Redemption in Gen 1

[kahtar]

Genesis Chapter One
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Simply stated, God does not try to explain Himself to us. His existence is fact, and He has no need to explain Himself or defend His existence to His creation. And further, it was He who created all we know and see.
Jesus
Jesus is found in two places in this verse. The first word of the Bible is B'reyshiyth, which literally translated means In beginning.
In the book of John, chapter one, we read:
John 1:1-3 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
As we know that the Word spoken of here is referring to Jesus Christ, we see that it was Christ who in the beginning created everything. So it would be theologically correct to say that In Christ, God created the heaven and the earth.
Further, in Revelation 1:8 we read:
'I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. '
We see that Christ not only did the creating, He was in fact the Beginning. So again, it is theologically correct to understand that In Christ, God created the heaven and the earth.
So, in other words, we find Jesus Christ in the very first word of the Bible.
The second word is 'Elohiym' which literally translated means 'gods'. It is the plural form of the singular 'El', meaning 'God'. So we have 'In Christ, Gods created the heaven and the earth'. Why was the plural form of the word used here? I believe that it is to show forth the triune nature of God, and in that trinity, we again see Jesus Christ.
Notice that the only reference to time in this verse is 'beginning'. We have no idea, from this verse, how long it took God to create the heavens and the earth, or even when that beginning was. We have no idea of the length of time between this first verse and the second. Time, as we understand it, did not exist at that point. God exists outside of the dimension of time. So, we would be correct to think that it did not take any time at all for God to create the heavens and the earth. However, we do see that the heaven and the earth existed prior to day one.

Spiritual Application
All of creation, including us, owes it's existence to God, and more specifically, to Christ. It helps us to understand our position. We are created. We are created in, by, and through Jesus Christ. This is truth, and truth does not change one iota if it is not believed. Belief is not a necessary ingredient for truth.
We have been in the mind of God from the very beginning. All the things God does has purpose, and all He does is done perfectly. And what was His purpose?
Numbers 14:21 But [as] truly [as] I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD.
Revelation 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
Our purpose to bring glory to God, and to fill the earth with His glory.
Genesis 1:2
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
The earth has no discernable form, but is completely covered over by water. There is no light. All is pitch black. But the Spirit of God is hovering over the water.
Here we find the third person of the trinity, the Holy Spirit. So in the first two verses, we are introduced to The Beginning, God, and the Holy Spirit, spoken of collectively as Elohiym.
How long did the earth remain in this condition? We have no way of knowing.
There are four words I want to make special note of in this verse. They are the word 'was', 'form', 'void', and 'darkness'.
Let's look at the Hebrew definitions.
H1961 was hâyâh haw-yaw' A primitive root (compare H1933); to exist, that is, be or become, come to pass
H8414 without form tôhu to'-hoo From an unused root meaning to lie waste; a desolation (of surface), that is, desert; figuratively a worthless thing; adverbially in vain: - confusion, empty place, without form, nothing, (thing of) nought, vain, vanity, waste, wilderness.
H922 void bôhû bo'-hoo From an unused root (meaning to be empty); a vacuity, that is, (superficially) an undistinguishable ruin: - emptiness, void.
H2822 darkness chôshek kho-shek' From H2821; the dark; hence (literally) darkness; figuratively misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, wickedness: - dark (-ness), night, obscurity.
As we can see, the 'was' can also be translated 'become' or 'became'.
The word 'form' means to lie waste, which suggests that something that was previously not waste has been laid waste.
The word 'void' speaks of an indistinguishable ruin. A ruin is something that was previously in a better state of existence.
The figurative use of the word 'dark' is not a pretty picture.
When you put these four words together in the same verse, you come away with the concept that the earth was, prior to this point, in better shaped than it now was. Again, we do not know how long the earth existed prior to day one, nor what it's condition was. We can only see that it is at that point a dark, indistinguishable ruin.
In each day of creation, we hear God saying 'It is good'. From the rest of the Word, we come to the understanding that all that God does is perfect. He makes no mistakes. So how is it that the earth is in such a condition? Did God create the earth as a desolate, undistinguishable ruin full of misery, destruction, death ignorance, sorrow and wickedness? It is possible, I would suppose, and the Word does not say directly. But personally, I do not think He did. I think He created it in perfection to begin with.
So how did it come to be in such a deplorable condition? In Job 38:4-7 we read:
'Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.
5 Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?
6 Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;
7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? '
From this, we understand that the angels were created before the earth was, for they were there shouting for joy when it was made.
Then, in Isaiah 14:12-17 we read:
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! [how] art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
16 They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, [and] consider thee, [saying, Is] this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;
17 [That] made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; [that] opened not the house of his prisoners?
Lucifer, as most agree, is the fallen angel, Satan. In this verse, we find Lucifer getting rather 'bigheaded', and as a result was cast down to the earth. It says that Lucifer made the earth to tremble, that he shook the nations, and made the world as a wilderness, destroying the cities.
We know that this is a continuing process of Satan, and he will ultimately bring creation to the bring of extinction. But in Genesis chapter 3, we find Satan, in the form of a serpent, in the garden with Adam and Eve. He was already on the earth at that point.
It is my current assumption that the earth as God originally created it, was perfect, and when Lucifer rebelled and was cast to the earth, he destroyed all that God had created here. Further, it fits the pattern that we are going to see developing as we go through this study.

