In the last episode, we read Genesis 1:1 through 23 about the account of creation over the first five days. The scripture that we're going to cover today is Genesis 1:24 through chapter two, verse four. And this will wrap up the last two days of Creation Week, day six, and of course, day seven. Now, there are three questions that I'd like you to consider asking yourself as you listen.

Number one, when we're reading the scripture, what is it saying? Number two, what does it mean? And then finally, how can we apply what we're learning or hearing to our life?

The Beginnings: Era 1, Episode 2 Show Notes

Genesis 1:24 through Genesis 2:4 NLT

24 And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the

creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it

was so. 25God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their

kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw

that it was good.

26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over

the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all

the creatures that move along the ground.”

27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and

female he created them.

28God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and

subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that

moves on the ground.”

29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every

tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth

and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has

the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.

31God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was

morning—the sixth day.

2 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.

2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he

rested from all his work. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he

rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the LORD God

made the earth and the heavens.

Three Questions to consider as we read through today’s scripture:

1. What is the Scripture saying?

2. What does it mean?

3. How can I apply what I’ve learned to my life?

II. This wraps up Creation Week. Days 6 and 7

A. God created human beings, man, and woman, in our image, in our likeness. He

created them to be like us.

B. What does “us” mean? What does “image” mean?

Colossiansb1:15-17 15 Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was

created and is supreme over all creation, 16 for through him God created

everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see

and the things we can’t see—such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in

the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. 17He existed

before anything else, and he holds all creation together.

C. What is the Trinity?

D. What is the distinction between male and female?

E. What is the Sabbath?

III. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.

F. What does this say about our own self-image?

00;00;03;19 - 00;00;28;06

Pastor Dave

You are listening to the Bible breakthrough with Pastor David Engman and Scott Brekke. In this study, we will break down the Bible from B.C. to A.D. chronologically while offering historical context and real-life application for today. This series is brought to you by the Breakthrough Media Network.

00;00;28;06 - 00;00;31;06

Pastor Dave

Hi, my name is Pastor Dave Engman, and this is Scott Brekke.

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Scott Brekke

Hi everybody.

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Pastor Dave

We want to welcome you to the Bible Breakthrough. We want to thank you for joining us. Remember, ultimately, our goal is to lead you into a deeper, more intimate relationship with Jesus.

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Scott Brekke

And again, please look for the bonus video to this episode as we discuss further topics that come up because of the scripture we will cover today. Also, the show notes will be linked in the description.

00;00;58;15 - 00;01;29;04

Pastor Dave

In the last episode, we read Genesis 1:1 through 23 about the account of creation over the first five days. The scripture that we're going to cover today is Genesis 1:24 through chapter two, verse four. And this will wrap up the last two days of Creation Week, day six, and of course, day seven. Now, there are three questions that I'd like you to consider asking yourself as you listen.

00;01;30;06 - 00;01;46;13

Pastor Dave

You're going to do this naturally but just think about this. Number one, when we're reading the scripture, what is it saying? Number two, what does it mean? And then finally, how can we apply what we're learning or hearing to our life?

00;01;47;25 - 00;02;12;18

Scott Brekke

So, before we open up and read the Bible, let's pray. Lord, I just pray that you would just, do a work here today, Lord. And I just pray for our audience, Lord, that they would be able to receive something from your Holy Spirit and apply something, something that you bring to their mind that would stand out. Lord. In Jesus’ name.

00;02;12;18 - 00;02;13;01

Scott Brekke

Amen.

00;02;14;27 - 00;02;32;08

Pastor Dave

Amen. We pray that the Lord does just that. All right, so let's open up the Bible and let's read the passage. Genesis, chapter one, starting at verse 24. Scott, would you, would you read that.

00;02;37;09 - 00;02;59;25

Scott Brekke

Then God said, Let the Earth produce every sort of animal, each producing offspring of the same kind, livestock, small animals that scurry along the ground, and wild animals. And this is what happened. God made all sorts of wild animals, livestock, and small animals, each able to produce offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good.

