Written by Nick Harmon
“26 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 over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 And God 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.’"
Genesis 1:26-28
Beach or mountains?
In this great state of North Carolina some are drawn to the majestic mountains in western NC and others to the calm coast lines of eastern NC. In between are farmlands and cities filled with people, birds, rodents, bears and a host of other land and aquatic creatures. Whether you take a road trip across the country, fly in a plane to another continent, or take a boat near or far from the coast you will encounter a piece of God’s creation. Even in the most remote and frozen parts of the world there are creatures uniquely suited for their environment.
God has created a diversity of creatures and given them all, regardless of geographic location, to be subject to the rule of mankind. As was the emphasis yesterday, God has uniquely “created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him.” Today we will discover and consider the command in verse 28 to “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it…”
Consider the opposite of this command, “Be rotten and decrease, perish from the earth, and leave it wild.” God’s clear intention is for us to continue to create and “fill” the earth with more humans. Each life is an eternal soul, one who is created and cherished not only by earthly parents but even more so by a heavenly father. Despite the tragedy of sin, human lives are still important to Him. Each year, for the last several years, right here in the U.S. over 1 million people have been murdered through abortion. The reality of this is sobering – each year our country loses out on 1 million blessings from God. While it should sadden our hearts to hear such a fact, it should also stir us to action. When we witness the devaluing of human lives it should motivate us to pray. Because no matter the laws, or the information we provide people, or even the resources provided there is only one God who is able to heal what is broken. We shouldn’t be surprised at the devaluing of human life in this world. Yet, seeing this in the world should cause us to pray that God would enable us to see human life as He does. Even for those that are vehemently opposed to abortion, being in this world softens our view and value of human life. Today’s movies and video games are filled with characters dying. News stories of wars and death have turned our hearts callous to the fact that a life that God never intended to perish has been removed from the earth. As Matt said Sunday, “we are being discipled by social media algorithms". We must fight to preserve the lives that God has created, we must fight for a right view of human life in our hearts and minds. This fight must be fought on our knees in prayer!
What should we pray for?
For fruitfulness in our lives! Yes certainly we should pray for children but we may also pray that we would be spiritually fruitful. God values human lives but the spiritual reality is most people in the world are DEAD. Only through faith in Jesus will they be made alive. Pray God would make YOU fruitful in bringing people to life!
Multiplying. No better way to make followers of Christ than to make them from scratch. Pray for young families as they participate in this good work. Pray God would work to remove organizations that seek to decrease the human population.
Fill the earth. Each person that loves God brings glory to Him. Heaven will be full of people bringing glory to His name. Pray that the earth would also be filled with people who love Him.