Spiritual Application
From a spiritual perspective, we apply what we read here to our spiritual lives. Man, because of the fall of Adam and Eve, is born spiritually dead, a desolate ruin, full of darkness. There is no light in him, and he is completely covered over by the waters of sin. Yet, the Holy Spirit hovers over the man.
The Hebrew for the word 'moved' in this verse means 'to brood'. Like a mother hen broods over her eggs, or chicks, protecting and nurturing, the Holy Spirit broods over us, drawing us, preparing us for a work about to begin in our lives if we'll allow Him.

 

[kahtar]

Genesis 1:3-5
Then God said, Let there be light, and there was light. And God saw the light, that [it was] good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
The sun, moon and stars are not created until the fourth day, so what is the source of this light of the first day?
John 1:4-9 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
Revelation 21:23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb [is] the light thereof.
So in the first day of creation, we again see Jesus Christ, the Light of the Word, the Bright and Morning Star.

When the light appears, it becomes immediately seen by the observer that the earth is covered entirely with water. No land appears, no landscape, only water.
Notice that it is God's spoken Word that initiates the light.
Notice that the darkness is not done away with. It is only divided from the light. And, notice that as soon as the light appears, the darkness flees. Darkness has no power over light. Only when the light is withdrawn or hidden can the darkness return.
Notice that God did not call the darkness good. He called the light good. He named the darkness, as He did the light.
Notice also that the day begins in darkness. The evening and the morning were the first day. Even to this day in Israel, the day begins and ends at sundown, and the first part of the day is in darkness.
Spiritual Application
In viewing the creation story from a spiritual perspective, seeing how it applies our spiritual lives, we compare the earth and it's creation to our own selves, our spirit, soul and body.
Spiritually, before we accept Christ and become saved, we are full of darkness, sin, corruption, etc.
But when the Word is spoken, the light of truth enters in, giving us a whole new perspective of life. It becomes immediately apparent to us that our lives are completely covered over by sin and darkness, and that we have need of salvation.
When we accept that Word as truth, accept the Light of the World into our lives, we are filled with light, and God calls that Light good. God calls the light within us 'Righteousness', and the darkness within us He calls 'Evil' or 'Sin'.
Further, God separates within us the Light from the darkness, the Good from the evil. Notice the evil still remains, but is only separated from the Light. When we are saved, we do not immediately become perfect beings, but rather begin a process of redemption and sanctification, in which little by little we are developed into the image of Christ, till we reach the final day, the day of rest, the day with no darkness, the day without end.
In our spiritual walk, we find that each time God moves us a step higher, our step begins with difficulty and darkness. It is our preparation time, and it is rarely a pleasant experience. But eventually, the light of dawn returns, and the remainder of our day is spent in the light, where we can see both where we have been, and where to place our next step. We can see what changes have been wrought in our lives, all the while knowing that there is much yet for us to experience.

