More Than Medicine
More Than Medicine
DWDP - Gen. 1; 26-27 Let Us Make Man
Discover the intricate layers of creation in Genesis and the profound truth of humanity's purpose with Dr. Robert Jackson in this thought-provoking episode of More Than Medicine. Uncover the mysteries of God's internal dialogue within the uni-plural Godhead as we dive into Genesis 1:26-27 and explore the eternal plan conceived before the foundation of the world. Journey with us as we unravel the significance of being made in the image and likeness of God, providing a fresh understanding of mankind’s dominion over the earth and the divine council's role in the sacrifice of the Lamb of God.
Join Dr. Jackson as he takes you through the theological depths of Genesis, connecting the divine council's wisdom and love with the destiny of the redeemed. With insightful analysis, we examine the ancient conversations that set the stage for the ultimate creative act, highlighting the significance of our names being written in the book of life before time began. This episode promises a deeper comprehension of the profound mysteries hidden within the Genesis narrative, emphasizing the intricate design and purpose of mankind, the crown of all creation.
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Welcome to More Than Medicine, where Jesus is more than enough for the ills that plague our culture and our country. Hosted by author and physician, Dr Robert Jackson.
Speaker 2:Papa, can you tell me a story? Do you really want me to tell you a story? Well, you go, get your brother and your sisters and I will tell you a story. Well, you go, get your brother and your sisters and I will tell you a story. Welcome to Devotions with Dr Papa. Gather around, grab your Bibles and let's look into the written Word, which reveals to us the living Word, which is our Lord Jesus Christ.
Speaker 2:We're continuing today in the book of Genesis. We're still in chapter 1, and today we're looking at verses 26 and verse 27. Let me read those verses to you. 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 and the image of God. He created him male and female. He created them. Now we'll stop there for today's lesson. Now let me point out something to you, god. Well, let's say it this way Each previous creative act of God began with these words. And God said let there be. And some kind of amazing creative act of God ensued. But when we get to verse 26, god speaks to himself. Let us make man in our image and after our likeness, the statement changes. Now let's ask a question who is us? He certainly wasn't speaking to the angels, because man wasn't made in the image of angels. Man was made in the likeness of God. Thus God couldn't have been speaking to the angels, he was speaking to himself.
Speaker 2:One member of the uni-plural Godhead was addressing the other members. This internal, this internal conversation is not unusual. Just think about John, chapter 18, well, I'm sorry, chapter 17, where Jesus addresses his father and he's praying on behalf of his disciples and he's asking his father to protect them and bless them and watch over them in his absence. And then again, at his baptism, the Father speaks and he says this is my beloved Son, hear ye him. And then again, at the transfiguration, jesus is there, the Father is there, moses and Elijah are there and they're all speaking together. So this conversation between multiple members of the uni-plural Godhead is not unusual and it happens in the Scripture multiple times. The Holy Scriptures inform us that the divine presence, council, has sat and that the Lamb of God in the wisdom and love of the council has been slain before the foundation of the world, before the beginning of time, before these events, before these creative events even take place, before these things that we are studying in Genesis have been accomplished before the names of the redeemed had been written in the book of life, even before the foundation of the world, and God had called those to be saved by His grace even before the world began.
Speaker 2:Now you think I'm just blowing a little bit of theological smoke here. Well, listen, in Revelation 17, in verse 8, the Bible says the beast that you saw was and is not and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will wonder when they see the beast that he was and is not and will come. Now, did you catch that phrase? The phrase there is. And those who dwell on the earth whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world. So you see there are many. There are those whose name has been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, and so I'm not just blowing theological smoke here when I say to you that the council sat, and it informs us that the divine council determined that the Lamb of God and the wisdom and love of the council had been slain before the foundation of the world. Slain before the foundation of the world.
Speaker 2:Now, on the sixth day, the council met and the ancient plan was formally announced and implemented the highest and most complex of all creatures would be made by God in His image and likeness and be given dominion over all the animals and all the earth. Man's body would be formed like the bodies of all the animals and it would be formed from the earth, just like that of the animals. He would have the breath of life, like the animals, and even have the living soul, nephesh, like the animals. Yet man was qualitatively different. In what way? Man was both made asah that Hebrew word asah and created bara, b-a-r-a, bara in God's image.
