davidbowerkingwood

Life is Precious

Abby Cat, Texas

In this world we are surrounded by life; an incredible diversity of life that can overwhelm the senses. Yet despite this abundance and diversity each life is precious; every life we see is a unique creation, a one of a kind never to be repeated living creature.

Nothing speaks to the grandeur of God more than this divine attention to detail; in nature nothing is mass produced as in a factory, each component of God’s creation is unique. I recall my wonder when I first heard no two snowflakes are identical; they are all different; what a wonderful God we have!

What a wonder that each living being, large or small is unique; a never to be repeated bundle of life that is an individual with it’s own personality.

Joshua Mose, Kenya

A Shared Boat Ride

 What is equally amazing to consider is the fact that all of us have a genealogy that goes all the way back to Noah’s Ark; at a very critical point in the history of the world we all shared a boat ride on Noah’s Ark. As mankind we all narrow down to one father and one mother, Noah and his wife.

I don’t know how that makes you feel but it gives me a deep respect for the lives of every living being whether human or animal; their ancestry is just as long as ours.

A Job Given

In Genesis 1:26 we read:

“²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

What do you think God had in mind when he designated man as a ruler over all of the creatures named above? Does the Bible give us any clues as to how a ruler should behave? I believe it does in the story of the good shepherd where in John 10:11 we read:

“¹¹ “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

I’m inclined to think this is the pattern of rulership the Lord had intended man to exercise over His creation; a rulership of loving care and protection over all God’s creatures great and small.

A Job Forfeited

The tragic story of Adam’s disobedience brought this chapter to a close with shocking suddenness. The position of rulership which God had planned for Adam was taken away and forfeited to Satan; the sad situation in which we find ourselves today.

There remains today a slight vestige of the loving care and protection for God’s creatures in the soul of man. Although distorted by sin, many still feel that loving concern for God’s creatures, especially perhaps, those whose spirits have again been brought to life by faith in Jesus Christ as Savior.

We see evidence all over the world of concern for the animal kingdom; there seems to be no shortage of groups who have developed a passion for the well being of different animal groups. Everything from the immediate concern for a small or even a large animal in a perilous situation to those committed to saving the whales exhibits this concern for animals.

I believe this is all a part of our being created in the image of God and even though severely damaged by sin this image is still operational to some degree. Stories of heroic rescues of animals abound in history as well as stories of mankind being rescued by animals. There is likely a relationship there which will only be restored by the Second Advent of our Lord.

A Better Future

We read of a time when God’s plan for His creation will be more fully implemented, in Isaiah 11:6-9 it is written:

⁶ The wolf will live with the lamb,
    the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling^[a] together;
    and a little child will lead them.
⁷ The cow will feed with the bear,
    their young will lie down together,
    and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
⁸ The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
    and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
⁹ They will neither harm nor destroy
    on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord
    as the waters cover the sea.

We all have a dream of something better, a deep seated certainty that there is more to life than what we are experiencing now. The Bible reveals the truth of this dream and describes a time when love, peace and harmony will prevail. This is the scene alluded to in the verses above; a time when the distortions produced by sin will be suppressed. In Ecclesiastes 3:11 it is written:

“¹¹ Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.”

 We all look forward to that future time and can know with certainty it’s not a question of if, but when. As eternal beings we, as Christians, will have our full share of all God has planned for His children. I rejoice in the promise God has made to us:

“21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. ² And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

³ I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. ⁴ He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”

²⁰ He who is the faithful witness to all these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon!”

Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!