There is a difference between creation and restoration. The six days found in Genesis 1 are not six days of creation, but rather six days of restoration. The earth was here long before the time of Adam and Eve, although we do not know how long. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit never had a beginning, but the universe and the earth did, which is where Genesis 1:1 came in.
A curse was placed upon the earth. The earth was wrapped up in darkness and totally submerged in water. The whole earth froze and the ice ages began. The first thing God called into being was light.
Genesis 1:2
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
The Hebrew word for moved actually means to incubate. Like a mother hen sitting on an egg, the Holy Spirit began to cause the earth to come forth. The ice began to melt, oceans were formed, some of the water evaporated into the heavens and the clouds were formed, and the land came up.
On the first day, light was created, but this was not the sun; it was the supernatural light of God. (Genesis 1:3-5)On the second day, the first heavens were created — the clouds and the atmosphere. (Genesis 1:6-8) On the third day, God formed the dry land, the trees, and the herbs. (Genesis 1:9-13)On the fourth day, He created the sun and the moon. (Genesis 1:14-19) On the fifth day, God created the fish and the birds. (Genesis 1:20-23) On the sixth day, God created the creeping animals. (Genesis 1:24-28)
Genesis 1:24-25
And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
The tame animals were created in verse 24 and the wild beasts were created in verse 25. From the beginning, God kept everything within its species and we find no cross-over today. Animals remain in their own kingdom as God originally ordained.
God placed man upon the earth only after everything was already created. God did not create man and then make create food for him to eat. He did not create man and then build him a house. All creation, with the exception of man, was complete before the creation of man. This is grace. Grace says that everything man needs to sustain himself has already been provided.
Genesis 1:26
And 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 fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Notice this verse does not say, “Let Me make man in My image.” The plurality of God is revealed in this verse. The Hebrew word for God is Elohim and it is plural. This verse could read, And Elohim (the Trinity — the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.
Genesis 1:27-28
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and 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.
Everyone comes to a time in their lives when they ask, Why am I here? The sad thing is, many people grow old and die without ever knowing the reason they existed.
Ephesians 3:8-11
Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Paul called himself the chief of all sinners. Chief means he was the worst of them all. Prior to his conversion, Paul was a powerful, religious man. He had money, position, and power.
The worst sinners are not the drug addicts, homosexuals, or prostitutes on the street. The worst sinners in the world are religious people. In fact, Jesus brought the greatest condemnation on religious people. He said it would be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in that day then it would be for this generation — a generation ruled by religion. (Mark 6:11) God hates religion. The most difficult people to witness to are moral persons who have gone to church all of their lives and because of their good works, they believe they are going to heaven.
Jesus won thousands of people off the street, but He won very few religious people. Tax collectors, prostitutes, and the people on the street who had no illusions about themselves were looking for the answer and saw right through the phoniness of religion. When Jesus came along labeling religion for exactly what it was, the masses followed Him. Jesus called religious men white-washed tombstones. (Matthew 23:27) On the outside, they appeared clean and white, but on the inside they were full of dead men’s bones. This is how Paul had been before his conversion; therefore he called himself the “chief of sinners.” Yet, as a believer, Paul called himself less than the least.
People often talk about what they gave up for Jesus. No matter what a man may have given up, Paul describes it as “dung.” All the glamour, all the money, and all the life you gave up to come to the Lord Jesus is nothing.
Ephesians 3:9
And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.
The word fellowship is the Greek word for dispensation. Paul is saying, “My mission in life is to preach the gospel to the Gentiles, and once I have gotten them into the kingdom of God, my next mission is to cause them to understand the dispensation in which they live.
Believers must understand the dispensation in which we live. We live in the Dispensation of Grace, or the Church Age. Our dispensation is also called “the mystery,” which means it was hidden in the past, but has been revealed today. Moses, Abraham, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and David did not understand the Church Age. To them it was a mystery. Today, the mystery has been revealed to man through the power of the Holy Spirit.
The things we have in our dispensation were not available in other dispensations. Before the Church Age, man had to be born into a special tribe to be a priest. Today, men become priests before God through salvation. Today, anyone can become a child of God; something that did not exist in previous dispensations. We have the right to enter into the presence of God because we are His children. Under the Old Covenant, men were servants. Men could not be born-again under the Old Covenant. The Holy Spirit was with them and would come upon them, but they did not have the new birth. Today, the Holy Spirit has come to live in us and has recreated our spirits. Today, spiritual gifts are available to all believers. That is something for our dispensation alone. We are the body of Christ, which never existed before. All of these things are specialized for our dispensation. Paul says his first mission was to preach the gospel and his second was to reveal to believers the Dispensation of Grace, or the Church Age.
