Genesis 1:24-27 - Creation Part Three

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Thomas S. Myers

Genesis 1:24-27

            I want to ask you a question.  Is man created in the image of God, or is God created in the imagination of man?

            Let me ask the question another way.  Did God make man or did man make God?

            The evolutionist says that God is the imagination of man.  The evolutionist says man made God. 

            What is the right answer?  Both can not be right.  I want us to look closely at the creation of man.

            There are those who say the Bible has scientific errors.  Science is constantly changing.  Scientific textbooks become outdated.  But the Bible has remained the same. 

            The Bible was not written as a scientific textbook.  But when the Bible speaks on science it is accurate.  Someone has well said, "The Bible was not written to tell us how the heavens go, but how to go to heaven."

            You see the Bible was not written to teach science, it was written to teach us about Jesus Christ.  But when it speaks on scientific facts, the Bible is scientifically accurate.

            For example:  You and I take it for granted that the earth is suspended in space upon nothing.  However, we have not always believed that.  For example:

The Egyptians used to believe that the earth was supported on 5 pillars.

The Greeks used to believe the earth was supported on the back of a giant called atlas.

The Hindus used to believe that the earth was supported on the back of a huge elephant.  And when the elephant walked it would cause earthquakes. 

            But here I am holding an ancient book called the Bible.  And I want us to see what the Bible says is supporting the earth.

Job 26:7

7 “He stretches out the north over empty space, And hangs the earth on nothing.  NASV

            Now how did Job know that? 

2 Peter 1:21

21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.   NASV

            You and I also take it for granted that the earth is round.  But man hasn't always believed that.  It was not until the days of Columbus that we knew that the earth was round. 1492

            But turn to Isaiah 40:22

Isaiah 40:22

22 It is He who sits above the vault of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.  nasv

            Now think with me for a moment.  The book of Isaiah was written 750 years before Jesus Christ was born.

            It was Moses who under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit wrote the book of Genesis.

            I want you to see what the Bible has to say about Moses.  Turn to Acts 7:22

Acts 7:22

22 “And Moses was educated in all the learning of the Egyptians, and he was a man of power in words and deed.  nasv

            Moses studied at the University of Egypt and he knew the science and the medicine of the Egyptians.  Now let me give you some of the Egyptian science:

To prevent gray hair, get hold of the blood of a black cat, which has been boiled in water, and mix in the fat of a snake.  Then apply to your hair.

Here's what the Egyptians taught to prevent baldness.  When your hair falls out find the fat of a hippapontus, the fat of a crocodile, the fat of a cat and the fat of a snake.  To strengthen it, add the tooth of a donkey crushed in honey and apply that to your hair.

            Now what is interesting is that Moses studied this.  But you will not find anything like that in the Bible.  You will not find in the Bible that the earth is flat, or you will not find in the Bible that the earth is supported by 5 pillars.  How come we don't find stuff like that in the Bible?  It is because the Bible is the inspired Word of God. 

            Moses wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.     

            Now lets look at what the Bible says about the creation of man.

FIRST -- THE CREATION OF MAN.

Genesis 1:26-27

26 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.  27 And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.  NASV

Genesis 2:7

7 Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.  nasv

            Someone is probably thinking, "Pastor, before you get started, can I ask you a question?  What about cavemen?  Where there cavemen?  Yes, there were cavemen and there are still cavemen.  Today you can still find people who live in caves. 

            In fact the Bible predicts that in the last days' people wil

Revelation 6:15

15 And the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountain; NASV

            No, no, no pastor, that is not what I meant.  Where there prehistoric cavemen?  I mean where there half-man, half-ape people?

            No there were no half-man or half-ape people.  That is just in the movies and in the imagination of an artist.

            For example:  the Ramapitecus man was declared to be an ape-man because the teeth that were found similar to a baboon.  And by the way, that was all that was found, just the teeth.  But years later a baboon in Ethiopia was discovered to have the same dental and jaw characteristics as the Ramapithecus man.  So the Ramapithecus man was thrown out.

            Then in 1924, the Australopithecines man was found.  Its brain was only about 1/3 as large as a man and stood only about 4 feet tall.  It was pointed out that this ape-man had many ape-like features of the skull, but the teeth of man.  Later is was found out that the bones were from an ape.  So the Australopithecines was thrown out.

            Also during the 1920's the Peking man was found.  Fragments of skulls, jaws and teeth were found.  But later when a camp site was found it was discovered that the bones were the left over meal of an ancient tribe that human bones were mixed with the animal bones. 

            Then the Java Man was found.  The Java Man bones that were found were one large lege bone, a skull cap, and 3 teeth.  Thirty years later, the man who discovered the Java Man confessed on his death bed, that he also found human remains at the same site, and that he simply made the whole thing up.

            Then came the Neanderthal Man.  The Neanderthal Man as a skeletal structure similar to that of modern man.  It was claimed that he lived as long as 100,000 years ago.  But now anthropologists now believe that the Neanderthal Man is as just as human as you and I. 

            Then there is the Nebraska Man.  The evidence for the Nebraska man was only one tooth.  It was discovered later that the took of the Nebraska man was the tooth of a pig.  