Speaker 2:Man was given a spirit as well as a soul. Spirit in Hebrew is the word ruach R-U-A-C-H, meaning wind or breath or breath of life, or, literally, spirit of lives. Plural, this is a possession of animals and man. If, however, that term is used to describe that aspect of man which is like God, in other words, an eternal spirit possessed of aesthetic, moral and spiritual attributes, then the spirit of man, like angelic spirits, is an eternal spirit, like God himself. Unlike God, unlike man, unlike angels, the spirit of animals dies and ceases to exist when the animal dies. So, therefore, you see, the spirit of man is different from the animals, it is an eternal spirit. The spirit of man is like the spirit of God and it's like the spirit of the angelic spirits. It is an eternal spirit. Now, let's keep moving. The image of God includes attributes not possessed by animals, not possessed by the soul of animals, such as moral consciousness, such as thinking abstractly, such as understanding beauty and emotions, such as, and best of all, the capacity to worship God and love God. Only man has that capability. This separates man from the animals, from the animal nephesh, the animal soul, and it required a new and higher order of creation, something eternal and divine, something in the image and likeness of God.
Speaker 2:Now here's something interesting I want you to think about this God is spirit, as Jesus told the woman at the well, if you remember, she asked him a question and he said to her that God is spirit and those who worship him must do so in spirit and in truth. You remember that from John, chapter 4. God doesn't have a physical, corporeal body. Yet he designed man's physical body to function in ways that he himself could function in this physical world, with eyes, ears, nose, fingers, lips. And in fact the Bible tells us that God sees, that God hears us, that God has smell to smell the aroma of our prayers, that he has fingers to touch and lips to speak. But yet he doesn't have a physical body. When God appeared to Abraham, he appeared as a man and he walked between the sacrifice with Abraham. And when angels appear, how do they appear? They don't appear as some kind of dragon or a beast, they appear as a man. Now, all of that I find very, very interesting.
Speaker 2:And there is something about man's divinely created body that is uniquely appropriate to God's manifestation of himself. And he must have designed man's body with this in mind. We're not designed like animals crawling on all fours. Man stands erect that's why we're called homo erectus with an upward gaze, with facial expressions corresponding to our emotions and a brain and a tongue capable of articulate speech.
Speaker 2:God knew that at the appropriate time, as the Bible calls it the fullness of time, that his son would become incarnate, becoming a man. He would be the express image of the invisible God. And Jesus would say plainly that he who has seen me has seen the Father. God made men in the image of that body which he himself would one day occupy, both physically and spiritually. Man was made and created in the image and likeness of the Son of God, the incarnate Son of God. I think that's worth pondering at length.
Speaker 2:Moving on as we discover, or as we discussed in Genesis, chapter 1 and verse 1, god says let us make man in our image. From this we infer that God is a triune God, or a trinity of Father, son and Spirit. Indeed, man is a trinity of body, soul and spirit, and we reflect the three-in-one character of our Creator. And then the last thing I want to point out to you is this the word man is Adam in Hebrew and is related to earth. The Hebrew word is Adama, a-d-a-m-a-h. Adama. So since man's body was made from the elements of the earth, it makes sense that the Hebrew word for man would come be. That word would be derived from the word for earth, which is Adama, and the word for man is Adam. And on top of that, man was given a responsibility or dominion over the animals and over the earth. Now, when we go to our next verses, we're going to talk more about the creation of man and woman and man's responsibility to have dominion over the earth, and it's going to be a very interesting discussion as we go forward.
Speaker 2:But that's enough for today's lesson and I hope you'll stay with me as we continue to go forward in Genesis as we complete chapter one and go into chapter 2. As I've studied all this, I found it quite fascinating for my own education and I hope you're enjoying learning some of these lessons yourself. I thank you for listening. I thank you for your time. I pray that the Lord would bless you as you listen in in devotions with Dr Papa Until next week. I pray that the Lord will bless you. Real good.
Dr. Robert Jackson:Thank you for listening to this edition of More Than Medicine. For more information about the Jackson Family Ministry, dr Jackson's books, or to schedule a speaking engagement, go to their Facebook page, instagram or their webpage at jacksonfamilyministry. com. This podcast is produced by Bob Slone Audio Production at bobslonedotcom.