 

[kahtar]

Genesis 1:6-8
And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which [were] under the firmament from the waters which [were] above the firmament: and it was so.
And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

Firmament - H7549 raw-kee'-ah From H7554; properly an expanse, that is, the firmament or (apparently) visible arch of the sky: - firmament.
H7554 raw-kah' A primitive root; to pound the earth (as a sign of passion); by analogy to expand (by hammering); by implication to overlay (with thin sheets of metal): - beat, make broad, spread abroad (forth, over, out, into plates), stamp, stretch.
Midst - H8432 taw'-vek From an unused root meaning to sever; a bisection, that is, (by implication) the centre:
Heaven - H8064 shaw-mah'-yim, shaw-meh' The second form being dual of an unused singular; from an unused root meaning to be lofty; the sky (as aloft; the dual perhaps alluding to the visible arch in which the clouds move, as well as to the higher ether where the celestial bodies revolve):

The Hebrew word translated as 'firmament' means 'expanse', and comes from the root word rawkah, meaning 'to expand', and implies an overlayment.
The word 'heaven' in this instance I believe means the sky, where the clouds are. The Bible speaks of three heavens, the sky, the universe above, and the location of God's throne.
Prior to this day, there was no atmosphere, no layer of air separating the earth from the vacuum of space. There was no sun to warm the surface.
I suspect that at the start, before light came to be, that the surface of the water that covered the earth was frozen. It would be logical to assume so.
In this act of the second day, God creates a division between the frozen layer of water and the unfrozen water, unfrozen because the center of the earth was and remains hot. This division is simply the gaseous state of water, it's elements separated. Water is 1 part Hydrogen and two parts Oxygen. Our atmosphere consists mainly of those elements, with various other layers of lesser elements.
So basically, God in some way caused the evaporation of liquid water, and that evaporated layer was caught between the liquid and the frozen.

CHRIST
Genesis 28:12 And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.
John 1:51 And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God [is] quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and [is] a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Christ is seen in the firmament - it is He Who divides - Christ is the Word which divides us.
It is His death that provides the way for us to bridge the separation between us and God
We identify ourselves with His death, which means we consider ourselves to have died on the cross with Him.

Ephesians 2:5-9 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved
6 And hath raised [us] up together, and made [us] sit together in heavenly [places] in Christ Jesus:
7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in [his] kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
1Corinthians 15:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
Romans 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Colosiansl 2:12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with [him] through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
1Peter 3:20-21 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
21 The like figure whereunto [even] baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
Titus 3:3-5 For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, [and] hating one another.
4 But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

Spiritual Application
On this second day, we find the waters divided. Part is taken up above the firmament, the other remains below.
The first thing to consider here is the dividing of the waters. This is the first of many instances of the division of water in the Word.
We find also the Red Sea divided for the Israelites in their pilgrimage, and the Jordan also. The waters of the bronze altar in the tabernacle are divided when the priests clean themselves prior to entering the Holy Place.
The waters were divided at the baptism of Jesus and the diciples.
And today, generally, the second day of our pilgrimage we are baptized in water, dividing the water. Or rather dividing ourselves from the world and sin, which leads us to the second point to examine.
In our pilgrimage our waters also are divided, our spirit, having been reborn, is now raised up and seated with Christ in heavenly places, while our soul and our body and the works of our flesh remain below.
We can see that we have sin in our lives, but we don't know the extent of it, or how deeply buried it is.
Spiritually, in baptism, we are turning our backs upon the world and our old life, considering ourself dead with Christ, and we are raised up with Him in newness of life.

