Good morning. We're going to begin this morning
in Genesis chapter 1. We'll be looking at verses 24
to the end of the chapter. Now we've seen so far in the
first five days It's been declaring to us what our Lord Jesus Christ
has accomplished for His people in their salvation, in the redemption
work of the Lamb of God. Now, let me give you an outline
of what we've seen in each of these days. Day one, we see the
uncreated light. God said, let there be light,
and there was light, where the rest of the language in scripture
is, God said, let us do something. Let's make something, and then
he makes it. He makes it. But this is the
uncreated light. And God brought it forth to shine
upon the earth, signifying his gracious purpose to save a people
for himself. And then we see that, as it's
a picture here in Genesis 1, it points to the coming of the
Lord Jesus Christ, who himself is the light and life of men. Then we saw in day two the firmament
was made and the firmament is a covering which protects those
living creatures that God makes from the harsh deadly elements
of space and so it is that our Savior made a covering, a sin-atoning
covering for His people, and in Christ we live. We have our life in Him, in that,
in the firmament, in the covering of Christ for His people. Day
3. having laid down his life, he
appears from the grave. And that's what we see on day
three, when the land appeared out of the watery grave, and
then it comes forth abundant and fruitful, bringing forth
fruit and seed after its kind, which is a picture of Christ's
spiritual seed, his people being born again of his seed. Day four, we see the ascension
and the exaltation of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, declared
there, his exaltation. But it also shows the witness
that he left of himself on the earth. The sun, the moon, and
the stars still bear witness of that first light, of that
uncreated light, which speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'll say a little more about
that that later, but it's talking about the witness which is yet
in the earth of the Lord Jesus Christ. Day five, we see the
fruit that is born as a result of the witness on the earth.
When the Lord brought forth that abundance of life out of the
sea and out of the air, the fish and the fowls, and we looked
last week seeing how that Christ is the universal Savior specifically
in that there is but one salvation. In all the earth, there is but
one name by whom God's people are saved, the Lord Jesus Christ.
And so this message is proclaimed throughout the world. And then
we saw the particular nature of that blessing for the people
of God, those whom he chose and put in Christ. That's who Christ
came and gave his life for. Now in day six, we see a picture
of God's blessing of grace, which is manifested in the new birth
in his people. That grace of God is manifested
in the new birth of his people, who are created after the image
of Christ. And so I titled this message,
The Creation of the New Man. creation of the new man. So on
this sixth day, there's a creation first of beasts and cattle and
creeping things. Let's read verses 24 and 25.
And God said, Let the earth bring forth the
living creature after his kind, cattle and creeping thing, and
beast of the earth after his kind. And it was so. And God
made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their
kind, and everything that creepeth upon the earth after his kind.
And God saw that it was good. And then we know that after this,
God speaks of creating man. But before we go there, there's
something glaringly absent. Something is missing here about
this creation of the land animals. What is it? There's no blessing. God pronounces no blessing on
the animals. Now, look up at verse 22. Verse 22, regarding the fish
and the fowl, it says, And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful
and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply
in the earth. Now look down at verse 28 concerning
man, the blessing of man. And God blessed them and said
unto them, be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and subdue
it. He's talking to man specifically. And 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. So there's a blessing for the
fish and the fowl. There's a blessing for man. But
there's no blessing pronounced for the animals. I don't doubt
that there is some implied blessing upon the animals, upon the beast,
the cattle, and the creeping thing, because they did fulfill
and populate the earth. They did that. But it wasn't
recorded in scripture. God left that out of scripture. There's no account of him pronouncing
a blessing upon the animals. So what is the significance? Why is that blessing not included
regarding the animals? Well, from our last study of
the fish and the fowl, recall that these were a picture of
life being wrought in his people, life springing forth under the
blessing of the witness of Christ. That sun, that moon, and those
stars upon the earth are a picture of the witness that the Lord
Jesus Christ left in the earth concerning himself who is the
light and life of men, who is the light and life of his people. And that witness was blessed
by God so that we see when the witness came forth, life sprung
forth where there was no life. Life came forth out of death
under the witness of Christ, the Holy Ghost, the Scripture,
and the blood-redeemed people of God, the Church of God, preaching
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what the Apostle John
spoke of in 1 John when he said there's three that bear witness
in the earth, the Spirit, the water, and the blood. That's
the Spirit, and the Word, the Scripture, and the blood-redeemed
souls whom Christ gave his life for. These bear witness of Christ,
and the Lord blessing it brings forth abundance of life in his
people. Now, on the sixth day of creation,
we've seen how God reveals what Christ did on each of the days
for his people. And on the sixth day of creation,
God is revealing that his blessing of grace is manifested in his
people as a new creation, as new creatures living by his grace,
by the power of God in Christ. Now, anyone who's taught of God,
Anyone whom the Lord teaches, they are made to know that God
must do everything for us in salvation. God does everything
for His people in salvation. Whether it's A all the way to
Z, he does it. Whether it's the first or the
last, whether it's the beginning or the end, God does everything
for his people. God even gives us the faith whereby
we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's fruit being brought
in his people. That's the fruit of the Spirit
that looks away from self, has no confidence in self, but has
every confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ. Believing the testimony
of God that this one is the Savior, look to Him. He's the righteousness
of my people. In Him, I receive my people. In the Lord Jesus Christ, look
to Him. And so we see that God deserves
all the glory for bearing fruits of righteousness in His people.