Ephesians 3:10
To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God.
We are on the earth today to display the wisdom of God to Satan and his principalities and powers. God does not go directly to Satan and show him His wisdom; He points to us. I believe there was a day when the whole earth was wrapped up in darkness and Lucifer was roaming the earth with all of his demons when suddenly he heard a voice booming out of heaven, “Light be!”
I can just imagine Lucifer saying to himself, “Whoa! Something is happening here! I used to rule over this place!”
Suddenly, the Holy Spirit came and breathed life into this earth. Lucifer watched as the heavens were created. He saw the clouds form. He saw the dry land come up. He saw animals everywhere. As the earth was restored, suddenly something appeared that had previously existed — God recreated Eden.
Eden had existed long before the time of Adam and Eve. Ezekiel 28:13 says that Lucifer ruled and reigned on this planet from a place called Eden, the garden of God. When Lucifer looked around and saw the beauty of the place over which he once ruled and reigned, he began to wonder who God would choose to place in the garden. Lucifer probably began to examine the list of angels.
“Maybe it will be Michael, or maybe Gabriel.” As Lucifer was reviewing the list, God was creating man.
Psalm 8:3-5
When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
What is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou visitest him?
For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.
Some of the best teachers of the Word believe this verse of Scripture means that man was created below the level of God. I will agree that the Hebrew word for angels is Elohim, but the word Elohim is not speaking of God; it is speaking of God-like creatures, which are angels.
This verse is quoted again in Hebrews 2:6. The word used for angels in the New Testament is angelos, which means angel, angel, nothing but an angel. There is a difference between creation and position. Man, by creation, was created a little below angels, but by position he was created above angels. When Satan saw the Garden of Eden on that sixth day of restoration, and watched as God created man, I am sure Satan and the demons laughed because they were only seeing the humanity of man.
To Satan, placing a weak man in the Garden was worse than placing Michael or Gabriel — two of the highest ranking angels — in Eden. It was an insult that man, who is inferior to angels, was crowned with the same position Lucifer held before he fell from heaven.
Psalm 8:6-8
Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:
All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beast of the field;
The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.
God put Adam and Eve in the Garden and instructed them to, “Go out, multiply, replenish, and subdue the earth.” (Genesis 1:28) God gave man dominion over everything — including Satan. Even though Satan, by creation, was much higher than Adam, by position, Adam was far above Satan. Position takes authority over creation. By creation man is lower than angels, but by position he is greater than angels.
Hebrews 2:6-8
But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? Or the son of man, that thou visitest him?
Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands:
Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him.
Toward the end of verse 8 is the fall of man. Adam was placed on the earth and given authority to subdue the whole earth. However, when Adam ate the forbidden fruit, he took his authority and turned it over to Satan. By creation, man was already lower than the angels, but when he committed the original sin, he also fell by position. After the fall of man, Satan received his position back as lord and god over this earth. God knew man was going to fall and had prepared a plan for Jesus Christ to come to Earth and bring man back to his rightful position. That plan was the Cross. God sent His Son to become a man, yet because Jesus was without sin, He was qualified to destroy the barrier of sin between God and man.
Hebrews 2:9
But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.
Jesus came as a man into the earth and held the same position Adam originally held. By creation, He was lower than the angels, but by position He was higher than the angels. Jesus had to come as a man because as God, He could not die. God cannot die. Deity cannot die.
Hebrews 2:10-16
For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren,
Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.
And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, behold I and the children which God hath given me.
Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
If Jesus had come to this earth as deity and destroyed Satan, Satan would have been destroyed by a superior. If Jesus would have come as an angel, Satan would have been defeated by an equal. Instead, Jesus came into this earth below the level of angels and Satan was destroyed by an inferior creature called man. It is not the name of Christ that makes us free; it is the name of Jesus that makes us free. Jesus is the name for His humanity. It is the name of a man that has been exalted in heaven and placed on the same level with God Himself. The name that causes demons, principalities, and powers to bow is the name of Jesus.
Satan was defeated. He could put up no argument because Jesus, the man, conquered him once and for all. Jesus made a show of him openly, and when Jesus arose from the dead, He gave authority back to man. The moment you accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, by creation you are still inferior to angels, but by position you are once again lifted up above.
Man’s purpose on the earth is to display to Satan and his demons God’s wisdom in that God chose an inferior creature (man) to reclaim the authority that Satan once possessed. That authority is in the name of Jesus!
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Copyright 2009 by Bob Yandian Ministries.
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