And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth." (Genesis 1:28 ESV)
Here is an excerpt from "The Blessing Of Being Human", a sermon from Genesis 1:28-31. Here's the outline of the passage...
• Fruitfulness (v. 28a)
• Dominion over creatures (v. 28b)
• Provision of food (v. 29)
• Provision for creatures (v. 30)
• A very good creation (v. 31)
"The blessing of being human is fulfilled ultimately by God’s Son, the Lord Jesus, who was prophesied to be the blessing that would come to all the families of the earth (Genesis 12:2-3), and the King, the one like a Son of Man, who would come to establish his righteous rule and subdue the earth (Daniel 7:13-14).
"Though being in nature God, he took on a human nature (Philippian 2:6-7), and being made a little while lower than the angels (Psalm 8:5-6; Hebrews 2:7-9), he was born a child in a stable (Luke 2:7) surrounded by livestock.
"At his baptism the Father’s voice from heaven pronounced, 'This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.' (Matthew 3:17)
"Jesus exercised his authority over the stormy waters of the sea (Matt 8:24-27), and by his will fish filled the Galilean nets (Luke 5; John 21). He miraculously fed multitudes in the wilderness (Mark 8; John 6), and he called himself the living Bread come down out of heaven for the life of the world (John 6:51).
"He rode peacefully on an unbroken donkey who carried him through the crowds of Jerusalem (Matthew 21).
"He is the true Image of the invisible God, and the Firstborn over all creation (Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:1-3). He is the last Adam and the second Man (1 Corinthians 15:45, 47), to whom creation ultimately owes its allegiance.
"He is the One who by his redeeming death, by the cleansing of his blood and the triumph of his resurrection, will create a new earth and new kings to walk upon it: 'By its light [the holy city, the new Jerusalem] will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.' (Revelation 21:24)
"This blessing is given for us to share in -- only in him, only in and through the Lord Jesus. Salvation itself is a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), bringing order out of disorder, and fullness out of emptiness, blessing instead of a curse, and the echo of the pronouncement 'behold, it is very good.'"
As God alone is the creator and the source of blessing and goodness, so in salvation and in the new creation God alone through his Son Jesus Christ will be the source of all blessing and goodness. To believe in him is to have been born again into God’s family. To walk obediently with him is to be fruitful. And there is no greater privilege than to fill the earth with the proclamation of this good news.
The painting above is the "Miraculous Haul of Fishes" by Henry Ossawa Tanner.
Here is an excerpt from "The Blessing Of Being Human", a sermon from Genesis 1:28-31. Here's the outline of the passage...
• Fruitfulness (v. 28a)
• Dominion over creatures (v. 28b)
• Provision of food (v. 29)
• Provision for creatures (v. 30)
• A very good creation (v. 31)
"The blessing of being human is fulfilled ultimately by God’s Son, the Lord Jesus, who was prophesied to be the blessing that would come to all the families of the earth (Genesis 12:2-3), and the King, the one like a Son of Man, who would come to establish his righteous rule and subdue the earth (Daniel 7:13-14).
"Though being in nature God, he took on a human nature (Philippian 2:6-7), and being made a little while lower than the angels (Psalm 8:5-6; Hebrews 2:7-9), he was born a child in a stable (Luke 2:7) surrounded by livestock.
"At his baptism the Father’s voice from heaven pronounced, 'This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.' (Matthew 3:17)
"Jesus exercised his authority over the stormy waters of the sea (Matt 8:24-27), and by his will fish filled the Galilean nets (Luke 5; John 21). He miraculously fed multitudes in the wilderness (Mark 8; John 6), and he called himself the living Bread come down out of heaven for the life of the world (John 6:51).
"He rode peacefully on an unbroken donkey who carried him through the crowds of Jerusalem (Matthew 21).
"He is the true Image of the invisible God, and the Firstborn over all creation (Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:1-3). He is the last Adam and the second Man (1 Corinthians 15:45, 47), to whom creation ultimately owes its allegiance.
"He is the One who by his redeeming death, by the cleansing of his blood and the triumph of his resurrection, will create a new earth and new kings to walk upon it: 'By its light [the holy city, the new Jerusalem] will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.' (Revelation 21:24)
"This blessing is given for us to share in -- only in him, only in and through the Lord Jesus. Salvation itself is a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), bringing order out of disorder, and fullness out of emptiness, blessing instead of a curse, and the echo of the pronouncement 'behold, it is very good.'"
As God alone is the creator and the source of blessing and goodness, so in salvation and in the new creation God alone through his Son Jesus Christ will be the source of all blessing and goodness. To believe in him is to have been born again into God’s family. To walk obediently with him is to be fruitful. And there is no greater privilege than to fill the earth with the proclamation of this good news.
The painting above is the "Miraculous Haul of Fishes" by Henry Ossawa Tanner.
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