “replenish”? Over the years, there has been a good bit of speculation about that word. Does it imply that the earth had been full of inhabitants, but now it had to be populated again? Is that the force of the prefix “re” in “replenish.” The simple answer is “No.” Let’s go back and read Gen. 1:22, "And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth." The word translated “fill” is the very same word that is translated “replenish” here in verse 28. Even if you check an English dictionary, you will likely find that the primary definition is “to fill; to supply fully” (Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary). “Replenish” does not necessarily mean “to fill again,” but simply “to fill.” We can find a parallel in another English word that also came to us from the Latin, and that is the word “release.” It doesn’t mean “to loose again,” but simply “to loose.” A study of the Hebrew will reveal that this word does not carry the idea of filling again, but simply speaks of filling completely. (For a more detailed study of this issue, I can give you the website for an excellent discussion… http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v18/i2/replenish.asp).

Now let it be clear that this filling the earth is more than just a physical mechanical process. Think about it with me. God said, “Let us make man in our image… So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” Three times the image of God is mentioned in verses 26 and 27, and then we are told that God created them male and female. It is immediately after that that He commands them to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. By creating them male and female, God gave man the privilege of cooperating with Him in populating the earth. God could have created all people directly, even as He did Adam and Eve. Instead, He gave us the opportunity to be a part of this work.

We might say that God gave man the privilege of working with Him in creating those little ones who are in His image. Some would say that sin destroyed God’s image in man, while others would say that the image was greatly marred. Either way, what we know for certain is that man has the capacity to come into relationship with God and that the image of God can only be restored through Jesus Christ, who Himself is that image. So we, as God’s created beings, have the privilege of cooperating with God in populating the earth with children who can be redeemed through Christ and become the children of God.

I also remind you of the passage from Malachi 2. Mal. 2:15, "And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth." This is not an easy verse to get hold of. It is in the context of God chastising men for the way they were treating their wives. What is clear is that in making the husband and the wife one, He was seeking a godly offspring. So we come to ultimately understand that God has not called us simply to reproduce, but to raise up godly offspring. Of course, no husband and wife can do that alone. It can only be done as the Lord Himself is the center of this one-flesh relationship.

Come to Gen. 2:18, "And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him." God said that he would make a helper suitable for Adam. But why did Adam need a helper? We could give many reasons, but let’s not overlook the obvious. He needed a wife to bear his children. He could not be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth by himself. A wife was absolutely necessary to bring children into this world, to produce the godly offspring that the Lord was seeking. Of course, we realize that the raising of godly offspring does not end with childbirth, but it is the first necessary ingredient!

Yes, God made man to reproduce. Surely this is a demonstration of God’s love. He could have done it without man, but He chose to include man in His wonderful plan.

III. God Made Man to Receive

We have been looking at the responsibility that God gave to man, and that is certainly an expression of His love. But now we want to see that God also made man to receive His blessings. We read that immediately after God created man in His image, “And God blessed them…” (1:28). God blessed them.

And how did God bless Adam and Eve? Yes, He gave them great responsibility and privilege when He told them to subdue the earth and have dominion, when He told Adam to cultivate and keep the garden. But also come to 1:29, where we read, “And God said, Behold, I have given you ever herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of the tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat [food].” God gave man all the plants of the earth to provide food for him.

You may say, “Was that it? Where’s the beef?” There was no beef. There was no meat. Why not? Because there was no death. Death came about as the result of man’s sin. And because there was no death, there was no meat to eat. But don’t feel sorry for man. He had access to every plant on the face of the earth. That is no small thing. Imagine the variety! If he didn’t like potatoes, he could eat asparagus. If he didn’t like turnips, he could eat egg plant. The list goes on and on.

This is one of those areas that we tend to take for granted. How many different foods were required to keep man alive? It wouldn’t have taken many at all. But instead of providing just the basics, God poured out on man every kind of fruit and vegetable you can think of (literally). And on top of that, he gave man the taste buds to enjoy each one of them.

