So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27

When we look at the life of Adam, we see the story of the first man, who was made in the image of God. He was a man who walked with God; he knew God. He received God’s command and he understood that God didn’t want him to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, yet he did it anyway; why?

If Adam knew God’s commandment, why didn’t he keep it? Adam walked with God; he loved God; he was made in the image of God, so why did he still break the commandment of God?

It’s because  Adam, who was the first man,  was created in the image of God, but he wasn’t formed with the DNA of God, instead he was formed from the dust. He was made in the image of true life, but his body was formed out of lifeless dust. In the end, this caused Adam a great deal of tension and personal anguish. He was made in the image of God, causing him to know who God was, but his body was formed from dust, causing him to have no power to actually be like God.

Adam was made in the image of life, causing him to have the knowledge of true life, and in his mind he loved that true life, but he was made from lifeless dust, causing him to have a body of death. In Adam’s mind he longed to do exactly as God desired, but because of his body of dust, he was powerless to do it. I’m sure at times Adam must have wanted to scream, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?”

In the end, having the holy and good command from God wasn’t any help to Adam -except to highlight how powerless he was, in his body of dust, to uphold it.

The Apostle Paul explained in his letter to the Romans how this had actually been a reoccurring problem ever since the days of Adam. He explained how those who were called by God into the Old Covenant were given the Law, with its commands, resulting in them knowing the commands of God and, in their minds, wanting to be obedient, but remaining powerless to be so. This was because, like Adam, they were weakened by the material they were made out of. They may have received the knowledge of heaven through the Law, but they were still powerless to be obedient to it because they were created from the earth. For this reason, those who were under the Old Covenant, from the time of Moses onwards, also cried out in anguish,” What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?”

The truth is that having the knowledge of God isn’t enough to make someone obedient to God. We need something more than just the knowledge; we need to be created NEW with something more powerful than just dust. To be obedient to God we need to be made with DNA of God. This is where the good news from God entered into the story of mankind and changed everything.

The good news of God’s grace is that through the perfect finished work of Jesus upon the cross we, who have believed in Him, have not only had our sins forgiven, but we have also been made a NEW creation by God. We are no longer like Adam; we are now like Jesus! God, in His abundant grace, made us NEW out of the very DNA of Jesus Himself, for we are now part of His very own body.

Adam had a knowledge of God, but his body was made of dust, and it was powerless to be obedient to God, but we have been made NEW in Christ; not from dust, but from the precious blood of Jesus! It is for this reason that we can both know God and also outlive the Christ life, because we are no longer powerless, for we have the very power of the Almighty God living in us! We no longer live according to the dust the old man was made out of; we now live according to the Spirit that our new man has been made new out of!

It is because of all that Jesus has done for us that we can now walk with God, love God and have the power, that is freely given to us by God’s grace, to be obedient to God! We have been truly set free by the grace of God. That is why whenever someone who is still living under the Old Covenant cries out in self-focused comdemnation, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” We can joyfully answer “Praise be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

Praise be to God that through Jesus we have been rescued from the body of dust and have been made a new creation out of the very body of Jesus!

“What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!“ Romans 7:24-25

For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. Romans 8:3-4

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” Genesis 1:26

“God said”

So much of the first chapter of Genesis is focussed on God speaking; so far the phrase, ‘God said’ is mentioned eight times. This phrase is used each time to introduce God’s word; God’s living and active word. God’s word, as the Apostle John explains, is the person of Jesus Himself.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. John 1:1-2

All things were made through Jesus and by Jesus. He created the heavens and the earth, the sun, moon and starts; He created the water and everything that lives in it, the sky and everything that flies across it, and the earth, including everything that lives and walks upon it. Everything that was made has been made through Jesus. Jesus is the creating force of the Almighty God, He was with God the Father in the beginning, and He Himself is God. That is truly incredible when you consider that He loved us enough to actually die for us! This all powerful, universe creating Son of God finds us significant; He found us significant enough to die for our sins, to die in our place, so that we could live in His place as God’s beloved children forever; I think that is just amazing!

