Bearing fruit in His grace! (Gen 1:23)
By mick on January 28th, 2010Posted In: Jesus in Genesis (Chapter 1)
And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day. Genesis 1:23
In my previous Genesis post I discussed how in the fifth day God encouraged his creation to be fruitful and increase. It was in the fifth day that God introduces the idea that His creation could actually ‘be fruitful’.
Considering that the number five is the biblical number for grace, I think it is significant that God first talked about ‘being fruitful’ in the fifth day. Understanding the symbolic meaning of the number five, we could say that God first talked about ‘being fruitful’ in His grace!
The reality, that we greatly rejoice in, is that we don’t bear fruit simply because God has commanded us to do so; rather we bear fruit because we are planted in His grace. Just as Jesus Himself told us; the sole reason we will bear much fruit is because we are in Him! It is a complete work of grace.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5
God was preaching the good news to us in advance throughout the entire first chapter of Genesis, and we can see Him doing it again here. It was ‘in the fifth day’ that God encouraged his creation to be fruitful and grow, just as it is ‘in His grace’ that He encourages His children today.
We don’t need to ever fear we are failing God, or not being fruitful enough for him, because we understand that being fruitful is not dependant on our own will power and determination, but rather dependant on His grace. Praise God that we are now living in His grace, we stand in His grace and we will also bear much fruit by His grace, all to the glory of God!
Through Jesus we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Romans 5:2
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