Answers Bible Curriculum 2nd Edition Unit 2 Lesson 14
This week in Sunday school, we turn our attention to days five and six of the creation week. What did God do on each day? What does it mean to be made in the image of God? And how should we understand animals being created “after their kind”?
Our main text for the lesson is Genesis 1:20-31.
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alright well let’s begin Sunday school welcome back to Sunday school good to see you literally it looks like everything has been sorted out now with the service we use an Internet my computer so Lord willing it will continue that way in this class by the way you may notice the wall of the Kaposi apartment is a little bit more Christmassy that’s via the skill of innovation of my wife we’re jumping back into our study of creation last week we examined the first four days of creation and we reached a few important conclusions first we saw many reasons why the word day as used in Genesis one must mean a 24-hour period second we considered several objections to the 24-hour view and we found those objections to be groundless and third we saw what happened specifically on those first four days and see if you can remember what did God do on day one he created the unfinished heavens and earth he created time he created light and light to specifically highlighted on day one God divided the light from the darkness and he called them day and night he made day and night what is it that God did on day two God divided the waters the waters below from the waters Belov and he created the expanse that went in between them and he called the expanse heaven what is the God did on day three and giving you a little pause there just for you to think to yourself what did God do well God gathered the waters below into seas and he caused the dry land to appear and then God created all the vegetation on the dry land and then what did God do on day four God created all the heavenly bodies the Sun the Moon the Stars the planets the galaxies the nebulae everything that’s in the cosmos so by the end of day four what has happened to the world the world that was described as originally described as unformed and unfilled by the end of day four what do we have we have a formed earth and we have a formed heavens but they’re not yet filled and that’s what we’re gonna talk about with day five and six we’re going to see how God fills is formed creation and that’s gonna be with animals and man hence the title of our lesson today here’s more specifically what we’re going to be looking at together we’re gonna examine what a God did on days five and six exactly we’re gonna look at the passage from Genesis 1 we’re then gonna drill down more closely on what it means to be made in God’s image and we’ll consider the meaning and makeup of animal kinds now let’s pray now as we go forward look god we thank you for this this word that you have shown us via this trustworthy word what happened in the beginning where we come from and Lord it has such great implications for our lives today not only in being beholden to you as creator but also in the way we treat one another really helping to be able to explain this well and clearly and that you would work in the hearts of those who hear today that they would be blessed to build up convicted and all the things that your spirit desires to do in Jesus name Amen now it’s actually been a while since we’ve read or heard the actual words of Genesis 1 so we’re actually going to do that this morning so please turn to Genesis 1 and that’s where we’re going to start we’re going to read our passage that has to do with days 5 and 6 so Genesis 1 verses 20 to 31 so we’re picking up right on the beginning of day five verse 20 follow along with me please then God said let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves with which the waters swarmed after their kind and every winged bird after its kind and God saw that it was good God blessed them saying be fruitful and multiply and fill the water waters in the seas and let Birds multiply on the earth there was evening and there was morning a fifth day then God said let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind and it was so God made the beasts of the earth after their kind and the cattle after their kind and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind and God saw that it was good then God said let us make man in our image according to our likeness and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth God created man in his own image in the image of God he created him male and female he created them God blessed them and God said to them be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth then God said behold I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth and a retreat which has fruit yielding seed it shall be food for you and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to everything that moves on the earth which has life I have given every green plant for food and it was so God saw all that he had made and behold it was very good and there was evening and there was morning the sixth day all right well let’s start our study of this passage according to our inductive study method with observations what is it that God does on day five of creation God creates all the sea creatures God creates all the flying creatures and God blesses them what does God do on day six of creation God creates all the land animals God creates man and woman God blesses them and it gives man dominion over all the earth and over all its creatures and God gives the man and all animals plants to eat as food I’m not the term winged bird or bird in verses 20 to 22 we can think of some examples of what this would include what what what did God create when he created Birds well that would include owls and goals and Jays and eagles and cranes and hummingbirds etc however though what we call birds is primarily in mind here in the passage the Hebrew word for bird would include all flying creatures except for flying insects because those were considered a creeping or a swimming thing apparently and we can see this ourselves by the way if we glance over at what list is given to Israel in Leviticus the lists of unclean birds those