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Gen. 1
God didn’t just create living things. He created life. What I mean is that God made living things that passed on their life to things of like kind. He made plants yielding seed to reproduce the same kind of plant.
He made trees that bore fruit with seeds to reproduce the same kind of fruit-bearing trees. And He made all kinds of creatures for the land, sea, and sky that multiplied by reproducing life, each after its own kind. This is God’s design of perpetual life – given, received, and then given again.
I note this for two reasons. One is to point out an obvious difference with mankind. Every other created thing seems to be something unique and original. Man, however, was created after an already existing pattern.
We are made in the image of God; after His own kind. We are not God, but are something of a lesser version of Him. No other living thing can make this claim. And the thing I see that stands out about being made in the image of God is that God gave us a certain amount of sovereignty. Certainly not over Him, but over all the other living things. He told man to subdue the earth and rule over every living thing.
The other reason I note God’s design of perpetual life is because I see the same design in our true, spiritual lives as well. We receive what God gives so that we can pass it on to others. I think of how Paul and the other apostles referred to those they led to Christ as their children in the faith. They passed on the true life
God gave to them, just as we pass on our physical lives when we bear children. God designed us to have His character and to do for others as He does for us.
Matt. 1
I’m thinking about Joseph’s obedience to God. He was clearly a humble man! Not only did he fully accept, apparently without question, the angel’s word concerning Mary, but he also obeyed that word completely.
His obedience did not stop with taking Mary as his wife in spite of what others were sure to see as her infidelity. He continued in his obedience and, “kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.” (Matt. 1:25). There are so many characters in the Old Testament whose obedience was not so complete. Saul and Jehu are two who immediately come to mind. So I am left with the truth that partial obedience is not obedience at all. And it’s when our pride tries to convince us that our partial obedience is enough that we run into trouble.
Ezra 1
In making his proclamation, King Cyrus, no doubt unwittingly, adhered to God’s design, which I noted in
Genesis 1. He declared, “The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.” (Ez. 1:2). Cyrus received what God gave him, then passed it on. The rebuilding of God’s temple, which his proclamation set in motion, was, in a sense, a seed to reproduce God’s kingdom. Or at least an image of it. To me, it clearly shows God’s fingerprint on this story. That, in turn, tells me that this story gives us an image of His promised Seed, through whom God passes on true life to all who receive Him.