Wednesday 23 April 2014

Creation vs Form


We create with our words and form with our hands. The words of our mouth are very important to the things we create in our lives but those things will only take form by and through the work of our hands.

Let us look at the account of creation in the book of Genesis when God showed the difference between creation and form.

Genesis 1:11-13
11 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 So the evening and the morning were the third day.

On the third day, God created the grass, the seed yielding herb and the fruit tree.

Now let's look at what happened on the sixth day.

Genesis 1:27-31
27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 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.” 29 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. 30 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. 31 Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

On the sixth day, God created man in His own image, male and female He created them.

Its established that in creation God created the grass, herb and fruit tree on the third day and created man (male & female) on the sixth day.

Now let's see what happened thereafter in chapter two.

Genesis 2:1-7
1 Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. 2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. 4 This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, 5 before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; 6 but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground. 7 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.

God rested on the seventh day because he ended His work which He had done.

Let's look at Genesis 2 very carefully.

In verses 4 & 5, it talks about the history of the heavens and the earth when God created them before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown.

(WHY?)

FOR THE LORD GOD HAD NOT CAUSED IT TO RAIN ON THE EARTH, AND THERE WAS NO MAN TO TILL THE GROUND.

God simply showed us a process here. He had created the tree on the third day and man on the sixth day but before the tree can take form, the earth had to be watered and man had to till the ground.

In verses 6 & 7, a mist went up from the earth and watered the ground 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.

Now let's see what happened after God had formed man.

Genesis 2:8-25
8 The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. 9 And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 10 Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads. 11 The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which skirts the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 And the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and the onyx stone are there. 13 The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which goes around the whole land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is Hiddekel; it is the one which goes toward the east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates. 15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” 18 And the Lord God said, “ It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” 19 Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him. 21 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. 22 Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. 23 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.” 24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

God put man in the garden and after that he made every tree grow.

Verse 18, And the Lord God said, “ It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.

God created them male and female but when He formed Adam from the ground, he was alone and God said it wasn't good for man to be alone hence the need to form woman out of man.

Verse 19, Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name.

Let's note that though the trees and animals were created before Adam, God formed them out of the ground and brought them to Adam after Adam had been formed.

The words of our mouth are very important just as well is the work of our hands. We must not neglect one at the expense of the other. If all we do is speak words without forming, we will just have loads of things created in our spirit and if all we do is work without first creating with our words, we'll find ourselves living a life of struggle.

The perfect balance is the example God showed us at creation. If we are created in the image and likeness of God, it means we look like God and function like God so we must create with our words and form with the works of our hands.

FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD.