WEBVTT 00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:03.439 For your grace and your mercy and your love. 00:00:03.439 --> 00:00:07.040 And as we sang these songs, Lord, you are so good. 00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:08.160 You are so holy. 00:00:08.160 --> 00:00:11.279 You are mighty, Lord, and you are so worthy to be praised. 00:00:11.279 --> 00:00:17.760 And so we thank you that we can gather here this evening of like-minded women who just love you and want to hear the word of God. 00:00:17.760 --> 00:00:20.000 So I just pray that you would bless this evening. 00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:28.320 You would bless my mouth, Lord, that my uh words would be of you, Lord, that you would just soften our hearts to hear what you have for each one of us. 00:00:28.320 --> 00:00:39.759 We're each here in different um seasons of life, different stages of life, different struggles and things going on, Lord, that you would just meet each one of us exactly where we are at, God, to your name be the glory. 00:00:39.759 --> 00:00:40.719 Amen. 00:00:40.719 --> 00:00:48.960 There are two words that are going to help us understand the creation mandate, and they are imperative and indicative. 00:00:48.960 --> 00:00:54.799 An imperative is a command, and indicative is the truth or the why behind the command. 00:00:54.799 --> 00:01:00.399 So when I say the word mandate, I want us to keep in mind that this is a command, an imperative. 00:01:00.399 --> 00:01:05.599 So the creation mandate is a command that God gave to the human race upon creating them. 00:01:05.599 --> 00:01:08.319 We will get into the indicative in a bit. 00:01:08.319 --> 00:01:15.120 But if we don't understand the truth or the why behind a command, we will never be motivated to obey it. 00:01:15.120 --> 00:01:20.719 So let's look first at what the creation mandate is found in Genesis 1. 00:01:20.719 --> 00:01:39.840 Genesis 1, 26 through 28 says, Then 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 birds of the heavens, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and every other creeping thing that creeps on the earth. 00:01:39.840 --> 00:01:44.560 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him. 00:01:44.560 --> 00:02:00.239 Male and female he created them, and he blessed them, and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens, and over every living thing that moves on the earth. 00:02:00.239 --> 00:02:04.799 So let's first look at the imperative, the command or the mandane. 00:02:04.799 --> 00:02:10.000 Oops, did that go to the next one? 00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:10.639 Yes, it did. 00:02:10.639 --> 00:02:11.039 Okay. 00:02:11.039 --> 00:02:23.199 So we see that the commands in this verse are, you can see them highlighted, be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, subdue it, and have dominion over every living thing that moves on the earth. 00:02:23.199 --> 00:02:27.520 And we'll break these commands down as we go, but these are the commands that are given. 00:02:27.520 --> 00:02:30.319 So why did God give us this mandate? 00:02:30.319 --> 00:02:34.560 Now we will look at the indicative or the truth or why behind the command. 00:02:34.560 --> 00:02:40.719 This passage opens up by stating that mankind is made in the image and likeness of God. 00:02:40.719 --> 00:02:50.800 Because we were made in the image and likeness of God, is the truth or the why behind the command to be fruitful, multiply, subdue, and take dominion over the earth. 00:02:50.800 --> 00:02:55.039 So let's take a deeper look into why this is so important to grasp. 00:02:55.039 --> 00:03:00.560 I want us to think about how the Israelites would have understood the words image and likeness. 00:03:00.560 --> 00:03:14.240 In the ancient Near East, when a king would conquer another land, that king would leave behind a large golden statue that looked just like him, so that when the people saw the statue, they would be reminded that they belonged to him. 00:03:14.240 --> 00:03:16.400 You might be picturing one in your mind now. 00:03:16.400 --> 00:03:19.520 The first one that comes to my mind is King Nebuchadnezzar, right? 00:03:19.520 --> 00:03:22.560 He made that nine-foot statue of himself. 00:03:22.560 --> 00:03:30.560 In the same way, the Israelites were to be the image, to be the image and likeness of their great king, which was Yahweh. 00:03:30.560 --> 00:03:36.240 They were to be his statue, so to speak, that would let others know what he was like. 00:03:36.240 --> 00:03:43.599 God designed man to accurately reflect him as they lived in the land that he ruled over. 00:03:43.599 --> 00:03:53.360 Unlike oppressive kings of their day who had their own selfish plans, Yahweh wanted to rule his people within the safety of his statues and love. 00:03:53.360 --> 00:03:56.400 Yahweh was not a God that was distance from his people. 00:03:56.400 --> 00:04:05.520 He created them for relationship, and he designed them to bear his image that the world around them would know their king and be in right relationship with him. 00:04:05.520 --> 00:04:19.680 As we are made in the image and likeness of our great king, we are mandated to make more image bearers, to rule the earth and subdue it under God's righteous rule, so that the whole earth would be filled with the glory of God. 00:04:19.680 --> 00:04:29.120 God's plan for his people who ruled in this way, bearing his image as he designed them to, would enjoy a beautiful, thriving relationship with him. 00:04:29.120 --> 00:04:36.959 It's obviously important to understand the mandate itself, but it's equally, if not more important, to grasp the why behind it. 00:04:36.959 --> 00:04:45.759 If we don't have motivation to obey a command, we will lose focus, we'll be frustrated, we will not see our purpose, and ultimately we will give up. 00:04:45.759 --> 00:04:57.680 My prayer is that a fire will be lit in our soul so we can have the motivation and joy to serve our great God and King out of his great love and desire to be in relationship with us. 00:04:57.680 --> 00:04:59.759 This is a radical thing. 