00;03;00;17 - 00;03;24;17

Scott Brekke

Then God said, let us make human beings in our image to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground. So, God created human beings in his own image, in the image of God, He created them male and female,

00;03;24;17 - 00;03;46;17

Scott Brekke

he created them. Then God bless them and said, be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground. Then God said, Look, I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the Earth and all the fruit trees for your food.

00;03;47;21 - 00;04;09;01

Scott Brekke

And I have given every green plant as food for all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, and the small animals that scurry along the ground, everything that has life. And that is what happened. Then God looked over all He had made, and he saw that it was very good. And evening passed and morning came marking the sixth day.

00;04;09;23 - 00;04;36;25

Scott Brekke

So, the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation. So, he rested from all his work and God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy because it was a day when he rested from all his work of creation. This is the account of the creation of the heavens and the earth. All right.

00;04;43;10 - 00;04;52;09

Pastor Dave

Well, let's start with the obvious question. You know, as we read through this, what jumped off the page at you, Scott?

00;04;53;25 - 00;05;24;02

Scott Brekke

Well, I mean, it has to go like up until this point all these days of creation. We get past the moon, the stars, the sun and then the animals and everything in that, and then the wild animals. And now we get to human beings, which being a human being, it just, it makes me excited, because here we see that God is creating us in his image.

00;05;25;01 - 00;05;40;21

Scott Brekke

So that has to jump out. Has to be the first thing that jumps out to me is God's creating us in his image. Human beings like God, male and female, who created him in verse 27 and says, so that's the thing jumps off the page for me.

00;05;41;17 - 00;05;51;03

Pastor Dave

It said in verse 26, “then God said, let us make human beings in our image to be like us.”

00;05;53;06 - 00;05;55;08

Pastor Dave

Who is he talking about there, do you think?

00;05;55;21 - 00;06;22;28

Scott Brekke

The “US” part? Yeah, right. So obviously “US” has to be more than one. So, as you know, Christians, if we go on to read, we believe that there's a thing called the Trinity, which, according to Scripture, meaning that there is God, meaning the father, the son, Jesus, and then the Holy Spirit. So, three in one to the Trinity.

00;06;22;29 - 00;06;31;21

Scott Brekke

So, I think it's referring to when he says let us make human beings our image are referring it to that.

00;06;31;22 - 00;06;37;09

Pastor Dave

Does the Bible speak any word about the Trinity does it use that language?

00;06;38;28 - 00;07;04;19

Scott Brekke

Aha. Not the actual, I don't know if it actually uses the word Trinity, but we as we continue to read through the Scripture, we're going to see obviously in the beginning part, we see God creating. And then when we get to the New Testament as well, we're going to see it talking about Jesus human being and then after Jesus leaves, he's going to mention the Holy Spirit, the Helper.

00;07;04;19 - 00;07;26;29

Scott Brekke

So, three different things. So no, it doesn't technically say “the Trinity,” but as you read through the Bible, like we always are telling our audience to do, read through the Bible, you're going to pick that up. So. Right. But no, I don't know. Where's the. Do you know, like, where we get that word or where that came in at, the actual word Trinity?

00;07;27;00 - 00;07;39;13

Pastor Dave

Well, it's our word to describe one God in three forms. But the Bible doesn't, God doesn't call, or use the word Trinity, as he calls himself.

00;07;39;13 - 00;07;40;12

Scott Brekke

So, no.

00;07;40;21 - 00;07;42;11

Pastor Dave

Father of the Trinity, for example.

00;07;43;08 - 00;07;50;26

Pastor Dave

The Trinity is one God. So, we worship one God. And He exists in three forms.

00;07;51;02 - 00;07;51;11

Scott Brekke

Yeah.

00;07;51;29 - 00;08;22;18

Pastor Dave

God, the Father, God, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. But you know, as we were reading through the first five days, nowhere did God say, let us make… let us make anything in our image until he gets to humans. And he said there that he wants to make us. Yeah. Human beings in his image. So, God created human beings in his own image.

