Lives and Legacies: First Ladies of the Bible. Cheryl Rhodes

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СКАЧАТЬ bring forth abundantly and swarm with living creatures, and let birds fly over the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.” So God commanded the waters to bring forth all the creatures of the sea and the sky, after their kind. God saw that it was good, and He blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the waters and the air.” That was evening and morning of day five (Gen. 1:20–24).

      The waters “created” sea creatures and air creatures. The water’s and sky’s purpose was to be habitation and sustenance for these creatures. The creatures were given the purpose of fruitfulness. They were to produce and care for an ongoing creation—their offspring. Remember that command to the creatures; you’ll hear a similar command again.

      Back to day three, when God said, “Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, so that dry land appears.” God called the dry land earth, and the gathered waters He called seas. God approved this.

      Next, God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb-yielding seed, and the fruit trees yielding fruit after their own kind, with their seed in themselves.” So it was accomplished. God approved this also (Gen. 1:9–14).

      Before we leave the third day, I want you to notice that God didn’t create the grass, herb yielding seed, and fruit trees. God commanded the earth to bring forth… God commanded creation to create. So have you considered that you were created to create? Are you creating?

      And the relationship? Grass, herb yielding seed, and fruit trees derive their life from the ground from which they came. Relationship. Then there is the relationship between the plants and trees with the animals and humans, yet to come.

      In the first three days, The Creator established…

      

order, which serves as the basis for time,

      

purpose, which serves as the basis for function, and

      

relationships, which serve as the basis for habitation and sustenance.

      On day six, The Creator returned to the creation of day three, the land and plants. God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures after his kind, cattle, creeping things, and beasts.” It was accomplished, and God declared it suitable. Once again God commanded creation to produce—in this case the earth was to bring forth cattle, creeping things, and beasts.

      How interesting that He declares His plan “suitable.” Faint praise, to my thinking, for what was indescribably beautiful and functional beyond human imagination. And for a second time, The Creator tells the created beings, land animals, to reproduce.

      Still on day six, God continued, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, over the cattle, over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth” (Gen. 1:26).

      You see, in Genesis 1, God reveals God’s Self. He is a united plurality—trinity, you’ve heard it called. “Let Us made man in Our image and after Our likeness.”

      Humans are in God’s image. What does that mean? More than you or I could figure.

      To begin, we are a united plurality. We are a mind, a body, and an eternal spirit. We are creative. Good stuff. We have power to choose. Aw, now that was a part of God’s image that we found both wondrous and disastrous. You’ve no doubt experienced that. But God’s purpose for us was relationship. Robots don’t relate.

      From the beginning, God was making a place for humans. In creating humans in His Own image, God was establishing His relationship to the created order: He provided the earth for humans; humans were to serve Him by fellowship with Him and stewardship of His creation.

      So 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 (Gen. 2:7). Humans were God’s only “hands-on” creation. Only with humans did God “get His hands dirty.” Only into humans did God breathe His breath. The crowning creation was humanity—in God’s image.

      Man’s first creative function was the naming each of the types of creatures for which we were to care and keep.

      But for the man, called Adam, there was not found a suitable or complimentary partner (Gen. 2:20). Did you ever wonder about the conversation between Adam and The Creator regarding this situation? Perhaps Adam noticed the relating of each animal to its partner. He, of course, had God, but The Creator is so infinitely superior. The Almighty, in His wisdom, chose to give Adam a partner who was suitable—a help equal to him.

      So The LORD God caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep. While Adam slept, God took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh. From that rib, The LORD God fashioned me and brought me to Adam.

      Adam responded, “This, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she will be called woman, because she was taken out of man. Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they will become one flesh” (Gen. 2:21ff).

      So my purpose was to be a help to Adam in all the purposes for which we were created. Do prophets always understand their words? What did Adam know of a father and mother? Perhaps more than you think. But that’s not important. They were not to be his partner. I was to be his lifelong partner, as he was to be mine.

      Adam named me Eve, because I was the mother of all living (Gen. 3:20). Before children were born to us, I was the mother of all living. Do animals live? Was I the mother of all living? What did those animals mean to me? Do you get attached to the animals for which you care? I’ll just leave those questions for your consideration.

      I will point out, I was not made from a foot bone to be walked upon, nor from a bone of Adam’s head to rule over him. I was taken from his side, near his heart, to be his companion, his love, his soul mate. I was created a suitable help—equal to the task. Oh, that I had been that help. A help to obedience. But I’m getting ahead of my story.

      Now, Adam and I were naked, but not ashamed (Gen. 2:21–25). We didn’t think about clothes. We had no need to be protected. The sun didn’t burn. There was no frost to bite. The climate was perfect. We were perfect—in body, mind, and spirit. Such bliss, but we only realized that bliss later.

      So God created us in God’s own image, male and female. God called us “human” and blessed us, saying, “Be fruitful, multiply, replenish the earth, and steward it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and every living thing that moves upon the earth” (Gen. 1:27ff).

      You’ll notice, Adam and I were both created in God’s image. We both received the same instructions about being fruitful (the first set of commandments). Unlike the animal kingdom, we were to steward creation—together. A steward is one who is responsible for the care and the direction of that being stewarded. What a privilege! What a responsibility!

      God had created us equal to that task and dealt with us as one. So few in your time and place, even those claiming to be God’s Own, live according to that original design.

      The Almighty instructed us, “Look and see, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit yielding seed. It will be meat for you. I have given every green herb for meat to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to every СКАЧАТЬ