00:04:59.759 --> 00:05:04.240 He promises to give us eternal life and peace and joy. 00:05:04.240 --> 00:05:11.600 Too often we spend our days without purpose, without joy, just trudging along until we do the next exciting thing. 00:05:11.600 --> 00:05:14.240 God has designed us for so much more. 00:05:14.240 --> 00:05:24.000 We're going to take a quick journey through the scriptures to see God's big picture purpose for man as he lays out the creation mandate throughout his word. 00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:30.720 It has been said that you can summarize the big picture of the Bible in eight words. 00:05:30.720 --> 00:05:38.240 When I first heard that, I was like, no way, you cannot sum up the Bible in eight words until I understood how you can sum up the Bible in eight words. 00:05:38.240 --> 00:05:39.759 And then it made sense to me. 00:05:39.759 --> 00:05:45.040 So those eight words are God's people in God's place under God's rule. 00:05:45.040 --> 00:05:47.360 And we'll break those down as we go. 00:05:47.360 --> 00:05:53.120 In addition, there are four words that sum up the progressive storyline of the Bible. 00:05:53.120 --> 00:05:55.279 And you may have heard of these words. 00:05:55.279 --> 00:06:01.759 They are creation, fall, redemption, and consummation, or restoration. 00:06:01.759 --> 00:06:14.319 As we go through the four parts of the storyline of the Bible, we will see how those eight words fit into the four words as God reiterates the creation mandate in each part of the storyline. 00:06:14.319 --> 00:06:17.519 So the first part of the storyline is creation. 00:06:17.519 --> 00:06:22.480 On the sixth day of creation, God created the pinnacle of his handiwork. 00:06:22.480 --> 00:06:25.600 Yell it out if you know the pinnacle of his handiwork. 00:06:25.600 --> 00:06:29.120 Somebody said woman. 00:06:29.120 --> 00:06:32.399 Somebody said woman. 00:06:32.399 --> 00:06:33.360 Man, right? 00:06:33.360 --> 00:06:34.800 Man was the pinnacle. 00:06:34.800 --> 00:06:36.480 Woman is included in that. 00:06:36.480 --> 00:06:37.519 It's man and woman. 00:06:37.519 --> 00:06:38.639 Yes, agreed. 00:06:38.639 --> 00:06:42.240 And what did God say about that pinnacle of his handiwork? 00:06:42.240 --> 00:06:43.279 It was what? 00:06:43.279 --> 00:06:44.879 Very good. 00:06:44.879 --> 00:06:50.879 Genesis 2.15 tells us that God created man and put him in the garden to work it. 00:06:50.879 --> 00:06:54.319 At this time, God had given Adam the instruction. 00:06:54.319 --> 00:07:05.360 Adam, just keep that in your back of your mind, God gave Adam the instruction of eating from any other tree in the garden, but he must not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 00:07:05.360 --> 00:07:09.839 After this instruction is when God made Eve. 00:07:09.839 --> 00:07:19.519 Reading through Genesis 1 and 2, you may not catch this, that the instruction to not eat the fruit was only given to Adam. 00:07:19.519 --> 00:07:27.680 The creation mandate is given in Genesis 1, 27, and 28, and the mandate was given to both Adam and Eve. 00:07:27.680 --> 00:07:33.360 But Genesis 2 does not happen directly after Genesis 1. 00:07:33.360 --> 00:07:40.720 Genesis 2 backtracks and it fills in some details that happen between Genesis 1.26 and 127. 00:07:40.720 --> 00:07:43.600 This is an important detail to tuck away for later. 00:07:43.600 --> 00:07:45.120 We'll get back to that. 00:07:45.120 --> 00:07:47.600 So just wanted you to put that in the back of your mind. 00:07:47.600 --> 00:07:54.079 So let's talk about these eight words, God's people and God's place under God's rule, and how they fit into the creation story. 00:07:54.079 --> 00:08:02.480 So God made a people for himself, that was Adam and Eve, to live in a place which was the garden, where he would rule them. 00:08:02.480 --> 00:08:07.920 Adam was given a command. 00:08:07.920 --> 00:08:12.560 If Adam obeyed the command, he would live in right relationship with God forever. 00:08:12.560 --> 00:08:19.680 If Adam disobeyed by eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, God said he would surely what? 00:08:19.680 --> 00:08:20.480 Die. 00:08:20.480 --> 00:08:22.720 Just want to see if you guys are awake. 00:08:22.720 --> 00:08:26.079 You know, it's getting late and we need some coffee. 00:08:26.079 --> 00:08:46.879 Because Adam and Eve were made in the image and likeness of their great God and king, they were mandated to make more image bearers to rule the earth and subdue it under God's righteous rule, so that, and we're going to hear this over and over, so that the whole earth would be filled with the glory of God, and they would enjoy a beautiful, thriving relationship with Him. 00:08:46.879 --> 00:08:52.159 Not only Adam and Eve, but every human being that would ever descend from them. 00:08:52.159 --> 00:08:56.399 As image bearers, Adam and Eve were to subdue and take dominion. 00:08:56.399 --> 00:08:58.320 So what does this mean? 00:08:58.320 --> 00:09:03.840 Subdue means to tread something down, beating it, forcing it into submission. 