God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
(Genesis 1:28)
God’s first recorded instructions to mankind were very simple: populate the earth and be the stewards of the earth.
- I’ll talk more about the repopulation later in a different sense, but this instruction was specifically given to Adam and Eve because God wanted them to jumpstart the human race. It still exists, but not to the extent it did then or through the Old Testament.
What I want to touch on a little more here is the second command: having stewardship of the earth.
- Being a steward means to watch over and take care of something. It is a position of authority, but authority comes with a responsibility to take seriously. This is God instructing Adam- and through him, mankind- to take care of the world He created for him.
The world was given for us to use however we saw fit, but He does not want to abuse it or let it go to waste. We are God’s most valuable creation in His eyes, but that does not mean He does not deeply love and treasure the rest of His creations as well. This goes for the land, plants, animals, environment.
And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
(Genesis 2:16-17)
This is the very first official commandment. Why it is important is because it was disobeyed.
-God gave this command to Adam and Eve for their wellbeing in mind and, in their flesh, they disobeyed.
-This is where we see the split from God’s instructions and will by mankind as a race. The split that still exists today. This split results in, thousands of years later, Jesus having to come down to die in order to repair it.
- Exodus 20:1-17; The Ten Commandments were given to God’s people through Moses by God. They are a set of instructions- a guide- that have not died with time or pressure. They provide a set of morals that even those who do not believe in God can agree with.
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Commanded: God's Instructions For Mankind, The Church, and You
Spiritual"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you." (Psalms 32:8) From the very beginning, God gave us instructions. Instructions for mankind as a race, the Church as His People, and us as indi...
