Happy Monday

THE CROWN OF CREATION

By Dr. William Hallman

Scripture Reading: Gen. 1:26-31; 2:7; Psalm 8

Whence came man on the earth? Did he develop, through untold billions of years, from a simple form of one-celled life? Science can prove no such thing. If evolution were true it would be in continuous operation, and there would be forms of life half-way from the ape to man. How good to turn to this record, and find that this original creation presents both animals and man as coming by direct creative fiat or decree by God.

Man was created, first of all, by God's Sovereign Power. "And God said, Let us make man," ... "And the Lord God formed man. " It is Elohim, the triune God, Who in consultation, acted to create man. Here is unity of purpose, a unanimous decision made in Heaven by the Trinity to create man. What a noble thing it is to have our beginning in a direct creation from above, rather than from the scum of the pond below!

Man was also created through God's Sovereign Process. "Let us make man in our image, after our Iikeness, .... male and female created He them. "The Image Dei, the image of God, is the chief possession of man which relates him to God. It is man alone, who like God, is self-conscious, with ability to rationalize, to create, and to make moral judgments. The "image" establishes relationship; while the "likeness" establishes similarity of character. God takes from the ground and forms a body; then breathes into this body His breath of lives. Man then comes forth as a living soul. Here he stands the crown of God's creation.

Man is created in the third place by God's Sovereign Purpose. Physically, "God made man upright" (Eccl. 7:29). The actual form that sinful man still bears (Gen. 9:6; I Cor. 11:7) was the form that God the Creator took in the person of Jesus Christ. Mentally, man had absolute power to have dominion over, and subdue the earth; also he had wisdom to name every living creature. He was also a moral being with power of choice; not a mechanical entity. Truly we are "fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psa. 139:14). Meditate upon and rejoice in such passages as 2 Cor. 3:18; Col.3:10; Rom. 8:29. 

Daily Smile:

I hear the boys are gonna strike," one worker told another.

"What for?" asked the friend.

"Shorter hours."

"Good for them. I always did think 60 minutes was too long for an hour."