00:09:03.840 --> 00:09:07.360 The idea is conquer and make it obey. 00:09:07.360 --> 00:09:13.679 Adam and Eve were to bring creation under subjection, forcing it to be tamed by God's goodness. 00:09:13.679 --> 00:09:24.080 They were to bring God's righteous ways into the world with his authority, upholding his righteousness, so that all creation would be subjected to his authority. 00:09:24.080 --> 00:09:39.519 If we think of subduing through ancient Near East understanding of kingdoms, the lesser king or vice regent was responsible to crush rebellion and disorder and cause the land and people to be orderly subordinates of the king's authority. 00:09:39.519 --> 00:09:44.960 This would also include using the resources of the earth and land to benefit the king. 00:09:44.960 --> 00:09:48.159 So subduing has to do with land and people. 00:09:48.159 --> 00:09:57.200 So I don't know if you're thinking of something in your mind right now, but hopefully you're thinking about what that might mean to subdue the land. 00:09:57.200 --> 00:10:00.399 And this using the resources of the earth makes me think of work. 00:10:00.399 --> 00:10:02.240 This is a mandate for work. 00:10:02.240 --> 00:10:12.879 So a mandate for science, for farming, for fishing, for building, for teaching, for banking, whatever it is that you do, all within God's righteous statutes. 00:10:12.879 --> 00:10:18.159 This is to cultivate a civilized society that reflects God's order and rule. 00:10:18.159 --> 00:10:22.639 This applies to whatever it is that you do every single day. 00:10:22.639 --> 00:10:33.200 When we think of dominion through ancient Near East understanding, the vice regent was responsible for exercising dominion over that conquered land, so what already has been subdued. 00:10:33.200 --> 00:10:37.200 So we subdue with God's righteous standard and then we take dominion over it. 00:10:37.200 --> 00:10:42.720 Man is to represent the king's interest to the people and the people's interest to the king. 00:10:42.720 --> 00:10:46.240 They were to promote the high king's law and order. 00:10:46.240 --> 00:10:58.960 In God's kingdom, dominion means that humans are to rule on his behalf, upholding God's law and orderliness and prompting and promoting purity and goodness throughout their world. 00:10:58.960 --> 00:11:05.840 The influence and blessing of the king and his kingdom is to fill the whole earth with his glory. 00:11:05.840 --> 00:11:09.519 So let's think of this in a very practical way. 00:11:09.519 --> 00:11:13.519 My brother, his name was Tony, passed away almost a year ago. 00:11:13.519 --> 00:11:15.519 He was a very talented builder. 00:11:15.519 --> 00:11:18.559 He ran my dad's business after my dad retired. 00:11:18.559 --> 00:11:22.399 My brother would use the resources of the earth to build things. 00:11:22.399 --> 00:11:25.600 In doing so, he blessed people and honored God. 00:11:25.600 --> 00:11:28.159 He honored God by his good work ethic. 00:11:28.159 --> 00:11:36.480 He honored God by the way he conducted business, using God's righteous standards, not cheating people or doing things illegally or unethically. 00:11:36.480 --> 00:11:40.720 He offered them a good product, all in the hope to bring glory to God. 00:11:40.720 --> 00:11:45.759 Then he took the proceeds from the business to build a ministry to help others in need. 00:11:45.759 --> 00:11:56.399 He subdued his business and had dominion over it, bringing God's righteous standards into it, bringing order into the business and teaching God's standards to his employees. 00:11:56.399 --> 00:11:59.360 As a result, others came to know Christ. 00:11:59.360 --> 00:12:05.360 He held Bible studies at work every morning from 5.30 to 6.15 before the guy started work. 00:12:05.360 --> 00:12:08.879 Every morning, about 45 employees showed up. 00:12:08.879 --> 00:12:10.799 Amazing, right? 00:12:10.799 --> 00:12:17.279 Now for Adam and Eve in a world without sin, this mandate shouldn't have been too complicated. 00:12:17.279 --> 00:12:19.279 There would be joy in cultivation. 00:12:19.279 --> 00:12:25.840 The ground was not cursed, and the work and the work was given to man to be productive and to give him pleasure. 00:12:25.840 --> 00:12:29.440 If only Adam and Eve had passed the test in the garden. 00:12:29.440 --> 00:12:31.840 But we know how the story goes. 00:12:31.840 --> 00:12:38.799 So in our first part of the storyline, creation, we saw God's people in God's place under God's rule. 00:12:38.799 --> 00:12:43.440 Adam and Eve in the garden under God's rule, God as their king. 00:12:43.440 --> 00:12:46.240 The second part of our storyline is the fall. 00:12:46.240 --> 00:12:48.639 We're going to spend most of our time here. 00:12:48.639 --> 00:12:54.960 Satan enters the scene in the form of a serpent and tricks and deceives Eve. 00:12:54.960 --> 00:13:01.120 He casts doubt on God's intentions by accusing him of keeping something good from Adam and Eve. 00:13:01.120 --> 00:13:08.159 Satan suggests that they could have their eyes open and become as wise as God, apart from their relationship with him. 00:13:08.159 --> 00:13:22.000 Romans 1, 18 through 23 says, For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 00:13:22.000 --> 00:13:26.639 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 00:13:26.639 --> 00:13:36.480 For his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. 00:13:36.480 --> 00:13:38.559 So they are without excuse. 00:13:38.559 --> 00:13:47.440 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 00:13:47.440 --> 00:13:57.919 Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. 