I really like this Bible study, because I see clearly how God partners with us to literally redeem, recreate the earth.
Renewing the Earth
Gen 1:26 ¶ 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 creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
The Five Fold Responsibility of Humanity is this:
1. Be Fruitful
2. Multiply
3. Replenish
4. Subdue
5. Have dominion.
When you came back into covenant with God through Jesus Christ, all the promises of God, became yes, to you, and this verse states, that “He blessed them and…”
Jesus is the second Adam:
1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
This same blessing, believed, received, and activated by faith, will reproduce the garden of Eden in your life!
Today, because it applies directly to redemption, I need to discuss the word, “replenish”!
Replenish!
REPLENISH… Genesis 1:28, “And God BLESSED them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and REPLENISH the earth…
Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines REPLENISH as,
(1) to stock with abundance,
(2) to finish; to complete,
(3) to recover former fullness…
Jesus said in John 10:10, He has come that THEY (referring to those who HEAR, and ENTER in through Jesus, and walk in THE BLESSING), might HAVE LIFE (zoe – the God-kind of life, the abundant life), and HAVE it (this life) MORE ABUNDANTLY!
The Amplified says, “I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the FULL, till it overflows).”
Again, we read in Isaiah 45:18, that God didn’t create the earth in vain (He had a purpose), but formed it to be inhabited…
Another translation says, “(God) made a world where people can live, instead of creating an EMPTY DESERT.”
No, God didn’t create an EMPTY DESERT!
Genesis 2 says He PLANTED a GARDEN… and He EMPOWERED you with this BLESSING to FILL this world with the Garden of Eden!
The earth, the creation, is waiting for you!
The Farmer’s Parable: A Lesson in Stewardship
There’s a classic old story about a conversation between a farmer and a preacher. The story goes that the preacher was driving down a country road when he came upon the most beautiful farm he’d ever seen in his lifetime spent traveling rural roads. He could only compare it to a beautiful painting. It was by no means a new farm, but the house and buildings were well constructed and in perfect repair and paint. A garden around the house was filled with flowers and shrubs. A fine row of trees lined each side of the white gravel drive. The fields were beautifully tilled, and a fine herd of fat dairy cattle grazed knee-deep in the pasture. The site was so arresting the preacher stopped to drink it all in. He had been raised on a farm himself, and he knew a great one when he saw it.
It was then he noticed the farmer, on a tractor, hard at work, approaching the place where the preacher stood beside his car. When the farmer got closer, the preacher hailed him. The farmer stopped the tractor, idled down the engine, and then shouted a friendly “hello!” The preacher said to him, “My good man, God has certainly blessed you with a magnificent farm.” And then, there was a pause as the farmer took off his cape and shifted in the tractor seat to take a look at his pride and joy. He then looked at the preacher and he said, “Yes, He has, and we’re grateful. But you should have seen this place when He had it all to Himself.”
Well, the preacher looked at the strong, friendly features of the farmer for a moment, smiled, and with a wave of his hand climbed back in his car and continued on his way. And he thought, that man has given me my sermon for next Sunday.
Every farmer along this road and in this country has been blessed with the same land, pretty much, and the same opportunity. Each has worked his farm according to his nature. Every farm, every home of every family in the country is the living reflection of the people who dwell in it. He understood that the land we’re given was not the acres we buy for our farm or the lot on which we build or buy a home, but rather the life we give it, what we do with what we have. Our lives are our plots of ground, and that’s the land we sow and from which we are then obliged to reap the resulting harvest. And the way we’ve sown will be reflected in every department of our lives.
Well, the farmer that the preacher had just talked to would reap an abundant harvest, not just when the time came for gathering his crops, but every time he looked around the place, every time he returned from town to that white gravel drive and trees that lined it and the fine home and gardens that stood at the end of it. He was grateful for what he had. But he knew that it was not what is given us that makes the difference, but rather what we do with it, what we make of what we have. Yes, sir, the preacher thought as he smiled and drove his car along the road to town. He had his sermon for next Sunday, and it would be a good one.
Each one of us is a farmer. Our lives are the plots of ground that have been given to us free and clear. If we’re wise, we too, will reap the abundant harvest, for the planting is left strictly to us.
I cant help but be reminded of the story of ‘Faith Like Potatoes’. If you have not yet seen this great movie, this is your assignment for this week. https://youtu.be/GH8SoFpD_Yo?si=j_Dnzlpi_zF79jsm.
Jer 22:29 O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.
It will happen, as you enter into covenant with our Creator, and because of His blessing, recreate this sin-torn, ravaged earth, back into its original creation.
Rom 1: 19 This is because what is known about God should be plain to them because God made it plain to them. 20 Ever since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities—God’s eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, because they are understood through the things God has made.
There have always been two books written about God, the Creator: The Bible of course, and the creation.
Though the creation has been damaged by sin, the fall of man and devils:
Rom 8:19 (Common English version) The whole creation waits breathless with anticipation for the revelation of God’s sons and daughters. 20 Creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice—it was the choice of the one who subjected it—but in the hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from slavery to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of God’s children. 22 We know that the whole creation is groaning together and suffering labor pains up until now. 23 And it’s not only the creation. We ourselves who have the Spirit as the first crop of the harvest also groan inside as we wait to be adopted and for our bodies to be set free.
The earth, the creation, is waiting for you!
In this generation, to rise up in redemption, in mercy, in authority, in boldness, declaring the Word of God to it!
When you do, amazing things occur,
Isaiah 51:3
The LORD will comfort Zion; he will comfort all her ruins. He will make her desert like Eden and her wilderness like the LORD’s garden. Happiness and joy will be found in her— thanks and the sound of singing.
Ezekiel 36:35
They will say, “This land, which was a desolation, has become like the garden of Eden.” And the cities that were ruined, ravaged, and razed are now fortified and inhabited.
This is redemption!
This is the Blessing!
This is what the covenant blessing of God will do through you, as you serve Jesus, in this generation.
You have the power of Almighty God, to heal the land!
Isaiah 35:
The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing:
Replenish!
Let’s pray:
‘Father, teach me how to heal, replenish, subdue, recreate, and bless the earth, and to literally recreate Eden, wherever you place me, by your great power and love, in Your name I pray Lord Jesus. I believe I receive Your blessing, and I declare and decree, into every area of my life: Be Blessed! I’m Blessed! Amen!’
Please Read: https://www.chrisaomministries.com/redeeming-the-land/
Here is the Youtube video: https://youtu.be/hjmN4uMd1HE