Genesis 1:20-27

Good morning, all!

I debated about how to divide this chapter up, and I just decided that we'd tackle the rest of the act of Creation today and then do a more focused look at God's unique relationship with Man tomorrow. On the fifth day, God created the animals of the sea and the sky" "every living and moving thing... according to their kinds." As with everything He'd created to that point, "God saw that it was good." However, in this case, God also blessed His creation. Verse 22 says, God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth."

On the sixth and final day of Creation, God created all of the land animals, including insects ("creatures that move along the ground"). God loves His animals! And He created such a variety! Whenever we visit the San Diego Zoo or when we recently visited the Long Beach Aquarium, I just marvel at the variety - the types, shapes, colors, and noises of His creatures is amazing - and often hysterical. They are proof that He has a sense of humor! And these creatures obey Him! They certainly are fruitful! And each of them serves a purpose! Even those blasted crows serve a purpose as scavengers! :) Now, just think of the insect world alone. I just googled "How many ants are there on earth?" and found that there are 2.3 x 10 to the eighteenth power!! No wonder we can't get rid of them!!! And there are more than 900,000 types of insects, with more being discovered all of the time!

Again, we are told, "And God saw that it was good." He had created an amazing world: a glorious universe, heavens filled with stars and planets, beautiful plants, and a wealth of animals. Yet, something was missing. Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over the creatures that move along the ground. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (verses 26 & 27) God is a God of relationship, even in the Trinity. He created man in triune form as well: we have a physical body, a soul (mind and emotions), and we have what no other creation has, a spirit, our eternal being that allows us to have a relationship with God. Emmy, when she was selling jewelry, used to joke that the difference between us and all the rest of the animal world is that we are the only ones that accessorize! :) Tomorrow we'll look at the actual difference, the uniqueness of our Creation.

Lots to ponder, and MUCH for which to be grateful! The English major in me just could not bear to leave a dangling preposition!! :)