00:13:57.919 --> 00:14:03.759 I can't tell if that slide went. 00:14:03.759 --> 00:14:06.559 Okay, there we go. 00:14:06.559 --> 00:14:13.519 So according to verse 20, we can see that Adam and Eve clearly saw God's divine power. 00:14:13.519 --> 00:14:18.879 In verse 21, we know that Adam and Eve knew God, but they did not honor him as God. 00:14:18.879 --> 00:14:20.879 They were futile in their thinking. 00:14:20.879 --> 00:14:29.360 According to verse 22, we can see that Adam and Eve were thinking that they could be wise like God, but they became foolish. 00:14:29.360 --> 00:14:36.320 According to verse 23, we see that Adam and Eve exchanged the glory of God for immortal things. 00:14:36.320 --> 00:14:40.960 So let's go back to the point that I made earlier that I asked you to tuck away for later. 00:14:40.960 --> 00:14:43.600 I mentioned how Genesis 2 backtracks. 00:14:43.600 --> 00:14:48.080 It fills in some details that happened between Genesis 126 and 27. 00:14:48.080 --> 00:14:52.960 We see the story of creation laid out in Genesis chapter 1. 00:14:52.960 --> 00:14:56.960 Chapter 1 ends with the creation mandate given to Adam and Eve. 00:14:56.960 --> 00:15:04.879 God blesses them and tells them how he is giving them all his beautiful creation to rule and enjoy, and it was very good. 00:15:04.879 --> 00:15:10.639 You can read this account in Genesis 2, 15 through 18, but for the sake of time, we won't go there. 00:15:10.639 --> 00:15:19.200 But the reason this is important to recognize is that God created Adam first and gave Adam the command not to eat the fruit. 00:15:19.200 --> 00:15:21.200 Adam was the federal head. 00:15:21.200 --> 00:15:23.440 This is a very important thing to understand. 00:15:23.440 --> 00:15:25.360 Adam was the federal head. 00:15:25.360 --> 00:15:30.159 This is such a crucial truth to grasp when it comes to understanding the gospel. 00:15:30.159 --> 00:15:33.360 Adam was the first representative of humanity. 00:15:33.360 --> 00:15:36.000 Adam was responsible for being the head. 00:15:36.000 --> 00:15:39.840 He was to relay the command to Eve and be her protector. 00:15:39.840 --> 00:15:46.879 But instead, Adam consciously chose to follow her lead rather than following the instruction of his creator. 00:15:46.879 --> 00:15:55.919 Rather than making sure that the serpent never entered the garden in the first place, Adam let him in and allowed him to deceive Eve. 00:15:55.919 --> 00:15:58.879 He should have crushed the serpent's head. 00:15:58.879 --> 00:16:04.799 Adam and Eve failed the assignment God gave them because they thought they knew better than God. 00:16:04.799 --> 00:16:10.720 And in 1 Corinthians 15, 22 tells us that in Adam all die. 00:16:10.720 --> 00:16:13.519 Now creation is cursed. 00:16:13.519 --> 00:16:17.200 Adam and Eve are cursed, and they are cast out of the garden. 00:16:17.200 --> 00:16:28.720 Genesis 3.15, this is God speaking to Satan says, I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. 00:16:28.720 --> 00:16:32.639 He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. 00:16:32.639 --> 00:16:38.399 In the same chapter where we find man's failure, we find hope of the gospel. 00:16:38.399 --> 00:16:44.639 When God delivers the consequences to Adam, he explains that the earth is now cursed. 00:16:44.639 --> 00:16:47.440 So we see this in Genesis 3, 16 through 17. 00:16:47.440 --> 00:16:53.039 We see that thorns and thistles will grow, making it difficult to get crops. 00:16:53.039 --> 00:16:58.720 We see Adam's working life in the fields will be marked by sweat and hardship. 00:16:58.720 --> 00:17:07.599 We see that instead of work being a joyful source of purpose and meaning in Adam's life, it would be a lifelong source of necessary frustration. 00:17:07.599 --> 00:17:10.000 It would be hard and sweaty. 00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:17.359 Eve's consequences now bring pain and childbearing and a desire to rule over her husband. 00:17:17.359 --> 00:17:24.160 So as we compare the creation mandate to the consequences received, I want us to see an important connection. 00:17:24.160 --> 00:17:30.400 These consequences that they received directly impact their ability to fulfill this mandate. 00:17:30.400 --> 00:17:34.480 Pain and childbearing will affect the fruit of the womb. 00:17:34.480 --> 00:17:41.359 Thorns and thistles and the sweat of the brow now make subduing the earth and taking dominion impossible. 00:17:41.359 --> 00:17:43.599 I love the timeline of this. 00:17:43.599 --> 00:17:45.920 Adam and Eve rebel against God. 00:17:45.920 --> 00:17:48.160 They feel ashamed and they cover themselves. 00:17:48.160 --> 00:17:49.519 They get caught. 00:17:49.519 --> 00:17:55.359 But before God faces them in their shame with their consequences, he rebukes Satan. 00:17:55.359 --> 00:17:56.319 I love that. 00:17:56.319 --> 00:18:01.519 Then, after rebuking Satan, then he turns to Adam and Eve and delivers their consequences. 00:18:01.519 --> 00:18:03.680 I just see even his grace in that. 00:18:03.680 --> 00:18:10.240 Then immediately after that, in Genesis 3.21, God made garments of skin and clothed them. 00:18:10.240 --> 00:18:14.480 This is our very first picture of the gospel in Scripture. 00:18:14.480 --> 00:18:18.160 This was the first blood sacrifice to cover sin. 00:18:18.160 --> 00:18:29.680 God kills the animal himself to cover their shame and tells them hope is coming through the seed of the woman, which is Christ, that will one day crush the head of Satan. 