Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

Generosity is at the very heart of the gospel of Jesus Christ. So, it is not surprising this same Jesus who generously gave His life for our redemption is the same one who made a world so abundantly diverse. Jesus wove abundance and generosity into the very fabric of His creation.

The Bible tells us that God created a universe with abundant potential—a multiplying and reproducing creation filled with a diversity of plants and animals. God made hundreds of thousands of plants “bearing fruit…yielding seed according to their kind” (Genesis 1:12). Likewise, He commanded the millions of animal species He made to be “fruitful and multiply and fill” the earth (Genesis 1:22). This is why a farmer can start with a few basic seeds and animals and multiply not only enough food to feed the world but also develop an endless diversity of new subspecies. Did you know, for instance, that broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower and kale are all cultivated from the same basic species (i.e., Brassica oleracea)? Similarly, all the variety of dog breeds were hidden in the one grey wolf. All dog breeds are just domestications of the same species (Canis lupus). From Great Danes to chihuahuas, the inherent abundance of God’s creation is on display.

Thus, creation itself is a rebuke to any stinginess or small-mindedness. Neither God nor His creation is marked by such tight-fistedness…and neither should we.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day…

~ Genesis 1:1-23 (ESV)