From one of our previous gatherings at The Table, we saw that the Gospel of Jesus Christ, The Son of God, is revealed in nine perspectives.
Each of these perspectives gives us insight into the redemptive plan and purpose of God in us, and for us.
It is the summation of all the views of the Gospel of God that enables us to inherit the fullness of our redemption in Christ Jesus, our Great God and Savior.
The light of the Glory of God will be revealed unhindered through us only as we see the perspectives of This Glorious Gospel together as one.
However, we also saw that the core message of The Gospel of our Lord Jesus is The Kingdom of His Father.
And we began from the beginning to explore our inheritance of the Kingdom of God which was bequeathed to us by our Heavenly Father.
From the beginning, we saw that the difference between the earth that God created in Genesis 1:1, and that which is seen in Genesis 1:2 was occasioned by Satan after he was expelled from Heaven and flung down to the earth.
Today we will continue with our quest to know the mysteries of The Kingdom of our Father which have been given to us to understand.
Our main dish is served from Genesis 1: 1–5, with particular reference to verses 3–5:
Genesis 1:1–5
(1) In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
(2) And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
(3) And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
(4) And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
(5) And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
From Genesis 1:3, God steps into the formless and empty mass covered in darkness that the earth was plunged into by Satan, and He begins the process of renewal with His Word.
In verse 3 God spoke light into being, by saying: “Let there be light”.
Subsequently, in verse 4, after confirming that the light was good, God separated the light from the darkness that covered the earth.
This separation reveals to us that two realms coexisted side by side:
1. The Domain of Light which God called Day.
2. The territory enveloped in the darkness occasioned by Satan, God called Night.
Now, it is most critical that we understand that these two spiritual realms of Light and Darkness, otherwise called Day and Night, existed alongside one another before the physical lights of the sun and the moon would be created in the fourth day, and evidently, also before the first man would be created by God on the sixth day.
Being aware of the existence of these two distinct and separated spiritual domains of Light and Darkness, coexisting alongside one another on the earth, prior to the creation of Adam, is the foundation for our understanding in the exploration of our inheritance of our Father’s Kingdom.
After completing His restoration of the earth, and restocking it as it were in the first five days of His renewal exercise, God proceeded to create man on the sixth day.
Before we proceed specifically to the creation of man, we will take a peek at the general account, the all-inclusive record, of how God created all that He has ever created as it is written in John 1: 1 -5:
Joh 1:1–5
1) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2) The same was in the beginning with God.
3) All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4) In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5) And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
Three points are of particular interest to us in this parallel account to that written in Genesis 1:1–5:
1. In verse 3 of John chapter 1, it is written that there was nothing created except that which was created by the Word of God.
2. In verse 4, it is also written that in the Word of God is life.
3. In verse 5, we see the light of God contrasted with an existing darkness even as it is written in Genesis 1:3 -5.
With these as our foundation, we may now proceed to God’s creation of man as is partly recorded for us in Genesis 1: 26–27: verse 26 reads:
Genesis 1:26
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.
The initial process of the creation of man began with the word of God even as we saw in John 1:3: God said: “let us make man in our image, after our likeness”.
And in Genesis 1:27, we see the word of God fulfilled:
Genesis 1:27
27) So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
This verse affirms twice that the word of God spoken in the previous one accomplished the purpose of God.
However, like a potent seed in the soil remains dormant until the rain falls, or, in a sense, lifeless, in spite of having the life of the plant in it, so was the man created by the word of God in a limited sense devoid of life.
The complementary account which reveals to us the completion of God’s creation of man is found in Genesis 2:7:
Gen 2:7
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 soul.
As a viable seed in the soil comes alive at the scent of water, so the man created by the word of God came alive as God breathe of His Spirit into him: God breathe of Himself into man:
“And man became a living soul”
God personally indwelling man by His Spirit is the unique characteristic of man amongst all of God’s creation.
We repeat: the most thrilling — the most fascinating aspect of the creation of man is our oneness — our union — our communion with God.
The life giving Spirit of God causing the man created by the word of God to come alive is reaffirmed in Job 33:4:
Job 33:4
4) The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.
Genesis 2:8 reveals what God did with the man He created:
Gen 2:8
8) And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
Genesis 2:9 gives us a description of the garden in which God put man:
Gen 2:9
9) And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
And Genesis 2:16 -17, reveals the first direct communication of God to man:
Genesis 2:16–17
16) And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
17) But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
God gave Adam only one commandment and solemnly warned him of the certain and fatal consequence of disobedience.
On this solemn note, we will conclude our meal today with the cautionary words of the Apostle of our Lord Jesus taken from 2Corinthians 11:3:
2Co 11:3
(3) But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
The Contemporary English Version reads:
2Co 11:3
(3) But I fear lest, as the serpent seduced Eve by his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted and fall from the simplicity that is in Christ.
The Grace of our Lord Jesus is with your spirit. Amen.