00;08;23;03 - 00;08;37;14

Scott Brekke

So just so go back to the Trinity because I think I've heard you describe it really well before to me in the past where you kind of say like, Hey, I'm Dave, right? But I'm also a father. Right. And then you go on to listeners. Well, yeah, I mean, and that helped me understand.

00;08;37;15 - 00;09;07;27

Pastor Dave

So, I mean, just from the perspective of understanding, I, you know, my name is David Engman. I am a son to my parents. I am a husband to my wife, and I am a father to my children. So, you know, in essence, I'm in that scenario, I'm one person, but I clearly represent three different people to different people.

00;09;08;09 - 00;09;08;18

Pastor Dave

Right?

00;09;09;09 - 00;09;29;04

Scott Brekke

Yeah. And I like to so someone within our ministry once described it to me like this. And I just think it's kind of funny. But he said it's kind of like a Milky Way bar, right? In general, it's a Milky Way. So, you have the chocolate, you got the nugget, and you got the caramel. So, all three aspects are in the Milky Way bar.

00;09;29;04 - 00;09;38;06

Scott Brekke

So, I don't know it. Just as a funny thing, I thought a guy had brought up that, you know, made me understand even a little simpler than that, so.

00;09;38;20 - 00;10;11;15

Pastor Dave

And then again in verse 27, he said, So God created human beings in his own image, in the image of God. He created them male and female, he created them. So, in that, do you see any distinct difference between male and female? Did God in this scenario do we see God creating man, for example, and putting man at a higher place than women?

00;10;12;09 - 00;10;28;22

Scott Brekke

Oh, no, no. I would have said it. I mean, it says both male and female. He created them. He didn't say. All right, I'm going to create man into my image and then I'll make female in a different way and says right there he's going to make them human beings, male and female, in his image.

00;10;29;00 - 00;10;57;24

Pastor Dave

In verse 27. The footnotes here of my Bible, anyway, say that God made both men and women or man and woman in his image. Neither one is made more in the image of God than the other. From the beginning, the Bible places both man and woman at the pinnacle of God's creation. Neither gender is exalted over the other, nor depreciated.

00;10;58;16 - 00;11;00;10

Scott Brekke

Yeah, I would agree with that.

00;11;00;22 - 00;11;03;20

Pastor Dave

Yeah, but you know, there's a lot of people that don't agree with that.

00;11;04;11 - 00;11;18;00

Scott Brekke

And they think that. You mean they think that men would be higher up than there you know, maybe the leader over their wife or over women in general.

00;11;18;18 - 00;11;53;00

Pastor Dave

Yeah. You know, as we read through the Bible, we'll come to various places and obviously at that time we'll be pointing some of those out, you know. But I just think it's important that we recognize that men and women hold the same level of value to God. And if that's the case, then I believe that we should hold women as men in that same regard, that women are as valuable to God.

00;11;53;00 - 00;12;09;19

Pastor Dave

They have the ability to hear from God. They have value in the kingdom. It's not diminished. It shouldn't be a lesser role And of course, this is debatable. And, you know when we get to those verses, we'll discuss those verses.

00;12;09;19 - 00;12;20;23

Scott Brekke

But hey, I have a question. So, when you hear the word image, what do you, what comes to your mind? He created them human beings in his own image. What do you think of?

00;12;21;06 - 00;12;43;22

Pastor Dave

Well, when I think of the word image, I think of a picture. You know, it's an image of something that was taken. But I don't necessarily believe that we were totally made in the image of God from the perspective of how we look in human form because we know God is spirit. Yeah. He created us to look the way we do now.

00;12;43;22 - 00;13;17;16

Pastor Dave

Obviously, the body is important. It's important enough so that when we get into heaven, as we learn later on, we'll be given a heavenly body , a new body. It'll be perfect in every way. But I think the image has a lot to do. With the qualities that we've been given. God took tremendous risk when he created Man and released a portion of his deity, if you will, into Man.