that were forbidden for the Israelites to eat in Leviticus 11 verses 13 to 19 at the very end of the list we see something interesting Leviticus 11 19 rounds out the list of birds they’re not allowed to eat by saying and you can’t eat the stork the heron in its kinds and the Hoopoe and the bat what a bet that’s not a bird OS of Israelites because of them a bird was really just a flying creature this is why I say day five is the creation of all flying creatures not just what we call birds so this would include bats this would include yes birds but it also would include flying dinosaurs like the pterodactyl now think about the kinds of sea creatures that would have been created on day five we get to descriptions in our verses verse 21 we get the see monsters and every living creature with which the waters swarmed this is a pretty broad but accurate description of aquatic life we’ve got really big creatures like whales sharks aquatic dinosaurs it’s actually interesting the term that’s translated sea monster in our text it may even have the idea of sea dragons since the term is used later on in the Old Testament to refer to or to describe Leviathan and to describe serpents it’s the same word but we have these really big creatures in the sea even being called sea monsters and then you’ve got the smaller creatures that frequently swarm so all kinds of fish and crabs and shrimp and jellyfish sea horses and otters and seals and dolphins and more so that’s day five we have the sea creatures we have the air creatures the flying creatures what about on day six consider the categories that were given in verses 24 to 25 for the land animals the first half cattle Hebrew word that could refer to animals in general it could refer to all animals but it was often used to speak of domesticated herd animals like cows sheep horses camels we then also have creeping things which is exactly what it sounds like and moles that live and move close to the ground like crickets beetles spiders worms snakes frogs lizards turtles mice moles and groundhogs then we have beasts of the earth and this is another hebrew word it’s different than the first one for land creatures but it could refer to all animals but usually or frequently it is used to speak of large wild animals so we’re probably talking about cats dogs bears elephants apes monkeys and various kinds of land dinosaurs and more now notice that these categories of land animals we do not exactly correspond to modern classifications like mammal reptile or arachnid but that’s okay Hebrews had a right to classify animals in their own way there’s nothing wrong with their categorizations necessarily but don’t miss the main point the various categorization of these animal are all illustrating that God made them all God made all the land animals God made all the sea creatures God made all the flying creatures and you made the seeing flying creatures of day five the land animals on day six but notice before we get to the final act of creation mentioned in the text there’s that phrase that keeps on appearing after they are kind or after its kind seven times in the passage that we just read and three times before that when talking about plants we’ve already said a few things about this phrase we’ll say a little bit more a little bit later now separate from this creation of land animals and functioning as the climax of the creation process is the creation of man on day six and notice what makes man distinct from the other creatures verses 26 to 28 we’re told that man is created in the image and likeness of God this is not true of any of the other animals but it is true of man now it’s very interesting about this revelation is you may notice when God expresses this quality about man before he creates him God speaks in plural let us create man in our image and in our likeness a plural first person use their pro first person pronoun used to describe God now that’s very poignant and we’ll come back to that we’re just observing right now that sin made notice that man is created in the image and likeness of God and man is given dominion he’s given dominion over the earth and all its animals land sea and air this again it’s not true of any of the other animals we think of lines being the king of the jungle but they’re not created as kings man was created as king in a sense over the other animals and over the earth God gave man dominion now what is it though that this that man and the animals will eat notice God’s ready and generous provision in verses 29 to 31 God says that all the plants all the fruit trees are to be food for a man and for the land animals and for the flying creatures and more specifically anything that moves and has life on the earth they’re gonna be eating plants that would include the sea creatures – now notice how God viewed his work at the end of days 5 and 6 verse 21 says at the end of day 5 that God saw that it was good and then verse 31 describes God’s view of all he had done over the six days and the text says behold it was very good now there’s extra emphasis on this final phrase throughout the creation narrative God has been commenting on each day at work saying it is good the whole God saw that it was good but now that the world is both formed and filled it’s not just good it’s very good and actually we have the word behold it’s struck in the beginning part of it that’s an attention-grabbing word listen up look at this closely it was very good I think the office trying to tell us something so we’ve made some important observations on the text that’s always step one we want to look at just the details when we look a table we’ll make observations but nots move to the second step interpretation want to answer a number of questions regarding the details we’ve seen actually going to skip the first one I think someone might ask hey did sea creatures eat something different than land animals because they’re not mentioned specifically when God talks about eating plants but the verse does say anything that has life and that moved on the earth so that would include the sea creatures obviously they’re not jumping on the land to eat the trees or eat from the trees but they had their own provision in the waters let’s go to the second question verse 26 