Genesis 1:27-31
When God said, "Let us make man in our image", we are swept back into the trinity before the creation of the world. Here is thought, because God is a personal God, who thinks, who acts, and who feels in his love. The balances here are most delicate and we must hold both sides or we lose the wealth of the Christian position. There is an external world; it is not the extension of God's essence. But while there is a true external world which is not the extension of God's essence, God thought first. These realities were in the thought of God before they were brought forth by his power, his creative fiat as the objective and external world. On the ceiling of the Sistine chapel in Rome there are the tremendous frescoes by Michelangelo. Among them is that magnificent picture of the creation of man. God is reaching out his finger and man, having just been created, reaches to him as well. But their fingers do not touch. This is true Christian insight. Man is not an extension of God, cut off like a reproducing amoeba. God created man external to himself, and they must not touch in the picture. However, this point must be made: That which is created out of nothing and now has objective reality, does show forth the thought of God and is therefore an exhibition of who and what he is. The external world is not an extension of the essence of God,; nevertheless, the external world does reveal and exhibit who and what God is. Image, in it's truest meaning, is the essence of what really is. Man is the likeness of one subject (God)--expressed visibly through another (man). This does not mean physical characteristics--for God is invisible spirit. But this image is unique to man. Only after God created the plant life, animal life, and such, and declares, them all "good," does He create man. Only humanity received the image of God, which separates man from animals and gives him dignity. Consequently--the unbeliever perceives man as equal to animals because he lacks understanding of his special dignity as a human being. On the other hand, on the other extreme, the unbeliever can perceive God as being equal..which is an unfounded liberal perspective of "image."
That man was made last of all the creatures, that it might not be suspected that he had been, any way, a helper to God in the creation of the world: that question must be for ever humbling and mortifying to him, Where wast thou, or any of thy kind, when I laid the foundations of the earth? Job 38:4. Yet it was both an honour and a favour to him that he was made last: an honour, for the method of the creation was to advance from that which was less perfect to that which was more so; and a favour, for it was not fit he should be lodged in the palace designed for him till it was completely fitted up and furnished for his reception. Man, as soon as he was made, had the whole visible creation before him, both to contemplate and to take the comfort of. Man was made the same day that the beasts were, because his body was made of the same earth with theirs; and, while he is in the body, he inhabits the same earth with them. God forbid that by indulging the body and the desires of it we should make ourselves like the beasts that perish! |
"male and female He created them." Because of the systematic working of error in our culture, we have to talk about things we thought we would never have to bring up. I had no idea in my earlier years I would be addressing this peculiarity of our culture: the blending and blurring of gender differences! That distinction God built into nature is today denied, re-defined and perverted, to accommodate the culture (and ultimately, the perverse desires of individuals serving their own lusts). This is where we are in the culture of 2002.