00:18:29.680 --> 00:18:40.319 In Genesis 6 5, only three chapters later, the earth is filling up, but every intention of the thoughts of man's heart was only evil continually. 00:18:40.319 --> 00:18:43.519 God is about to bring judgment on the earth. 00:18:43.519 --> 00:18:51.599 Genesis 7 records the story of the flood where God wipes out the entire world except for eight people, Noah and his family. 00:18:51.599 --> 00:18:56.720 After Noah gets off the ark, God gives him an instruction. 00:18:56.720 --> 00:18:59.359 We see that in Genesis 9:1. 00:18:59.359 --> 00:19:06.640 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, Here it is, be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth. 00:19:06.640 --> 00:19:08.000 Do you see the mandate? 00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:12.880 God restarted humanity with Noah and gave the exact same mandate. 00:19:12.880 --> 00:19:22.160 Verse 20 tells us that Noah became a man of the soil and planted a vineyard. 00:19:22.160 --> 00:19:23.839 He's cultivating the ground. 00:19:23.839 --> 00:19:26.400 So you can see that he's subduing, right? 00:19:26.400 --> 00:19:28.160 He's subduing, he's working. 00:19:28.160 --> 00:19:30.319 But quickly that turns. 00:19:30.319 --> 00:19:40.720 Rather than Noah subduing the creation and having dominion over it, we see Noah is being subdued by creation and being dominated by it. 00:19:40.720 --> 00:19:47.039 We see this in verse 21, where it tells us that Noah drank of the wine and became drunk. 00:19:47.039 --> 00:19:58.000 After a mandate given by God in both Adam and now Noah, both fall by being subdued by the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. 00:19:58.000 --> 00:20:04.240 Noah shows us man's inability to fulfill the creation mandate, and he was the best of the best. 00:20:04.240 --> 00:20:08.960 Sin has marred man's ability to subdue and take dominion over the earth. 00:20:08.960 --> 00:20:11.920 The earth is cursed, and so is man. 00:20:11.920 --> 00:20:18.720 But God, in his grace, still intends for man to work and rule over the creation he gave them. 00:20:18.720 --> 00:20:23.839 So 422 years pass from Noah, and that brings us to Abram. 00:20:23.839 --> 00:20:26.960 Abram shows up in Genesis chapter 11. 00:20:26.960 --> 00:20:33.599 So from Genesis 8 to 11, just three short chapters, 422 years pass. 00:20:33.599 --> 00:20:38.000 In those 422 years, the earth is filling up again. 00:20:38.000 --> 00:20:42.400 Right before the call of Abram, we see the story of the Tower of Babel. 00:20:42.400 --> 00:20:47.680 We know how that story goes, and that should tell you of the wickedness of man on the earth again. 00:20:47.680 --> 00:20:53.039 There is no hope for man on his own to fulfill the creation mandate that God had given them. 00:20:53.039 --> 00:20:57.920 The humans that God created in his image were not imaging him at all. 00:20:57.920 --> 00:21:02.000 I find it interesting the way that God shares the mandate with Abram. 00:21:02.000 --> 00:21:06.079 So let's read that in Genesis 12, one through three. 00:21:06.079 --> 00:21:18.960 Now the Lord said to Abram, Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land I will show you, and I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 00:21:18.960 --> 00:21:23.039 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse. 00:21:23.039 --> 00:21:26.960 And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. 00:21:26.960 --> 00:21:33.200 There's an interesting difference between these verses and what we saw in God's instruction to Adam and Noah. 00:21:33.200 --> 00:21:40.799 What we see here is God says in verse 2, I will make you a great nation. 00:21:40.799 --> 00:21:43.920 God didn't tell Abram to be fruitful and multiply. 00:21:43.920 --> 00:21:48.559 God said he would make him fruitful and he would multiply him. 00:21:48.559 --> 00:21:52.799 This meant much more than simply his own physical offspring. 00:21:52.799 --> 00:22:00.799 As we read the New Testament, we can see that ultimately Abraham's offspring will include all believers, not just his descendants. 00:22:00.799 --> 00:22:04.000 So this mandate has just become twofold. 00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:09.680 One thing to note is that the covenant that God made with Adam was conditional. 00:22:09.680 --> 00:22:13.200 God told Adam, If you do this, you will live. 00:22:13.200 --> 00:22:15.119 If you do this, you will die. 00:22:15.119 --> 00:22:16.720 It was conditional. 00:22:16.720 --> 00:22:19.839 The covenant was dependent on Adam's obedience. 00:22:19.839 --> 00:22:22.559 Adam sinned and the covenant was broken. 00:22:22.559 --> 00:22:26.079 Adam had to now pay the price of separation from God. 00:22:26.079 --> 00:22:31.359 But remember the grace of God in the garden, that the seed of the woman would bring rescue? 00:22:31.359 --> 00:22:34.960 This story of Abram is the beginning of that story. 00:22:34.960 --> 00:22:38.880 It was through Abram's family that the seed of the woman would come. 00:22:38.880 --> 00:22:41.519 So this covenant was different than the others. 00:22:41.519 --> 00:22:48.319 This covenant that was made with Abram was unconditional, meaning it was a one-sided covenant. 00:22:48.319 --> 00:23:00.799 God put Abram into a deep sleep, and then God alone walked through the pieces of flesh, signifying that if the covenant was broken, that God himself would take the consequences of the punishment. 00:23:00.799 --> 00:23:03.440 This part of the story is so important. 00:23:03.440 --> 00:23:10.000 God sees the wickedness of man on the earth and knows they cannot fulfill the mandate he has given to them. 00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:18.960 So God provides a foolproof plan, because Jesus, who is the perfect man, will fulfill every part of that covenant. 