it’s like a question I had here when it says let us create man in our image does this prove the doctrine of the Trinity one God in three persons mmm interesting thought but we don’t want to go too far with this there’s not enough explanation here to clearly reveal the triune nature of God you can’t point to verse 26 and be like see Trinity all from this verse you can get the whole doctrine of the Train no you can’t however this first does support the doctrine of the Trinity indeed it’s very difficult to explain this first without the Jim did you think about it for God to say let us make man in our image who else could he be speaking about except himself the only other conceivable group would be God speaking to angels but the Bible even the Old Testament is consistent in saying that man is made in the image of God not the image of angels nor the image of God and angels moreover angels are never said to create anything though they do serve God and His creation and they praise God for what God has accomplished in creation so we can’t be talking about angels and it can’t be God simply using a royal we a plural of Majesty to describe themselves God could take up such a stance you’ve probably heard or seen kings throughout history rulers throughout history speaking of themselves as if they were plural even though they’re only referring to themselves singularly and individually God could do the same thing he’s the king of kings but God doesn’t usually do this if we look at the way that God described himself throughout the Bible it’s almost always in singular terms and least in the Old Testament he says have no other gods before me not before us and God says for my name I will act not for our name and he says I will go before you tune people visual not we will go before you so God doesn’t have a habit of speaking in a Royal we so it would be quite arbitrary for God to use that here when he doesn’t elsewhere so it can’t be a plural of majesty it can’t be God speaking about angels so what do we do with this we’re still stuck with this plural pronoun for a singular being let us make man in our image what could possibly resolve this what could explain this except the doctrine of the Trinity this verse then becomes one of the first foreshadowings of the revelation of God as try you in the Bible I’m sure the ancient Hebrews are quite puzzled over this statement wondering how to reconcile a plurality and God no doesn’t save three here just says a plurality a plurality in God with his clear and insistent singularity you know that verse from the Torah here o Israel behold our God they hold Yahweh is one you note our God Yahweh Yahweh is one God is so insistent about he’s the only God and yet we have this Dame it doesn’t really make much sense unless you can understand the Trinity now God doesn’t reveal this answer right away but more clues would appear in the Bible as God’s revelation unfolds as God’s redemptive plan unfolds we’ll see more and more about the Trinity especially when it comes to the angel of the Lord in the Old Testament but it becomes much plainer in the New Testament so first twenty six doesn’t prove the Trinity that does support the Trin here’s a bigger question what does it mean that God made man in God’s image here’s a question that’s been pondered throughout the centuries before I will attempt to answer it do note that both male and female were created in the image of God women are not any less made in the image of God and then met even though man even though males were created first man Adam was created first women are not any less the image for God I think you could even say that together man and woman display the image of God and fuller fashioned there were no women we wouldn’t see the image of God as clearly we need both but what does it mean to be made in the image of God there are a few ways we could attempt to answer this question we could say that man is made physically in the image of God that is to say that man was made literally to look like God because God has a body or has it a likeness similar to our own now such would seem to fit with how we Intuit terms like image and likeness and image sounds visual likeness sounds visual they sound like physical terms such would also fit with certain descriptions using the Old Testament and the New Testament describing God’s arms his hands his face and his back mormons even go so far as to take this position supposing that god the father indeed has a human form and a body but the image of God cannot refer to a physical form that’s made clear in the rest of Scripture in the Ten Commandments for instance god forbids any image to be made of him presumably because no image can capture represent him properly this would seem very arbitrary and nonsensical if God actually had a body that could be represented John 4:24 even more explicitly in the New Testament says that God is spirit the spirit doesn’t have physical form well over Colossians 1:15 Colossians 1:15 further says that God is invisible so these references along with other aspects and we see in the scriptures shows that God doesn’t have a physical body doesn’t look like us physically however the references to God’s body parts in the Bible they are what we call anthropomorphisms anthropomorphisms that just means a type of figurative language we’re a non human being or object is described human characteristics in order to make a point so when God says the Old Testament is my arm too short to save he’s not revealing that he has long arms literally but he’s saying that my power is never insufficient to accomplish my will and to keep covenant with you so he’s making a point using an analogy or a metaphor from the human body the image of God is not physical being man in the image of God doesn’t refer to something physical another way to answer that question would be did suggest that being made in the image of God refers to man’s inner person we don’t reflect God in physical nature but an inner person man reflects the being in attributes of God I remember what we mean by attributes the the perfections the essence of God there’s things that we describe as love and wisdom and holiness and mercy things that totally make up who God is in making us in His image God chose to