Sometimes we become aware of men who want to be women, and women who want to be men! There is such a powerful movement, rushing and running away from traditional "gender stereotypes" and roles. According to some who are given their voice by the media, it is no longer good to let the little girls play with dolls and let the little boys have trucks and learn to throw a ball. There is an agenda (subtle in some cases, but bold in others), and the purpose is to deny, confuse and blend the sexes. Before the Bible is ever opened, the uniqueness of male and female is evidenced in nature. Men and women are different, and that is objectively discernable. Once you get away from the "softer sciences," the evidence joins Biblical truth to confirm the obvious. There are differences in metabolism rate; in skeletal structure; in the circulatory system and certainly in the reproductive system. Forensic scientists can detect the differences between male and female years after the body and spirit have parted! In addition to biological differences, there are social, emotional and psychological differences - about which there was no debate, before the current gender neutral movement (sometimes called "unisex."). {For an excellent study of these issues, see Florida College Annual Lectures, 1995 - In His Image: Male and Female In Nature, by Wayne T. Galloway, p.#151}. Biblically, here is the case: "And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He crated him; male and female He created them." God created man, in His own image, and the distinction is God's: male and female. Sexual differentiation was not a result of social evolution; it was explicit in divine creation. The suitable partner for man was a woman (Gen. 2:18)! Romans chapter one is describing the behaviors of a people who have forsaken God. This has always been the context of Romans 1 (long before current discussions that confuse the genders). "For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due." (Rom. 1:26,27). Paul uses the terms "natural" and "unnatural," reflecting what is explicitly written in Genesis 1:27 - male and female. When men or women choose to ignore the gender distinction God ordained, they go against God, against nature, corrupt themselves, produce victims, contribute to the decay of their society and work against the purposes of Almighty God. And every work against the purposes of God will be defeated. "We ought not fear the differences between men and women, rather we should fear a loss of that distinction. Does not nature itself teach us that men and women are different? And in agreement with these natural differences and building on them, the Scriptures clearly teach the proper role for men and women. These innate differences and these traditional gender roles have been so fundamental to mankind's progress and happiness that we may have taken for granted their importance. But if we lose these distinctions it will be painfully clear how important they are." (Thaxter Dickey, "Male and Female Created He Them" in the book, "A Tribute To Melvin Curry," p.#87). |
“God is the Creator of the human being, and simultaneously also the Inaugurator of sex and of sexual difference. This difference did not result from sin; it existed from the very beginning, it has its basis in creation, it is a revelation of God’s will and sovereignty, and is therefore wise and holy and good. Therefore, no one may misconstrue or despise this sexual difference, either within one’s own identity or in that of another person. It has been willed by God and grounded in nature. It was then, and still is, willed by God; he is the sovereign Designer of sex; man and woman have God to thank not only for their human nature, but also for their different sexes and natures. Both are good, even as they both come forth from God’s hand. Together in mutual fellowship they bear the divine image. God himself is the Creator of duality-in-unity.”
–Herman Bavinck, The Christian Family
–Herman Bavinck, The Christian Family
The significance of Adam as a male/female being becomes apparent when we remember that the Lord Jesus Christ came as a Second Adam. He was all that Adam was. "It behooved him," said the writer to the Hebrews "that he be made exactly like us, except for sin," (Hebrews 2:17). He became the second Adam, and therefore he, too, was a male/female being. I stress the fact that this duality was not physical -- he was not a freak, a hermaphrodite but psychologically he combined within himself all the elements of male and female characteristics. It has been often noted, in reading the Gospel accounts of Jesus, that he combined in himself the sternness and strength of the male, with the tenderness and gentleness of a woman. He manifested both in perfect balance and in equal degree.
This is why men, viewing the Lord Jesus Christ, see in him the man, the manliest of men; while a woman, viewing the same remarkable person, sees in him one who thoroughly understands and empathizes with a woman's nature, able to enter into all her feelings and reactions. --Ray Stedman
This is why men, viewing the Lord Jesus Christ, see in him the man, the manliest of men; while a woman, viewing the same remarkable person, sees in him one who thoroughly understands and empathizes with a woman's nature, able to enter into all her feelings and reactions. --Ray Stedman
Genesis 1:28:
"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" |
Looking around at the circumstances of our World today, it is a sad situation. People are filled with selfish desires that they can not overcome such as love for money and materialism. The divorce rate is high, family breakdown is the norm, and human sexuality is mis-portrayed everywhere we look. Even the Earth itself is being misused as we have polluted our planet so much that the hole in the ozone layer is growing and as we continually misuse our bountiful resources, parents and children across the world are starving to death. This is the reality of the world that we are living in. The question is -- why?