Jesus is the Word of God, the living Word of God, and here, in the first chapter of Genesis, we can see Jesus bringing all things into creation through the command of His word, but then in verse 25 we see Jesus for the first time turning to God the Father and making a truly glorious suggestion, He said: “Let us make man in our image”

Here we have the very first recorded conversation between the Son and the Father, and to our joy and amazement we discover that they were talking about us! Of all the things Jesus could have talked with the Father about, he chose to talk about us. What a delight to witness Jesus interceding for us and asking the Father to give us the highest blessing in all of creation; that we might be made in His very own image.

How comforting to see Jesus interceding for us even before we were created! This scripture reveals the heart of Jesus and His eternal ministry of love towards us. The good news for our lives, that we rejoice in daily, is that Jesus is our Lord and Saviour, and He is now at the right hand of the Father and lives to intercede for us. It is Jesus, and the power of His prayers, requests and intercessions on our behalf that causes the Father to forever pour out his love and grace upon us.

Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Romans 8:33-34

Once again we see a powerful gospel reality being proclaimed to us in the first chapter of Genesis. When we see in the Genesis account that Jesus was already interceding for us, even before we were created; how much more confidence can we have now that he actually died for us, was raised for our justification and lives to intercede for us! Jesus truly has saved us completely, His unfailing love is our eternal security, and, just as we see in Genesis, He has been interceding for us from the beginning.

What a wonderful, comforting truth; we can rest in His love knowing that He will continue to intercede for us throughout this life and for life everlasting!

Therefore Jesus is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Hebrews 7:25

And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. Genesis 1:24

In this scripture we see God once again talking about making new creations. Previously God had commanded that the waters be filled with creatures, and he commanded that the air be filled with birds, but here he commands that ‘the land’ create the living creatures. The land played a very different role; it was actually responsible for creating God’s new creations that would live within the land.

As we know, ‘land’ was always God’s picture of promise. He spoke to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob about it, and he redeemed Israel from Egypt so that they might inherit it. It was in the promised ‘land’ that everything was already prepared for them.

When the LORD your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build,  houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied,  be careful that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. Deuteronomy 6:10-12

The ‘promised land’ was a place where everything was already prepared. A place where the foundations were already established; a place filled with all kinds of good things! The ‘promise land’ was one of the ways God led not only Israel, but now also the whole world into the far greater reality of ‘the land of promise’. As we know, the things found in the Old Covenant were all shadows, but the reality of all things is found in Christ. This is so true when we seek to understand the ‘Christ reality’ in context to God’s ‘promised land’.

Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. Colossians 2:16-17

The reality is that we have now entered into the heavenly land of promise; the land where everything has already been prepared for us; a place where the foundations have already been laid on our behalf; a place filled with Good things! That land it Christ Jesus Himself! Living in Christ is the reality of God’s ‘promise land’, and it is for this reason that Jesus, who is ‘the land’, was giving the responsibility from God to create us NEW in Him, so that we could inherit all that is His!

Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. Romans 8:17

How glorious that we were made in Christ and we now live freely in him, where we receive all the blessings that come from being created in the land of promise!

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Ephesians 1:3

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

God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” ²³ And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day. Genesis 1:22-23

In the Genesis account, we see that God was not only interested in creating, but He was also interested in allowing His creation to participate in the divine outworking of His plans. God allowed all his creations the blessedness of being fruitful and increasing. He first created everything according to its own kind, and then, once that divine work was completed, He graciously offered his creation the gift of being an active part of His continual work.

So what about us? We too have been made a new creation by God, so how does God allow us to participate in the outworking of His divine plan? Genesis reveals to us that it’s all interconnected with what ‘kind’ each particular creation was made according to.

The fish were made according to their kind, so they increased in their kind. Likewise the birds were made according to their kind, so they increased in their kind. So before we think about how God wants us to be fruitful and increase, we need to remember what ‘kind’ we have been made in accordance with, and praise God that we have been made not according to the fish, or the birds, or Adam, but according to Jesus! By the grace of God, Jesus is our kind!

So if we have been made in accordance with Jesus, then it is Jesus that God desires us to increase it and be fruitful in. We have entered into Christ, and we are all now new creations with an eternal and glorious inheritance, but God has also given us a wonderful gift to participate in his continual work here on earth.