give us attributes reminiscent of his own almost like a physical likeness but in the inner person sense God loves God is love and so we also love though less greatly than God God has wisdom we have wisdom though in much less measure God has existence we have existence though not eternally like God God is created we are created though not as creative as God God is relational we are relational God loves unity and diversity we love unity and diversity God values beauty we value beauty and so forth so we have been in being made in God’s image we are we have God’s perfections God’s attributes imprinted and reflected in us not to the same level as God but in a way reminiscent of God indeed we need to have some level of God’s attributes in order for us to appreciate to enjoy and to worship God for who he is not that God needed us to do that andr god says throughout the Bible that he says I don’t need anything from you God chose to make man in a certain way that would advance what God loves most of all which is to give himself glory to enjoy his own glory and one of the ways he chose to do that was to make man able to appreciate God by being made in God’s image reflecting who God is and being able to appreciate it now certainly this is part of dance or what it means to be made in the image of God the inner man is part of what it means to be made in God’s image but I think there’s another aspect to it there’s a third way we can answer this question and I think it contains the second way but both are important we could also say to be made in God’s image or to be made in God’s image is to be a representative of his rule notice if we go back to our text here in Genesis 1 surrounding this declaration of intent from God to make man in His image is the concept of rule God says let us make man in our image and have him rule and we would expect that whatever clues there are as to what being made in the image of God means they would appear in the context right and the context here is ruling throughout verses 26 and following rule then Dominion then apparently has something to do with being made in the image of God actually this makes sense considering what we’ve already discussed in the second answer is not sovereignty rule power Dominion aren’t these also attribute in God or attribute of God a perfection of God God is sovereign as ruler so man as a reflection of God is made sovereign also but only as an under ruler now why have man as ruler why install man as the deputy ruler over God’s creation as a representative ruler an answer some have noted how in ancient times Kings would create literal images of themselves statues and set them up throughout their kingdoms throughout their dominions these standing images they not only reminded the subjects of the king of who the king was and what he looked like but the images also were a statement that the king had full authority over the land and the people around where the image was of such an idea would fit with God made man in God’s image man is like a statue an image of God figuratively not physically reflecting both who the ruling God is who the actual God is but also testifying that as the true king that he is the true king of the world and all the universe it’s an assertion of God’s authority and partly a revelation of who he is and thinking about the Bible as a whole and the revelation that we have received thinking about how history has played out one way to boil it all down to describe it is to say the history of the world is about God establishing his holy kingship over all the created universe you could describe everything that happens in history as God establishing his rule that is one way to see it and he arrived at the beginning we see that concept in man being made in God’s image God’s rule is being asserted in the images he is setting up living images that reveal in a derive sense who the real king is I think the best way to answer this question what does it means we made the image of God is this third answer containing the second answer being made in the image of God means to reflect the being and rule of God as an under ruler now this truth has implications because the Bible does say explicitly a few times that because man is made in God’s image sinful actions taken against men are actually direct affront to God we’ll see this most clearly in two places Genesis 9:6 Genesis 9:6 this is after the flood remember one of the things that God decried about man before the flood is that she was still violence and that goes back to Kane right who slew his brother but Genesis 9:6 says whoever sheds man’s blood by man his blood shall be shed for what’s the reason in the image of God he made man there’s a connection you can hit violence against another person you are violating what God did in creating man in His image or James James chapter 3 verses 8 to 10 James 3 8 to 10 James says but no one contained the tongue he’s talking about speech in that chapter it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison with it we bless our Lord and father and with it we curse men who have been made in the likeness of God and the same hath come both blessing and cursing my brother and these things ought not to be this way James makes clear that even speaking against a man a person isn’t affront to God because man was made in God’s image I mean think about if you could go back to this idea of Kings setting up images in ancient times if you mocked if you graffiti’d if you deface or if you destroyed a king’s image in ancient times you were by your actions showing contempt for the king himself who was represented by the image and if you were caught you would be severely punished so it is with all those who speak against harm or destroy God’s image and man God will require it of each offender you see man has been created with a certain dignity and that dignity must not be violated either by word or by deed this dignity does not come from man himself man deserves only be man deserves honor only because God deserves honor and because God made man in God’s image it’s the same concept behind why we on your parents why children are to obey their parents is because your parents deserve it because they had this innate quality of meeting obedience and reverence