So day six in the six active working days of creation is like day three, carries with it a double expression of what God did specifically on these days. You see the break in chapter, in day three, and you see the break in day six. That break shows up at verse 26. here in day six's creation account. The first portion of the day, God is creating the living creatures after their kind, the cattle, the creeping things, and the beast. And then, notice this word then is one of the time markers that we have in the creation narrative. It's saying this followed the previous work. So you see that in verse 24, and you see it again in verse 26. Those are two things that distinguish that this action followed the previous action, and then this action followed that action, which I just spoke of. So at the very start of. Verse 24, because it fits, it's logical, it is it. It matches the timeline of the narrative that we have here. This is obviously following the conclusion of day five. In verse 23, there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day. Then. That's the indicator. The text is doing the instruction to us. God is using His words to instruct us. This followed that. And if the boys and girls are listening to me right now and they're paying close attention, we will ask the question around here, how long is a day? And the boys and girls will come back and say what? I heard some of them, they weren't as near as in unison as they were a couple of weeks ago when we were talking about this, that a day is 24 hours, right boys and girls? Yeah, I hear you there, I got you. You got me, we're in the same corner together. So following the previous day, the very next thing that the creation narrative counts for us here is then God said, So we know we're on day six of creation. We're on the sixth. This would be according to Exodus chapter 20 that instructs us that on six days, God created. And in that teachings of the Ten Commandments, God clearly, He clearly articulates that these are six consecutive days of creation. We have that laid out for us in the creation narrative, and then we have it reiterated and articulated with, if you will, an exclamation point in the Ten Commandments. That on six days, God created the earth. And everything, Moses says to the people in Exodus chapter 20, everything that is on the earth, God created it. We don't need to go anywhere else trying to figure out how long was a day before the sun was created on day four. We don't need to go to science and say, science, we need you to explain why the stars give indication of being billions of years old when the Bible says, really, we're talking about events that took place in 24-hour periods of time, and they are presented with age. And we say, blessed be the living God. If this is the Word of God, then let the Word of God speak to us. And as you've heard from this pulpit, and your logic works well with this, you know that the Bible sometimes speaks with allegorical emphasis. Every time it does that, the genre of the language tells us this is to be used allegorically. We don't have that with Genesis. There is no part in the first 11 chapters of the book of Genesis where many of the theological, mushy, marshmallowy mashed potato thinkers are that want to assume that God used the evolutionary process and he used the billions of years that the universe indicates to us that the age of the universe is, the Bible says, oh no, this is actually exactly how it was done. And so we say, blessed be the living God. All of that, we come back to verse 24 and we're saying, we're following the ticking clock of the creation narrative. Following the fifth day, on the sixth day, God said, let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind. Now, blessed be the living God, there's not a period there, and we move on to the next subject. Because if that were all we had, then we might could be able to say, well, possibly, that some of these creatures, because the language that is being used here is the summoning out of the earth. So listen, you can see how the evolutionist would love to say, aha, we have the language of the text that says God spoke to the earth and he called out of the earth He called out of the dirt, he called out of what he's previously created, and he set into motion this process that creates living creatures, or that brings forth living creatures, which would, by argument of the evolutionists, require millions of years for that to happen. But we're not looking to scientists to be the experts on truth. And I'm just gonna let that lie there. We're going to look to the word of God to be the truth. And the word of God says, God spoke and he said this, let the earth bring forth living creatures. So again, as we've walked through the narrative of the creation narrative, there are definitely things we don't understand. Moses isn't here giving us a biological explanation of how everything came into being. But what he is telling us is he says that God said this. God said, let the earth bring forth the living creatures after their kind. And then he goes and he describes the three classifications. Boy, I must be really careful with my scientific terms here because I'm going to I'm going to get a lot of scientists mad at me in this, because we do classify the animal kingdom, the insect world. We classify the fish and the birds. And it's right that we do. And part of that is because it's the language of the Bible. The Bible is the one setting up the classifications, isn't it? All the living creatures are created after their kind. in all of the search of all of the modern evolutionists that wants to see somehow, somewhere, a crossing over from one species to another species has to happen in order for there to be this kind of variety. And then, obviously, they're making the argument eventually to the formation of humankind or mankind. Well, that is, again, not what the text is saying. It is saying that God, however He did it, He did it with the speaking to what He has created to bring forth the living creatures after their kind, cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind, and it was so. Notice verse 25. It's almost as though, verse 25, we don't have a time marker, so we don't have We don't have to see this as then God saying, well, that didn't work out, so let me do it like this. But what we can have here is basically a retelling of the first portion of verse 24. Verse 24 again, God said, let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind, cattle, creeping things, and beasts of the earth after their kind. And it was so. God, here's such beautiful language here, God made the beast. So boys and girls, who made the animals? God made the animals. He didn't just make the process. He didn't just speak to begin the making of and go figure it out and become whoever you want to be. God is creating with boundaries, and He's setting species, and He's creating kinds and classifications. He's doing all of this with a spoken word, and as the text then continues on, God made the beast 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. That's part one of the creation activity of day six. So you have the creation of the beast, of the cattle, and the creepers. I love how the language of the King James, because later on it talks about the creeping creepers, just as it spoke of in the previous day of the swarming swarmers. That's really beautiful language, actually. It's quite poetic, indeed. but it's also very descriptive and very helpful. This language of creatures as