00:23:18.960 --> 00:23:24.000 God calls Abram out and says that he will make a nation out of him. 00:23:24.000 --> 00:23:27.279 Abraham has Isaac, Isaac has Jacob. 00:23:27.279 --> 00:23:30.880 Jacob is the father of the twelve tribes of Israel. 00:23:30.880 --> 00:23:40.960 Israel will be God's chosen people that he will dwell with in the land he will bring them into, and God will rule them with his righteous statutes that were given through Moses. 00:23:40.960 --> 00:23:46.480 So we see those eight words again here in the second part of our storyline, The Fall. 00:23:46.480 --> 00:23:54.319 So God's people, now the Israelites, in God's place, which will be the promised land, under God's rule, which is the Mosaic Law. 00:23:54.319 --> 00:24:08.240 God made a way for man to dwell with him, to subdue and take dominion of the land, and be a testimony to all the surrounding nations of who the one true God is, so that all the world will be filled with the glory of God. 00:24:08.240 --> 00:24:13.359 Now let's look at the covenant that God made with the Israelites through Moses. 00:24:13.359 --> 00:24:30.319 Exodus 19, 5 and 6 says, Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine, and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. 00:24:30.319 --> 00:24:34.000 These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel. 00:24:34.000 --> 00:24:41.519 So this covenant with the Israelites is a conditional covenant because it was dependent on Israel's actions. 00:24:41.519 --> 00:24:44.720 And we know how the story of this covenant goes. 00:24:44.720 --> 00:24:49.279 This covenant was also broken because they did not obey God's law. 00:24:49.279 --> 00:25:02.559 Through a careful reading of Scripture, we learn how this creation mandate repeats and develops so that it bears significance for more than just fruitful multiplying through making babies and working. 00:25:02.559 --> 00:25:25.839 We will see this play out as we see how God carries out this mandate in the New Testament through the unconditional covenants that he made. 00:25:25.839 --> 00:25:36.480 God's design for fruitful multiplication is not just for rapid population of a fallen humanity, but a fruitful multiplication of a redeemed people. 00:25:36.480 --> 00:25:41.200 We saw that language begin with Abram, and we will see it with his grandson Jacob. 00:25:41.200 --> 00:25:44.000 We see this in Genesis 35, 11. 00:25:44.000 --> 00:25:49.119 And God said to him, I am God Almighty, be fruitful and multiply. 00:25:49.119 --> 00:25:54.880 A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body. 00:25:54.880 --> 00:25:59.839 The book of Judges shows that the Israelites acted wickedly and needed a king. 00:25:59.839 --> 00:26:08.799 God later gave Israel a king, which fulfilled the promise that God gave to the patriarchs that we just read, Genesis 35, 11, that kings would come from them. 00:26:08.799 --> 00:26:14.960 The most important king in Israel was their second king, David, with whom God made another covenant. 00:26:14.960 --> 00:26:19.599 Psalm 89, 3 and 4. 00:26:19.599 --> 00:26:23.920 So this is spoken by God through the name the prophet Nathan. 00:26:23.920 --> 00:26:27.839 You have said, I have made a covenant with my chosen one. 00:26:27.839 --> 00:26:30.319 I have sworn to David my servant. 00:26:30.319 --> 00:26:36.240 I will establish your offspring forever and build your throne for all generations. 00:26:36.240 --> 00:26:40.240 The Davidic covenant was an unconditional covenant. 00:26:40.240 --> 00:26:44.000 Only one party is upholding this agreement, God Himself. 00:26:44.000 --> 00:26:50.559 This Davidic covenant was a royal promise that built on the Abrahamic covenant, again promising land. 00:26:50.559 --> 00:26:54.079 We see that in 2 Samuel 7, 10. 00:26:54.079 --> 00:27:05.759 And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more, and violent men shall afflict them no more as formerly. 00:27:05.759 --> 00:27:14.799 But this Davidic covenant was also a royal promise that built on the Abrahamic covenant, promising offspring. 00:27:14.799 --> 00:27:19.519 We see that in 2 Samuel 2, 7. 00:27:19.519 --> 00:27:23.359 Sorry, 2nd Samuel 7, 12 and 13. 00:27:23.359 --> 00:27:33.359 When your days are filled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 00:27:33.359 --> 00:27:39.200 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 00:27:39.200 --> 00:27:41.519 I hope you're starting to see the themes. 00:27:41.519 --> 00:27:44.400 I know this is a lot, and it's kind of fast tracking through that. 00:27:44.400 --> 00:27:45.759 Like I said, it's being recorded. 00:27:45.759 --> 00:27:51.359 We might need to go back and listen, but I think this theme is super important for us to understand. 00:27:51.359 --> 00:27:58.319 The mandates and the covenants always include being fruitful, it includes land, and it includes dominion. 00:27:58.319 --> 00:28:15.839 God's desire was that man would be fruitful, that he would multiply, that he would subdue the earth and have dominion over it, that he would be their God, that they would be his people, and he would rule over them as their perfect creator and king, to have a people in his place where he would rule them. 00:28:15.839 --> 00:28:18.480 The plan and the mandate doesn't change. 00:28:18.480 --> 00:28:22.079 What has changed is man's ability to fulfill it. 00:28:22.079 --> 00:28:26.799 As we said before, man is cursed by sin and so is the earth. 