00;13;17;16 - 00;13;19;25

Pastor Dave

He didn't do that in any other form of creation.

00;13;22;10 - 00;13;49;19

Pastor Dave

For example, the image of God can be found in one or more of the uniquely made human capacities for reason. So that would be that's our ability to think our ability to create our creativity, for example, our ability to talk, to communicate in self-determination. I'm just looking at some of these footnotes as I was reading them more.

00;13;49;24 - 00;14;17;22

Pastor Dave

More likely, the image of God is something that describes our entire being as humans, not just an aspect. God made humans to be in a special relationship with him and to reign over creation as his ambassadors and administrators on Earth. And then really, we ought to reflect his character, really, in those ways, in our love and our patience and our kindness.

00;14;18;01 - 00;14;47;21

Pastor Dave

These are the attributes of God. We have the ability to share those. He's given those attributes to us, and we have the ability to utilize them. And I think that's a big part of it, quite frankly, as it pertains to being made in image, which would also speak to the idea that if God made man in his own image, then we have a responsibility to respect and to honor and to give dignity to all human life.

00;14;49;08 - 00;15;16;00

Pastor Dave

You know, we have to respect and honor even the unborn child who can't protect themselves. Right? Now, that's a touchy subject for some people. You know, the idea that, you know, there's freedom of choice and certainly there is freedom of choice in our law of the land has given us the ability to exercise that freedom. But that doesn't necessarily make it morally right.

00;15;16;15 - 00;15;36;20

Pastor Dave

Mm hmm. And children in the womb have no protection other than their mother. And when their mother freely chooses then to abort them for whatever that reason may be, they're choosing to end a life. So, I just think that's an important aspect of this.

00;15;39;00 - 00;15;43;06

Pastor Dave

Not necessarily on topic, but what it got us there.

00;15;43;09 - 00;16;04;06

Scott Brekke

So, I just want to bring up a scripture that I felt like when I just thought about the word image. And then you had said that, well, God is a spirit, right? So, this is what came to mind when I was thinking about image and then God as a spirit. So, this is just later on in the New Testament, and it's from Colossians 1:15.

00;16;04;06 - 00;16;35;19

Scott Brekke

It says, Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before everything was created and is supreme over all creation. And for through Him, God created everything. And the heavenly realms and on earth, he made the things we can see and the things we cannot see, such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him, he created before, He existed, before everything else.

00;16;35;19 - 00;16;39;01

Scott Brekke

And he holds all creation together. Hmm.

00;16;39;10 - 00;16;39;26

Pastor Dave

That's good.

00;16;40;08 - 00;16;54;04

Scott Brekke

So, I love that. That yes, I agree with you with saying that God is spirit, but also, we have a visible image of the invisible God, through his son, Jesus Christ. Right?

00;16;54;15 - 00;16;58;26

Pastor Dave

We do. And maybe we do. I mean, do you know what He looked like?

00;16;59;21 - 00;17;02;25

Scott Brekke

I wasn't there when he walked on the earth.

00;17;03;06 - 00;17;35;01

Pastor Dave

I’m not that old. We knew he was human. Yes. He chose to come in human form as a representative. Last thing I want to touch on before we wrap this up, is just the idea that God created everything in six days and then rested on the seventh day.He blessed seventh day, and he declared it holy and so he rested from all of his work of creation you know, I don't know about you, but I don't think God needed a break.

00;17;35;21 - 00;17;50;27

Pastor Dave

And I think God gave us the seven-day story of creation, here, as an example for us to follow and understand. He wanted us to know his story from beginning to end, and he's given it to us from Genesis through Revelation.

00;17;51;07 - 00;17;51;14

Scott Brekke

Yeah.

00;17;51;23 - 00;18;26;21

Pastor Dave

So, it's one of those application principles that even later on, Moses is instructed to write in the Ten Commandments, and we need to honor that Sabbath day. More to come as we dive into a bonus episode after this. And we'll dive into that a little bit more. At this stage, what we'd like to do is just talk for a minute about application. We should always be sensitive to the Holy Spirit regarding application.