This occurred because we did not realize the plan God has given us for our lives. This plan is first found in Genesis 1:28. After creating the world and seeing that it was good, God created the last part of creation, humans. He created them in His own image and blessed them. Genesis 1:28, or the “three great blessings” as I will refer to them, are the very first words God speaks to man. And not only does God say them once, but he repeats them 12 times just in the book of Genesis. God revealed our purpose in life to us through providing directions to live by. His words can be looked at as blessings since fulfilling His direction is our way of returning gratitude to Him. He commands us to be fruitful, to multiply, and to have dominion over creation. However, we have overlooked this and oftentimes failed to live out the three great blessings correctly (SOURCE: Leena Vincenz-Gavin: TheThree Great Blessings: A Translation of Genesis 1:28) |
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The cultural mandate or creation mandate is the divine injunction found in Genesis 1:28, in which God (YHVH), after having created the world and all in it, ascribes to humankind the tasks of filling, subduing, and ruling over the earth. Neo-Calvinists use this text to justify their emphasis on cultural engagement.
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God gave humanity dominion over the earth to steward with authority, responsibility and care. In Genesis 1:28, we are told that one of the things we are created to do is to subdue the earth. The Hebrew word, translated “subdue” in verse 28 (Hebrew kabash) in that context, means to make the earth useful for human beings’ benefit and enjoyment.
Stewardship implies an expectation of human achievement. If God entrusts me with something, then he expects me to do something with it, something worthwhile, something that he finds valuable. God has entrusted us with certain resources, gifts and abilities. Our responsibility, as Dr. Ken Boa, president of Reflections Ministries, writes, “is to live by that trust by managing these things well, according to his design and desire.” -Hugh Whelchel
Stewardship implies an expectation of human achievement. If God entrusts me with something, then he expects me to do something with it, something worthwhile, something that he finds valuable. God has entrusted us with certain resources, gifts and abilities. Our responsibility, as Dr. Ken Boa, president of Reflections Ministries, writes, “is to live by that trust by managing these things well, according to his design and desire.” -Hugh Whelchel
We are not to worship the creation but the Creator. We are not to be subdued by the earth, but we are to have dominion over it and to be good stewards of the resources God has intrusted us with. While the order established by God is a necessary condition for human knowledge, it is not sufficient. For human knowledge to be possible, the order established by God must also be comprehended by man. However, since man was created to be God's dominion agent, the basis for human comprehension is rooted in the same purposeful activity of God. Man's thinking process is pre-adapted to the universe by God's intelligent design. In other words, man's thoughts cohere with the world because both man and the world share a common Creator. Thus, in accounting for both universal order and human comprehension of it, Christianity provides a sound epistemological base for science and all human knowledge.
To subdue the earth as a charge so early in creation would imply possibly a deterministic end based on however man decides to act upon his ability to subdue and lead through a chain of events until the end of time, which, according to revelations is a judgment and a great apocalyptic destruction. Hence, this would mean that the judgment is not of Gods creation, but an end that man determines via his own history and future decision. God will probably intervene before man destroys himself since he seems more easily given to the notion of destruction than he is creation. That God gave to man, when he had made him, a dominion over the inferior creatures, over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air. Though man provides for neither, he has power over both, much more over every living thing that moveth upon the earth, which are more under his care and within his reach. God designed hereby to put an honour upon man, that he might find himself the more strongly obliged to bring honour to his Maker. This dominion is very much diminished and lost by the fall; yet God's providence continues so much of it to the children of men as is necessary to the safety and support of their lives, and God's grace has given to the saints a new and better title to the creature than that which was forfeited by sin; for all is ours if we are Christ's, 1 Co. 3:22. |
Genesis 1:28-30:
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. |
From the very start, God said, “Behold, I give you every plant that produces seeds upon the earth and every tree that has fruit with its seed inside of it: these shall be your food” (Genesis 1:29, NCB). Daniel provided a later biblical example of the benefits of a plant-based diet. “Daniel resolved he would not defile himself with the royal rations of food and wine… ‘Let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink’… At the end of ten days, it was observed that they appeared better and fatter than all the young men who had been eating the royal rations” (Daniel 1:8, 11, 12, 15).
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