00:28:26.799 --> 00:28:39.039 In the immediate context of 2 Samuel 7, 12 and 13, Nathan the prophet is speaking to David about his own kingship and how God plans to have his house built through David's son Solomon. 00:28:39.039 --> 00:28:45.839 But notice that God also promised to establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 00:28:45.839 --> 00:28:52.559 The ultimate fulfillment of the Davidic covenant would come in a descendant of David who would rule eternally. 00:28:52.559 --> 00:29:01.599 This progression of revelation concerning this mandate is showing us a new kind of being fruitful, a new way to look at the mandate. 00:29:01.599 --> 00:29:11.519 The physical aspects still stand, but if we miss the spiritual application, we will not understand what Christ has done and what our purpose is on this earth. 00:29:11.519 --> 00:29:23.519 Time doesn't allow us to read all the scriptures that point to the creation mandate and show how this is in direct relationship with the covenants that God made with his people, but it is repeated over and over throughout the scripture. 00:29:23.519 --> 00:29:26.799 I just tried to highlight the most significant references. 00:29:26.799 --> 00:29:28.480 We know what happens next. 00:29:28.480 --> 00:29:33.759 Israel failed to worship God and they gave themselves over to false gods and worshiped them. 00:29:33.759 --> 00:29:41.279 Because of that, they were exiled from the promised land where God's presence and means of keeping right relationship with them were. 00:29:41.279 --> 00:29:48.799 But there was a remnant that still trusted God even in exile, and the mandate for them was still the same. 00:29:48.799 --> 00:29:59.839 Some of the people that may come to mind when you think about Israelites in exile might be Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Nehemiah, Esther. 00:29:59.839 --> 00:30:16.240 Even when the southern kingdom of Judah was exiled into Babylon, when God's people were not in the place they were supposed to be, God still gives them the creation mandate, perhaps not spelled out exactly like it was in Genesis 1, but you can still see it. 00:30:16.240 --> 00:30:37.440 The prophet Jeremiah tells the Israelites in Babylon to build houses and live in them, plant gardens and eat their produce, take wives and have sons and daughters, take wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters, multiply there and do not decrease. 00:30:37.440 --> 00:30:47.119 But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find welfare. 00:30:47.119 --> 00:30:52.000 God wants his people to bear his image even in exile. 00:30:52.000 --> 00:31:02.079 As I mentioned, we saw a few remnant of Israel trusting in God and not bowing down to idols. 00:31:02.079 --> 00:31:06.799 We also saw how they were able to some degree subdue and bring order to those places. 00:31:06.799 --> 00:31:16.400 Daniel and Esther are two that come to specifically to mind, how they were able to make change in the areas that they were and to bring some order to those spaces they were in. 00:31:16.400 --> 00:31:20.720 So I realize I spent a lot of time in the second part of our storyline the fall. 00:31:20.720 --> 00:31:32.319 I felt that was important because if we don't understand the total depravity of man and the covenant that God made and upheld with Abraham and David, we will never appreciate the cross. 00:31:32.319 --> 00:31:34.559 We take the cross for granted. 00:31:34.559 --> 00:31:44.799 Understanding the creation mandate radically changed my life because it finally clicked with me not only what I was saved from, but what I was saved to. 00:31:44.799 --> 00:31:50.240 Sometimes the truth of God's word falls flat and loses its impact on our souls. 00:31:50.240 --> 00:32:06.079 We may say, as Christians, amazing things like Jesus Christ has come to the world and saved the world, or I'm a sinner and I've been saved by grace, or I have eternal life, or one day I'm going to heaven and I'm going to be with Jesus, or my God is sovereign and he's in control of all things. 00:32:06.079 --> 00:32:10.160 We say these things, but oftentimes we say them so flippantly. 00:32:10.160 --> 00:32:14.720 But do we understand how these truths should impact the way that we live? 00:32:14.720 --> 00:32:18.160 How should they impact the way you live? 00:32:18.160 --> 00:32:25.440 As image-bearers of God, we are not just saved from the wrath of God, but we are saved to something. 00:32:25.440 --> 00:32:28.079 He designed us with a purpose. 00:32:28.079 --> 00:32:35.599 Do we truly grasp what Christ has actually done to bless us or equip us to advance his kingdom? 00:32:35.599 --> 00:32:45.039 We have been saved to bear his image accurately, to be fruitful, to multiply, to fill the earth, to subdue it, and to take dominion. 00:32:45.039 --> 00:32:52.480 I hope these implications are falling fresh on your hearts as we enter the third part of our storyline, which is redemption. 00:32:52.480 --> 00:33:00.480 Psalm 8, 4 through 8 says, What is man that you are mindful of him, and the Son of Man that you care for him? 00:33:00.480 --> 00:33:06.000 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings, and crowned him with glory and honor. 00:33:06.000 --> 00:33:21.039 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands, you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen and all beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. 00:33:21.039 --> 00:33:24.000 Do you see the language of mandate in there? 00:33:24.000 --> 00:33:30.079 For those who read this psalm in the time that it was written, did it seem that they had dominion over the earth? 