00;18;26;21 - 00;18;48;20

Pastor Dave

And when I read through the last two days of creation, the seventh day Sabbath is the one day, or is the one element of Scripture that I believe points to application. Other than that, Scott, did you see anything else in this reading that might point to application?

00;18;49;01 - 00;19;16;17

Scott Brekke

Well, for me, I think what stands out is, again, God's creating human beings in his own image. So sometimes I'll just struggle with identity or, or self-image. So, but I think that I just have to remind myself of what God's word says, like thinking that man God created us in His image. I got to remind myself that, you know, I'm a child of God!

00;19;16;28 - 00;19;41;24

Scott Brekke

Like, this is what God's word says, that he actually created me to be like him. So, I shouldn't think sometimes I'll just have maybe some negative thoughts or things that come to mind like no, like that's not but that's not what God's word says. So, something I think that we just need to remember is that man, God created us in His image and it's good.

00;19;41;29 - 00;19;54;26

Scott Brekke

That means that we should see ourselves as… if God created it, we’re a good thing. Not a bad thing. So, that's one thing that stood out to me for application.

00;19;55;10 - 00;20;26;04

Pastor Dave

All right. So, application is about obedience, and being obedient is a key that unlocks the door to transformation. Yeah. So, from that perspective, God gave us a seventh day rest. If you're not doing that, that might be something I would recommend to our listening audience as well, that we pray, we bring it before the Lord and just trust that.

00;20;26;04 - 00;20;34;13

Pastor Dave

God will honor us. We have seven days in a week and six of them, we can fill up with a lot of business and work and we can.

00;20;34;14 - 00;20;35;01

Scott Brekke

Yeah, but.

00;20;35;19 - 00;20;40;23

Pastor Dave

You know, over a lifetime that adds up and God has given us the example to rest.

00;20;40;23 - 00;20;41;19

Scott Brekke

So yeah.

00;20;42;08 - 00;20;49;23

Pastor Dave

By the way, what good is knowledge, right? I mean if you gain knowledge here and you don't apply it what's the point? Right?

00;20;49;25 - 00;20;50;04

Scott Brekke

Yeah.

00;20;50;27 - 00;20;58;09

Pastor Dave

So how about you? What can you apply to your life from what we read today?

00;20;58;15 - 00;20;58;22

Scott Brekke

Yeah.

00;20;59;11 - 00;21;11;02

Pastor Dave

And look, if you're struggling with any of this stuff, I just want you to know you're not alone. People struggle, and that's okay. A lot of people struggle with this, but just hang in there and keep coming back.

00;21;11;15 - 00;21;20;02

Scott Brekke

Yeah. And just a reminder, again, check out the bonus video where we will dive deeper into some of the main topics from this episode that we talked about for today.

00;21;20;18 - 00;21;38;23

Pastor Dave

Thank you for being a part of this, Scott. And thank you all for joining us and listening. We look forward to our next meeting together in episode three as we continue our study of the first era of beginnings. And just as a teaser we will be talking about, in the bonus video, we will be spending time on the Trinity.

00;21;39;11 - 00;21;55;11

Pastor Dave

We'll be talking a little bit more about ruling and reigning and what that means as it pertains to the Scripture we just read. And then we'll spend a little more time talking about the Sabbath. So, we look forward to having you join us there. Thank you. And God bless.

00;22;01;01 - 00;22;33;16

Voiceover

Thank you for tuning into the Bible breakthrough with Pastor David Engman and Scott Brekke. We hope you enjoyed today's episode and will join us again for more of the Bible from B.C. to A.D. We are a volunteer-driven ministry and rely on you to help us get the word out to the world. Please, like this podcast on Facebook, share it to your page and continue to listen on Apple Podcast, Spotify, YouTube, or anywhere you find your favorite podcasts.

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Voiceover

This has been a broadcast of the Breakthrough Media Network.