Sermon Tone Analysis

Genesis 1:20-2:3 Let There Be Life

In 1959 a Russian zoologist, Dr. Demitry Belyayev, setup a series of experiments to test if foxes could be bread in such a way as to create domesticated dogs similarly how wolves were believed to be domesticated into dogs.

What they found was very amazing.

They started classifying foxes into three aggression categories by focusing on making the tamest of the 3.

In just a few short generations of Dogs they started seeing Foxes taking on dog like traits such as raised tails, panting, barking, licking and whimpering, traits that were not previously observed in the wild Siberian Red Fox.

I have some pictures to show you what changes these foxes went through.

The amazing thing about this is that these changes came very quickly and didn’t take thousands of years to accomplish.

I would say that these experiments actually agree with the genesis record and what we are taught form the word in Genesis.

In fact we can see how in just a few short years, what kinds of changes animals can go through.

The animal kingdom is very complex but we are going to look at this account in Creation in days 5,6 today as we see God create all species of animals in two days and his prized creation mankind.

Day 5 Birds and Marine Creatures

Marine Creatures

(20) Would include all creatures that live in water.

Not only the seas, but fresh waters as well including rivers, streams, ponds and lakes.

The Hebrew word for abundance in this context speaks of wiggling or creeping creatures So this would include creatures like alligators or other amphibious creatures.

I think this word was used in the Bible because we see lots of creeping things in the water too, things that live in the water but don’t necessarily swim.

Last week we talked about how God loves abundance and it’s the same here with these creatures.

It’s estimated that there are 700,000 to 1 million different marine species on the earth.

It’s an estimate because they keep discovering new species all the time, and at the rate they are discovering them, they are not sure exactly how many there are.

Birds of The Air

It’s been said that birds are the most observed creatures on our planet, but that could also be that there are only 9-10,000 bird species to observe.

Scientist think they have 95% of the birds characterized and explained.

Birds are one of the best creatures as helping to propagate seeds.

Last week we learned about vegetation and how God created it to produce it’s own seed to breed more vegetation, well birds play a big part of spreading these seeds which in turn helps ecosystems to grow and spread out.

The sky is the limit

Birds are designed to fly above the ground but no higher than the firmament which makes sense rather the firmament is at the edge of our atmosphere or it consists of outer space, what we witness of the birds is true compared to what the word says.

We know that birds do not fly into outer space.

I read that the highest flying bird is Ruppell's Griffon Vulture – 37000 feet.

So when the scriptures say the birds fly along the face of the firmament, that’s what it is describing.

Of Their Kind

Just like the plants and vegetation, God made the animal kingdom to reproduce by their kind.

I eluded last week that this shows us that one kind cannot morph into another kind.

There is no Biblical evidence that animals have changed from one species into another.

In fact I don’t think there is any measurable proof in the science community either and so they will just keep making theories to avoid God The Creator.

There are also a couple of different evolutionary theories specific to birds.

Birds evolved from dinosaurs

Birds are progressive evolutionary creatures that were mammals that developed wins and learned to fly.

Both of these theories disagree with the Bible because God created birds before he created the beasts of the earth.

God Saw that it was good

God says this almost all the days of creation, but look at verse (22), this is the first time God says this. God Blesses them.

His blessing was that they would be fruitful and multiply.

We no doubt get the sense here that God put a special blessing on the animal kingdom to be more blessed than the vegetation of the earth.

The vegetation was created for a food supply for the animal kingdom.

But also consider their seed.

The seed of the vegetation falls and outside resources carry the seed to it’s new home.

Once the plant or fruit has finished producing the seed, it’s done.

There is no more activity from the plant.

The animal kingdom, especially mammals however care and nurture their young.

Mothers will nurse their young, protect them, shelter them and raise them to maturity.

God made them more complex and also gave them a blessing.

God called them to fill their environments, so the birds were blessed to fill the skies, the marine life to fill the seas, lakes, streams, rivers and ponds and the earth creatures to claim the land and fill it.

Day 6 Beasts and Man

Land Creatures

Materials

God has now established the animal kingdom in totality.

I find the verbiage intriguing in verse 24, let the earth bring forth.

This is exact same phrase when God created the vegetation on the earth.

This seems to simply teach that God used the elements of the earth to create from the earth.

As we discovered last week The Hebrew word for made in verse 25 is Asah which means to manufacture by practical means.

Which Tells us that God used materials of the earth to create the living creatures.

Living Creatures

Verse 24 tells us that the beast of the earth is a living creature.

Well ya that’s quite obvious, they are animated creatures, we can see them walk, make noise, eat, etc.

But God is trying to communicate something even more special than that here.

The Hebrew word for living is the same word Hebrews use for a living person or that is more accurately it has a soul.

We are going to go more in depth with this in a few moments when we get into the creation of man but here is the takeaway for animals.

The animal kingdom is a special create regarded above the vegetation, God gave them a soul.

What are you saying pastor, are animals going to be in heaven?

Well many people ask this question especially after losing a pet.

Well the short answer is I don’t know.

Even though pets are giving a soul, we also know that they are not made in God’s image so whatever capacity they have is not like us, like there is no morality or choice given to animals like man has.

I lean that they will be in heaven because we see that animals exist in the millennial reign of Christ and so it’s probable that he will have animals again when he creates the new earth as well.

But will Fido be there in his likeness, not sure because the word doesn’t tell us specifically.

Of their kind

Again, God reinforces the fact that things are made according to their kind.

The Bible is consistent in it’s narrative to dispel the theory of evolution.

One thing that we have observed is that animals will still go through adaptation and change.

But even though a species may adapt survival instincts or even physical changes we never see a “kind” changing into another “kind”.

So when we consider the wolf kind, all dogs, foxes and coyotes came from this one kind.

There’s a great video I have if you want to borrow it called “Is Genesis History”, in it christian scientist describe how a slight minor change in the DNA of one creature can make it’s kind change drastically.

So it’s believed that God built in the ability for animals as well as humans the ability to change and adapt to our environment for survival purposes.

So just like the fox experiment, species can go through adaptation and change but staying within the bounds of a defined “kind”.

The animal kingdom is truly spectacular but now the creation focuses on man and the entire rest of the Bible will be focused on God’s relationship with man.

Mankind

Made in God’s Image

Triune Nature

The first things we see in verse 26 is that God speaks in the plurality again.

As we discussed before this is not talking about a plurality of God’s but rather one God in three distinct persons.

Although the Jews did not believe in a triune God, neither did they believe in multiple God’s, if you ask a Jew, even today, they will say that although it’s plural it speaks of one God.

This is because they have not accepted the full revelation of God, but it’s very clear in the text.

In God’s likeness

So The idea is that God also made us with a triune nature.

That is mankind is made of a Body, a spirit, and a soul.

So similar to the animal kingdom where they were created to have flesh and a soul, but no spirit, we are made in the image of God triune beings.

We can break these down into the body, our personality is our soul, and our spirit is our eternal being.

Dr. Clarence Larkin’s book (rightly Dividing the word):

the ‘Body’ is shown as touching the Material world through the five senses of ‘Sight,’ ‘Smell,’ ‘Hearing,’ ‘Taste’ and ‘Touch.’

The Gates to the ‘Soul’ are ‘Imagination,’ ‘Conscience,’ ‘Memory,’ ‘Reason’ and the ‘Affections.’

The “Spirit” receives impressions of outward and material things through the soul.

The spiritual faculties of the ‘Spirit’ are ‘Faith,’ ‘Hope,’ ‘Reverence,’ ‘Prayer’ and ‘Worship.’