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That's connectwithskip.com. Now, let's get started with today's message from Pastor Skip Heitzig. Last week in Genesis 1, we saw God as the Creator. Chapter 2, we see God as a gardener, a surgeon, and a matchmaker. He takes three different roles from that of being a Creator.
But we need to scoot back because Chapter 2 is focusing in on some of the same ground in Chapter 1, and we ended last week at just the right place in Chapter 1. We want to take you back to verse 24 of Chapter 1, the sixth day of creation, where God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind. Cattle are those that are the domestic beasts that can be tamed by man, and creeping thing and beast, the wild animal that typically isn't tamed, each according to its kind, and it was so. God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind, and God saw that it was good. Now, it would seem that according to what we just read, that all of this biological life, these creatures, including man, as we'll see in the following verses, were created on the sixth day of creation.
But with this in view, we have a problem. If we were to venture on a weekend to a typical natural history museum, we might see a sign. I've noticed these signs in a lot of places, where they have determined the age of the world as being so old using their dating methods, and it changes from place to place and year to year and scientific community to scientific community. But I've seen the sign that would say, dinosaurs ruled the earth, reigned over the earth for 140 million years, but they suddenly became extinct 60 million years before man was on the earth. Well, we have a problem because Genesis would indicate that man and beast were created the same day, and I would categorize dinosaur as being part of the beasts that were made. We know there were dinosaurs. There's ample evidence everywhere. The problem is that we find some of the fossils in the horizontal strata placed vertically that cover several strata as if they were there for several different years. Now we'll get to that when we get to chapter six through chapter 11, the flood.
But the problem is if God created dinosaurs and man the same day, is the Bible wrong or are the signs wrong? Well, if you were to take a little trip about an hour south of Fort Worth, Texas, a little town called Glen Rose, Texas, they made some interesting discoveries. They made it there first.
They've even made some in New Mexico. But the one in Glen Rose, Texas is a little river called the Paluxy River, and they have hardened limestone layering at a portion of the river where they have found dinosaur footprints embedded in the limestone and well-preserved. They've measured them.
They've categorized them. They've taken pictures of them, placed them in scientific journals. Well, after they did that, they then discovered a little further down the same river footprints of man in the same area with footprints of dinosaurs. It was an interesting find to say the least. It caused a real ruckus in the scientific community.
In fact, some tried to cover it up and dismiss it instantly. But many pointed out the fact that you have evidence of man and dinosaur living together so it would seem, according to such finds, that the signs are wrong. So on this day, the sixth day, God created beast and then, verse 26, then God said, now watch this, God said, let us make man in our image according to our likeness.
Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in His own image. In the image of God, He created him.
Male and female, He created them. Notice the word God. Same word that we find in verse 1.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. It's the Hebrew word Elohim. Now, just a note about that word. It's a common word in the Old Testament for God. It's a plural noun.
A plural noun, but singular in meaning. Im, I-M, is the, in Hebrew, the male plural form. Ot, ot, would be a female plural. Like if you want to say banana in Hebrew, you say banana.
If you want to say bananas in Hebrew, you say bananot. That's the feminine plural. I-M-E-M is the masculine plural. So it's a plural noun, as if to read God's.
However, it is singular in usage. Now did you notice the construction? God said, let us make man in our image. And then it doesn't say, so they created man in their image, but it says, so God created man, verse 27, in His own image.
We have a hint, even in Genesis 1, of the Trinity. Because who else is God speaking to when He said, let us make man in our image? He's not speaking to angels. Angels didn't create anything. They were created by God.
They were part of the creation. God is speaking to Himself. This is inter-Trinitarian communication. This is the Father and the Son and the Spirit having a little convening together. Let us make man in our image.
And Elohim did. But notice the he, singular pronoun, made man in His image. So we have a hint of the Trinity. Now the Bible states clearly, and it's very clear in the Old Testament, the unique one nature or the oneness of God. Deuteronomy 6, 4, Hear O Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is one. So many people get confused when they find other verses that seem to speak of the Trinity or the triune nature of God.
How can that be? It sounds impossible if the Bible is so avid with the oneness of God and then yet Christians teach the triune nature of God. It's simply because the Bible teaches the triune nature of God. Now you're never going to get your mind fully around that. It's one of the imponderables of Scripture. Just when you think you've got it by some clever analogy, like an apple or an egg or water, you realize the more you study it, it vanishes from the ability to comprehend.
