Thursday, June 9, 2016

Earth Day - Part 4

Thursday, June 9, 2016
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  Genesis 1:1(NLT)

So far in our review of creation we have seen that there is only one God; He is unique, all-powerful, and has all knowledge.  Now we turn our attention to humankind’s response to the ONE God:

We are Accountable

It makes sense that He who created everything has the right to supervise the operation and disposition of His creation.
God Created Humankind
Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us.  They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”   So God created human beings in his own image.  In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.  Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply.  Fill the earth and govern it.  Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”   Genesis 1:26-28(NLT)
The Hebrew word for created is bara – used only in connection with God's activity, never man's.  It means to take nothing and make it something.  When God made us in His image, there was no pre-existing model from which He came, so He gave us the attributes of His own nature.  He is triune; we also (body-soul-spirit).  He loves and desires relationship; we also.  He is creative; we also strive for the higher.
God Blessed Humankind and Holds Us Accountable
Then God said, “Look!  I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food.  And I have given every green plant as food for all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, and the small animals that scurry along the ground—everything that has life.”  And that is what happened.  Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good!  And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day.   So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed.  On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work.  And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.  Genesis 1: 29 – 2:1-3(NLT)
God's own property was given to man for his home, and God's own character is the measuring stick.  God sanctified the seventh day as a day of rest.  That he sanctified it means God set it apart from the other days.  It is not to be like other days.  We are also like that; we are not to be like the animals or the plants; we are set apart for relationship with God who created us and holds us accountable to respond to Him. 
Later in the Book of Genesis, we see how it was not humankind’s choice to live rightly related to God; not just Adam and Eve, but every person ever born.  The Bible declares: For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.[2]  This is why Jesus came.  This is why Jesus had to die.  God holds each of us accountable for our sins – for how we have responded to the God who created us, blessed us, cared for us.  He keeps watch over His creation.  He owns everything in the universe, and holds us accountable for how we respond to Him.
We are going to see that God
Genesis is an important book, because it teaches us that God is not just allowing things to happen, and trying maybe to work it out later.  He is moving all creation in a definite, ordered plan to a conclusion that suits His own character.  Part of that plan involves the church, all those who have trusted in Christ.  We are going to see God.

For You Today

There is only one God, and we are accountable to Him.  Those of us who have accepted His command to love Him by receiving Christ as our Redeemer, the forgiveness of our sins, are going to see Him.
You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today…have a blessed day!
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[1] Title Image: By NASA/ GSFC/ NOAA/ USGS [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
[2] Romans 3:23

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