 

[kahtar]

Genesis 1:9-13
And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry [land] appear: and it was so.
And God called the dry [land] Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that [it was] good.
And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, [and] the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed [is] in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
And the earth brought forth grass, [and] herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed [was] in itself, after his kind: and God saw that [it was] good.
And the evening and the morning were the third day.


At the start of this day, the earth is covered with water, but a stirring and rumbling takes place as the depths are shaken. The internal preasures mount and the land is lifted up out of the water.
Geological evidence suggests, as does scripture, that one single mass of land appeared in the midst of the sea - Scientists call this single landmass Pangea the first and original continent. It is understood that the continent floated above the liquid magma, and at some point it cracked down the center, and separated, giving us what we have today, several masses of land divided by water. This division of the original landmass and subsequent continuing separation is called continental drift. The crust of the earth is divided into numerous tetonic plates, all of which float above the molten magma, continually moving, rubbing into each other, crashing into each other, dipping below or rising above each other. Of course all this takes place at a very slow rate. But each movement is identified by us through the hundreds of earthquakes that take place daily across our planet.
Scripture also supports this single continent and subsequent division. It is spoken of quite briefly in the genealogy of Noah. It says that in the days of Peleg, (whose name means ‘earthquake’), the earth was divided. This was a number of generations after the flood, and at least one generation after the tower of Babel. But we'll talk more about that when we start the study of Noah.
Once the land rises above the sea, then vegetation begins to grow on the surface. First the grass, then herbs, then the trees. Remember, the water is still divided at this point, part below, and part above the firmament. There is some scientific evidence of the 'canopy theory', that suggests that the atmospheric preasure was double what it is today. Experiments with hyperbolic chambers has shown that living things thrive better in such conditions. There is more oxygen, for one thing. The added preasure has an effect on things as well. Living things live longer, healthier, and grow larger in a hyperbolic chamber than they do in our current atomosphere.
With this in mind, it would not take long for the entire surface of the landmass to be heavily covered by dense vegetation.


CHRIST
Notice that it is the 'third day' that the land is raised up. It was also the third day that Jonah was tossed out of the whale. It was the third day that Christ rose from the grave.
Jonah 1:17 Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Matthew 12:40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Acts 10:40 Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly;
Christ the Firstfruits
1Corinthains 15:20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, [and] become the firstfruits of them that slept.
Christ is seen first of all in the 'lifting up' of the land, for He also was lifted up. But He is seen more clearly in the vegetation, for He is the 'firstfruits of those who slept', or the firstfruits of the church. He is also seen in the wheat which is thrashed and beaten, and in the seed that first dies and falls to the earth, then is raised up and brings forth in abundance, the corn that is crushed. He is seen in the Manna, the bread of life, and the unleavened bread, all of which is vaguely alluded to in the simple declaration of vegetation.

SPIRITUAL VIEW
Romans 8:23 And not only [they], but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, [to wit], the redemption of our body.

