Studies in the book of Genesis Chapters 1-11 #6 Man – Crown of God’s Creation Gen 1:26-31
Introduction: 1. We have looked at the first five and a half days of creation 2. Now we are ready to look at the crown of God’s creation which took place on the last half of day six 3. Everything God created on days one through five and the first half of day six was to get the earth ready for man a. Man was the central object of God’s creative activity b. God wanted a perfect environment for man 4. Everything that God created will one day be destroyed, except man 2Pe 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. 5. In eternity God will have a vast multitude of the redeemed praising Him 6. Evolution says that man is just a highly developed (evolved) animal 7. Genesis makes it clear that there was a great difference between the creation of animals and man 8. Evolution does not leave out creation or man. a. What they leave out is God. b. Giving evolution respect dishonors God. 9. There are five things said about man in this creation report which are not in the evolution report. And all five involve God one way or another.
I. Man is Distinct in Creation – vs 24-27 A. Man was Created in a Separate Act of Creation 1. Gen 1:24-25 deal with the creation of animals 2. Gen 1:26 begins a separate act of creation a) Everything is now ready for man (1) God did not need 5 billion years (2) He did not even need 6 days - the 6 days set the pattern for man's work week b) God seems to be speaking to Himself here, one member of the Godhead speaking to another c) Man was to be created in God's image d) Man was to have a moral consciousness and the ability to think abstractly, the capacity for worshipping and loving God e) Man is in no way related to the beasts (1) No animal can transmit accumulated achievements from one generation to the next (2) No animal experiences guilt when it does wrong (3) What animal shows a desire to worship (4) What animal has hope of immortality beyond the grave? (5) When did you ever see a dog admiring a sunset or a horse standing breathless before the rugged grandeur of a mountain range? (6) What animal learned to read or write f) Man stands alone (1) Physically he alone stands upright (2) Mentally he alone has the ability to communicate in a sophisticated manner (3) Spiritually he alone has the capacity to know God
B. In vs 26 God Begins Using Personal Pronouns in Relation to Himself 1. “Let us” – “our image” – “our likeness” 2. God did not say, “I think I will make man in my image” 3. Here is the clearest evidence so far of the trinity a) This was hinted at in Gen 1:1 where we see God = Elohim which is plural b) The plural pronouns here confirm the plurality of the Godhead
C. If Man is Distinct From Animals, Then How Do We Account for Cavemen? Job 30:6 To dwell in the clifts of the valleys, in caves of the earth, and in the rocks. 1. You have seen the picture of the cavemen – hairy, apelike 2. A biology textbook might give progression that begins with a definite apeman that is more ape than man which become more manlike until you see a guy in a business suit 3. Evolution, of course, says that if you go back a half million generations, 5 million years of so, then our ancestors were all apes 4. Cavemen are artist’s conceptions of what a missing link must have looked like a) Nebraska Man Java Man Piltdown Man
D. What About the Similarities? 1. There are similarities between man and apes a) The hand is similar -- Both walk upright b) Many of the structures in the bodies are similar 2. Similarities do not prove that man evolved from apes a) Similarities prove that man and apes were designed by a smart engineer b) Look at the similarities in cars, trucks and other vehicles c) Look at the similarities in houses, buildings etc
II. Man is Different in Consciousness – vs 26-31 A. Consciousness of Deity – vs 26-27 26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish 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. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. • That man was created in the image of God certainly does not refer to our shape or our body • God is spirit and has no body – Jn 4:24 • Although the Bible often refers to the “eyes of the Lord” or the “arm of the Lord” – these are figures of speech (anthropomorphism) to help us to relate better to God • “Image” = a carving, a shadow – a shadow is not the real thing, but it bears a resemblance to the real thing • “Likeness” = pattern, mold, example – man was patterned after God and no animal was patterned after God • We have a spirit – we are spiritual beings – we can know God – man is a spirit, who possesses a soul and is housed in a body 1. Meaning of Created in the Image of God a) Mental Likeness (1) We are not omniscient (2) We can store and accumulate knowledge and pass it on from one generation to the next (3) Animals cannot do that – one generation of animals does not leave writings that the next generation can study and use (4) That man can rationally think and reason is a shadow of the image of God b) Moral Likeness – Eph 4:24 (1) Man has a conscience (2) Ro 2:14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: 15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;) 2. Manifestation of Created in the Image of God a) One of the chief manifestations of the image of God in us is our desire for relationships b) Each one of us has a build-in desire to know God c) God created Adam, but He said that it was not good for Adam to be alone
B. Consciousness of Dominion – vs 28 28 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. 29 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. 30 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. 31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. 1. Man was intended by God to rule the planet 2. Dominion means to be over something – dominate 3. That Adam was to name the animals shows that he had dominion over them 4. Adam had authority over creation
C. Consciousness of Destiny 1. Man knows that he is going to die and that there is something after death 2. Only man has the capacity to know God 3. God created you for a relationship with Himself – a relationship that starts here and continues on for eternity 4. Sin came in and formed a barrier between us and God 5. Jesus paid the penalty so we can be reconciled to God
III. God’s Approval 31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. 1. At the end of six days of perfecting creation, God gave approval to it all. 2. His approval had also come previously when various parts were perfected (Genesis 1:4,10,12, 18 and 21). 3. God's way of doing things is always "good." 4. It is man's ways that cause things to be bad. 5. This report of the perfecting of creation is also "good," but evolution is not good; it is bad, stupid, wicked, and against God. 6. It does not receive the approval of God.
In 1922 a tooth was discovered in Nebraska. An imaginary jawbone was devised and a skull then a skeleton then a face and features and finally we had Nebraska man. From the tooth, a whole man was imagined. A year or two later an identical tooth was found in the same area. This time the tooth was in a jawbone and the jawbone attached to the skull of a wild pig. Nebraska man was dreamed up from the tooth of a wild pig. Nebraska man was a myth. Java man was discovered in 1891 on the island of Java. The evidence for Java man consisted of a skull cap, three teeth and a femur bone and a lot of imagination. Java man made headlines – the missing link had been found. We did not know till later that the femur had been found 50 feet from the skull cap and a year later. Piltdown man was discovered and was proclaimed as a marvelous archeological find. England’s finest paleoanthropologists examined the skull of Piltdown man and proclaimed, “Piltdown man represents more closely than any human form yet found the common ancestor from which Neanderthal and modern types have derived. It was a great find. People who had not previously believed in evolution changed their minds. Other scientists from around the world examined the skull. Time went by and someone noticed file marks on the teeth and jaw. Someone else noticed that the skull had been stained to make it look older. Piltdown man was a hoax. The jawbone of an ape had been stained and modified and attached to a human skull. Eph 4:24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.