no it has something to do with God God gave them authority and so when you honor your parents you honor God and you dishonor your parents you dishonor God God has given the office dignity and that’s why we honor it the same thing with authorities in general back to this idea of man being made in God’s image ask yourselves before we move on or in a lesson just a little time of application here how do you regard the image of God as displayed in those around you those that you encounter in your life do you treat certain people of no account forgetting that they too are made in the image of God what about homeless people what about children what about babies what about unborn children about criminals but about government leaders celebrities men women people of different ethnicity unbelievers fellow Christians your family members do you regard them all with the dignity that is due someone who bears the image of God do you speak hateful and corrupting words against others not remembering that you are cursed in God’s very image do you even move to strike and physically harm another person thus striking the very image of God’s own sovereign rule remember that you will give an account to God for how you treated those made in His image even though God’s image has become marred due to man’s fall into sin you look at some people you say he doesn’t deserve honor look at what an evil person he is oh yes by himself he doesn’t but he was made in the image of God therefore showed that person honor because you show God honor our image the image of God has indeed become Mardin us through the fall nevertheless if we trace this concept to the image of God it’s actually theologically quite interesting because someone came to perfectly reveal God who was the perfect image of God who’s that Jesus Christ and he’s described such an assessment praise God for the one who was the perfect image Jesus Christ and who renews us in His image not just the image of God but the image of Christ is actually a redemptive theme it when it comes to the image of God I should also note that man’s being made in the image of God is another detail that disproves the evolutionary view think about it how does the secular scientist categorize man in relation to animals go ahead and answer this question for me how does the secular scientist of the secular person categorize man and relation to animals what do you think that’s right man is just another animal it may be more clever more advanced able to use technology but basically he’s just an animal that’s why Mia does what he does he can’t help it it’s just evolutionary holdovers he’s just an animal in the end but the Bible reveals that man is not an animal not even a highly evolved animal man is a unique creation of God he’s the crowning act of God’s creative work he’s the one given Dominion as an under owner of God and that’s one made to reflect and represent God’s own character and rule now animals do have some value God cares about animals he says the sparrow doesn’t fall to the ground without his care about it and when God spared Nineveh from destruction he said there’s a bunch of animals in that city besides people don’t you have any compassion on them the man has magnitudes more value than an animal however animals may act without moral restraints they are not subject to moral judgment I mean we can get maybe mad at our pets a little bit you say oh why did you do that but it’s just an animal he doesn’t know right from wrong it’s just an animal that man is no animal man is responsible for his actions for he represents and he responds to God’s rule thus unlike animals all men and women will have to give an account of themselves to God their creator now this one other issue I want to return to you with you from this passage and that’s the concept of kinds how is it significant that God made the animals according to each kind as we said last week the kinds of Genesis 1 that language of kind this is a testament to how God designed both plants and animals to reproduce only according to certain parameters though there will be variation in a kind no plant or animal will ever change kinds otherwise the cost of kindness makes sense but what exactly is a comment now here’s where we want to watch a short from Answers in Genesis on kinds there’s only about two minutes I think it’s a good concise explanation as to how to view kinds as expressed in Genesis and especially as related to animals so let’s go ahead and queue up that video watch it and we’ll make some comments on it the universe displays incredible variety consider snowflakes everyone is different every cloud is different every planet every galaxy is different this variety is just as visible among organisms every individual is different from every other individual every giraffe has a unique pattern every zebra has distinct stripes every dog has a distinct personality and every human is different from every other despite all this variety it’s easy to see which of these belong in the same group as different as deer are from each other we still recognize them as deer as different as finches are from each other we still recognize them as finches the same is true of plants there are thousands of species of orchids and thousands of species of grass but we still call them orchids and grass modern scientists call each of these groups families the Bible gives a clue about the origin of such variety Genesis 1 says that God created distinct organisms after their kind in fact he uses this phrase after its kind or after their kind ten times in the creation account what does the biblical term kind refer to it is possible that in most instances these kinds are the groups of similar species that scientists recognized today as families if so God made an orchid kind a grass kind a deer kind of finch kind and many others within these kinds he placed potential for amazing variety the creation of similar things with differences demonstrates that God loves variety and God loves unity the best explanation for this is God’s very nature God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Spirit three persons in one loves both diversity and unity all right very good now I I do love that video for a lot of different insights by I appreciate