{"id":406,"date":"2013-02-15T15:03:00","date_gmt":"2013-02-15T15:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.all-creatures.org\/blog\/?p=406"},"modified":"2013-02-18T15:46:18","modified_gmt":"2013-02-18T15:46:18","slug":"living-in-the-will-of-god-02-gods-creation-intent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.all-creatures.org\/blog\/living-in-the-will-of-god-02-gods-creation-intent\/","title":{"rendered":"Living in the Will of God \u2013 02 God\u2019s Creation Intent"},"content":{"rendered":"

Living in the Will of God \u2013 02 God\u2019s Creation Intent<\/h2>\n
\"Lamb<\/a>
Lamb of God<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To understand what living in the will of God means, we\u2019ll look at some examples or directions that God gives us to live by. The first of these is given in the first book of the Bible in Genesis 1:24-31, where God describes His creation intent.<\/p>\n

24. Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures [souls] after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind”; and it was so.<\/p>\n

Later on we will talk more about the fact that animals were created with souls and spirits, just as we were; but it\u2019s important for us to note the mistranslation of the Hebrew phrase \u201cneh-fesh khak-yawh, living soul\u201d when it refers to animals and calls them \u201cliving creatures\u201d instead.<\/p>\n

If God created the animals as living souls, then a vital part of our living in the will of God is to treat all animals as fellow living souls, or as we would want to be treated (The Golden Rule).<\/p>\n

25. And God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good.<\/p>\n

26. Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”<\/p>\n

27. And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.<\/p>\n

28. And God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”<\/p>\n

Later on we will also talk more about the true meaning and intent of our rule or dominion over the animals, but for now it\u2019s important to see in the next few verses what it does not mean.<\/p>\n

29. Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you;<\/p>\n

30. and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing [living soul] that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food “; and it was so.<\/p>\n

31. And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
\nNASB<\/p>\n

Why was everything that God created very good? It was the fact that every living soul, whether human or other animal, could live in peace and enjoy life without any fear of being hurt or killed; for all lived together in peace and ate only plant foods.<\/p>\n

This is God\u2019s creation intent, and how we should all be living today.<\/p>\n

Go on to: Living in the Will of God \u2013 03 God\u2019s Heavenly Will<\/a><\/p>\n

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