Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind”; and it was so. 25 God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good.
– Genesis 1:24-25, NASB
As we come to the sixth and final day of Creation, it can be divided into two parts: the first, which we just read, shows that we now have animals living on the face of the earth; the second, which we will talk about later in the post, shows us the creation of man. I would really like to focus on this second part, so let’s keep our discussion of the animals simple.
As we talked about last time, when we think about the creation of various kinds of animals, one thing to consider is the complexity of consciousness they display and the type of environment they live in (you can read more about this here). Now on Day Six, we see land animals — creatures such as wolves, cattle, horses, elephants, and so on. Such animals are definitely “smarter” than, say, gold fish, or chickens. But here’s what’s really interesting: although land animals are “smarter,” their home is neither with the birds in the great heights of the sky, boasting their elevation, nor is it in the fish’s harsh environment in the deadly waters, boasting surviving power. Rather, these higher-order creatures live a simple life on the surface of the earth. They graze in the fields, rest under the trees, and don’t have much to boast. In fact, many of them, despite their size and strength, will later come to live in service to mankind. In other words, they live a life of humility. This is really an example for our lives! Even after we go through so many experiences with God, after we learn so much, and after we can testify of so much, we are reminded: be humble. Be servants. The Lord Jesus makes this clear when speaking to His disciples:
And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them are called ‘Benefactors.’ But it is not this way with you, but the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant.
– Luke 22:25-26, NASB
But remember, God’s work did not end with the humble animals on the earth! The sixth day is shared with another part of Creation. On this last day, God forms the height, the pinnacle, the culmination, the purpose of the entire Creation story. On the sixth day, God makes man.
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so. God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
– Genesis 1:26-31, NASB
Wow! What is the one part of Creation which shares God’s own image and likeness, which is given authority over the whole earth, which caused God to finally declare “it is very good,” which is precious to God? It is man. That’s amazing! Now, you may protest, “But if this is a ‘Stage in the Christian Life,’ then what have I been all this time? I thought I was always a human! What is so different now?” Yes, don’t worry, you’ve always been part of mankind. So to know what this final stage really means, we need to look at what happened to man.
Remember, this man who God formed from the dust, Adam, sinned and fell away from God. As a result, we don’t truly see man as having the dominion described in Genesis. Hebrews 2 says, “For in subjecting all things to [man], He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him. But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor.” So this man with authority was Adam at first, but he fell from this position, and as the head of the entire human race, the whole race fell with him. But now we see Jesus, the head of a new humanity. “For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:21-22, NASB).
Furthermore, according to Paul’s writing, it seems God sees all of mankind being summed up in the existence of two men: Adam and Christ. He writes: “So also it is written, ‘The first man, Adam, became a living soul.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven. As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly” (1 Cor. 15:45-48, NASB). When he says “first” and “last,” then replaces “last” with “second,” the feeling we should get is, “I am either a man in Adam, or I am a man in Christ. There is no other.” Let’s look at a few verses which solidify this picture further.
“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
– 2 Cor. 5:17, NASB
“put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth,”
– Eph. 4:24, NASB
“until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ”
– Eph. 4:13, NASB
“Just as we have borne the image of the earthy [man], we will also bear the image of the heavenly [man].”
– 1 Cor. 15:49, NASB
Wow! I feel I could read these verses a hundred thousand times and still be blown away by their beauty! What is all of this saying? In the context of our Christian life, first, we are born again with the Life of God. Then this inner man must grow into a mature Man. This is the Man we look to become in the ultimate stage of our Christian walk, the One who is at the peak of all Creation, the One who receives God’s “very good,” the One in whom the Father is “well pleased” (Matt. 17:5) and for whom all things were created (Col. 1:16). This man is none other than Jesus, the Christ, the Son of the living God. What is the purpose of our Christian life? “To become conformed to the image of His Son” (Rom. 8:29, NASB). The whole process of our life, all of the stages and experiences we pass through, lead us to one thing—one person: Jesus.
I feel Adam Clarke concludes this very well in his commentary on chapter one of Genesis:
Thus ends a chapter containing the most extensive, most profound, and most sublime truths that can possibly come within the reach of the human intellect. How unspeakably are we indebted to God for giving us a revelation of his Will and of his Works! Is it possible to know the mind of God but from himself? It is impossible. Can those things and services which are worthy of and pleasing to an infinitely pure, perfect, and holy Spirit, be ever found out by reasoning and conjecture? Never! for the Spirit of God alone can know the mind of God; and by this Spirit he has revealed himself to man; and in this revelation has taught him, not only to know the glories and perfections of the Creator, but also his own origin, duty, and interest.
– Adam Clarke. Clarke’s Commentary of Genesis