Each day begins in darkness. In the Christian life, we also go through times of darkness, times of growing and learning, overcoming sin and evil.
The picture presented to us here is one of chaos. To start, the earth is completely covered over by water.
In our lives, we have heard the word of truth, accepted, and received the Light of the World into our hearts, and in spirit we have been raised up to sit with Christ in heavenly places.
But the waters which remain below cover the earth. And in us, though our spirit is raised up in newness of life, our souls remain covered over. We cannot yet see what good things God is going to do in our lives.
But then, there is great shaking, all the mud is stirred up, the land rises up, tossing the waves (Just like in the tsunami), and suddenly, the land rises up above the water, and the dry land appears.
In us, God begins to work in our lives, stirring us up, and causing the goodness of Christ in us to rise up and be seen by the world. In the midst of our sinfulness, goodness appears.
Remember, our spirit is already raised up with Christ. So the work of this day relates to our soul.
In Romans 8:2 we read;
" For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." .
In this picture in Genesis, we find the land being 'set free' from the bondage of the waters, and in our lives, we are set free from the bondage of sin and death.
Little by little, the sin in our lives gives way to the work of Christ in our heart, and our acts of the flesh give way to the acts of righteousness which Christ works in us, that which is life-sustaining, bearing seed of greater things, bearing the fruit of the spirit.
This pictures the good things we begin to do, the good works. Hebrews 10:24 says;
"And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: "
These good works of the third day are not what save us. The light of truth on the first day saved us. But, in our daily lives we are to produce the good works of faith, showing love and mercy to each other, helping each other in time of need. As the day progresses, we see even greater things growing, the herbs, and the fruit trees. These are useful. They are life-sustaining. Each has within itself seeds to produce more.
Our works, which we do, are life-sustaining, like clothing the naked, feeding the poor, caring for the widows and orphans, and telling others about the Light of Truth. And each of these things we do carries within it the seeds of more fruit.
As the day progresses, the fruit becomes bigger and greater, more life-sustaining. As we learn to walk in the Spirit, greater and greater works are produced in us.

COMMUNION
So how does all this apply to communion?
Communion is the partaking of the body and blood of Christ, represented in eating the bread and juice.
It represents our partaking of the death of Christ on the cross. It also represents our partaking of His resurrection.
By taking communion, we are identifying ourselves with Christ, in His death and resurrection, thus showing that we also have died with Him on the cross, and are raised up in newness of life, so that it is no longer us who live and do good works, but Christ Who lives in us, and does good works through us.

 

[kahtar]

Genesis 1:14-19
(14) And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
(15) And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
(16) And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: [he made] the stars also.
(17) And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
(18) And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that [it was] good.
(19) And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

There is a lot to look at in these few verses. In the surface view, we understand that these lights are different than the light of the first day. But they still divide the light from darkness. But their purpose goes beyond simply providing light, as important as that is.
They are also for signs. What signs are referred to here? First, we have the twelve constellations, the five visible planets, the sun, and the moon. All through scripture we find reference to these.
Matthew 2:2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
Revelation 12:1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:
Job 9:9 Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south.
The Hebrew calendar is based upon the moon, with each month beginning at the first appearance of the new moon.
They are also to mark the seasons, the four seasons, and also the seven appointed times of the Lord, those being the feasts, fasts and other appointed times.
And, they are to rule the day and night, which speaks of rulership, t
herefore of law, and order. And where does this law and order come from for us today? The Word of God.
2Co 3:3 [Forasmuch as ye are] manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.
To give light - the Word of God, the Holy Spirit giving direction, a lamp unto our feet.
2Sa 22:29 For thou [art] my lamp, O LORD: and the LORD will lighten my darkness.
Psa 119:105 NUN. Thy word [is] a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

The next thing to look at here is the fact that this is the fourth day. To ancient Jewish thought, because the sun was created on the fourth day, and because to God a day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as a day, they expected their Son of Righteousness to appear on the fourth day, or, sometime during the fourth millenium from Adam. And, they were correct. He came right at the very end of the fourth 'day'.
Psa 90:4 For a thousand years in thy sight [are but] as yesterday when it is past, and [as] a watch in the night.
2Pe 3:8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day [is] with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
Mal 4:2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
Now notice that the fourth day is the 'center' day, that is, three days preceed it, and three follow it. The three preceeding look forward to the coming of the sun, and the latter three look back upon it. Compare that to the Mennorah in the Tabernacle. It had seven branches, three on each side of the center one. The center branch was filled with oil, and the other branches received their oil from it. The center branch was a little higher than the others, also.
In the millenia, from Adam to the Macabees, all looked forward to the coming of the Son. From the establishment of the church to this day, we look back upon Him. Both receive their light from Him. Both receive the oil of the Holy Spirit from Him.