that one at the end that it creation all ultimately goes back to God right creation declares the glory of God and so even when we look at the unity and diversity that is evident in creation we see this as a reflection of God himself to a certain extent and this not just in how God created animals but also in how God created marriage and how God created the church how God created the family there’s still this idea of oneness but also uniqueness diversity and unity everything that is in God is good and God is both 1 and 3 and so it makes sense that his creation would also reflect that good character that good attribute because as God said what he made is very good it’s a reflection of himself now this concept of kinds and unity diversity it I think exposes that fundamental error in evolutionary theory remember that the evolutionist the secular evolutionary minded scientists he observes small variation within a kind of animals say finches is a certain type of bird and he observes how certain favorable genetic traits become dominant in finches due to success in a certain environment what scientists would call natural selection they observe this variation they observe this natural selection and based on these small changes within a kind the evolutionary scientists asserts that plants animals and people are capable of big changes even changing whole kinds this is the difference between what’s distinguished as microevolution variation within a kind and macro-evolution variations between kinds transcending kinds the former micro evolution despite the term may be having some negative connotations for us it actually is observable it’s understandable it’s even biblical but the latter macro-evolution has never been observed it makes no sense and it does not fit with the Bible because God created creatures and plants according to kind and to reproduce according to kind just because a kind can vary does not mean that it can transform it to a whole new kind see that’s the leap that an evolutionist makes that’s just it does not follow logically well we’ll talk more about these concepts natural selection evolution macro evolution etc as we go along talking about creation but let me emphasize for now that people scientists included they often underestimate just how much variety God has programmed into the originally created kinds or families of animals now we’re gonna actually illustrate this with a little short activity I pointed out to you last time the great variation in pepper is onions greens beans that we see today even though there are only several kinds of plants let’s see how this works with animals I’m gonna list I’m displaying a list here for you of a number of different animals on the screen try to figure out in your mind how many true kinds or families of animals we actually have among the list of among the list of animals that are for you so here’s our list we had the wolf the leopard the camel the coyote the llama tiger the Cougar the jackal the Bobcats the alpaca the lion the black lab and the house cat take a minute just think to yourself try and organize in your head what are the different families or kinds of these animals I’ll give you a minute alright you might not need a whole minute so I actually come back to this so we have 13 animals here but how many kinds what do you think yeah it’s three now what are the clients we have the dog kind that would include the wolf the coyote the jackal in the black lab yep the cat kind the leopard the tiger the Cougar the Bobcat the lion in the house cat then we have the camel it kind yes that’s actually a name camelid and that would include the camel the llama in the alpaca they even surprised by the last category maybe didn’t know the name but camels and llamas are actually part of the same group and they can interbreed and this is because they’re part of the same family or kind this ability to breed what science is called hybridization and the similarity and physical characteristics are two ways that we are able to classify animals according to their kind or according to their families that’s why we’re able to identify a cat kind of dog kind in the camel a kind now it is interesting this is a sidenote variation within kinds can become sometimes so great that two of the same kind are no longer able to breed or they only have limited reproduction ability some of you may know that for instance donkeys and horses can interbreed they’re part of the same kind but what’s the problem with their progeny they’re sterile they can’t reproduce usually same thing with a lion and a tiger they can interbreed which makes sense the part of the same cat kind of same physical characteristics and they’re able to produce a liger or I think there’s another name for it depending on which is the male which is a female but again the offspring is usually sterile usually not able to reproduce so apparently this is one of the over the hundreds of years the thousands of years that these animals have been on the earth as they have continued to vary within their own time sometimes that variation gets so great that they have only limited to reproduce with those who are far removed from them in variation within their kind still this does point to a time when the horse kind and the cat kind and all the other kinds were not so varied and so you could have animals able to breed together within that kind and not be limited in any way when it came to reproduction but this is this is part of the main point of wanting to emphasize we have many different species today many different animals lots of variation within those kinds just consider the difference between a house cat and a lion I mean that’s huge but there’s still only a few kinds now this great variety that we see observed even to the point of not being able to to fully reproduce with another the same in wooden the same kind for those animals this just shows the way that God created living things reproducing according to kind and with great variation as we saw last week all this that we can observe does not describe an evolutionary tree of life but an orchard of life orchard that is able to start from various or start all the different places but then branch out in different directions so let’s summarize what we’ve