THE CREATION OF THE EARTH AND MAN, AND THE FALL OF THE SHINING ONE (Part 8)

THE CREATION OF THE EARTH AND MAN, AND THE FALL OF THE SHINING ONE (Part 8)

Kenute P.  Curry

DAY 6: (a) CREATION OF LAND ANIMALS

Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind”; and it was so. And 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. (Genesis 1:24-25).

This represents all kinds of large four-legged animals, including the domesticated ones as well. The law of reproduction is repeatedly given in the words “according to its kind”.  That “God saw that it was good” is the sixth time this phrasing is used, denoting the marvelous excellence of the Creator God (אֱלֹהִים ʾ^elōhiym, Heb.) in power and splendor.

(b) CREATION OF MAN

Then 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, and 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.  Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and 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, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so. Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. (Genesis 1:26-31).

The first chapter of Genesis gives the fact of His creation while the second chapter gives the manner of it. The “Us” in verse twenty-six is the first clear indication of the triunity of God (Genesis 3:22; 11:7). “In our image” are very personal terms and it establishes a personal relationship between God and man that does not exist with any other aspect of creation. A more recent view, based on Hebrew grammar interprets the phrase as meaning “Let us make man as our image.” God placed man on the earth to represent His reign and to bear the stamp of his own likeness. Man was designed to have a personal relationship with God and is a living being capable of embodying God’s communicable attributes (Genesis 9:6; Romans 8:29; Colossians 3:10; James 3:9).  This second blessing involved reproduction for the man and woman. Man would fill the earth and oversee its operation.  The word “subdue” speaks of a productive ordering of the earth and its inhabitants to yield its riches and accomplish its purposes. Prior to the curse in Genesis 3:14-19, both mankind and beasts were vegetarians. Here we have the seventh use of the word “good.” Since seven is the number of completion and perfection, the creation was now complete, with no flaws or omissions, and what was once called “good,” is now called “very good.”

Genesis 2:7 states:

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

Here we have the formation of the body, the gift of the spirit and the soulish part of man making him a living being of body, soul and spirit ( 1 Thessalonians 5:23, Hebrews 4:12). God created man by fashioning a body out of mud and clay, transforming the clay into something new, and then breathing life into it. Like God, man has intellect, a moral nature, the power to communicate with others and an emotional nature that transcends instinct. In chapter one of Genesis, God (אֱלֹהִים ʾ^elōhiym, Heb.) is the Creator God; and in chapter two, He is Jehovah, the LORD (יְהוָֹה y^ehōwāh, Hebrew), entering into  covenant relations with man. God saw that it was not good for man to be alone so he proceeded to make him a helper that would be comparable to him. Genesis 2:21-23 states:

And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.
And Adam said:
      “This is now bone of my bones
      And flesh of my flesh;
      She shall be called Woman,
      Because she was taken out of Man.”

Here God performs the first operation and uses the first anesthetic recorded, causing a deep sleep to fall on Adam, thereby taking one of his ribs and creating his wife to be. By taking a bone from Adam’s side, God implied equality and mutual respect. Eve’s genetic structure was derived from and perfectly harmonious with Adam’s. Seeing Eve was a shocking and exhilarating experience because the match was perfect. Adam called her woman, which was a name that matched his own. She was woman, and he was man. They were perfectly suited for each other. With the words of verse twenty-four, God instituted monogamous marriage. In Genesis 3:20, Adam named his wife Eve; it being the second name that he had given her, the feminine complement to his own masculinity (Genesis 2:23).

Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version of the Bible, © 1979, 1980, 1982, 1990, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers.

© 2006, 2011 Kenute P. Curry. All rights reserved.