So let us now compare the surface view and the spiritual view.

Soon we find the darkness creeping in at the close of the day and the beginning of the next, as the Light is slowly withdrawn. But we walk by faith, not by sight, and in the darkness we are now given light also. For now we find, in the darkness of the fourth day, light in the heavens to guide us, to give us times and seasons, days and years, and by the light of those heavenly bodies, we are able to see even in the night. And though the Light, the Daystar, is withdrawn from us for a time, nevertheless His Light is reflected to us through those heavenly bodies. Where once we stumbled in total darkness, now we walk, and though we may only see a little way, at least we can see where to place our next step.
And in this world, we have the Law written upon our hearts, establishing order in the chaos of darkness. Here also, we see dimly another picture. The moon, in all it’s glory, has not it’s own, but only reflects the light of the sun. And it has the power to shed forth the light in the darkened world until the return of the Daystar. Do we not see here a picture of the church, which, while it is here, lightens the darkened earth, holding back the total darkness of evil? But there will come a time when the moon shall be turned to blood, as the church is persecuted in those last days, letting their blood upon the earth, and the light shall be taken away, so that darkness may rule for a time.
And what of the stars? The individual saints, having the Light of Christ within shine of themselves, shed forth their own light, dim though it may be. And they also, in the last days shall be taken from the world, to give light no longer.
From whence does this power to shed light in the darkened world come, but from the Holy Spirit, given to each according to his faith. And the gifts? Are not these pictured in the light which the stars give? Their purpose? Not to glorify the stars, the saints, but to give light to the darkened earth. And finally, we for the first time in our pilgrimage behold the glory of the Daystar. We saw and benefited from His Light before, but now we see Him (though still through a glass darkly). As His law and our faith are established in our hearts, He is made known to us. As His Spirit fills our souls, and we are immersed in Him, His power and love overcomes us, and suddenly what we once believed in our minds and hearts is changed to knowing Him Personally. There is a vast difference in believing in Christ and knowing Him.
After the darkness of this day, the dawn is tremendous. What a glorious day! To bask in the warmth and soar with Christ, and even to search out the uttermost depths of Him!

 

[kahtar]

Genesis 1:20-
(20) And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl [that] may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
(21) And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his 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 fowl multiply in the earth.
(23) And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

Job 12:7-10 “But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee: Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the LORD hath wrought this? In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.”

Job indicates to us that there is something we can learn from the animals, and even from the earth.
Each fish, each fowl, has its own testimony, and books can be written on each. But let the imagination ponder on these, and let the eagle be our example here.
The eagle, the most magnificent, the greatest of the heavenly creatures. He dwells in the highest of mountains, and soars upon the currents. When a storm approaches, instead of seeking shelter, the eagle circles in front of the storm, allowing the rising currents of warm air to carry it up and up, to a height above the storm, so high that ice forms upon it's wings, weighing it down, forcing it down, on the far side of the storm, down to warmer air, where the ice melts and he is once again able to fly. And what spiritual lessons there are to be learned from this eagle!
One could spend a lifetime (and perhaps should) studying each of God’s creatures, and learning the lessons taught from each.
Christ:
He is the fishes, and the whale, and He is the Dove, the Eagle, the Sparrow and the Raven.

Whale - Jonah 1:17 Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Dove-Matthew 3:16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
Leviticus 12:6 And when the days of her purifying are fulfilled, for a son, or for a daughter, she shall bring a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon, or a turtledove, for a sin offering, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest:
Eagle-Revelation 4:7 And the first beast [was] like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast [was] like a flying eagle.

Spiritual Understanding
Matthew 10:38-39: “And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.”

