Members of the Body Serving its Needs

Let the Waters Swarm & Birds Fly

On the fifth day of creation, God filled the seas and skies with living creatures that swam below and flew above. These breathing souls were blessed and commanded by God to be fruitful and multiply. Even the great sea monsters that the Mesopotamians, Egyptians, and Canaanites saw as rival gods were actually creatures under the sovereignty of Yahweh. In Genesis, the themes of blessing, multiplication, and fruitfulness that begin on the 5th day with God's first living creatures continue through His image bearers (Gen. 1:28), His faithful (Gen. 9:1), His people (Gen. 22:17), His nation (Gen. 28:1-3), and His tribes (Gen. 49:28). Blessing was not just for the fish and birds. It finds its ultimate fulfillment in Christ, whose miracle on the hillside of Bethsaida was not His first time multiplying two fish. And at the last supper, we again see blessing (in giving thanks), multiplication (in the breaking of bread), and fruitfulness (in the cup). In the church, we see multiplication at Pentecost and fruitfulness as churches are planted and grow. And in the kingdom, we see multiplication as disciples are made 30, 60, and 100-fold, and fruitfulness as true believers live full of the fruits of the Spirit.

Let There Be Lights in the Heavens

God created the sun, moon, and stars as light-bearing signs of the days, years, and seasons. These celestial bodies were not created to define the day, but to sign the day. God obviously didn't ordain the day on the fourth one, but the first. One of the reasons we know the days of creation are the same as the days we experience now is that the when the heavenly bodies were created in accordance with the morning and evening, they did so according to the pattern of evening and morning that God had already established on the first day.

Let Land Appear & Earth Produce

The land and seed that God brought forth on the third day of creation remind us of the promised seed who was buried in the earth and came forth on the dawn of the third day as the true first fruit over all creation.

Let There Be an Expanse

When God stretched out the expanse of the heavens on the second day between the formless waters, He began the act of forming the earth through separation. Just as He had formed time when He separated light from darkness as evening and morning of the day, He formed space when He spread out the expanse of the heavens. Every morning and evening, the heavens are a canvas in which God paints a unique portrait for us to be reminded of His glory and the beauty of His creation. They are where the waters begin and end, and that through which the rain comes down and evaporates up. Most of all, they are the space through which we are reminded that although God descended, we cannot traverse them to Him, except through faith.

Members of the Body Serving its Needs

As the first church in the New Testament grew, a major problem arose when certain widows who depended on the church were being neglected in the distribution. The twelve apostles, acting as the first elders of Jerusalem were made aware of the problem, but instead of attending it themselves, petitioned the congregation to choose 7 men who they could appoint to the duty, so that they could devote themselves more fully to prayer and the ministry of the word. Though the role of deacons morphed into priests in training, or the group who "ran" the church, or leaders of ministries, originally they were groups of servants appointed to care for the needs of the church so that the elders would not have to give up their primary service of preaching.