Tuesday: God and Humankind Together
Genesis 1:28-29
Notice God’s first spoken words to humankind, at least as they appear in Scripture. He points them to their ability to procreate, to reproduce more of their own kind. He also points them to the earth itself, to the creation, and He tells them to replenish it, to subdue it, and to have mastery over it.
Image © Bible Adventure Collection at Goodsalt.com
He also points them to the plants they can eat. In short, according to the Bible, God’s first words to man and woman deal specifically with their interaction and relationship to the physical world.
What do Genesis 1:28-29 tell us about how God views the material world? Do they imply that there is something bad in material things and our enjoyment of them? What lessons can we learn from these early scenes in human history about how we should relate to the creation itself?
Also, with these words, God takes the first steps toward a relationship with humankind. He speaks to them, gives them commands, tells them what to do. There’s a responsibility implicit in words too. God has asked them to be masters over this wonderful creation that He Himself has made.
Genesis 1:28 says that God blessed Adam and Eve. What does that mean? What kind of relationship does it imply between them and their Creator?
God addressed Adam and Eve as intelligent beings who could respond to His kindness and enter into communion and fellowship with Him. Also, as creature-children, Adam and Eve were dependent upon the blessing and care of their Creator-Father. He provided all they needed. They did nothing to deserve what He gave them. They were purely recipients of something they did not earn.
| When we read about the creation of man and woman, we can see elements, before sin, of the kind of relationship God wants us to have with Him now, after sin. Review the day’s study and see what parallels you can find that help us understand how we can relate to Him even in our fallen condition. |
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Blessed shall thou be when thou comest in...Deutro 28:6
Genesis 1:28 says that God blessed Adam and Eve. What does that mean? What kind of relationship does it imply between them and their Creator?
This blessing was in totality, and it was repeated in Deuteronomy 28:1-9. Blessing in their spiritual, physical, mental and social life. Human were made to grow forever as long as they maintain the connection with their creator.
In terms of reproduction and multiplication,
I believe it was the Lord desire for humans to cont having children to replenish the earth. The Lord had bless Eve womb so she can reproduce children. Children are a blessing. Later in Deuteronomy 28:4 those words were repeated. Blessed be the fruit of thy body. Children are an inheritance of the Lord. Ps 127:3.
Throughout the bible it tells us about children and their responsibilities to parent and to a loving Father.
Adam and Eve were to have dominion over everything on this earth. Humans were to 'rule' and everything created were to be under subjection to humans pre-sin.
The author of the lesson alluded to the notion that the first words the Creator uttered to the new couple was "be fruitful and replenish the earth". May I suggest that I may differ (I wasn't there), however take in consideration that that Adam was made first yes? Therefore God would have had some communication with Adam. Simple logic. Whatever it was, I'm happy that God made man in His image, when man messed up God came and died on a cruel cross and now despite my sins His blood has cleanse me. My MO is to help somebody get ready to meet Him when He returns.
"Be fruitful and multiply and I will give you food" I have discovered that these are part of the terms of most of the divine covenants in the Word of the LORD.
The LORD's words in Gen 1:28-30 remind me of marriage vows, the LORD is setting out the terms of His relationship with the humans. He is providing everything they need to be happy, this is what it means to be blessed.
Genesis 1:28
God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that crawls upon the earth."
Lev 26:9. Amplified Bible
For I will turn toward you [with favor and regard] and make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will establish and confirm My covenant with you.
Deuteronomy 7:13
He will love you and bless you and multiply you. He will bless the fruit of your womb and the produce of your land--your grain, new wine, and oil, the young of your herds and the lambs of your flocks--in the land that He swore to your fathers to give you.
Genesis 48:4
and (He)told me, 'Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you; I will make you a multitude of peoples, and will give this land to your descendants after you as an everlasting possession.'
Great men are not always wise: neither do the aged understand judgement. Job 32:9
The Lord was thinking ahead of humans when he created Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply of their same kind/humans. Pre-sin was perfect. Not to have dominion over each other but over the things lower than themselves- animals.
This lesson is wonderful. A must study. The opportunity for the question - regarding our Creator and we the creature - "Who are we?" and "Why are we here?" can be investigated even deeper. God created us in His image. He gave us responsibility to recreate, replenish and have dominion over the whole earth. (Gen. 1:28 - 29)
As human beings we have the capacity to be humble and learn from every situation. We learn so that we can share the Everlasting Gospel - Jehovah reigns and He loves us and wants us to love Him and be like Him forever and ever and ever.