Now it is not impossible and some of these illustrations can be helpful but they are limited. For example, time can exist in three different dimensions. It can be yesterday, it can be today, and it can be tomorrow. It just depends on what reference you're speaking from, all at the same time. Water can exist in ice and in vapor and in fluid. If you've ever been at a cold lake like in Alaska and the sun shines on it and you see that vapor hovering above the lake and yet there's ice at the surface on the edge of the lake but there's liquid in the middle, it's water, all of it, but existing in three states. The Bible teaches that there is one God existing in three distinct persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
It's sort of inexplicable but here it just appears. God, Elohim, said let us make man in our image. So God created man in His own image. Male and female, He created them. Now what does it mean to be in the image of God?
Well, here's a couple of hints. We're different from animals. You're different from your dog or your cat.
Very different. I hope you realize that. I know you might love your puppy. I just got a new puppy.
I love that little puppy. But I realize it's not a human, it is a dog. And it might do little things in response to my voice and I'm thinking, oh, look what it's doing. It's thinking this.
It's probably not. It doesn't have the ability to share the communicable attributes with God like you and I. We can reason. We're rational creatures most of the time. We have the ability to apply intellect and reason and research and come to conclusion, logical thought attached to other thoughts.
Animals can't do that. Also, we are tripartite in our being. We're composed of three, body, soul, and spirit, the Bible tells us. 1 Thessalonians 5, Paul prays that God would sanctify us completely, body, soul, and spirit until the coming of Jesus Christ.
Not just body and soul, not just flesh and conscious life, but body, soul, and spirit. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we get back to Skip's teaching, some people think that Jesus was nothing more than a prophet or a good teacher.
These misconceptions existed 2,000 years ago, and Jesus is still misunderstood today. Discover who Jesus really is with Skip Heitzig's riveting nine-part series, Who Is This Jesus?, which examines Christ's humanity and deity to equip you to confidently answer questions about Jesus. This resource, along with Skip's Life Change booklet designed to help new Christians embrace their transformed life in Christ, is our thanks for your gift of at least $50 today to help share biblical teaching with more people around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig.
Go to connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888 and request your copies when you give at least $50 today to reach people around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig. Let's continue with today's teaching with Pastor Skip. So also having three natures similar to that of God, we are in the image of God, we're a reflection of God, but here's something else you should know. That elevates us certainly when you think of that. We are a reflection of God, but the reflection has gotten dimmer. We are a faint reflection of our Creator. This is not what God originally intended. These wrinkles, that's not what God originally had in mind.
Now if you don't have any, just wait, you'll get some. This whole degenerative process, we reflect God, certainly, we're in His image, but the image is faint. If you want to see what God fully intended, look at Jesus Christ.
Perfect, flawless, sinless. Now one day we will be restored and we will definitely fully reflect the idea that God had from the beginning. Then God blessed them. God said to them, be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, I think we've done a pretty good job of that, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living creature that moves on the earth. Now we see man has a unique relationship to the universe that God made, to subdue it, to have dominion over it. Now this verse is sort of like the Magna Carta for scientific research and development. God is giving us the permission to find out and harness the potential and get a handle on it and use it for your benefit.
Subdue it, harness it, find out what I have put in it. There's a great proverb, it says, it is the glory of God to conceal a matter, and yet the glory of kings to find it out. God has put so much in His creation, but as we apply our minds to finding out how we can harness energy and how we can build comfortable dwelling places and transport ourselves, all of that is part of the image of God and subduing the creation that God has given to us. And God said, see, I have given to you, verse 29, every herb, that's not herb, but herb, that yields seed, which is on the face of all the earth, every tree whose fruit yields seed, to you it shall be for food. Also to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food, and it was so. In the beginning it would seem that you and I were created, or mankind was created, to eat only vegetables. The beasts of the field and man that was created were herbivores. Now, however, before you get carried away on that, in Genesis chapter 9, God says to man to eat of the flesh of the beasts of the field. But here He says, I made everything around you.
He wanted there to be a population of these animals to grow, and then later on we'll be able to subdue even them after the flood. But this brings up something my mom used to tell me all the time. Son, make sure you eat your vegetables. And oh, how I hated it until I discovered the Bible says it's a good thing to eat your vegetables. And one of the reasons, perhaps, we're less and less in the image of God is some of the stuff we put in our bodies.
I'm not going to get on a tangent about it, but just by the stuff we process and eat, it's so crazy and filled with such weird chemicals, and we can contract now so many different kinds of diseases and strains of them. The more we live, the less we are in that image. So if you are what you eat, my goodness, what are we?
A greasy French fry, perhaps. Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. Seven times in this chapter God says, after we make something, it's good, it's good, it's good. Now to sum it up, it's very good. That's important you remember that because soon this will be in contrast to the very first time God says something isn't good.