Surely this is a beautiful picture of the way God has blessed man ever since He created him. It wasn’t necessary for God to bless us with all the beauty in this world. We could live without beholding beauty. But who would want to live without the beautiful sunsets, without the occasional rainbow in the sky, without the beauty of the forest and the desert?

We have an example of this back in 1:16, “And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; he made the stars also.” We need the sun for light in the day time. The moon provides light at night, as well as providing the gravitational pull that governs the ocean tides. But then we read that He made the stars also. It would seem that this is just an after thought, but it is more. Of course, astronomers can tell us about the importance of the stars, but make no mistake about it, God could have made the universe without the stars, if He had chosen to do so. Praise His name that He didn’t do it that way, that He made the stars also. So we can say with David, "When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; 4. What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?" (Ps. 8:3-4). God has done so much to bless the people He put on this earth.

So we see that God made man to relate; God made man to rule; God made man to reproduce; and God made man to receive. Yes, man is the crown of God’s creation.

Conclusion

So God loves man. We see it even at the creation. God elevated mankind above everything else. Nevertheless, I must remind us that even as He did so, He was thinking about His Son and the bride that would come out of the human race. So how do we reconcile the ideas that God loves man and that His focus is upon His Son Jesus?

What makes it difficult for us is our concept of love. We have come to define love something like this: “To be loved is to be made much of.” In other words, if a person loves me, he makes me the center of his universe. He makes much of me. He builds my self-esteem. Our world has continually bombarded us with this concept.

Let me give you an illustration. Suppose you have a choice. You can spend a few days at Six Flags Over Texas, or you can spend a few days at the Grand Canyon. Which will you choose? At first, we might think it is simply a matter of personal taste, but I want to suggest that there is something deeper at work here. Six Flags was created with the goal of giving people a thrill, and that it does. It gives the individual a certain feeling that he can’t normally achieve. The focus is upon how the person will feel when that roller coaster takes him up in the air and then propels him downward at unbelievable speeds.

The Grand Canyon is different. Unless you jump off the edge, you won’t lose your stomach or experience that certain thrilling fear of Six Flags. There aren’t any rides. All you find are various observation points. And from those observation points, you look at the Grand Canyon. And what happens when you behold the Grand Canyon? You are lost in awe and amazement. It is so deep. There is nothing like it. When God created the Grand Canyon, He created something spectacular. While viewing the Grand Canyon, something happens in me that will never happen at Six Flags. Both Six Flags and Grand Canyon provide a great thrill, but the nature of the thrill is very different. At Six Flags, I am focused on me and how I feel. At the Grand Canyon, I forget about myself and glory in the creative power of my God.

Now which would you expect a loving God to do? Would you expect Him to make much of you, you who are one of billions of people that have lived on the earth, you who have taken what God has given you and dragged it through the mud? Or would you expect a loving God to free you from thinking about self and give you grace to set the entire attention of your life upon the greatest treasure in all the universe? Which is the demonstration of the love of God?

Let’s put it another way. Consider a mother with a two-year-old child. Let’s begin by considering the nature of that two-year-old. Is he selfish? You better believe it. “Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child” (Pr. 22:15). That child’s world revolves around “me.” Despite the natural selfishness of her two year old, mother loves that little guy. Now how will she express that love? Little Joey wants the toy that his sister has. When he doesn’t get it, he throws a fit. What will Mother do? Will she make sure he gets what he wants? Will she make much of him, giving him the toy and then drying his little eyes, assuring him that she will knock herself out to get him whatever he wants? Of course, not. Because that mother loves her son, she will knock herself out to teach him that the universe does not revolve around him and his desires, that his attitude is selfishness. By the grace of God, she will work to deliver her son from his preoccupation with self that he might ultimately be totally consumed with Jesus Christ, who is worthy of his total and complete devotion.

