“God Blessed Them”
Genesis 1 is full of wonderful truths, and the last one I want to share with you this week is a phrase I saw twice in this passage. It’s the words “God blessed them”.
Isn’t it wonderful to know that right at the beginning of history, God was speaking blessings over the earth? The first one was actually a blessing over animals. Having created fish and birds, we read: “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.” (Genesis 1:22 NIV11)
Respect God's Creation
I thought this was so interesting. God created all sorts of creatures, and He blessed them. I wonder if you see God’s blessing when you think of animals? The other day, when a friend of mine heard that Shereen and I had a new kitten, he said jokingly to me “so you don’t mind inviting the devil into your house!?” He was kidding of course, but he made me think about the way we see animals. Of course, you get those who are animal people and those who aren’t, but the fact remains that God’s blessing was not just on people, it was animals. Do we treat animals with the due respect and care that they deserve as blessed creations of God? And if we don’t, are we not in a sense going against God’s blessing? Consider your view of animals today, and ask yourself if you are giving them the amount of consideration God would demand for His blessed creations.
But then a few verses later we read a similar verse just after the creation of people: “God 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.” (Genesis 1:28 NIV11)
Blessed with Responsibility
Notice today, that God’s blessing on people brings responsibility. God blessed us so that we can be fruitful and multiply and subdue the earth, and rule over the animals. Let’s have a brief look at those:
- Being fruitful and multiplying of course means to get married and have children. This is the family unit that God made the world to centre on. But how about this: didn’t Jesus want us to be fruitful Christians, who increase in number by spreading the gospel around this earth?
- God also said to subdue the earth, which means to have control over it or to rule over it as the next sentence says. This doesn’t mean we mistreat the earth and its creatures – how could we, since they are also blessed by Him? It means we care for them and bless them too as image-bearers of God.
Friends, if you are blessed by God, remember that blessing always carries responsibility. You are not blessed just for your own benefit. You are blessed so that you might be fruitful, and multiply, and care for God’s world as His image-bearer.
Enjoy His blessing today – but don’t keep it to yourself. As the saying goes, you are ‘blessed to be a blessing’.
