Genesis Sermon 4: Origin Of Vegetation

A. INTRODUCTION: GENESIS 1:11-13

"And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the third day" (Genesis 1:11-13).

B. THREE THINGS TO PRODUCE LIVING VEGETATION

1. Dirt. All soil is not the same. The mixture of at least five things produces growth/life: (1) soil (2) silt (3) clay (4) chemical nutrients and, (5) soil moisture. Two other items of dirt do not produce growth, i.e., rocks and minerals. Some dirt/soil may not be conducive to growth, i.e., "stony soil, thorny soil, wayside soil" (Matt. 13:4-8).

2. Water. God made atmosphere on the second day. To grow and produce life you need: (1) rain (2) atmosphere, i.e., humidity

(3) soil moisture.

3. Light. God made light the first day. Light is energy and life that is needed to grow vegetation.

C. WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT VEGETATION

1. Seed. In each living organism was a "seed" to reproduce that type of organism.

2. Modern DNA molecule and genetic code. Each type of organism has its own unique structure of DNA so it can only reproduce that same kind.

3. There is tremendous variation potential within each, producing varieties within the kind and producing of distinct individuals within the kind, but DNA precludes the evolution of new kinds.

4. There are horizontal variations but no vertical changes.

5. "After his kind" (v.12) occurs 10 times. It teaches limitation of variation; organism reproduces itself after its kind, not some other kind. The Hebrew MIN (kind) is species, not family.

6. Refuted. The evolutionary dogma that all living things are interrelated by common ancestry and descent is refuted by Biblical statement and by DNA limitations.

D. BIBLICAL CLASSIFICATION

The original classification of growing vegetation in the Bible is still used by observers of modern taxonomic nomenclature.

1. Grass intended to include all ground-covering vegetation.

2. Herbs intended to include plants, bushes, shrubs, etc.

3. Trees intended to include all woody plants, including fruit-bearing trees and non-fruit bearing trees.

E. OBSERVATIONS ABOUT VEGETATION

1. Apparent age. These vegetations were made as full-grown plants, not as seeds. What comes first, "chicken or the egg?"

2. Initial beginning. There was no divine deception, it was the necessary method of creation. Cannot compare with present process because this was a "one-time" event called creation or beginning.

3. How did it appear? Rings in tree? Beard on a man’s face?

Fruit on a tree? Volcanic lava? Mountain range? Stilagtite?

4. Functioning whole. From the beginning, the whole universe was made a functioning entity; complete and fully-developed. Many plants require pollination by insects, but insects were not created until the sixth day.

Argues against:

Day-age Creationism (one day a 1000 years).

Evolution (million of years)

5. Why vegetation and fruit trees were made before man and animals?

God’s provision (He provides before we need)

God’s order (Growth from inward to outward)

Order. (Creation follows law, not chaos)

6. Permanence of created orders. "All things continue as they were from the beginning" (II Peter 3:4). "All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beast, another of fishes, and another of birds" (I Cor. 15:39).

F. WHAT AM I TO DO

1. Plant . "Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed (seeding seed) which is upon the face of the earth" (Gen. 1:29). The principle of planning: as "seed corn" is for planting crops for next year, God wants us to plan our life to take care of our self.

2. Eat. "I have given every green herb for meat:" (Gen. 1:30). The principle of life and strength. God does not automatically give food to us, we must take responsibility for it and ourselves.

3. All knowledge. Adam had all knowledge about life that he needed to have. "The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it" (Gen. 2:15). The principle of the division of labor: God will not do for us, what we can do for ourselves. We cannot do God’s work. "We are laborers together with God" (I Cor. 3:9).

4. Work. "God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish (fill) the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion" (Gen.1:28). There are five principles from each command:

a. Fruitful, produce yourself in another.

b. Multiply, produce many like you.

c. Replenish, fill the earth with your life-style.

d. Subdue, make earth work for you.