Are you seeing it? God’s love is not the love of this world, where the person who desires love wants others to make much of him. God’s love delivers the object of His love from preoccupation with self and sets him free to look to Jesus as His all in all. The joy that comes out of that can never be experienced by the one who is looking for God to do something for him. God has already done it in Jesus Christ. There is no joy like the joy of gazing upon the Son of God. “In thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16:11).

Let me put it like this: God’s goal in loving us is that we might praise and glorify Him. Ultimately, that will mean great honor and glory for His Son. But what will it mean for us? It will mean great joy and glory for us too. Why is that? Because the greatest joy and glory in all the universe is to behold the Son of God.

For those of us who belong to God the Father, isn’t it wonderful that He made us His children through Jesus Christ? Is that not a demonstration of His love? But don’t stop there, let’s read the who text in Eph. 1:5-6, "Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6. To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved." In demonstrating His love to us through adopting us as His children, God’s ultimate goal is that we praise Him. That is love.

Sometimes we try to define God’s love. We might say, “Love is doing what is best for the other person.” God does what is best for us; He turns our attention to His Son. He delivers us from self-consumption that we might be consumed with His Son. And that is why it is not unloving for God to create man as a means of bringing glory to His Son. In doing so, not only will He glorify His Son, but He will also being many other sons to glory. God is working all things together for good to those who love Him and are the called according to His purpose, as we read in Rom. 8:28. but read the next verse: "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren" (Rom. 8:29). The good He is accomplishing is in His conforming us to the image of Christ, that we might be one of the many brethren of our Lord Jesus Christ, that we might
ultimately be like Him. That is the love of God.

When we talk about God loving us, it must always be in the context of God glorifying His Son. If we understand that, we will understand much about God’s plan. Does God want to make all of us prosperous in this world, as Joel Osteen and his crowd would tell us? No, that doesn’t necessarily bring glory to the Lord Jesus Christ. Does God want to deliver us from all our problems? No, because God didn’t deliver His own Son from the cross, but laid upon Him the iniquity of us all. It pleased the Lord to bruise Him (Is. 53:6,10). Does God show His love by making life easy for us? No, for Jesus Himself by the grace of God tasted death for every man (Heb. 2:9). Will God demonstrate His love toward us by bringing us into the kingdom through much tribulation? (Acts 14:22). Will He love us by stripping away every comfort that keeps us from Him, even as when He told Abraham to sacrifice his own son? Will He love us by revealing Himself to us in the midst of tribulation, distress, loneliness, and persecution?

Please hear me! The love of God is greater than anything we can imagine. Most anyone can love in the sense of making much over another person. But who can love by doing what is best for the other person? Who can love by pointing others to the Christ who will rule throughout eternity? That’s the kind of love that God has demonstrated for His people, for the bride of Christ. Can you rejoice in that kind of love? Only if you can truly rejoice in the Lord Jesus Himself. Do you want God to make much of you? Or do you want to make much of Christ?

John Piper puts it concisely and powerfully…
This is shocking. The love of God is not God's making much of us, but God's saving us from self-centeredness so that we can enjoy making much of him forever. And our love to others is not our making much of them, but helping them to find satisfaction in making much of God. True love aims at satisfying people in the glory of God. Any love that terminates on man is eventually destructive. It does not lead people to the only lasting joy, namely, God. Love must be God-centered, or it is not true love; it leaves people without their final hope of joy.

Please turn to one more passage. John 17:20-23…
Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; 21. That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 22. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: 23. I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

Of those who belong to God through Jesus Christ, Jesus says that God loves them as much as He loves Jesus. That is amazing, but notice the context. Verse 23, “I in them and thou in me…” The emphasis is on the union between us and Christ and Christ in God. That union is the reason for this unbelievable love God has for His own. A leading concept in Ephesians and Colossians is “in Christ.” The love God has for us is wrapped up in the truth that we are in Christ.

God will continue to love His people, as He works to bring glory to Himself and to His Son. Praise His name for this wonderful plan of which we can be a part.