00:33:30.079 --> 00:33:31.680 Not at all. 00:33:31.680 --> 00:33:35.039 It says dominion was given to man. 00:33:35.039 --> 00:33:41.920 I had a little problem on my computer. 00:33:41.920 --> 00:33:43.039 I am so sorry. 00:33:43.039 --> 00:33:51.680 It says here in these verses that dominion was given to man, but sin marred man and creation. 00:33:51.680 --> 00:33:56.160 But ultimately, this psalm is pointing to someone greater. 00:33:56.160 --> 00:33:59.920 You see that in Hebrews 2, 5 through 9. 00:33:59.920 --> 00:34:05.440 For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. 00:34:05.440 --> 00:34:08.320 It has been testified somewhere, and we see this psalm again. 00:34:08.320 --> 00:34:12.480 What is man that you are mindful of him, or the Son of Man that you care for him? 00:34:12.480 --> 00:34:20.880 You made him for a little while lower than the angels, you have crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his feet. 00:34:20.880 --> 00:34:25.519 Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. 00:34:25.519 --> 00:34:42.800 At present we do not see everything in subjection to him, but we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. 00:34:42.800 --> 00:34:47.760 You see, Christ is truly the man of Psalm 8. 00:34:47.760 --> 00:34:55.519 God the Father, in the greatest act of mercy, sent Jesus to earth to accomplish the mission of redeeming his people. 00:34:55.519 --> 00:35:06.320 Jesus came into humanity's existence on the created earth to do what God commanded Adam and Eve to do from the beginning, to fulfill the creation mandate. 00:35:06.320 --> 00:35:15.519 Man was to image God, to be fruitful, to multiply, to fill the earth, to subdue it and take dominion so that the whole earth would be filled with his glory. 00:35:15.519 --> 00:35:18.800 Man was to image God, but he did not. 00:35:18.800 --> 00:35:20.719 But one man did. 00:35:20.719 --> 00:35:28.480 Adam, the federal head, failed for all humanity, but Christ, the second Adam, did not fail. 00:35:28.480 --> 00:35:39.519 Hebrews 1.3 tells us that Jesus, he, Jesus, is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature. 00:35:39.519 --> 00:35:44.639 Jesus was the man who perfectly imaged God. 00:35:44.639 --> 00:35:50.320 Colossians 1.15 says, He is the image of the invisible God. 00:35:50.320 --> 00:35:56.320 John 14 9 says, Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. 00:35:56.320 --> 00:36:03.679 Jesus showed the world perfectly who God was and resembled represented him accurately. 00:36:03.679 --> 00:36:09.760 He perfectly lived out God's righteousness in order to bring God's blessings into the world. 00:36:09.760 --> 00:36:12.800 He was the image bearer. 00:36:12.800 --> 00:36:16.000 Do you see how Jesus fulfilled the mandate? 00:36:16.000 --> 00:36:24.559 Second Corinthians 5, 17 through 21 tells us, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. 00:36:24.559 --> 00:36:28.239 The old has passed away, behold, the new has come. 00:36:28.239 --> 00:36:35.360 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. 00:36:35.360 --> 00:36:45.360 That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 00:36:45.360 --> 00:36:50.960 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. 00:36:50.960 --> 00:36:54.960 We implore you on behalf of Christ be reconciled to God. 00:36:54.960 --> 00:37:03.519 For our sake, he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 00:37:03.519 --> 00:37:12.400 Because of Jesus, there is now a possibility of being redeemed back to our original mandate purpose as human beings. 00:37:12.400 --> 00:37:18.400 Every person who has not repented of their sin and trusted in Christ is still dead in their sin. 00:37:18.400 --> 00:37:24.239 In Adam, who was the federal head of all humanity, all men died. 00:37:24.239 --> 00:37:26.400 All are spiritually dead. 00:37:26.400 --> 00:37:35.360 Outside of repentance and faith in Christ, every person that dies will die in their sinful state and spend eternity apart from God in hell. 00:37:35.360 --> 00:37:40.239 So again, we read 2 Corinthians 5 17. 00:37:40.239 --> 00:37:48.079 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. 00:37:48.079 --> 00:37:52.239 The old has passed away, behold, the new has come. 00:37:52.239 --> 00:37:54.400 I want us to catch that word. 00:37:54.400 --> 00:37:57.119 We are a new creation. 00:37:57.119 --> 00:38:02.880 What was cursed and marred, Jesus has now reversed. 00:38:02.880 --> 00:38:04.880 We are new. 00:38:04.880 --> 00:38:14.960 First Corinthians 15, 22 says, For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 00:38:14.960 --> 00:38:17.440 Christ is the second Adam. 00:38:17.440 --> 00:38:20.079 He fulfilled what Adam did not. 00:38:20.079 --> 00:38:25.440 And God has planned a new creation, a new heavens and a new earth. 00:38:25.440 --> 00:38:39.199 Unlike the first creation, where He made, where He first made the place and then afterwards put the people there to live, in the new creation He's first making the people and then afterwards the place where they will live. 00:38:39.199 --> 00:38:43.119 The new creation begins in the midst of the old. 00:38:43.119 --> 00:39:01.440 Luke 17, 20 through 21 tells us, being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, Look, here it is, or there, for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you. 00:39:01.440 --> 00:39:07.840 When God raised Jesus from the dead, he was the first man in the new creation. 00:39:07.840 --> 00:39:13.280 And anyone who is joined to Jesus Christ by faith is new creation. 00:39:13.280 --> 00:39:18.719