The Place For Us-5

THE PLACE for US-V—Genesis 1:1—2:3

Attention/Need:

Mankind without God, is plagued by...

Loneliness(Relationships—personal, business)

Hopelessness(Purpose; Direction; Meaning; Joy; etc.

Insecurities-Losses(Job; Financial; Health—threat of cancer, disease, catastrophic illness; Weather; Stability; Family—relationships, abuse—physical, mental, substance; Marriage etc.)

Fears(Brought on by the above, OCD-Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Paranoias- ‘out to get me;’ Trepidations-fear of ‘what might happen’)

We desperately need 1)A place of belonging, 2)Relationships of various types—Marriage to work, Friends to befriend & be befriended, Fellowship to encourage & to receive encouragement, Boss to appreciate & work done well, Neighbors to neighborly & vice versa....

The beginnings of the heavens & the earth were handed down in God’s word.

Man must be aware the scenario that surrounds the founding of his world.

How can we find our place in the world??

The foundational means of finding our place in the world.

(“world”—used in the most inclusive sense)

Previous weeks have shown that The place for us is found in the...

1—INTENTION of God(:1)

2—CARE of God(:2)

Day 1:

3—LIGHT of God(:3)

4—TIME of God(:4-5)

Day 2:

5—SPACIAL LIMITS of God(:6-10)

A. HEIGHT(:6-8)—FIRMAMENT / EXPANSE

Day 3:

B. WIDTH(:9-10)—WATERS & EARTH

6—FLORA(Plants) of God(:11-13)

Day 4:

7—SEASONS of God(:14-19)

8—FAUNA of God(:20-25)

9—HUMANITY of God(:26-28)

Today we will discover that

10—The place for us is found in the...

PROVISION of God(:29-30)

Explanation:(:29-30)

:29—“And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, & every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food.”

God speaks to man directly informing him that ample “food” is supplied for him. God has seen fit to provide man’s sustenance by means of the seed bearing “herb” fruit “tree.”

Again...the provision is indirect—now by the autonomy— given to the creatures themselves at God’s hand.

:30—“Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, & to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food”; & it was so.”

The earth must have been very different at creation than now, as every creature is also to be sustained by means of the “green herb.” As God states, so it happens. This does not change until after the Flood has dissipated—Gen. 9:3—““Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs.” There is no hint of a carnivorous food chain here!

Isa. gives us an idea of this in describing the future reign of Christ—

Isa. 11:6 -9—““The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, The leopard shall lie down with the young goat, The calf & the young lion & the fatling together; And a little child shall lead them. The cow & the bear shall graze; Their young ones shall lie down together; And the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea.”

Argumentation:

Gen. 22:7-14—“But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father & said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” Then he said, “Look, the fire & the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together. Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there & placed the wood in order; & he bound Isaac his son & laid him on the altar, upon the wood. And Abraham stretched out his hand & took the knife to slay his son. But the Angel of the LORD called to him from heaven & said, “Abraham, Abraham!” So he said, “Here I am.” And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” Then Abraham lifted his eyes & looked, & there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went & took the ram, & offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. And Abraham called the name of the place, The-LORD-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of The LORD it shall be provided.””

Num. 11:21-23, 31-32—“And Moses said, “The people whom I am among are six hundred thousand men on foot; yet You have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat for a whole month.’ “Shall flocks & herds be slaughtered for them, to provide enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to provide enough for them?” And the LORD said to Moses, “Has the LORD’S arm been shortened? Now you shall see whether what I say will happen to you or not.””.....“Now a wind went out from the LORD, & it brought quail from the sea & left them fluttering near the camp, about a day’s journey on this side & about a day’s journey on the other side, all around the camp, & about two cubits above the surface of the ground. And the people stayed up all that day, all night, & all the next day, & gathered the quail (he who gathered least gathered ten homers); & they spread them out for themselves all around the camp.”