Genesis 1:11

The Bible says in Genesis 1:11-13, “And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth; and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the third day.” On the third day of the creation of the earth God established this great principle of the origin of life as we know it today. Life comes from life: “yielding seed after his kind.” Life does not come from non-life. That is a scientific fact. Once again we see that the Bible is consistent with science.

Jesus took the idea of the planting of a seed and what might grow from it in His great parable of the sower. If the seed of the Word of God is planted in the heart of a person, something very good can grow from it. Jesus said in Matthew 13:19-23, “When anyone heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which receiveth seed by the wayside. But he that received the seed into stoney places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. He also that receive seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”

Evidently according to Genesis 1:14 the moon and the stars and the sun were not visible from the earth until the fourth day. This is one reason to realize that the seven days of the creation of life were 24-hour periods. The plants were created on day three, and they would not have lived very long without sunlight reaching them. The Bible says in Genesis 1:14-19, “And God said let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and for years. And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of heaven to give light upon the earth. And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.” God created everything, and so of course He created the sun and the moon. This passage might mean that on the fourth day the light from the sun and the moon was allowed to reach the earth.

Concerning the fifth day of the creation of life on the earth, the Bible says in Genesis 1:20-23, “And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.” Once again we are reminded that all of this happened in one 24-hour period. It speaks of “the evening and the morning.” This is 24 hours.

Where did all of the animals come from? God created them. Of course, this does not remove the fact of the adaptation of the species. For example, we know of three elephant-like animals that have lived on the earth: the African elephant, the Indian elephant, and the wooly mammoth. Evidently all three descended from a common ancestor. It is a good example of what probably happened with most of the other animals. God created an original “kind” of animal, and then that animal multiplied and spread across the earth, and many adaptations took place as a result of the various climates and environments where the animal’s descendents lived. Similarities in animals of different species can be accounted for not by evolution, but by the fact that they have a common creator. One painting by Rembrandt has certain similar characteristics to another painting by Rembrandt. Both paintings have the same creator, and thus there are similarities.

God created every living creature that exists. There is no evidence of life on another planet, but if it exists, God created that life also because God created everything. When you see an animal or an insect or a bird, you can remember that God designed and created that animal. It is a wonderful world that we live in full of wonderful creatures. Observe the world and enjoy it and all that is in it. You are observing what God chose to bring into being. The animals truly did bring forth “abundantly” just as God told them to do. Every living creature came from God, and not from evolution. God looked at the animals that He created, and “God saw that it was good.”

The Bible says in Genesis 1:26-27, “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the flesh 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. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” Men and women did not evolve from apes. Men and women were created by God, and they were created 24 hours after the apes and all other animals. Any similarities are due to the fact that all creatures have a common Creator.

Men and women were created in God’s “image.” There are certain ways in which human beings are like God. Of course, man was not like God in physical appearance: at least not at the time of creation. God is a Spirit. One interesting point about this subject is that Jesus who is God eventually took upon Himself the form of a man when He came into the world. “A body thou hast prepared for me.” It says in Philippians 2:6 about Jesus, “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God; But made himself of no reputation, and took upon himself the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.”

Men and women are like God because we have an intellect, we have emotion, and we have a will. Of course, our intellect is much less than God’s unlimited intellect, but the intellect of man is still very powerful. What man can imagine, man can accomplish. Great thoughts have entered into the mind of man, and great deeds have been accomplished because of it. This is true because man is created in the image of God. God has intellect and God has emotions such as love, and anger, and joy. The greatest emotion is love. John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but should have everlasting life.” “God is love.” Because we have been created in the image of God, man also has the capacity to love and to show other emotions. God wants man to especially show love because of how important love is. Jesus said in John 13:34, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.”

God has intellect and emotion, and God also has a will. God makes choices. God chose to create the world. God chose to create men and women in His likeness. Jesus chose to take upon Himself the form of a man and to die for the sins of the world. God chose to save those who believe in Him. The choices that God has made have determined many things that affect our lives every day. Each human being also makes choices. We make choices that affect where we live, where we work, and whom we marry. We also make choices about our relationship with God. We choose to repent of our sins or not. We choose to believe in Jesus or not. We choose to study the Bible each day or not. How many things have changed because of the choices that we have made? May God give us the grace to think, and to love, and to make choices that please Him.

The Bible says in Genesis 1:27 that when God created man, “male and female created he them.” In the very beginning God created “male and female.” Male and female together is God’s plan. God did not create two males or two females, but He created male and female. That shows what God intended for the human race. That answers the question concerning God’s will and homosexuality. God’s will is that a man and a woman be together on the earth.

One more time we will say that God created man. Man did not come from evolution. How do we account for cavemen and the evidences of cavemen such as with the cave drawings? That answer seems clear. We did not evolve from cavemen. Cavemen degenerated from civilized humans. Cavemen are people who broke away from civilized groups, and who became rugged and uneducated because of their isolation.

The Bible says in Genesis 1:28-31, “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. 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. 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. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”

God blessed man in three ways. First, God told man to multiply and fill the earth. Second, God gave man dominion over all of the earth. And third, God provided for men and animals. The first blessing involves the man and the woman coming together and having children in order to fill up the earth. God invented sex. He made it pleasurable so that men and women would be attracted to each other in order to fulfill the multiplication process. Of course, this fulfillment is to come in marriage where a man and a woman are united in love and in devotion to each other. It says in Hebrews 13:4, “Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.” The fact that God’s will is for a man and a woman to come together to fill up the earth is also the first indication that abortion is not God’s plan. Once a child is conceived, it is God’s plan for that child to be born and to take his or her place in the world as a part of the command to “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.”

The second blessing that God gave to man is to have “dominion” over all the earth. Under God’s authority man is the ruler of this earth. Every animal can be tamed or domesticated or controlled as man chooses to do. This power of man causes problems for the earth sometimes because unregenerate man often uses this power in destructive ways. One thing that will take place at the judgment is that every person will give an answer to how they used the power that God gave to them: whether it was used for evil or for good. To have dominion over the plants and animals of the earth implies having responsibility. Men and women are responsible to take care of the plants and animals that God has placed upon the earth. The measure of your responsibility is the measure of your opportunity.

It is interesting to note that when God created the earth, He said, “I have given every green herb for meat.” This means that God originally made man a vegetarian. That is because initially there was no death. Of course, once death came into the world, the requirement to be a vegetarian ended. First Timothy tells us that false teachers will try to keep people from eating meat. It says in First Timothy 4:3-4, “Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving.” If you accept Jesus as your Savior, the Holy Spirit will give you understanding of God’s Word about the Creation and other truths.

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