We don't glory in anything we do. It's given to us by God. He's the one that makes thee
to differ from another. We glory in Him. We see this
testified throughout scripture, and we looked at this a lot last
time, but let me just give you another scripture concerning
that, where it says in 1 Corinthians 1, 30 through 31, we're told that of God are ye
in Christ Jesus. of Him are ye in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption, that according as it's written, he that glorieth,
let him glory in the Lord. Our God makes Christ everything
unto the people of God. It's to his glory and praise. And he's the one that separates
his child out of death and darkness, giving them light and life in
the Lord Jesus Christ. And so God gives the blessing
of salvation, which he doesn't give to others. Just like he
says of Jacob and Esau, Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated. He passed by Esau leaving him
to himself and did something for Jacob that he didn't do for
Esau. He blessed Jacob and gave him
life and fellowship with him in the Lord Jesus Christ. And
that's what God does for his people. That's the blessing of
God. If you're blessed of God, it's unto salvation. It's unto salvation in the Lord
Jesus Christ. It always, the blessing of God,
always saves His people, delivering us out of that death. Second
Thessalonians 2.14 says, Whereunto he called you by our gospel to
the obtaining, to the obtaining, coming into possession of the
glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's the blessing of God. You're
not left in death and darkness. You are given life and salvation
and fellowship and hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's unto
life and salvation. So, the thrust of day six here,
again, we've seen how that every single day has been declaring
us what Christ accomplishes. Day six is no different. It's
a picture. It's declaring to us what Christ
does. It's the manifestation of God's
grace after the fall of man. And we're being given a picture
of the new creation. formed of Christ's people, formed
rather of Christ in his people, the church, who are made in the
image of Christ. We're now made in the image of
Christ in the new birth, in the new birth. So on the first thing
God did on day six was he created the beasts and the cattle and
the creeping thing, each after their kind. And the picture for
us, the picture of what it's speaking to is what man is in
this flesh as a result of Adam's fall and our fall in Adam. So that now we do come forth
after his kind. after Adam's fallen nature. We
come forth dead in trespasses and sins, just like Adam died
in the garden when he rebelled against God. And we come forth
of his seed, naturally, dead in trespasses and sins. And just
as every day looked to and declared something that Christ has done
for his people, so it is on the sixth day. It's a picture of
what Christ accomplishes in his people in the new birth, being
created after the image of Christ, being given life and fellowship
with the true living God. So the beast, the cattle, and
the creeping thing, they're a type of what we are now in this flesh
in Adam. It represents the old man of
sin, the flesh which comes forth first. That's what's being pictured
here. The description of the natural
man after his rebellion against God is not a good description. It's not a good description of
what we are. What the Lord shows us in scripture, what we are
in Adam, is sin, is death, it's defilement. We're ruined in Adam. Because of Adam's sin, that peculiar
blessing which he had, that fellowship he had with God in the garden,
being made in the image of God, was lost. And man died spiritually. And what happened? God became
man's enemy. And he turned from God, and ran
from God, and hid from God. And the scriptures tell us that
the carnal mind, what we are by nature, the carnal mind is
enmity against God. Because it's not subject to the
law of God, neither indeed can be. Romans 8, 7. It cannot be. We're corrupt by nature. We're
defiled. We're lost. We're ruined in sin.