New life is being formed. Greater life. Life more like Christ. Up to now, the only life has been inanimate. Vegetation. These things were necessary, and they will sustain us throughout our life here. They are the foundation upon which we are built.
But now the Lord has something much greater in mind. Spiritually we are called forward from the fourth day, to a higher life. But in order for there to be life, there must be death first. This point is not seen clearly here in creation, but is brought out in full detail in later pictures of redemption. But the fact that it is absent here almost exemplifies the fact that the death which must take place is nothing compared to the life which follows. And such life it is!
Down within the great depths there is a stirring, and from the place of sin and fleshly desire, the mire of our lives, there comes life. Not our fleshly nature come alive. Rather our fleshly nature conquered, subdued, bound, so that from it can only come that which brings glory and praise to the Creator. Our thoughts explore the depths of ourselves, the depths of this creation, to discover its every secret, so that it is known fully, and subdued and controlled.
Not only this, but in the heavenly realm also, sours new life. We mount up with wings like eagles, and sour to new heights with Christ. New life, heavenly life, is created within us. And here, we find not only the eagle, but the dove as well, all of which testify of He Who created them.
We start out as tadpoles in our spiritual walk, and it is okay to be a tadpole. It is not okay to remain one, however. Our spiritual life is one of progression, ste p after step, precept upon precept.
After we have learned the tadpole lessons, and are ready to progress, we must leave the tadpole life behind. We must die to the old life, and progress in newness of life, leave the old ways behind. There is a dim view of the concept of 'self sacrifice' pictured here. Our eventual goal is to become the express image of Christ,seen in the sixth day. But to get there, we must first be 'fish', and then 'birds'.

 

[kahtar]

Day Six
Genesis 1:24-31
(24) And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
(25) And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that [it was] good.
(26) And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
(27) So God created man in his [own] image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
(28) And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
(29) And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which [is] upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which [is] the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
(30) And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein [there is] life, [I have given] every green herb for meat: and it was so.
(31) And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, [it was] very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Much of what was brought out in day five applies to this day as well. Each creature displays various attributes of God. Christ is seen metaphorically in the creatures, like the lion and the lamb, the serpent lifted up, the hind, the bullock.
Spiritually, the lessons are similar, and there is the familiar progression from lesser to greater. The fruits of day three become the nourishment and sustenance for day six.
But the latter half of this day is the culmination of God's creative acts, and His final and greatest creation appears, than being man, made in the image of God.
Spiritually, at the end of our life, at the end of God's process of redeeming and sanctifying us, we come into the express image of Christ, our goal in this life.
What is this 'image of God'?
In verse 26, the trinity is again brought forth, for God said 'Let us…'. And in that triune image we are made, body, soul, and spirit. Each of those is a separate, and separable, part of us. Each can be described as 'me'. Yet the three are one. When the body dies, the spirit and the soul remain, raised up into the presence of God.
Paul spoke of the separableness of the spirit and the body when he related his experience in the 3rd heaven. He was there in spirit. But he did not know if his body was there as well.
John on the Isle of Patmos was 'in the spirit on the Lord's Day'. His body remained on the island, and his spirit traveled in space and time to the Day of the Lord (this does not refer to Sunday, as some suppose).
Man's purpose on this planet is to show forth God's glory in all the earth. For His glory we are created.
What is His glory?
Glory - H3519 kaw-bode', kaw-bode' From H3513; properly weight; but only figuratively in a good sense, splendor or copiousness: - glorious (-ly), glory, honour (-able).

Exodus 16:10 And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud.
Exodus 24:16 And the glory of the LORD abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud.
Exodus 24:17 And the sight of the glory of the LORD [was] like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel.
Exodus 40:35 And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
Exodus 34:29 And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him.
Exodus 34:30 And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him.
Exodus 34:35 And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone: and Moses put the vail upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him.
From these verses, we can draw the conclusion that God's glory can be seen, and that it is very bright, so bright, in fact, that one cannot come into the direct presence of it.
We can also see that when one spends time in the presence of God, shielded though it may be, that they themselves will take on that same glowing appearance, to such a degree that other people become afraid, and cannot look upon it.
Now, with that understanding, consider Adam in the garden., first of all. He was able to be in the direct presence of God, and was, for a length of time. He was made in God's image, and designed to show forth the glory of God, and fill the earth with God's glory. Can you imagine what Adam's appearance must have been like prior to his fall?

