THE CREATION OF MAN

Have You Ever Wondered?

1. Why is there so much in the Bible about mankind?  Why didn’t God talk more about animals?

2. What jobs did God give to mankind while he is here on earth?

3. What about all the men and women who don’t care what God says?

This Is What God Says: (Scripture Reading)

Psalm 8: 1-9

This Is How We Understand It:

     “What is man, that Thou art mindful of him?”  That’s what David asked God, and I think that it is a very good question.  When you look up into the heavens at nighttime and you see the moon, stars, and planets, and realize that the universe is even too huge for us to understand, and when you consider the glorious angels that God created to serve Him night and day, and you know that man cannot compare to their beauty, glory, or power, why would God spend so much time thinking about man, and trying to work with us?  Don’t you sometimes think that man is so small and unimportant compared to other parts of His creation?  Well, God doesn’t think so!  He thinks that you and I are very special.

     “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created he him, male and female created He them.” (Genesis 1:27)  We are so special, that out of all the other things that God created on earth, we are the only ones created “in the image of God”.  That sounds pretty special to me!  Not only that, but in the 2nd chapter of Genesis we are told that God Himself, “breathed into his (man’s) nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”  God never said this about any other part of His creation, only us.  We are God’s very special handiwork.

     Since mankind was the only part of creation that could enjoy a personal relationship with the Creator, He gave us a very important job to do - care for the rest of creation.  God told mankind to, “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.” (Genesis 1:28)  You see, even though we need to take care of these animals and make sure that we don’t foolishly kill them off, God has given us the right to “have dominion” over them.  In other words, we control them, they don’t control us.  The animals are not more important than the needs of men, women, and children.

     “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” (I Corinthians 10:31)  That is why we are here on earth, to bring honor and glory to the One who created us.  And since He created us, everything that we do should be for Him, and we should do it the very best we can, with a good attitude.

     “But what about all those people in the world who do not love God, or do not even believe in Him?”  That is a good question, and the Bible has a good answer.

Adam and Eve were created perfect beings in the image of God.  They had no sin, but they did have a choice to disobey God if they wanted to.  And they did.  But remember, we are just as guilty in God’s sight as they were.  Now, the entire world is in sin, and our first choice is to ignore God, not love Him.  God is being patient right now, but He is perfect and holy, and He must punish wrong doing.  That is why in Romans 14:12 we read, “So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.”  One day every man, woman, and child will stand before God and be judged for all the bad things they have done.  God does love us, but He has to punish us also.

Think About It:

1. Have you ever thought about how your eyes and ears work?  What about the rest of your body?  God certainly cared about every part of us, didn’t He?

2. Can you think of some ways that mankind “has dominion”, or control, over the other parts of creation?  How about chicken farms, for instance?

3. When you stand before God, what do you think He will say to you?  Why?

4. What did you learn in this devotional that you didn’t know before?