We are now in darkness, having no light. The psalmist David
said, we go astray from the womb. From the womb, we go astray.
We have no form or body to us. We're void of understanding.
We're dead in trespasses and sins. We're like the description
of the Earth in Genesis 1, 2, when it says that darkness was
upon the face of the deep. It was without form and void. That's what we are in Adam. We
have no part in Christ. at least not according to the
natural site. We're under the wrath of God. Now, it says concerning Mount
Sinai, let me give you a few scriptures. In Hebrews 12.20,
it's describing the giving of the law. Now in Hebrews 12.20,
it says, for they could not endure that which was commanded. And
if so much as a beast touched the mountain, it shall be stoned
or thrust through with a dart. That's harsh. Not even an animal
could touch that mountain while God was meeting with and communing
with Moses and giving him the law. If a beast touched it, it
would die. Now, let me read to you from
Exodus 19. Exodus 19 in verse 12 and 13. gives a little more detail about
what was spoken of in Hebrews. It says, the Lord said to Moses,
thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, take
heed to yourselves that you go not up into the mount or touch
the border of it. Whosoever toucheth the mount
shall be surely put to death. There shall not a hand touch
it, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through. Whether it be
beast or man, it shall not live. And so because of man's sin,
he's no better. He's no more esteemed than a
beast or cattle or a creeping thing. If man dares lay his filthy
hand to God's law, he's going to die in his sins. He's going
to perish. He's not going to keep that law
because he's not perfect. He's unable to do it. They can't
bear, we can't bear that which was commanded in God's holy law. It's to shut our mouths, to show
us, no, you cannot make a righteousness for yourself. We cannot save
ourselves. We need the grace of our God. We cannot save ourselves. And
so anyone that touched that mount would die just like an animal.
was to be put to death in the same manner. The psalmist, describing
his sin, said in Psalm 73, 22, so foolish was I and ignorant,
I was as a beast before thee. That's what we are in Adam. That's
what we are in our sin. And so the point is, we've fallen
from that esteemed description in the garden when God created
man upright. Man was created innocent. He was guilt-free. He wasn't
guilty of any sin. He hadn't sinned. He did nothing
wrong. He was made upright. But when he sinned, it was showing
he went astray. And that's what we do in Adam. We're all sinners. We all come
forth dead in trespasses and sins. And so everyone is guilty
of sin and comes short of the glory of God in Adam. Every single
one of us. We're no better than a beast,
and that's how we're described in scriptures. In that manner,
we're dead in trespasses and sins. And just as the beasts
had no blessing of God, There was no blessing recorded in scripture
concerning the animals on the beginning of day six. So it is
that this flesh isn't blessed of God. This old man of flesh
is discarded. It's not getting better. I'm
not getting my flesh better and better by the things that I do.
It's dead. It's dead. We yet have sin present
in the flesh. We're yet tempted by it. Christ
has conquered that sin. He's put it away. He's overcome
that so that it has no more bearing on our inheritance. It has no
more dominion over us. It's been put away by the Lord
Jesus Christ. He's taken care of it. But this sin is yet present
in the flesh. And it's discarded. This flesh
is discarded. When I die, I'll be buried in
the dirt. I'll be put back in the dirt
from which I came. I came from dust. I'm going back
to dust. This flesh is discarded. It's
not blessed. When Christ returns, he'll raise
our bodies a new body, a new body. Go over to 1 Corinthians
15. Let's look at this a little bit.
1 Corinthians 15, and we're going to pick up in verse 42. 1 Corinthians 15.42 So also is
the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption. It is raised in incorruption.
It is sown in dishonor. It is raised in glory. It's sown
in weakness. It is raised in power. It's sown
a natural body. It is raised a spiritual body.
