Gen 1 – God made the Creatures of the Air, Sea, Land & Us

Let us open our Bibles and read Genesis 1:20 – Genesis 2:3 or click on Bible Gateway links below.

NIV    GNT    KJV

As we read the last part of Genesis chapter 1 (& part of chapter 2), we come to what Bible commentators refer to as the third creative act. The Creator had already prepared our world with all sorts of plant life. From this plant life, God had emplaced an ecological system that will keep our planet with the crucial supply of oxygen gas and it was to provide even more. To what end? Let us see.

And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day. [Gen 1:20-23]

And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. [Gen 1:24-25]

In my last blog, I talked a little bit about doubt in the Bible especially when acclaimed people presented their observations contrary to Genesis accounts. In this case, I’m talking about the Theory of Evolution. Now, I am neither a scientist nor one who had spent years digging and studying through fossils. So, I am in no academic position to refute evolutionists’ claims. However, I can ask certain questions. For instance, if evolution is true, then why is it still considered a THEORY? Frankly, I have no desire to debate this issue, but I will say this. I believe and appreciate in everything that they had observed, so far. I say ‘so far’ because of the fact that scientists are still making new discoveries today that changes even their own conclusions. In truth, I know that they do not have a complete enough picture to make factual conclusions. I don’t think any human being can, in all humility, claim they know it all. Allow me to illustrate this to you. Pick up a sheet of standard size bond paper and a pencil. Let us say that one side of the sheet represents the total accumulated knowledge of the entire universe. Take your pencil and shade on the sheet how much of that knowledge you have achieved. Frankly, if you did more than a tiny tiny dot on the sheet, you are not being truly honest to yourself. By the way, in my first time, I shaded about a quarter of the sheet. At that time, my head was little too big. Ha ha…

One popular question that is frequently asked of me when I teach on the creation story is always in reference to dinosaurs. I always respond with these verses from the book of Job. It is actually God talking to a man named Job and He was describing them. (Oh, by the way, this too was written in prose.)

“Look at Behemoth, which I made along with you and which feeds on grass like an ox. What strength it has in its loins, what power in the muscles of its belly! Its tail sways like a cedar; the sinews of its thighs are close-knit. Its bones are tubes of bronze, its limbs like rods of iron. It ranks first among the works of God, yet its Maker can approach it with his sword. The hills bring it their produce, and all the wild animals play nearby. Under the lotus plants it lies, hidden among the reeds in the marsh. The lotuses conceal it in their shadow; the poplars by the stream surround it. A raging river does not alarm it; it is secure, though the Jordan should surge against its mouth. Can anyone capture it by the eyes, or trap it and pierce its nose? [Job 40:15-24]

What God was describing was a poetic but somewhat accurate depiction of either a Brachiosaurus or a Brontosaurus. All I will say is that this description was in a manuscript written thousands of years ago. Meanwhile, the first recording of the fossils of these behemoths was published just about 300 years or so ago; and analysis of how these animals lived was hypothesized by scientists just about a hundred years ago.

So now, let’s recap. God had filled the seas with a great variety of marine life and also filled the sky with creatures that can take wing; that was on the fifth ‘Day’. Then, every creature that crawled with and without legs were roaming the lands of the supercontinent. That was on the beginning of the sixth ‘Day’.

And the ‘Day’ is not yet over.

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. [Gen 1:26-27]

You have heard the saying, ‘Last, but not least.’ Well, God creating mankind is so ushered in as to show that at length the work of creation had reached its perfection and ultimate goal*. Since mankind was made last of all the creatures, I am in agreement with a certain Bible commentator when he said, ‘this was both an honour and a favour to us.’** All in all, God had intended mankind… that is, US… to be different from all that had been formerly made even with those animals that share certain physiological similarities with us. I am talking about apes. Regardless what people have considered a possibility that the Planet of the Apes movie could happen, it is still an entertaining piece of science fiction film. Besides, based on the wording of God – “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness…” – I would think that the suggestion that apes are our cousins (in an evolutionary scale) is contrary to the Creator’s will.

[* Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers; ** Matthew Henry Commentary]

Most teachers would probably focus in defining on what being made in His image would entail. I was tempted to do the same. But if I was to write a complete Bible word study on ‘image’ and ‘likeness’, I think it would take up at least 2-3 pages worth of text content and you would lose interest in reading on. So, I opted to show you what I consider is more relative to Sketching HIStory’s goal.

