GENESIS
CHAPTER 1
CREATION
#8
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.
Them – a plural word – indicates not only that Adam and his helpmeet will have control, but also that humans will have perpetual control over the earth. This is repeated to Noah – Gen. 9:1-7.
Dominion – To rule, tread down.
This apparently doesn’t include “fear”. Fear of animals for humans are noted in Gen. 9:2. This shows that man is created on a much higher plane than the animals. All things are under the control of man. Dominion includes:
I. A sign for Adam to see God’s sovereignty over His entire creation (Adam included)
A. A sign for Adam to see that he is able to disobey God. It actually teaches Adam about the grace of God, for by grace is Adam to look to God to be kept by God.
1. Eccl. 7:29 – God mad man upright:
2. standing upright – in order that he might better see God and His creation. Contrast with God making the animals looking down to the ground.
3. Adam is to seek his happiness by looking to God. Animals find happiness from the earth. The “Change” in the dominion of Adam’s rule:
B. When Adam followed his wife and partook of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, he was:
1. disobeying God’s only law
2. denying God’s sovereignty over him.
3. trying to establish his own righteousness and dominion over God and His laws. Rom. 10:3 – probably Adam didn’t really understand the righteousness of God – therefore he went about to establish his own righteousness. Compare this all with Rom. 1. Note the end of unrighteousness is Rom 1:32.
Verse 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
II. The completion of the act of creating man, and his helpmeet. Male and Female
A. created only one couple. The scripture seems to indicate that God created more than one couple for the animals and more than one plant.
1. A fuller explanation is given in Gen. 2:18-25 (In the creation of the helpmeet) (All of Gen. 2:7-25 happens on the 6th day)
2. Gen.2:7-25 is included in Gen. 1:17. This is a basic Bible principle. Many times a scripture is given which includes many other scriptures. Later there will be passages which will explain the verse. Example:
B. Dan. 12:2 – this verse includes at least 1007 years. The separation between the 1st and 2nd resurrection. Compare Rev. 20:5 and 20:12.
1. Compare Luke 4:16-20 – Christ quoting Is. 61:1, 2. Note that Christ stopped reading in the middle of the verse. (Have people read Is. 61:1, 2 while I read Luke 4:16-20). There is a lot of difference between preaching the gospel and the day of vengeance of God.
2. God made man 1st – Gen. 2:17 – didn’t do so with the animals.
C. God made the helpmeet 2nd – Gen. 2:21, 22 – from the rib of Adam.
1. Many people don’t believe woman was made from the rib of Adam because today men and women both have the same number of ribs. Note – woman was made from the rib of Adam – not from every man!!
2. Not from head of Adam – she’s not to rule the man. God is – I Cor. 11:3.
3. Not from the foot of Adam – she’s not to be stepped on by man.
4. She’s man’s equal (before the fall)
D. She lost this position in the fall. Gen. 3:16 – woman is to be ruled by her husband (a part of the curse – note: all of the curse is good.) Eph. 5:22-24 – All Christian women have a desire God put in them to submit themselves to their own husbands. E. R. A. is nothing more than a Satanic attempt to remove the curse God put on woman.
1. Adam names the helpmeet “woman”, not Eve”. Reason given in Gen. 2:23.
2. After Adam is saved, he named the woman “Eve”. The reason is given in Gen. 3:20 – He was looking for the Saviour.
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.
E. This verse shows sex in not the cause of sin. Reproduction is a command of God.
F. The institution of marriage – Gen. 2:24, 25.
G. “Replenish” – doesn’t mean “to fill up again”. The Hebrew word (male) is translated (1) to be full (2) be filled etc., 183 times (at least). The same Hebrew word is translated “replenish” only two times. Here and Gen. 9:1. It should be translated “fill up”. The “Gap Theory” likes to believe “replenish” means “to fill up again.”
Verse 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.
III. Food for man (vegetarian)
A. herb bearing seed
B. fruit of tree – with the exception of Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (2:16, 17)
C. The dominion of man over animals did not at first include the eating of them. This came later (Gen. 9:3) Some men – of the Cain line – could have disobeyed God and ate meat. They disobeyed every other command of God, why would this one be any different?