We can participate in God’s continual work by being fruitful and growing, but how does that actually happen? The Apostle Paul testifies to us that it is not through trying to bear fruit, or trying with all your willpower to be better; rather it is something so much more wonderful and Christ glorifying: it is by understanding God’s grace in all its truth!

All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth. Colossians 1:6

When we take the time to rest with God and allow the Holy Spirit to share more of the wonderful good news of God’s grace, we truly begin to experience the Christ life bearing fruit in us! Remember, the fruit of the Spirit is exactly that; it is the fruit of the Spirit; it is not the fruit of our willpower! We can be confident that the Spirit will produce the fruit that is in accordance with the person of Jesus, when we rest in Christ and allow ourselves to grow in our understanding of God’s grace in all its wonderful truth.

As Christians, it’s important to remember that ‘increasing’ is not about increasing your abilities, or your spiritual disciplines; it is about increasing in your understanding of God’s grace and growing in the knowledge of who Jesus truly is. Just as the Apostle Peter testifies to us as his final words to the church, God desires that we increase in the knowledge of Jesus, and the grace of God that has been given to us through Him.

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen. 2 Peter 3:18

So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:21

It is clear from the account of Genesis that when God creates something, he creates it according to its kind. In the scripture above God is talking about every living and moving thing in the water, all of whom were created by God according to their kind. Likewise, every winged bird was created according to its kind.

It’s amazing that everything in creation has a pattern that it was made in accordance to. It seems God wanted to make it blatantly clear that everything that lives and moves has a source by which it was created. God Himself testifies that He finds this to be a good thing.

It’s no coincidence that we have been made like Jesus, not just made in His likeness, actually made in Him, we were made a new creation by His very own blood and through His very own body!

God has always known that the only way for mankind to truly live in freedom with God, and experience the life of God within them, was for them actually be made according to the life of God Himself, who is Jesus.

Through Jesus all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. John 1:3

Even when God originally made man in His image, as he did with Adam, it was not enough for man to truly be free and live in perfect union with God. Adam was made in the image of God, but he was still made from the dust of the earth; this is why God said about Adam:

By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” Genesis 3:9

Adam was made from the dust, and so according to his kind, to the dust he was to return. We however, as the Church, have not been made by the dust, but by the very person of Jesus Himself, and that is why we will return to Him and live with Him forever!

We were like Adam, but praise God that we are no longer like him; we can rejoice that we were not made a new creation with dust, but rather with the precious blood of Jesus!

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17

We have been made according to Jesus, and that is why we partake in His life and can live in accordance with who He is! God has created everything with a pattern that would ultimately reveal this wonderful gospel truth to His church even in the opening chapter of Genesis. He did this so that we may take confidence that we were made according to the person of Jesus, and so we are pleasing to our Father and can live in perfect union with Him.

We can now live without fear and walk confidently, knowing that any good work good has prepared for us to do will be done in accordance with the grace of God he has placed in us.  Praise God that we were created in Christ!

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” Genesis 1:20

We read in Genesis 1:20 how God began to make living creatures, and He created two different kinds of creatures. One kind was created to be confined within the limitations of the ocean, and the other kind was created with the freedom to fly. The birds were made a different kind of creation than those created for the water; this meant that the birds didn’t have the restrictions that the creatures in the water had. The birds, it seems, were made to be a picture of freedom. They were made different on purpose. They were given the privilege to live above the earth. They were able to soar across the expanse of the sky.

With this in mind, it’s no coincidence that Jesus told us to look to the birds of the air as an example of faith.

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Matthew 6:26

According to Jesus, the birds were to be seen as a sign of a great heavenly reality. The birds thought differently than the people who were listening to Jesus. The people who listened to Jesus all believed they had to accomplish their ‘good works’ in order for God to provide for them. They also lived with a ‘if I don’t sow, I won’t reap’ mentality. Jesus used the birds as an example to reveal that both of these mindsets were not in line with the true reality of God.

Jesus seemed to be explaining how the birds understood that God would provide for them, not because they earned it or deserved it, but rather simply because that is the very nature of God; He is a provider, and they rested in that truth.

When we read the genesis account, we see God making it clear that the birds were made different. They were created more blessed than the other living creatures. They were created free. They were created with the ability to live from above. They were created with a heavenly perspective on things! The birds were made different.