There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body. And so that's describing this
flesh. It hasn't gotten any better. It still perishes, it's still
natural and it's going, it's still corruptible, it perishes,
it dies, it's discarded. But when we're raised again,
it's a new body, a spiritual body. So it's written, verse
45, the first man Adam was made a living soul. But he fell and
died spiritually and we in him being born after his kind after
his seed Naturally speaking the last Adam the second Adam the
Lord Jesus Christ Was made a quickening spirit He gives life We died
in Adam but we live in the Lord Jesus Christ by His grace and
power. How be it that was not first
which is spiritual. I think of what God made first,
the first thing on the sixth day. It was not spiritual but
that which is natural and after that which is spiritual. when
man was made second, pointing to what we are made in the Lord
Jesus Christ, in the image of Christ. It's a picture of what
your Savior does for each of his people in the new birth,
being born again by His Spirit after His seed, after His kind. The first man is of the earth,
earthy. The second man is the Lord from
heaven. And as is the earthy, such are
they also that are earthy. And as is the heavenly, such
are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image
of the earthy, what we are in this flesh and atom, we shall
also bear the image of the heavenly. We shall be created anew, raised
anew. in a heavenly body in Christ. Now there's much more wonderful
things to read about but I want to stay upon this salvation work
which Christ does for his people here now being blessed of God
whereby we know him and have fellowship with him and receive
of his gifts and graces in God, in Christ, in the Spirit of God. So it says we shall also bear
the image of the heavenly. Now when our Savior arose again,
when He went to heaven and He ascended up and is now seated
at the right hand of the throne of God, He sent us His Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit is called
in Scripture an earnest, which is a down payment. It's a down
payment which your God gives to you, whereby our Lord is telling
us, you are mine. The inheritance which I have
obtained and prepared for my people By the death of myself
and the resurrection, what I've accomplished for them, it's yours. And here is a foretaste, here
is the down payment, that what I'm telling you is so, so that
we are made partakers of his spirit. Even now, knowing that
our inheritance is Christ, that we shall be raised again in a
new body of the Lord Jesus Christ's creation, of His work. But that
new birth is worked in you now. You're born again. You that believe
Christ, who have no other hope but Christ, live now being born
again by the power, by the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
what's being pictured here. Again, it's a picture. Every
day has been a picture of something Christ has done for his people. Why else were the animals made
on day six? Why didn't God just tack them on on day five? with
the fish and the fowl, and just throw on the animals too. But
instead he waited till day six, because it's a picture of what
we became in Adam when he fell, being earthy, being not being
in the image of God, being fallen, having no fellowship, being enemies
of God and Him being our enemy. The number of man is 666, right,
in Scripture. It's 666 because why? Man comes
short of seven, of perfection, every time. In all his works,
he falls short of the glory of God continuously. But the description,
which follows, is a picture of the new birth in Christ. So I'll read it. Let's read Genesis
1, 26 through 28. 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. So God created man in
his own image. And the image of God created
he him, male and female created he them. And God blessed them. And God said unto them, be fruitful,
and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it, and 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. Now I want to focus a little
bit on that phrase in verse 26 and God said let us make man
in our image after our likeness. There's a lot of ideas out there
of what this image means a lot but the point The picture that
the Lord is declaring to us here, as we are reading it today, sons
and daughters of Adam, born dead in trespasses and sins, is showing
us our need to be created in the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's showing us our need of the
Savior. The fellowship, the friendship
we had with God was lost in Adam. It was destroyed. We cannot please
God in this flesh. So then, they that are in the
flesh cannot please God. Romans 8, 8. We must be born
again. You must be born again. I must
be born again. Just as Christ said to Nicodemus,
your religious man, you must be born again. We must be born again. What we
are in this flesh is not getting it done. We are not pleasing
God. We need salvation. And that salvation
is given in the Lord Jesus Christ. And he gives life. He gives his
people a new birth. He gives them the spirit whereby
we are regenerated, born again, after the spiritual seed of Christ. We were all born of Adam's seed.
And we all came forth dead in trespasses and sins. We need
to be born again of the seed of the second Adam, the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's not something we do for
ourselves. That's something that God must do for us. The popular
teaching in many so-called churches is that we get ourselves born
again by making a decision for Christ, or accepting Jesus Christ
as your Lord and Savior, of walking an aisle, of raising your hand,
of coming down and praying the sinner's prayer. That's not the
language of scripture. That's man's tradition. That's
not what the Lord teaches in his word. He tells us he gives
life. You cannot believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ. You have no faith in Christ except
you are born again. When the Spirit of God comes
upon you and gives you life, then you hear the voice of the
Son of God, then faith is created and you believe. You look to
Him and you cannot but believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. It's
because you that believe on Him, that hope in Him, having no hope
in your own works, in what you do, you have no hope in that,
but you have all hope in Him, that's because you have been
born again. And He's teaching you, showing
you Christ, Christ, looking to Him. You've been born again.