D. God providing food should:
1. Make us humble
a. Matt. 6:26, 31 – God still feeds the animals.
b. Ex. 16:4 – Israel had manna from God
c. Num. 11:6 – Israel got tired of God’s food
d. Gen. 3:7 – Adam and woman got tired of God’s provided food and decided to disobey God and do things their way.
2. Makes us satisfied
a. God saw the necessities of the body. He will provide those things we need. Matt. 6:31 – if we put God first.
b. Phil. 4:10-12 – Paul content in whatsoever state he is in.
Verse 30-31 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.
IV. Food for animals - they ate only herbs. Before Sin, like 1,000 year reign - Is. 11:1-9.
A. After sin:
1. Animals begin to eat one another.
2. Today birds eat seeds and fruit of trees (apples, cherries)
3. bugs eat anything in sight, especially if it's in your garden or orchard.
B. Saw everything He had made
1. He still does
a. Ps. 139:1-16 - David's being revealed to God
b. Jer. 1:4-10 - God saw Jeremiah before he was born.
2. Acts 15:18 - known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.
C. God reviewed His works - we ought to review our works also.
1. He pronounced it good after He had seen it all.
2. Teaches us not to answer a matter until we hear it all.
3. examine our own works - don't just assume they're good. II Tim. 4:6-8 - Paul look at his works and declared them "good" before God.
4. The Bible states all the works of God (except the 2nd day) was good - therefore all the works of the six days was very good.
5. If we take care of the little things, the big things will take care of themselves.
The sixth day.
Ex.20:9-11 - the 4th commandment. Since God worked 6 days and rested on the 7th day - man ought to also work 6 days and rest on the 7th. (Be involved in the world no more than 6 days at a time - on the 7th day be involved with Spiritual things.)
V. When God looked on the creation and declared it "very good", did he include the angels?
A. 2:1 - the host of heaven, properly put in context would seem to mean only those inhabitants of heaven (planets and stars, etc;) created on the 4th day, and those of the earth (animals and humans).
B. There is no sin, nor "scar of sin" on the creation.
1. Believers in the "gap theory" believe Satan was cast out of heaven to the earth where he completely destroyed the "pre-Adamic" earth and all creatures.
2. This would mean that there is a "scar of sin" that Christ had to "cover up" in his "recreation".
3. This would mean that there was sin on the earth before Gen. 3:1-6.
4. This sin was not caused by man's disobedience, but man was the victim of sin.
5. What happened to the "pre-Adamic" race? They were not looking for a Saviour - that's given in Gen. 3:15. Did they go the heaven, or hell, or no place at all. Most believers in the Gap Theory believe Rev. 20:13 - the sea giving up the dead - to mean the "pre-Adamic" race - resurrection of lost people. They believe the "pre-Adamic" race ruins are buried in the deepest oceans.
a. The truth is that there is no such thing as a "pre-Adamic" race.
b. If "science" hadn't come up with the theory of evolution which involves many billions of years to account for the creation of the universe and its inhabitants, there would be no thought of a "pre-Adamic" race.
c. The believers of a "pre-Adamic" race are trying to reconcile the Bible with so-called "science".
6. Biblical Cosmology and Modern Science by H. M. Morris - page 63 (4) - There is no Scriptural evidence that Satan's fall in heaven produced a cataclysm on earth. Satan was only "cast to the earth" Ezk. 28:17 after his rebellion and fall, and thus he had no connection with the earth when it was first created. In fact, God's estimate of "everything" in the earth at that time included the angels, even Lucifer! Quite probably this fall and expulsion to the earth occurred sometime between Gen. 1:31, when all things were still "good", and Gen. 3:1, when he appeared to Eve, in the body of a serpent. How long {or short} this period may have been the Scriptures do not say. It is very likely, however that the time was very short. I believe Adam and his wife had not come together in a conjungal relationship when the woman was deceived and Adam fell. The Bible records in Genesis 4:1 that Adam did not know his wife until after they left the Garden of Eden. I believe the events of the days kept them so busy, they didn't have time to come together. Besides that, if they had come together before sin entered the world, there is a "chance" they would have had a perfect child, without any sin, and able to live eternally on the present earth.
C. Remember, the first appearance of evil in the Bible is Gen. 3:1, when Satan possessed the body of the serpent to deceive the woman and Adam.