In chapter two of Genesis we learn that both Adam and Eve were naked, but were not ashamed. I suspect, although it is conjecture, that because of their prolonged presence with God in the garden, they, like Moses, quite likely shown brightly, and because they were sinless and able to be in God's direct presence, that glowing undoubtedly would have far exceeding anything Moses experienced, so that they probably could not see each other's nakedness because they were clothed in God's glory.
What happened when they ate from the tree? They immediately became aware of their nakedness, and set about trying to cover it. Spiritually, they were immediately separated from God. I have no doubt that the glory that clothed them previously quite suddenly disappeared, allowing them to see for the first time their own nakedness. Of course they tried to cover up, but having done so, they knew it was not enough, for God's glory was no longer there, thus they attempted to hide from God, which also failed, of course.
At the end of the age, when the resurrection occurs, we know that our bodies will 'rise up from the grave', that in fact we will be given new bodies. We don't know a whole lot about what we will look like, but, in the words of Paul, 'Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.' 1 John 3:2
In the book of Revelation, John gives us some clues about what He looks like:
Revelation 1:13-17 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks [one] like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.
His head and [his] hairs [were] white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes [were] as a flame of fire;
And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.
And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance [was] as the sun shineth in his strength.
And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:
And Matthew, 'And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.' Matthew 17:2
It is my suspicion that prior to the fall, Adam and Eve both appeared that way, and further, that at the resurrection, we will return to that state that Adam and Eve once held.

 

[kahtar]

Gen 2:1-3
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

There were no creative acts described on this day. Creation took 6 days, not seven.
In all the previous six days, each description ended with, 'and the evening and the morning were'.
In this day, there is no mention of evening. It is a day with no darkness. A day with no end.
It seems odd that chapter two would begin with the seventh day. It would seem logical to put the seventh day back in chapter one with the other six days.
In verse four, we the start of the 'generations of the heavens and the earth', and it would seem logical to begin the second chapter there instead of the seventh day.
But, chapter two is a retelling of chapter one and all the events leading up to the day of rest.
Some people suppose that a 'second creation' is described here. Their purpose in coming to that conclusion is to give support to their supposition that there must have been other people on the planet beside Adam and Eve and their sons, for 'where' say they, 'did Cain get his wife?' So they create a whole new race of humans here to provide that answer.
But that is not the case. It is merely a retelling in greater detail of the one and only creation, bringing out points necessary for our understanding of later events.
Chapter three then takes up again the seventh day, and includes events that take place on that day.
Christ

Matthew 11:28-30 Come unto me, all [ye] that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
For my yoke [is] easy, and my burden is light.

Hebrews 4:3 For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.

Hebrews 4:9-11 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God [did] from his.
Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

Christ is our Rest.
Spiritual Understanding
This rest speaks all at once to our physical and spiritual being. It is necessary for us to have a day of rest physically. It is part of our design. It also speaks of the day that our physical bodies will enter into rest in the grave.
It is also necessary for us spiritually to take a day to spend in God's presence, resting from our spiritual labor. And God desires that we set aside a day to do nothing but focus upon Him.
But it speaks of yet a greater thing. Christ is our rest. It speaks of us allowing our self to rest in Christ, so that our labor is not us, but Christ in us. Hebrews 4:10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God [did] from his.
As we little by little learn to set self aside, or in the metaphorical perspective of creation, as we let go of the tadpole life to become the eagle, or let go of the goat to become the man, we allow Christ in us to live through us.
When we let go of the fish life and embrace the eagle life, we have come a step closer to Christ and our rest.
This rest also speaks of the time of our resurrection, when we enter into that 'day with no darkness', that day with no end, eternity in God's presence.