(Note – I would like to acknowledge that a great portion of the content of this message series comes from a series by the same name as taught by Pastor Bob Yandian of Grace Church and Bob Yandian Ministries in Tulsa, OK.)
Genesis 1:1-3 NKJV In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (2) The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. (3) Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
Three words used in the Hebrew when describing creation or this restoration:
Bara – to create something out of nothing
Asah – to create something out of material that exists (restore)
Yatzar (Genesis 2:7) – to mold, form or fashion something, derived from the idea of cutting or framing (examples of molding out of clay, forging of metal
Isaiah 45:18 NKJV For thus says the LORD, Who created (bara) the heavens, Who is God, Who formed (yatzar) the earth and made (asah) it, Who has established (stabilized) it, Who did not create (bara) it in vain, Who formed (yatzar) it to be inhabited: “I am the LORD, and there is no other.
Jeremiah has a vision of what the earth looks like during the time between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2:
Jeremiah 4:23-27 NKJV I beheld the earth, and indeed it was without form, and void; And the heavens, they had no light. (24) I beheld the mountains, and indeed they trembled, And all the hills moved back and forth. (25) I beheld, and indeed there was no man, And all the birds of the heavens had fled. (26) I beheld, and indeed the fruitful land was a wilderness, And all its cities were broken down At the presence of the LORD, By His fierce anger. (27) For thus says the LORD: “The whole land shall be desolate; Yet I will not make a full end.
Genesis 1:1-2 NKJV In the beginning God created (bara) the heavens and the earth. (2) The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
Job 33:4 NKJV The Spirit of God has made (asah) me, And the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
We live on a recreated earth.
Genesis 1:1 – Original Creation
Genesis 1:2 – The earth wrapped up in the curse and judgment
Genesis 1:3 – Begins six days of restoration
Day 1 – Genesis 1:3-5 – Restoration of day and night
Day 2 – Genesis 1:6-8 – Restoration of the firmament of the waters above us and around us
Day 3 – Genesis 1:9-13 – Restoration of land and vegetation
Day 4 – Genesis 1:14-19 – Creation of the Sun and the Moon
Day 5 – Genesis 1:20-23 – Fish and the fowl
Day 6 – Genesis 1:24-31 – Animals and man are placed on the earth
Day 7 – God Rested
Day 5 – Genesis 1:20-23 – Fish and the fowl
Genesis 1:20-23 NKJV Then God said, “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.” (21) So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. (22) And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” (23) So the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
Let the waters abound (teem with fish, etc.) and birds
According to their kind
1 Corinthians 15:39 NKJV (39) All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds.
Species do not cross over with each other.
Genesis 1:22 NKJV And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”
The blessing of God always causes multiplication and fruit.
Day 5 – Continued
Genesis 1:20-23 NKJV Then God said, “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.” (21) So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. (22) And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” (23) So the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
Fish and the creatures of the sea are older than all other animals and more abundant because they were not destroyed in the flood.
What Noah was instructed to take in the ark:
Genesis 6:19-20 NKJV And of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. (20) Of the birds after their kind, of animals after their kind, and of every creeping thing of the earth after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive.
What actually perished in the flood:
Genesis 7:20-22 NKJV The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered. (21) And all flesh died that moved on the earth: birds and cattle and beasts and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man. (22) All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, all that was on the dry land, died.
Day 6 – The creeping animals and creation of Man
Genesis 1:24-25 NKJV Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind”; and it was so. (25) And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
Animals are always going to stay in the parameters of his species.
v. 24 – Tame animals and creepy animals
Man is the only creature that tries to go beyond the boundaries that God intended.
Genesis 1:26-31 NKJV Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” (27) So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. (28) Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill (replenish) the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (29) And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. (30) Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so. (31) Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
Why is man here?
Ephesians 3:8-12 NKJV To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, (9) and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery (the dispensation that we now live in), which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; (10) to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, (11) according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, (12) in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him.
What we live in today was always a mystery until now. We have more revelation now than there ever has been.
There are so many things that are unique only to this dispensation.
Our purpose for existing as believers is so that can reveal the manifold wisdom of God to the powers of darkness.
Lucifer was one of the three highest Cherubs in Heaven.
He was over worship in God’s Kingdom.
He was over all the resources of the earth. (gold, silver, etc.)
He rebelled against God and fell to the earth.
Psalms 8:1-9 NKJV To the Chief Musician. On the Instrument of Gath. A Psalm of David. O LORD, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth, Who have set Your glory above the heavens! (2) Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, Because of Your enemies, That You may silence the enemy and the avenger. (3) When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, (4) What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him? (5) For You have made him a little lower than the angels (Elohim – god like creatures or angels), And You have crowned him with glory and honor. (6) You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, (7) All sheep and oxen– Even the beasts of the field, (8) The birds of the air, And the fish of the sea That pass through the paths of the seas. (9) O LORD, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth!
Understand the difference between creation and position.
Man was created a little lower than the angels but God gave him authority over all creation (position).
Hebrews 2:5-8 NKJV For He has not put the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels. (6) But one testified in a certain place, saying: “WHAT IS MAN THAT YOU ARE MINDFUL OF HIM, OR THE SON OF MAN THAT YOU TAKE CARE OF HIM? (7) YOU HAVE MADE HIM A LITTLE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS; YOU HAVE CROWNED HIM WITH GLORY AND HONOR, AND SET HIM OVER THE WORKS OF YOUR HANDS. (8) YOU HAVE PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET.” For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not yet see all things put under him.
Hebrews 2:9-11 NKJV But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. (10) For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. (11) For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren,
God cannot die but as a man He could die!
Jesus, even though He was born of flesh and became a man, a little lower than the angels, was crowned with glory and honor and had authority over all creation.
1 Corinthians 15:45 NKJV (45) And so it is written, “THE FIRST MAN ADAM BECAME A LIVING BEING.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
Hebrews 2:14-16 NKJV Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, (15) and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. (16) For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham.
God’s plan was that an inferior being (man) would come to redeem humanity and destroy a superior being (Lucifer).
That is why it is not the name of Christ that sets men free, it is the name of Jesus (God our Savior)!
Position always takes authority over creation!
By creation we are inferior to the angels but when we receive Christ and are Born Again, we receive the position of being superior to the powers of darkness!
At the rapture of the Church, we will be higher than the angels not only in position, by in creation as well because we will be glorified just like the Risen Savior.