The birds were ultimately made to be a picture of the church. We, as born-again believers in Christ, were all made new creations. When we were made ‘new’, we were made different than the rest of mankind and that is what allows us to see God from his true perspective. We don’t see a God who demands we earn his blessing, but rather a God who delights in pouring out His grace!

We were created free: It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1

We were created with the ability to live from above: “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2:6

We were created with a heavenly perspective on things: “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” Colossians 3:1-3

As the church, when we live in the freedom of who we truly are, we then also understand the same amazing truth that the birds who Jesus talked about did. We understand that it is neither by our ‘good works’ nor any ‘sowing and reaping principle’ that causes God to provide for us. We understand that it is simply because the nature of God is to be gracious towards us!

He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Romans 8:32

The birds were created to fly; they were created to be free. The birds however, were only the example; they were a picture for us to see in order that we might be reminded on the greater reality; just as Jesus said: Are you not much more valuable than they? Matthew 6:26

The reality is that we, as the church, are truly free. We are not confined in a ‘works’ mentality that the rest of religious mankind is confined to. Our reality is one of freedom; praise God we are free! We understand God’s grace, His very nature, and we freely live out our relationship with God based on this glorious reality!

He also made the stars. God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day. Genesis 1:16-19

When God placed the stars in the sky, He placed them there with a divine purpose; that purpose was to give light on the earth. The stars original purpose, according to Genesis, was to be the light of the world. Now we can be sure that the stars were never intended to be the full reality of the light of the world, but rather were made to be an example of the true light of the world, Jesus Christ!

The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. John 1:9

So we know that Jesus is the true light of the world, but we also see God creating the stars in the sky as an example of  Jesus, the true light of the world. This is significant, especially when we read the Apostle Paul letter to the Galatians, where he explains that God had in fact announced the gospel in advance to Abraham.

The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” Galatians 3:8

Have you ever wondered how God did that? How did God preach the gospel in advance to Abraham? Well, when we read the account of Abraham, we find God asking him to do something very simple; yet incredibly profound.

God took him outside and said, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness. Genesis 15:5-6

What we see happening between God and Abraham in this moment was God announcing the gospel of grace! Think about it, what did God ask Abraham to do? He asked him to look to the stars, the light of the world, and believe!

God’s plan has always been for mankind to receive the promise of salvation through looking His Son Jesus Christ, the true light of the world, and believing! Here we see God announcing that very same gospel in advance to Abraham!

Just like Abraham, we too look to the light of the world and believe, and we too receive a righteousness that comes by faith! When Abraham looked up to the light of the world, in that moment God spoke about the fulfilment of His promise to Abraham. This is an incredible picture of the good news of God!

It is when we looks to Jesus, the true light of the world, and put our faith in Him, that God makes His promise to us. The good news from God is that His promise of a new covenant of grace and a righteousness that comes by faith is available today to all who look to Jesus, the light of the world, and believe!

And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years,  and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. Genesis 1:14-16

When God created the world, He placed two lights, the moon and the sun, within its atmosphere and both gave light to the world. The moon however, was just a dim shadowy light, the sun on the other hand, was a much larger, more powerful and intense light.

Now remember that ‘the day’ represents Jesus, and ‘the night’ represents everything that is not Jesus. So we could figuratively say that the light of the sun (that is the Spirit) governs those who are in Christ, and the light of the moon (that is the Law) governs those who are not yet in Christ. Both groups are being led by a light; it’s just that the light of the sun is far brighter and more glorious than the dim shadowy light of the moon.

The Law, in its correct understanding, is like the moon. It does give light, but not enough to allow you to work, live and act freely. It’s just enough light to allow you to see the path in front of you. The Apostle Paul explains in Romans that the law was a given to mankind to lead us all to Christ. Once we have been led to Christ, we could then leave the Law behind and walk solely in the light of Christ. So although it was a ministry of condemnation, the Law still served its highest purpose by giving just enough light to lead us to Jesus.