He says things are good. This is what I want. This is what I intended. And then in chapter two we'll discover something isn't good. Indeed it was very good. So evening and morning were the sixth day. Now we come to chapter two. And some people think that chapter two is actually a conflicting story with chapter one. Do you know there are some that believe that chapter one was written by one author and chapter two was written by a different author, and both are the creation story, both of these characters didn't know each other, and they're in conflict with each other.
Not so. They're in harmony with each other. This is what it is. Chapter one is the wide angle lens view. Chapter two is the zoom lens view. Chapter one shows you the scope of all of the days of creation, all of the things God made from the luminaries in the sky, the heavens and the earth, and now it zooms in on God's crowning creation, his most important creation, mankind. In chapter two, human history begins. The genesis of humanity is talked about, focused on in chapter two of Genesis. And because of that, you're going to view in just a minute a different title for God.
It's going to be very important to you. As chapter one discusses Elohim, chapter two will give God a different title because of this. Thus, chapter two, verse one, the heavens and the earth and all the host of them were finished. And on the seventh day, God ended his work, which he had done. And he rested on the seventh day from all of his work, which he had done. And then God blessed the seventh day and he sanctified it because he rested from all of his work, which God had created and made. Now don't get the idea that six days of work made God really tired and he needed a rest. He's just fatigued and God comes home and goes, wow, that was hard.
I need a break. It simply means God rested because there was no more things to do, nothing else to make. Everything was completed. In fact, the word seventh, and it appears three times in these verses for emphasis. The word seventh comes from the Hebrew root that means to be full or to be completed. On the seventh day, everything was done. God's purposes in creation were fulfilled. He had nothing left to do as far as creation was concerned. So it was the seventh day. It was full.
It was completed. So God rested. Now I mentioned the word seventh is mentioned three times in these verses. I don't know if I mentioned last week, I think I did it in passing, but some people have read Genesis, the creation story in the first few chapters and mistakenly confused it with some of the Babylonian narratives of creation called the Babylonian cosmogony. And they've said, well, there's a lot of difference or there's a lot of similarities between Genesis and the Babylonian record of creation. Therefore, you know, these things all must be myth or perhaps Genesis borrowed it from the Babylonians.
I couldn't disagree more. The fact of the matter is the imprint of God's creation was so fresh upon all of the cultures at that time, it would naturally show up in a number of sources and it does. And so there would be similarities. You would anticipate that, but the further that these cultures got from the original, from the truth, from the moment of creation, especially, and things were added and made up, they weren't preserved like the truth of scripture, you would also expect to see some differences. And though there are similarities between Babylonian as well as other narratives and the Genesis account, there's a lot of differences as well, huge differences. The sun and the stars were worshiped by the Babylonians and the Egyptians. They thought that the stars and the moon, the planets ruled the life and determined life upon the earth, hence the Zodiac and astrology was developed.
But Genesis says that the universe was created around man, by God, around God's crowning creation, man, something else. In the Babylonian account, the seventh day of the week is considered unlucky. Day seven of the month, day 14, day 19, day 21 and day 28 are all considered unlucky days, according to the Babylonians, but the seventh day especially. But according to Genesis, that superstition is absent. God blessed it. God made it holy. It's a day of refreshment, not this superstitious fear like, oh, it's the seventh day, sort of like Friday the 13th. It's the seventh day set apart and blessed by God. And he sanctified it, verse three, because in it he rested from all his work, which God created and made.
Now I want you to notice something. It will be important later on when we go through the Jewish Sabbath. God gives Adam no command to keep the seventh day here. He will give it later on to the children of Israel.
It'll be part of the law of Moses as part of the covenant, the external sign of the covenant God has with the Jewish people. But he gives Adam no command to keep the seventh day. Jesus said that the Sabbath was made for man. Man was not made for the Sabbath.
However, God did create a day and it seems to be, in fact, not seems, it is a biblical pattern to enjoy a full day of rest. Thanks for listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. We hope you've been strengthened in your walk with Jesus by today's program.
Before we let you go, we want to remind you about this month's resources that will help you confidently answer questions about who Jesus is and understand the new life you have as a believer in Him. Pastor Skip's nine-message series, Who Is This Jesus?, and his life-change booklet are our thanks for your support of Connect with Skip Heitzig today. Request your copies when you give $50 or more. Call 800-922-1888.
That's 800-922-1888. Or visit connectwithskip.com slash offer. And did you know that you can get a weekly devotional and other resources from Pastor Skip sent right to your email inbox? Simply visit connectwithskip.com and sign up for emails from Skip. Come back next time for more verse-by-verse teaching of God's Word here on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.