We cannot be like the dumb animals and shirk our responsibilities. Jehovah calls us to be attentive, observant and caring; that is to have His loving, caring and responsible character and do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with Him. To share with others that Jehovah invites us into a covenant relationship where we can 'cast all our cares upon Him' and trust Him to 'lead us in the paths of righteousness' and just add to all this Psalm 23. I love my Lord and He loves me.
In this end time we are required to be even more responsible in our Christian walk. Jehovah calls us to be holy - this we cannot do in our own strength. The battle is not against flesh and blood. So we must depend upon the strength of Jehovah totally. We must be fully surrendered and allow Him to lead.
We were given a great and marvelous planet to enjoy! But as part of our decaying process, we decided that Nature wasn't that good! We decided to explore it and just destroy it, for our own and selfish desire! We decided that our only and unique house, The Earth, is not good enough, thus we try to search for answers in space, although we barely know what's under water right here! Unfortunately, we decided that money, something we devour, is worthy of fighting, killing, accumulating! As it could be comparable to something like life and love!
"They did nothing to deserve what He gave them. They were purely recipients of something they did not earn." I hold on to this as an excellent explanation of salvation a gift. Now with both salvation and creation how we respond dictates if the gift is valuable to us enough to hold on to it.
Question 1. The previous verses in Genesis already told us how God views the “material world” when He called it “good”. These verse are focused on man's purpose, duty, and accountability in this physical realm which God made for man to rule as His servants. This service involves our mental and spiritual attributes. We cannot relate with God without all 3 aspects of our nature.
Question 2. This blessing is the work God gave man to do. The relationship of man with God is being laborers together with God, who is the Sovereign, which places us subject to obedience to Him(see Rev 4:11) and is our highest privilege and greatest joy.
Question 3. Our first relation now is to “repent and believe the Gospel”(Mark 1:15), for only as we do this are we able to relate to God as He intended in our creation/birth. We cannot relate if we do not agree(see Amos 3:3). Only the “pure in heart...shall see(comprehend) God”, and only “the wise shall understand”(Matt 5:8, Dan 12:10).
I really enjoyed the thoughts expressed in today's lesson. Because of English being my second language, I often have to resort to a language dictionary to help me understand the meaning of words. Today the words are 'dominion' and 'subdue'.
I learned that the dictionary defines ‘dominion’ also in terms of “a region marked off for administrative or other purposes”. Synonyms are: district, territorial dominion, territory – a large indefinite location on the surface of the earth. (vocabulary.com)
The words ‘subdue and dominion’ used in Gen.1:28KJV always caused me to shrink back a bit because I understood it in terms of authority, pressuring something, someone to submit. Why would God instruct man to ‘subdue’ something that he was in whole and part part of; made for him to live in, established and functioning as a harmonious unit and declare by the Father to be perfect?
I just recently understood the difference between fatherly love and brotherly love. The only context in which I can see these words used is the context of fatherly love – the Father established His children in the new world. Nothing of that which existed was ‘out of order’ at the time the Father gave our first parents their beautiful Garden home to live and enjoy their perfect environment.
My new understanding of these words is - caring. Like the Father loves and cares for His children, so were His children to love and care for their new home. The Father’s blessings expressed His desire for them to establish their own kind and live caringly and peaceably with each other, expressing His fatherly love through the lives of the creature He had formed and placed into His world.
I am happy to find my thoughts corresponding so well with the way the lesson writer expressed our relationship with the Father. It was Heaven on Earth then and will be again. Our Father invites everyone to come and live in His Heavenly Kingdom here on earth. As we are being born again in His Spirit of Love, Peace, and Righteousness, we can again experience our wonderfully loving and caring Heavenly Father!
God made words. In Gen 1:3 it states, "Then God said, "Let there be light."" Since we know there was nothing, it is apparent that God spake to the nothingness. And it obeyed and brought forth all things. In Mat 8: 8-9 the Centurion captured this God-Spoken authority and power over ALL things and paralled it to his absolute authority over his soldiers. We are like God and made in His image in this way. Our thoughts and our words can change our material world.
God is 3 persons, so perhaps speaking to one another? Just a thought. Otherwise, why speak?
I love how God gave us this world to enjoy its natural beauty.
If we expand our imagination and express the meaning of "Be fruitful and multiply" as well as the command of "work and tend the garden that God planted", we will project that the garden of Eden will also expand and multiply. The garden of Eden is the framework and the blueprint that God presented to the man that he should propagate and multiply to fill the whole earth. That plan to replenish the earth will be fulfilled when Jesus come back as he promised the thief on the cross, "Today I promise you, you will be with me in that paradise restored"; a promise that is extended to every saved person.