John the Baptist had a similar ministry to that of the Law. He was not the light, but came to testify about the true light. His job was to point people to Jesus that they may join Jesus and receive His light. Yet even Jesus explained the life of John in terms of giving some temporary light:

John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light. John 5:35

The Apostle Paul was more passionate than anyone to proclaim freedom from the Law. He spent his life declaring that Christ is the end of the Law, and he was severely persecuted for having the boldness to proclaim such a powerful truth. However, Paul never thought the Law was evil or bad, he simply understood its true purpose. He understood that we are not under the Law nor obligated to the Law, because Jesus has brought it to an end by fulfilling it on our behalf, so we could now live according to the Spirit and not by the written code. Paul even talks of the Law as being glorious in it’s time, for it did give us light (just enough to lead us to Christ that is, it never gave us any light of power to make us righteous) but he continues to declare how much more glorious is the light of God’s grace! For the light that came from the Law was only temporary, but the light that comes from Christ, and the gift of His grace, is eternal!

If the ministry that condemns men is glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. And if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts! 2 Corinthians 3:9-11

We are now in Christ, we are children of the day! We do not belong to the Law, for we have been led to Jesus and have accepted him, and so the purpose of the law has been fulfilled in our lives. We have stepped over from death to life, from being led by the Law to being led by the Spirit; and glory to God, we now live in His light, and it is glorious!

You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. 1 Thessalonians 5:5

So what has become of the law now that we have received Christ? What purpose does it now have in our lives when we read it? It is now transformed for us from a ministry of “do’s and don’t” to a testimony of the life of Christ! Its role as ‘the ministry of condemnation’ has ended, and now when we read through the Old Testament, the Spirit reveals the story of Jesus to us!

If the Old Testament of the Law and the Prophets was the moon, and the New Testament the sun, then the prophesy of Isaiah has truly come to pass for us all!

The moon will shine like the sun, and the sunlight will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven full days, when the LORD binds up the bruises of his people and heals the wounds he inflicted. Isaiah 30:26

As I have been showing you throughout my blog entries, the story of Jesus is in every verse of the Old Testament! Being able to see Jesus in the Law and the Prophets transforms the Old Testament from a dim shadowy light into a glorious light, for we see the light of Christ, the power of His life and the story of His finished work in everything we read! There is no condemnation for us in the Old Testament, but only the joy of reading the tesimony of Jesus over and over again!

But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. Romans 3:21

The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day. Genesis 1:12-13

Right from opening remarks of Genesis, we see God declaring the reality of His Son. Jesus is revealed as ‘the beginning’, ‘the light’, ‘the day’ and ‘the seed’.

I think it’s significant that God introduced Jesus as ‘the seed’ on the third day, don’t you? It’s quite incredible, when we read the opening verses of Genesis, to see that it was only after the events that took place on the third day, through the introduction of ‘the seed’, that life began to take place on earth! Once again, we can see God preaching the good news of His Son right from the beginning of Genesis!

Jesus truly is ‘the seed’ that brings life to all mankind, and yet it was not enough for Jesus simply to come to earth, He had to die at the hands of mankind in order that we could also partake in His very life.

Jesus is the author of life! He was with God in glory before time began, and He has always known that He would enter into the world, to die for us all, so that we could all live through Him. Jesus was aware of this reality when He inspired the writing of Genesis, just as much as He was when He walked the earth!

Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. John 12:23-24

Jesus knew that He was ‘the seed of God’. He understood that He was the only Son of God, and yet in order for many to become sons and daughters, He would have to lay down His life in death, so many could partake in it when God raised Him to life again.

God has always known the power and the importance of the third day, so much so that he introduces the understanding of ‘the seed’ on the third day in the Genesis account. We read in the Genesis account how after the third day, life could begin to flourish on earth. This is an amazing shadow of the much more glorious reality. The glorious reality is that the third day after Jesus died for all of us, like a seed that had fallen to the ground; He was raised to life, and from that time on we could partake in His divine life and also truly begin to flourish!

We have now entered into the life of Christ! We actually live in Him. We find our purpose, our hope and our rest in Him. We rejoice that it was through His sacrifice that we now receive our salvation. Jesus was the only seed of God, and He laid down His life for us, so that we could join him as children of God!

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! 1 John 3:1

The events that took place on the third day were so powerful and so glorious that it set into motion the introduction of true life for all mankind! Praise God; we have received the promise of life!