-Transcript-
00:37 Amen. Glory to God. Welcome to the program.
00:41 Welcome to the cafe. Great to have you here today. Man, I hope you’ve got, maybe you got a tea, coffee, iced tea, iced coffee, whatever it may be.
00:49 You got your Bible with you, most importantly. You’re ready to dig in. Of course, if you’re driving, you don’t need to be opening your Bible while you’re driving.
00:58 You just listen, it’s fine. But if you are able to get in the Word, I’m so excited to be back here today to get into God’s Word. I thank you again for joining me.
01:06 Today we are continuing a three-part series on being made in the image of God and the responsibilities that God gave us in the Bible. And it’s a great verse. It’s actually, if you’re using the King James, on the first page, Genesis 1:26-28.
01:26 Well, most of it’s on the first page. Just a little bit of the verse 28 can spill over onto the second page, depending on what kind of format you have. But it’s top priority to the Lord.
01:33 I believe that this is page one stuff. This is God’s creation. Genesis 1:26-28.
01:41 And again, it just, this will bless you if you think about it, because you realize how awesome the responsibility that God gave us here on earth. Genesis 1:26-28.
01:52 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.
02:07 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 said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply, replenish the earth and subdue it.
02:22 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. And here in Genesis 1:26-28, we learn that God has made man in his own image. That God encourages man to be fruitful and multiply.
02:39 That God prefers man so much, he gave him power over all his creation. I used the example last episode, going to the aquarium and seeing a massive whale shark that’s 30, 40, 50 feet long, and realizing that man has power over even that individual animal, that individual animal.
03:05 We’re unbelievably blessed to have dominion over the animals of the sea and of the land, Amen. It’s incredible what God has blessed us with, and he has entrusted us to replenish the earth and be a steward of what he himself created.
03:20 And we talked about last episode, the idea of this is a compliment, that we’re made like an all-powerful, all-knowing, everlasting God himself. It’s absolutely a compliment, but we shouldn’t be big-headed, because it’s also a responsibility, is it not?
03:33 And we realize that the responsibility is primarily that we don’t look down on others, that we don’t become so big-headed, so heavenly-minded, that we’re of no earthly good, that we are to live humbly and meek, having that power under control, amen.
03:50 The idea of James 3:9, therewith bless we God, even the Father, therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. James 3:9 eloquently telling us that often we are here saying, oh, praise God, he’s so good, he saved us.
04:07 Oh, did you hear what so-and-so did? Oh, what a bad person that individual is. And so on one end, we are praising God, and the other end, out of the same mouth, of the same tongue, we are putting down his creation, his image-bearer.
04:19 And so we have to be mindful of our responsibility, taking care of our body as a temple, understanding that we are bought with a price when we’re born again,
04:33 and that God’s poetic program for mankind is to be the firstborn, created in the image of God, and then to be reborn, or saved, and becoming more like Christ each day until he calls us home.
04:42 And so that is, when you look at kind of the idea of the Christian walk, that once you accept Jesus Christ as Savior, of course, in order to do that, you realize you have a sin debt that you can’t pay.
04:53 That’s really a critical part, that you realize your need for a Savior. Once you realize your need for a Savior, then you understand that Jesus died for you and was risen again the third day, according to the Scriptures.
05:05 He walked the earth 40 days and 40 nights, was seen by over 500, ascended up to heaven after that time, and is at the right hand of the Father here today. You realize that Jesus is alive and well, that God desires a relationship with you, and that is how you have access to God Almighty, is through Jesus Christ. And you realize that’s God’s program.
05:28 Then you realize, okay, you get saved, you get the Holy Spirit living within you, and you say, okay, what am I going to do with this? Well, as you get into the Word,
05:34 you realize that you are to study His Word every day, to pray, to pray without ceasing, to cast all your cares upon Him for it careth for you, to live the Bible.
05:45 Jesus Himself says, if you love me, keep my commandments, you know, so show Jesus love, keep His commandments, do your best you can, not being under the law, being saved by grace, but just doing the best you can for the Lord, seeking Him, departing from sin.
05:59 The Bible says that God gives us a way out of temptation, understanding all these principles and living them out is what? It’s growing closer to Christ each day and growing more like Christ each day.
06:11 Think about it, if you live in sin, you grieve the Holy Spirit, you’re not living like Christ. And if you live enriching the Holy Spirit, and you live as best you can, as Christ has given the example, Paul says, follow me because I follow Christ.
06:27 So we’re living through these Pauline epistles, the letters of Paul, what he’s called us to do, how he’s called us to live, to depart from sin, to not crucify the Lord afresh, but to to accept His free gift of salvation, and to be changed, to put on the new man, to be risen again with Christ, on and on.
06:48 We live that out, we’re becoming more and more like Christ, and that’s God’s poetic program for mankind. So we are first born, created in His image, and then when we’re born again, we accept Christ as Savior, we are now growing more and more in His likeness and image.
07:01 Romans 8:29, for whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
07:12 So it’s really a beautiful idea that we are created in the image of God, but we’re a fallen man, we’re born again, we grow closer to Christ each day in our walk with Christ,
07:22 we become more and more like Him, and as we do that, we are bearing His image more and more accurately. But here in the scripture, it says also that God blessed them and asked them to be fruitful and multiply. Both our world and our nation has been very fruitful, has it not?
07:39 Have you ever thought about this? God commanded us to be fruitful and multiply, and we did it.
07:48 We obeyed that command, amen, as a people. The world has 7.9 billion people approximately, according to census.gov, the U.S. census. The U.S. is the third largest country in the world with 332 million.
