Discovering Our Value
in God’s Creation
|
Key Verse: “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 soul.” Selected Scripture: |
THE BOOK OF GENESIS is a record of God’s preparation of the planet Earth for habitation. The creative epochs in that book describe the stages of that great work. The Earth was in existence at the time that this work began, but “was without form, and void.” (Gen. 1:2) As the mighty power of God started this work of preparation, there would pass eons of time as he created all the elements comprising Earth (its dust), and created the water, oxygen, and nitrogen, in the correct proportions to support life. The revolution of the Earth and its distance from the sun, plus all the other requirements of temperature and pressure were adjusted to make possible life coming forth of plants and animals. Everything God did to make life enjoyable was so ordered of him.
As our key verse says, man was the zenith of God’s Creation and he was brought forth to multiply and fill the earth. God’s purpose in all of this creative effort is revealed to us in those statements in the Bible that speak of “from” or “before” the foundation of the world. When Jesus began his ministry, he spoke to the people in parables. “All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.” (Matt. 13:34,35) This is a quotation from Psalm 78, verse 2. Jesus himself used this expression when he said, in concluding the meaning of the parable of sheep and goats, “Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” (Matt. 25:34) This reveals God’s grand objective for mankind which is the establishment of his kingdom upon Earth. Much had to transpire before this stage would be reached.
Our lesson describes, in Genesis 2, how God prepared a perfect environment for man, after telling how the combination of the body formed from the ‘dust’ (elements) of earth were combined with the ‘breath of life’ to make man ‘a living soul.’ It is important to note the careful wording concerning man’s creation. He did not receive a distinct and separate entity known as a soul, nor was it an immortal soul. It also tells how God used a part of Adam to make Eve, to provide a helpmate for him. Hence, Adam said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh.”—Gen 2:23
Many events had to occur before God’s plan could be carried forward, and the first was sin entering into this perfect environment. The sentence of death was imposed, and all of this was in the mind of God. It was written of Jesus, he was “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev. 13:8), and of the church “as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world.” (Eph. 1:4) These scriptures reveal what was in God’s mind as a plan of salvation.