So faith in Christ is the evidence of God's blessing. Faith in Christ
is the evidence. If God didn't bless you, you
would not believe Christ. You wouldn't believe him at all.
So it's the evidence that God has saved that one, that he has
applied the blood of Christ. That when Christ gave his life,
your sins were put away already by Christ. And now in time, he
brings that salvation to you and gives you life in the appointed
hour of his grace, giving you faith and hope in the Lord Jesus
Christ. So we confess. We confess that
Christ is all. No man can say that Jesus is
the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. I mean, a lot of people say it,
but they don't have any understanding of what that means. Christ is
Lord. He does as he pleases. And who
of us can say to him, what doest thou? How come you've made me
thus? No, we're taught to bow before
him and to worship him. and to thank him for his salvation,
thank him for his mercy and grace. So our salvation isn't one of
reformation, isn't just us turning things around and getting better,
it's one of newness of life in Christ. Peter said it this way
in 1 Peter 1.23, being born again, not of corruptible seed, and
that's what we are in this flesh. This faith that we have in Christ
is not of this flesh. That's corruptible. This flesh
can only bring forth thorns, thistles, and bramble bushes.
That which came upon us in the curse. That's when those things
sprung up was in the curse. That's what this flesh brings
forth. But faith? Living faith in Christ, that's
a fruit of the Spirit. That's the grapes and the figs
which only He brings forth in His people. Being born again,
not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the Word
of God which liveth and abideth forever. the Lord Jesus Christ
who blesses the witness to his people causing them to hear,
to live and to hear of his grace. Therefore 2 Corinthians 5.17
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things
are passed away, behold all things are become new, a new birth in
Christ. Our life by Christ is described
as something new, something born again, a miracle of God's grace. We don't do it, God does it,
for whom he will. It says in Colossians 3.10, that
were made in the image of Christ. It says, and have put on the
new man, which is renewed in the knowledge after the image
of him that created him. Your creator is the Lord Jesus
Christ. God created, our Savior created
us in the flesh, yes. But now we are created anew,
born again, created again, after the image of Christ. Psalm 38 says, Salvation belongeth
unto the Lord. Thy blessing is upon thy people. And that blessing, brethren,
is being born again after the image of the Son of God, the
Lord Jesus Christ, who loved you and gave himself for you. Romans 8, 28 through 30 says,
And we know that all things work together for good to them that
love God, to them who are thee called according to purpose,
the gracious purpose of God in Christ. And verse 29 goes on
saying, for whom he did foreknow whom he knew personally. Not what actions you would do,
he didn't know. That's not what he's talking
about. I mean, he knew that, but whom, the people he foreknew,
whom he loved. Then he also did predestinate
to be conformed to the image of his son. to Christ's image,
that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover,
whom he did predestinate, them he also called. And whom he called,
them he also justified. And whom he justified, them he
also glorified. Raising you from the dead, giving
you life in Christ. Blessing you to hear His voice
and to believe Him. Whatever we lost in Adam in the
fall has been renewed in Christ Jesus. It's the blessing for
His people. We are transformed by the renewing
of our mind. Romans 12, 2. So the picture
of day six is that in Adam we became as brute beasts, cattle,
and creeping things, and there's no blessing for them. They're
under the curse. That's not where God blesses
his people. He blesses them in Christ. And the people of God
are blessed, and these are made in the image of Christ. Amen. Amen. All right, let's pray,
and then we'll be dismissed for a few minutes. Our gracious Lord,
we thank you, Father, for your grace and mercy. Lord, we thank
you for the gift of salvation which you've given freely in
your Son, Jesus Christ. Lord, that though we lost everything
in Adam, Lord, we see your blessing. in the Lord Jesus Christ. And
Lord, our hope is fixed in Him, being made so by Your grace and
mercy, by Your blessing. Lord, help us to keep looking
to Him, believing Him, trusting Him, having no confidence in
this flesh. But Lord, let us continually
walk in Him. knowing you and fellowshipping
with you in the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, we thank you for this day.
We thank you for gathering your people together to hear your
blessed word. Teach us, Lord, keep us. Don't
let this word be stolen away by the evil one, but Lord, let
it find its root in good ground, connected to the Lord Jesus Christ
and bring forth fruit unto the praise and glory of your name. some 100, some 60, some 30 fold
as it pleases you. It's in Christ's name we pray
and give thanks. Amen.