            Pilthdown Man, in 1912 was presented as an ape-man.  They had a piece of a jaw, two molars, and a piece of a skull.  But in 1953 the hoax was exposed.  The jawbone turned out to be that of a modern ape.  The teeth had been filed down, and the bones were artificially colored to deceive the public. 

              OK, OK, but what about the dinosaurs?  Well, what about them?  Where there dinosaur?  Of

course there where.  God created dinosaur.  Do you know when God created the dinosaur?  On the sixth day.

Dinosaurs do not prove evolution. dinosaurs just prove that some species are now extinct. 

A.  MAN IS DIFFERENT FROM THE ANIMAL WORD IN MANY WAYS.

Genesis 1:26

26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;...  NASV

1ST -- MAN HAS AN INNER DESIRE FOR GOD.

            Animals never seek after God, but in the inner most being of every man is the desire for God.  And we are so empty when we do not know God.  Wealthy will not satisfy the desire.  The perfect job will not satisfy, a college degree will not satisfy, a promotion at work will not satisfy, having the perfect body will not satisfy.  There is a empty void in each one have that only God can fill. 

            Do you know how to make a dog happy?  Give a dog something to eat every day and give that dog a warm place to sleep, and pat that dog on the head, and give that dog some attention and you will have a happy dog.  That's all it takes to make a happy dog. 

            Now give man all those things, and for a while man thinks he is happy.  After a while man will get board eating the same old food day after day.  He will get tired of being cooped up in a warm place.  A pat on the head just will not due.

            Why because there is a difference, man has an inner craving for God.  Man may not even know what it is, but it is a God shaped vacuum that is in every heart. 

            Now notice in Genesis !:26 the phrase, "Let us create man in our image, according to our likeness..."

            Man was created in the image of God.

What does that mean?

            Does that mean God is an ugly as we are?  No.  The image of God has nothing to do with our appearance. 

            It means that man was created like God as a trinity.  That is there is God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,                                              

            Adam was created with a spirit, but he also had a body and he also had a soul.

            Look at Genesis 2:7

Genesis 2:7

7 Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.  nasv

formed man of dust -- that is the body of Adam

breathed into his nostrils the breath of life -- The word "LIFE" is plural meaning Adam received a soul and s

1 Thessalonians 5:23

23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  nasv

                                   

            As a result there is a distinctive difference between man and the animals.

1ST -- MAN HAS AN INNER DESIRE  FOR GOD.

2ND -- MAN HAS THE DESIRE TO DOMINATE.

Genesis 1:26

26 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.  NASV

            Man has the desire to rule over all creation.  You never see animals putting man in a zoo. 

            It is not the same ruler ship that man had in the Garden of Eden.  I believe that when man was in the Garden of Eden he had total ruler ship over the animal word. 

If man wanted to fish to gather in a particle place in a lake, the fish would gather. 

If man wanted the birds to sing at a particular time the birds would sing.

If man wanted to ride a horse or a mule, he did not need to break the animal first.             

            I believe that while man was in the Garden of Eden he had a unique rule over all the animals.  Man's dominion in the Garden was something like Jesus' dominion over the animals.

            For example: 

Jesus ruled over the fish of the sea.

In John 21:6 - cast the nets on the right side of the boat. 

And Matthew 17:27   Do you remember when it was time for Jesus to pay His taxes.  Jesus told his disciples to go fishing and in the mouth of the fish you catch you'll find a coin.  Who engineered all that?  Jesus did.  He had dominion over the fish of the sea.

Jesus also ruled over the birds of the sky. 

In Matthew 26:34, Jesus said to Peter, "Peter  you will deny me 3 times before the roster crows.  I can just see that roster warming up his voice to crow.  But Jesus said, "Roster, not yet."  Peter denied Jesus once.  That roster wanted to crow, but Jesus said, "Not yet."  Peter denied Jesus the second time.  That roster probably was gargling wanting to crow, but Jesus said, "Hold on roster." 

Then in Matthew 26:74, Peter denied Jesus the third time, and Jesus gave that roster permission and that roster let it all out. 

And Jesus ruled over the cattle.        

            Do you remember when Jesus was preparing for His triumphal entry into Jerusalem?  In Mark 11:2, He told his disciple, "Go get a donkey where on never a man sat and bring him to me."  And Jesus got on the back of the donkey, never been broken and never been road on before and Jesus rode him into the city of Jerusalem. Now that dominion.

            10,000 years from if Jesus tarries beavers will still be building their dams and bees will still be building their hives.  They will not have rule over man. 

3RD -- MAN WAS CREATED AT JUST THE RIGHT TIME.

            Man was created after there was light, after there was dry land, after the animal creation. 

            Meaning this, there is no birth that is untimely.  No one is born out of God's schedule.  There are no accidental birth with God. 

Psalm 139:13-14

4TH -- MAN HAS THE DESIRE TO SIN. 

            Man can be worst than an animal.  How can man be worst than an animal.  Without God man can be worst than an animal.  Right?

 

            Someone has said, "Man's mental horsepower is greater than his moral brakes." 

Jeremiah 17:9

9 “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?  nasv

            Did you know that man is the only creation of God that knows it is going to die?  And yet man tries to forget about it.

            Death does not end it all.  You can not crawl up into the grave and pull the casket lid shut hide from God. 

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