seen today we saw what happened on days five and six most basically on day five God made the seeing flying creatures on day six God made the land animals and men examine what it means to be made in the image of God God imprinted a measure of his attributes in man and commissioned man as an under ruler and a testimony to God’s perfect and total rule he also considered the significance of animal kinds great variation but still limited reproduction according to kind and law evolution not the macro evolution that can change cons over the last bit of time today let’s consider a few application items there are a few questions I’ve come up with number one sometimes people think it is merciful to aid a child who will be born with health problems or with a genetic disorder such as Down syndrome how does what we looked at today speak to this issue yes Rob well we’re made in the image of God it doesn’t matter so they’re gonna kill someone in Bandung she got murdered it doesn’t doesn’t matter they’re limited or hindered in a certain Cisco way they are still made in Chicago they still deserve that dignity that any man or woman deserves this is not about whether the person innately deserves it whether they’re super healthy and so they deserve it this is about God this is another reason why abortion is such an evil I remember reading not too long ago that there’s one of the Scandinavian countries maybe it was Sweden they had boasted that they had eliminated Down syndrome from their country there’s no more down setting but the way they had done that was they had aborted all the children who had Down syndrome that’s horrible and there’s a very moving testimony of a Down Syndrome man I think he actually went before Congress and he says you know I’m just as much worthy of life as anyone so there’s no reason for no portion just because someone is limited yeah the same thing for euthanasia and all those other issues when you when you recognize the image of God as someone these sins that we see in our world so prevalent in our world and make no sense then and we see them for the offense that they really are every every person even an intimate even an unborn child is made in the image of God and deserves to be treated as such there’s another question if someone is convinced that the Bible and evolution are compatible what is the best way to reason with him it appears just use the Bible somebody is the theistic evolution is to say oh I think God used evolution to create me in just show him what the Bible actually says as we go through this I hope you’re seeing that again again we just run into things they say okay and this is why evolution can’t be true because of what the Bible says this is why an older ultimately doesn’t make sense our super older I mean the earth is old but as old as secular modern theory asserts you show them the Bible the Bible is the ultimate authority the truth is totally trustworthy so of course makes sense to go to the Bible there’s another question began to allude to this a little bit earlier how might a discussion of the image of God in a person lead to the gospel you have a conversation about the image of God or just talking about the dignity of man oh yes yeah in the front the abortion it’s actually it’s not up to the person to decide whether or not the person’s worthy war but obviously we don’t know what God’s plan okay I know a little bit but thank you for that that is one way that we can use the image of God to talk ultimately about the gospel is just green bringing back the idea of sovereignty God knows what he’s doing even in a person who seems physically marred or genetically handicapped God knows what he’s doing because it’s the same thing with that man who was born blind in the Bible but we ultimately are beholden to this guy we don’t have control even over the image as God makes it God is the one who decides what happens in the book God is the one that decides what happens in life and we ultimately must be reconciled with this guy I think that’s one aspect of how we can use the image of God to talk about the gospel I think the image of God just pointing out how the image of God is manifest in our world and in a person that leads directly to God and that leads to what God has done in history and again you can even just use the idea of image just trace that theme throughout the Bible and you basically have the gospel we were made in the image of God and creation made to reflect and to rule on behalf of God but what did we do we rebel and the image of God became marred in us we became cursed and so we needed another person not only to perfectly represent the image of God but also to save us for what we’ve done to the image of God and that’s what God provided in Jesus Christ he is the he is the perfect image of God he is and the fullness of deity dwells in him everything that is God is in is in Jesus Christ and he came and he he lived and died in order to save those who had believed in him from their sins and then renew them untuk odds village so they walk in new life so basically if you just talk about the image of God or and even in the most fundamental sense you show that hey look this thing that you’re doing it’s because you’re made in the image of God therefore you must be made right with him I think those are good ways that we can just use this concept to get back to the gospel it sold me what we want to do one more question how should seeing the way God created animals and man affect us well this is a very broad question we could spend a lot of time talking about this but I hope you’re seeing that this is another way we should be provoked – ah – praise – thanks just look at the amazing wisdom and creativity of God and how we created the kinds if you saw in the video all the different spider kinds yeah tarantulas you have black widows you have those spiders that can jump I don’t know what they’re called but such variation such amazing ability and yet all from one kind or think of different kinds of dogs or even the different kind of people we’re all the same kind we’re all one race and yet there’s such variation and it is as the human it is as the video says personality-wise but even in appearance every human is unique and this is all displaying the great