Genesis 1:26-28

Genesis 1:26-28 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. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 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. God had a Divine council with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and decided to make man. And man was made in the image of God. But what does that mean? God is a spirit - God doesn’t have a body like we do. So how are we made like God? Well, man has a body, but man is different that all of the other animals. That is because man has a living soul that will live in eternity forever and forever. We are like God in that we have a spiritual part. And because we were made like God, God gave us dominion over all of the animals. Dominion is a word that is used for a king having rule over his kingdom. The king has dominion over all of his subjects. And God gave us dominion over all of the animals. We have great privileges, but we also have great responsibility. We are not to abuse animals, we are to supervise them and to rule over them. You are responsible to feed and take care of your dog. You are the boss. But you have a great responsibility as well. The life of your dog is in your hands. God made us like Him and God gave us responsibilities. God rules over us and He gave us the responsibility to rule over all of nature.

Genesis 1:24, 25

Genesis 1:24,25 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 it was so. 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. God made all of the land animals on day six. He made man on day six as well, but we will look at Man’s creation tomorrow. God made everything to live together in harmony. There were no meat eaters in God’s original creation. The carnivores began to kill and tear each other after the fall of man. The curse upon all of creation is the result of Adam’s sin. And on day six, God made all of the insects and all of the little beasties in the soil. Those are small, but so very numerous. God made them all with considerable care. God is so good.

Genesis 1:20-23

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. On day five God made the birds and the fishes. Whales are mammals, but they live in the waters. God made the mammals of the seas along with the fish on day five. But what about sea otters? What about the manatees that live in the rivers of Florida? What about sea snakes and bottle-nosed porpoises? Well, I just don’t know. If God made the whales on day five, and they are mammals, He probably made the other water-dwelling mammals on day five as well. I just don’t know. We’ll have to ask the Lord when we see Him.

Genesis 1:14-19

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 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 the 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 made the sun and the moon to give light and to mark time. God made the sun to rule the day, but I am glad that He made the moon to give light at night. When I get up to go to the bathroom, I am glad for God’s night light, the moon so that I can see and not stub my toe on the bedpost or dresser. But I am glad that the moon is not too bright. I like it dark when I try to sleep. And then God made the stars. The stars appear to be so very dim, but that is only because they are just so far away. They are actually huge burning balls of fire as large as our sun! It is interesting to hear God say - in such a casual way - that He just happened to make all of the stars too! All of the billions and billions of stars! God just made them in the afternoon of day four! Isn’t God amazing?!

Genesis 1:9-13

Genesis 1:9-13 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. 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. As the good Lord pushed up the mountains to cause the dry land to appear, the waters slid down off of the mountains and down into the ocean basins. And with the dry land, the Lord God made all kinds of plants to grow upon it. He made grass and herbs and flowers and then trees. God made trees with annual rings inside of their trunks! If you would have cut down one of those trees, they would have had rings indicating that they were seventy-five or a hundred years old! But they were just created - they were only ten minutes old! God made many things with the appearance of age. And God made the plants with seeds already in them. He made them to reproduce and to be food for us and the animals. God not only made everything, but He takes good care of his creation. And, Don’t forget, God takes care of you!

Genesis 1:6-8

Genesis 1:6-8 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. On the second day, God organized the entire universe! God is a mighty God, isn’t He?! God divided the waters above and below the solid ground. But He didn’t make the dry land until day three. He was just organizing the waters - waters above the ground and waters below the ground. When the flood came in Genesis chapter 6, God opened what He called the windows of heaven – that is the waters above in our verse 7 - and released the fountains of the great deep, which are the waters below in our verse 7. Here in Genesis 1 God was storing up water above and below to use when He needed to. God knows what He is doing, even hundreds of years before He has to do things. God was wise way back then, and God is wise right now. And guess what? God will be wise in the future! You can count on the wisdom of God!