15 JANUARY
Finished and furnished for the praise of his glory
‘And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.’ Genesis 1:26
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Psalm 96:1–13
When the earth was finished and furnished, a suitable inhabitant was wanting, capable of admiring the Creator’s work and yielding a tribute of worship and praise. Such an inhabitant was man in his original state. Yet man was not made for the sake of the earth, but the earth for the sake of man—concerning whom the divine counsels had been engaged from eternity. And when the appointed season of his existence drew near, the earth was fitted to receive him. We may note a particular form of expression, Let us, which seems to intimate:
(i) that mysterious distinction in the Godhead which we call the Trinity. The word is plural, though joined with a verb in the singular (compare 3:22, And the LORD God said, Behold the man is become as one of us …).
(ii) the excellency and importance of the design. This is pointed out to our weak capacity by the idea of an act of council and agreement. And indeed the great events and the manifestation of the divine glory which depended upon the creation of man, give us cause to consider this as the chief of all the works of God.
FOR MEDITATION: ‘Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them’ (John 17:24–26).
SERMON SERIES: GENESIS, NO. 3 [1/4], GENESIS 2:7
Milo 