wisdom of God the great wisdom and power and creativity of God not to even imagine that cosmos we ever looked at images images of outer space you see such great beauty the galaxies that the Hubble telescope is able to get images of hundreds and thousands of galaxies just in one little snapshot of one sector of the sky all of this displaying the wonder of God the power of God and this is the God to whom we must to whom we have to do we must obey this guy we must be reconciled to this guy we must worship this God and we must trust this guy creation is pointing us the account of creation as we have in Genesis 1 is pointing us to these things so I hope you will meditate on that today no I happened to glance in my email while the video was showing and I saw that somebody asked a question related to the Sunday School lesson already and the question is how did the rabbi’s how did the Jewish leaders and teachers deal with their passage in Genesis 1 when it comes to when it comes to Trinity I’m not aware of the answer to that question I’d be interested to find that out and if I do I will I’ll mention it next time but certainly that would have been a difficulty how do you deal with that plurality or remember and I think we did trace this in another Sunday school class the concept of the Trinity is pretty though it’s not fully explained it comes up again and again in the Old Testament where we have those messianic passages the Lord said to my lord sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet Jesus points out in the New Testament how can David say this if the Messiah is his son there’s a fair season know what to do with that it’s only because oh this is God the Father speaking to God the Son where I mentioned the idea of the angel of the Lord Angell the Lord is shown to be separate from God and yet to be God at the same time likely the Jews and again I have to look up more specifically what they said about these things but likely they they affirm them both without being able fully to explain it yes the angel the Lord is clearly God here but he’s also speaking on behalf of God as a messenger so that is an interesting question why don’t have to look more into any other questions or comments on today’s class yeah Josiah yeah yeah it’s a great point if God is able to make it and he must be so much greater than that yeah and it’s interesting the way that God created man right it’s just thinking of just meditating on that man is created completely vulnerable right I think I heard one time someone saying that all other animals when they give birth they’re their young are able to get going pretty quickly but not humans humans when they’re born little babies they can’t do anything if they’re abandoned they won’t survive which is sometimes not true of other animals and why did God do that God doesn’t tell us specifically the scriptures but I think going back to even some of the things that you’re mentioning Josiah this is a choice God wants you to be dependent on him even when you’re born you can’t do anything you think you’re so strong guy made a lot of other creatures stronger than you in fact any of those creatures by any of those creatures but may those creatures could harm you and kill you why do you think God did that God didn’t make you all-powerful why because he wants you to depend on him again I’m filling in some of the details of the scripture of it I think yeah that’s another way to get back to the gospel and to see God reflecting himself in creation other maybe one more question a comment yes in the back I think it is that Roy and it’s not mentioned in chapter 1 because you don’t it’s not really talked about until chapter 2 so we really it doesn’t get into it that but that’s the idea of man having a living soul that kind of fetch the buzz that the detector to talks about we’re literally says that God breathed into man the breath of life and he became a living soul and there seems to be an implication there that you spoke up you alluded to earlier that is the idea of and the Old Testament seems to this just into this – there is something in mankind that will we know that will continue to live on forever even though our physical bodies may die so that we can have the relationship with God down here and also in the future because of this living soul that God has given us and I just there’s again again also there’s the aspect of reward and punishment that can only take place in the future outside of our bodies because God has given us this living soul they’re not the one that is inner man and that man is not eternal but man will continue as I will concede even after he dies now in terms of the term transit soul in time to nephesh if I remember correctly it is a little interesting that the truth is also used for animals they do have a they are said to have an average but we do recognize from other scriptures that there’s my god and there’s no addition and poverty after they got here now I don’t have to see anybody in that incorrect not necessarily distance to sinus but other pastors out see you about anything that is living any living thing has a nephesh but if sitting because think so this is part reason why we say some people say well I wasn’t popping dancing alive animals animals plants don’t have that but that will distress my side man is he in his spirit and his soul and that it will be severely may happen what’s the idea is a reward and Desmond good questions to comments by the time the stage to be yummy next week we are where he’s banded account of me inspiration in Genesis 2 and that also is going to be very instructive this is the origin of man the origin of male and female and the origin of marriage so hope you’ll be back for that let’s close our time in prayer what God we thank you for your revelation of creation thank you God you have displayed your wondrous being in the wonders of creation yes it has been marred yes it is cursed now but originally it was so good it was very good and we’re looking forward to a time when and it is even better than it originally was because you will dwell with us on the earth without sin without any pain or grief or evil Lord we look forward to that day bring that day we pray God in Jesus name Amen thank you all I’ll see you next