Genesis 1 continued

As the fifth day "dawned" the spectators crowded around for they expected something special. The earth was prepared, the lights were in place, and all that was needed now was some moving life. It was not long in coming.

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Genesis 1:20-23

And God said, "Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that has life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven." And God created great whales, and every living creature that moves, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth."

And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

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What Jesus did that day was to create the living creatures of the deep and of the sky in all their diversity. Again, the angels saw themselves in this creation, but with a difference. These creatures were limited to their environments. The aquatic creatures could not pass the boundary and enter the air (except of course, by leaping for a few seconds), and the aerial creatures could not last long in the water either.

There seemed to be no middle ground.

And this was what the Son of God wanted them to see. That the division between loyal and disloyal angel had now reached a crisis point and there would have to be a significant shift in the thinking of both sides to appreciate this.

All this was also written for our learning. From the living creatures around us, as well as from inanimate nature, God designs that we shall learn lessons concerning Him and His love and care. The ancient Christian, Job, knew that the rejecters of God’s mercy would have only the lives they lived on earth, and therefore he learnt from the fish and fowl not to envy them. Their apparent prosperity was a cloak to hide their inner anguish.

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Job 12:6-10

Who knows not in all these that the hand of the LORD has wrought this? In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.

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Later in history, the psalmist also, with the aid of the sanctuary services, began to understand more of what was happening.

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Psalm 73:3-17

Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish. They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily. They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walks through the earth.

When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me; until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I understood their end.

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Another great lesson that we can learn from the lower orders of creation is the care that God has for the lowest He has made.

Still stronger: "Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: you are of more value than many sparrows." Luke 12:6-7.

Again the Lord says, "Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns: yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much better than they?" Matthew 6:26.

In the care of God for the birds we have the assurance that He will care for us; and as they do not spend time in anxious thought and worry, much less need we. Surely God will take as much better care of men and women than He does of birds, as the needs and the value of mankind is greater than those of the birds.

But the care of God for the birds does more than assure us of His care for out physical wants. The life is more than food. God's care assures us that He will supply all our need, "according to His riches in glory." Philippians 4:19. He who cares for that which is least, will not forget that which is the greatest. God's care for the wants of the smallest of His creatures should be taken by us as a comfort when we appear before the throne of grace to ask for mercy, and grace to help in time of need.

Jesus knew the end from the beginning even as He made the creatures of sea and sky, which is why He later told His prophet about the following experience.

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Isaiah 27:1

In that day the LORD with His sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and He shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.

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Later, John the Revelator took up the thought and applied it in plain language to the devil.

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Revelation 12:9

And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceives the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

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We, who have faith in the word of God, know that Jesus will, with the sword of His mouth, defeat the devil’s lies and that truth will one day conquer, but that in the meantime, it is necessary for a contrast to be developed. Revelation 19:15.

Finally, I read the following quote in one of my books recently and would like to share it with you.

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The birds fly about, and gather that which the Lord has provided for them; but that does not indicate that they do not receive it direct from the hand of God.

So the fact that man works for his living is no sign that he does not receive it direct from the Lord.

Man is actually as much dependent on the lord for his daily bread as the birds are for their food. But for God's provident care there would be nothing to gather, and but for the same care there would be no ability on the part of man to gather it.

From the physical we are to learn lessons concerning the spiritual.

God has provided every spiritual blessing that man needs, and more than he can realise. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places things in Christ." Ephesians 1:3.

A man to whom this was quoted once asked, "If this is so, why do I not have all spiritual blessings? Why is it that I lack so much, and have so little enjoyment in the Christian life?"

The answer ran thus: "What would you say of a man who should come to your house nearly starved, if, when you had loaded the table with the best that your house affords, he still wrings his hands, and moans, 'Oh, I am so hungry; how I wish I had something to eat!' You would say, that if he is hungry the fault is all his own; that plenty has been given him, and that all he has to do is to take hold and eat. The fact that he is still starving does not prove that you have not given him everything he needs. Thus it is with the gracious gifts of God. He has given you all spiritual blessings, and if you lack it is because you will not take that which He has so richly provided."

The listener insisted that this was not a fair illustration, for, said he, "the beggar can see the food before him on the table, but I cannot see the blessings of God."

True, we cannot see them, but we may be more sure of them than if we could see them. We have the assurance of the word of God that they have been given to us, and there can be no doubt about it. Our eyes often deceive us, but the word of the Lord never does. "The things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:18.

God's word makes things so that did not exist before; therefore we may rest assured that all things that we need for this life, as well as for that which is to come, have been freely given to us, and that we have only to appropriate them.

Regards,

Ron