First, as Jesus said, ‘God is Spirit!’ [John 4] That is, in our obvious plain of existence, we are unable to see Him in any form. We may have been created in His image, but He does not have a physical body complete with skin, bones and blood flowing through veins… yet. (I’ll tell you about the ‘yet’ part later… much much later.) At the time of creation, He had no need of such a frail physical form. Since God is Spirit then what He had bestowed to us has to be ‘spiritual’. The term itself from a biblical sense is still quite broad, so, we will explore this subject matter in later segments as we learn more of our connection with God.

For now, let us focus on how God uttered His desire to make us in His image.

“Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule…” [vs 26]

Look at the intent of the declaration. God not only wanted us to be significantly different from all other creatures, He wanted (& still want) us to be more like Him. He desired a close relationship with us. How close? Well, to all that He created (including ourselves), He is the Creator and sole Owner. As we go further into the Bible, we will encounter the concept of the sovereignty of God. As He is the Owner of all things, then He has sovereign right to do anything to it and no one can stop Him. But then God chose to treat humanity different. He chose to treat us as…

…FAMILY

As family, we were given privileges, most of which we will discover again in my upcoming posts. However, in the next verse, God shows us what one of those privileges are.

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” [vs 28]

Do you see it yet? God had given mankind the authority to RULE. Of course, it does not seem like that today. The reason of which will come into light in Genesis 3 which we will cover in about 2 or 3 posts from now.

Meanwhile, God is not finish yet.

Then 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. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so. [vs 29-30]

Reading the verses above, is it so much to ask of everyone to give our God the Provider praise and thanksgiving when you have salad, fruits from a tree or even picking berries? Thank you, Lord.

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day. [vs 31]

The work of the six days’ Creation having been completed, God, as it were, contemplates the universe both in its details and in its entirety. That which He saw to be “good,” on each separate day, was but a fragment; that which He sees to be “very good,” on the sixth day, is the vast ordered whole, in which the separate parts are combined. The Divine approval of the material universe constitutes one of the most instructive traits of the Hebrew cosmogony. According to it, matter is not something hostile to God, independent of Him, or inherently evil, but made by Him, ordered by Him, good in itself, and good in its relation to the purpose and plan of the Creator. The adjective “good” should not therefore be limited in meaning to the sense of “suitable,” or “fitting.” There is nothing “evil” in the Divinely-created universe: it is “very good” [The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges]

Finally…

Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. [Gen 2:1-3]

Biblically, seven is an extremely important number. From the first three verses of Genesis 2, Seven is the number of completeness and perfection so much so that God had declared the 7th day of the week as Holy; and after every 7 years, God commanded debtors to forgive people’s debts. Seven is also linked with God’s annual Feast Days. For instance, there are 7 annual Holy Days, beginning with Passover and ending with the Last Great Day (the day after the Feast of Tabernacles ends in the fall). The cycle of the holy days is completed in 3 festival seasons by the 7th month of the sacred calendar: Passover and Unleavened Bread, 1st month; Pentecost, 3rd month; and Trumpets, Atonement, Tabernacles and Last Great Day, 7th month. [www.biblestudy.org]

We have seen God create the universe from nothing. He formed our world and separated the waters to make our skies. He burst into life our sun to rule our day. The moon He placed on a course around our world to provide us with a gentle night light. Then there are the stars that He laid out for us like a blanket to awe us of His magnificence. He brought the land unto surface and caused the grass, the bush and trees of all variety to sprout and grow. In the sea, He caused life to appear and filled the depths with all sorts of marine life. In the sky, He let loose all creatures that can take wing. On the land, He brought forth crawling creatures from the giant lumbering behemoths to the minuscule protozoans. Then, as if to to place a crown on His creation, He created us and placed us on a pedestal above all other creatures and was very pleased.

In my next post, we’re going to step back in time to see God in a more intimate light. To see Him relate to us as a Father would to a son. See you then.
———————————————————

The Crimson Thread are markers that points to a connection between Old Testament passages to Jesus Christ.

Crimson Thread added tidbit:
Jesus performed seven miracles on God’s holy Sabbath Day (which ran from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset), thus affirming its continued sacredness to God and necessity in the life of the believer.
[1] Matthew 12:9; [2] Mark 1:21; [3] Mark 1:29; [4] Luke 13:11;
[5] Luke 14:2; [6] John 5:8-9; [7] John 9:14