08:02 That kind of surprised me. I thought the U.S. might be in the top 10 or 20. I didn’t know it was that big.
08:07 Only India and China are bigger than the U.S. So if you’re here in America and you’re listening to this message, you have been a part of a group that has been very fruitful and multiplied much, amen. We’ve done what God’s called us to do. Think about this.
08:21 All these people, all these billions of people all around the world are rooted in who? Adam and Eve. And if you look at it like that, there’s only one race, the human race. And Adam and Eve, all of us relate back to them.
08:39 So we have their sin nature, as it happened when they were expelled from the garden. And yet, even though we’re sinners, God calls us to repopulate the earth. The earth’s population doubles maybe every 40, 50 years, and yet we are still called to continue to do that.
08:52 And think about how many people through the ages have lived and died. There must be at least tens of billions. We here in KJV Cafe believe in a young earth.
09:00 We believe the Bible is literally true from cover to cover. And the Bible points to an earth 6, 7,000 years old or so. I am definitely not a science person, but I just believe the Bible.
09:11 I’m just a simple guy. I believe the Bible. And the Bible tells me God created in six days, rested on the seventh.
09:18 I believe it. Amen. And God tells me Adam and Eve were in the garden and got kicked out because they ate of the forbidden fruit.
09:23 I believe it. Amen. And so we understand that we all relate to Adam and Eve.
09:28 And we all have this sin nature. And you have the flood at that early time there. And you have Noah and his family and his son’s daughter or son’s wives are the only ones saved out of it.
09:40 Right? And then they are repopulating the earth after the flood. And God has his rainbow out there telling us he’s not going to flood the earth again. Saw a beautiful one in the parking lot last night with my five-year-old.
09:50 And even he knows what it is. He pointed it out. And I had him explain to me what that meant.
09:57 The covenant God made, that promise God made, said, I’m not going to flood the earth again. And boy, has he not. And think about God’s long-suffering nature.
10:02 You have almost 8 billion people on this earth. And how many are living in sin? And God has not just completely wiped it out. It’s incredible.
10:10 It’s incredible. But that’s who God is. And he’s called us to be fruitful and multiply.
10:16 You ask the preacher, hey, you’re preaching about the last days. You’re preaching about the rapture. Should I even bother having kids? Should I even bother being fruitful and multiply in this broken world? Yes, I believe we are to follow God’s commands here.
10:30 I believe we are to live as God called us to live until he calls us home. And you say, Brother Clark, this is in the first page of the Bible. This is clearly Old Testament.
10:39 It is. But also Jesus is there, the triune God, the Holy Trinity. Amen.
10:45 Us make a man in the image of us, our likeness. That plural means that Jesus is mentioned, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost is mentioned there in the very beginning. And God doesn’t change.
10:56 Amen. His point of view in the beginning is his point of view today. The Bible says that he’s perfect.
11:09 There’s no variableness or turning with God. And so as long as we’re here, we are to live out his commands. And I believe one of them is to be fruitful and to multiply.
11:14 Amen. And we are to do this because it honors God. And God says he wants us to be fruitful and multiply.
11:20 We are to do that despite the fact that we are living in these wicked last days. Think of it this way. Where God guides, He provides.
11:29 I’m sure you’ve heard that before. And so where God guides us in this life and in this world, he’s going to provide. I believe that with all my heart.
11:38 We had our little kids, CJ and Jenny, back to back. It was literally within a year, less than a year. And I was worried when we were having CJ, our last one, our little boy, because we had just had Jenny.
11:53 And I was worried, you know, would my wife be able to hold up through a pregnancy just almost right after the other one? Would we be able to afford all of this? Would we be able to keep our sanity?
12:05 You know, I had some legitimate concerns. But oh, how God stepped up and provided every step of the way. And so maybe you here today are wondering about something like this.
12:17 Let me reassure you that God is a living God. He’s a powerful God. That God hears the prayers of the righteous.
12:23 And so if you’re living, if you’re living as God’s called you to live, you’re turning him, not perfect, but you’re repentant. You’re turning to him. You’re living for him.
12:30 Then feel free to do as God calls you to do. And if he’s calling you to be fruitful and multiply, like I believe he’s calling us to do, then be fearless in that. And God will bless.
12:41 I believe that. Now, every situation is unique. I understand that.
12:45 And that’s between the individual and God. But in the Bible, it says be fruitful and multiply. And I believe that even in this era of pandemic, plague and war and shortage and the media telling us everything’s going crazy.
12:59 Even in this era of time, we still can trust God. How about more so than ever before? Can we trust the hand of an all-knowing, all-living God that made us in his image? And it tells us, you know what? It’s a compliment that I made you like me. Now go ahead.
13:15 And you, as stewards of what my creation, you go ahead and take care of it. And you have children and you raise those children upright in my ways. And they won’t depart when they’re older.
13:26 And you serve me and you set the example. And husbands, you love your wives. You know, these are the commands we are to be living by because we are made in the image of God.
13:35 And it’s a beautiful thing. And despite what happened in the fall of man and despite the flood, here we are so many thousand years later. And we are completely blessed that God has not departed from us and that he is with us.
13:50 And that he’s given us the promise that he’ll never leave us nor forsake us. And that we can take that to the bank that he is a loving God. And we are made in his image.
13:58 And we are to be fruitful and multiply on this earth. And we should continue to live for him until he calls us home. I wish I had more time, but for time’s sake, we’re done here.
14:10 Tune in next time as we get to part three of this message, Replenishing the Earth. Thank you so much for listening. Take care.
14:15 God bless and Amen.