“So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.' And God said, 'See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. 'Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food'; and it was so” (vs27-30).
God's given us everything needful for godliness, even as He gave us dominion and food, in the beginning. He is our Provider as well as Creator. He brought us forth, and He GRACIOUSLY and marvelously sustains us along the way. We only need to believe on Him and receive the blessings that He has for us.
In the beginning, God rested on the 7th day because His work was FINISHED, and we enter the finished work of Christ, receiving graciously and freely all that He gives us for Christ's sake. It is not our merit or our power; it is the grace of God through the finished work of Christ, whereby we're blessed and receive blessings FREELY - “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day, God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made” (Gen 2:1-2).
We don't earn or do for ourselves. We are not atheist living by the “survival of the fittest”. We are believers, living by the power of God. His goodness and provision is to be believed and received constantly. We are not to use our might - “And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it He had ceased from all His work which God created to make” (Gen 2:3).
God gave man the world, provided for everything in that world, and He's given us DOMINION over everything, even as we have power over sin. He made us upright, holy, and in His likeness with power and authority - “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth” (Gen 1:26). We have this dominion returned to us as new creations in Christ. Through Him, we have all that we need to conquer sin. Peter writes, “According as His divine power has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that has called us by glory and virtue: whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Pet 1:3-4). We have all that we need for obedience, having the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ, and having EVERY precious promise thereby. Don't start with anything but FAITH. Believe you are justified for the blessings, so that you can receive them freely (Gal 3:6; Rom 4:5). Do not provide for yourself.
If we see God our willing and gracious provider, believing on Him unto receiving what He has given us so freely and assuredly, then we'll taste the joy of life, resting in His love.
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