we have it in our English thinking, our English language, you see back again in verse 24 that God said, let the earth bring forth living creatures. Now to the modern English reader, we have a good understanding of what a creature is. It's something that either lives outside or should live outside. Some of those creatures we've invited into our homes, haven't we? And we've made loving friends of them. And there's no forbidding of that in scriptures. And actually, it's really a quite beautiful relationship that God has created with man and creature. But let's understand this language of creature in its original language. It is literally the kinetic beings Beings that have motion. Now, He's already created beings with motion in the water and in the air. They too are kinetic creatures. You would notice back up in verse 20, that the waters teem with swarms of living creatures. Kinetic creatures. Animated, not in the modern sense of the meaning animated as in hand-drawn or cartoon, but animated as in this sense. with motion, with action, with capacity to move, which is an expression of time. For an object to move from here to here, it requires time if it's going to move. You set the clock. We put a snail walking across here. He might be finished by the time I'm done preaching. Might be. It depends on how fast he is. You could put a turtle down on the ground and you could time him and you could see the kind of time that it would require him to kinetically move, have motion, to have animation. You could put a cheetah out in the field and you could time him and you would see some move slow, some move extraordinarily fast. But nonetheless, they are animated or kinetic beings. This is the meaning behind this word creature, they actually move, they actually, and with that as well, the deeper understanding of this kinetic animated beings that they are operating or they are functioning in an instinctual manner. They have instincts. They do have brains, they do have neurological systems, they do have blood that flows through their bodies, They have many of the same. They have respiratory systems. They have reproductive systems. But one thing that will distinctly note the difference between the human creature, the human animated being, the human kinetic being and the animal kingdom will come and it will show up in the second half of day six is creation. And that is that God creates them a living soul. He makes them a spiritual He makes us, mankind, a spiritual being. One of the things that would make the distinctive difference between the creatures of the field, the kinetic beings of the field, and the kinetic spiritual beings of mankind. So God is creating, speaking, bring forth the creatures after their kind. So you have the cattle, quadrupeds, They're the large grass-eating grazers. So, boys and girls, some other things you might think longer about in the creation of these creatures that God has created. You might ask your moms and dads to help you think about, what is a large cattle? And it should include cows and sheep, things that we would typically think of grazers, large grass-eating kinetic beings, it should also include horses, it should also include deer, antelope, elk, all kinds of large grass-eating quadrupeds. It would also include these beautiful, mysteriously missing creatures in our current modern day we call dinosaurs. What an amazing, I mean, can you think of a larger grass-eating grazer than a dinosaur? Well, we'll have because we're going to take our time here on day six and just really kind of throw out the parachute and stop for a bit and think through some of these beautiful creatures that God has made. Today is really more of the general observation of it. And then we'll look at the creation of mankind, and then we'll come back and really dwell upon the beauty of the creation itself before we move on through chapter two. So not only do we have the cattle, or first, as mentioned, the beast of the fields. Those are the wild animals. Those are the carnivorous, meat-eating creatures. Now here becomes a bit of a thought that it doesn't trouble the modern reader of the Bible because it is a simple fact that there has to be some kind of a system that the digestive system of certain creatures need this kind of a diet versus creatures that need that kind of a diet. And so it is not unloving for God to create carnivorous creatures that eat other creatures. both in the swarming swarmers of the sea and even some of those vultures who fly in the sky. There's also these creatures, these quadrupeds, these wild beasts of the fields. They too have digestive systems that are in need of a meaty diet. I will address man's diet as we walk through in the larger text of Genesis. But here, let's go ahead and acknowledge that even in God's creation of the perfect earth that He created, He created carnivorous meat eaters. And He also created creeping creepers. The kind you like to observe and the kind you like to kill. God created them all. He didn't create them for us to worship, Romans chapter 1. You should go re-read Romans chapter 1. What happens to a deprived mind? He begins to worship the creation rather than the creator. There is a beautiful observation that man can make of God by observing his creation, but that man must as well guard his heart from worshiping that creation which God created. So you have here the cattle, the beasts, and the creepers. The classifications and the kinds. But make sure of this as you think long and you ask good questions about the creation narrative. Make sure you come to the conclusion that God created. God made. How does He call out of the earth? I don't know. But this much is true. It happened in one day, not millions of years. It happened on dry land, not in swampy swamps where cells decide they want to walk on the earth. It happens. In order for that to be the case, then it would require this mandate for millions of years to happen. But listen, even that is not enough logic to be satisfied to say, that that must have been the way in which God decided to bring about creation. Because you have to then begin thinking about what God did on the sixth day, in the creating of the beast, in the creating of the cattle, in the creating of the creepers, the worms, the insects, the snails, everything that creeps along the earth, everything, God created it, and He created it for His glory. We'll also see that He creates it for a job for man to do. And that will be in the ordering of all of God's creation. We'll see that when we get into the second half of day six and the duty that God gives to man to take dominion of the earth. To take dominion means to take care of. It means to order. It means to use for your benefit for the glorification of God. So you have this, the classifications, the kinds. Dogs never become cats, ever, never. Now, I've had cats that behaved like dogs, but they're always been a cat. It's too easy for me to get so distracted on these beautiful creatures that God made. And I'll include cats in that classification. among the beautiful creatures God created. I had this cat as a boy. Growing up, we named her, we named her, I know this is bad, I know, we named her Bob, because she did not have a tail, and so the most natural name for a cat without a tail, yeah, is a bobcat. So we had a bobcat. And this cat chased cars like our dog. And it was a beautiful sight to see. We had bunk beds all in our basement, all three of us. All two of my brothers and myself lived in the basement of our house. And my dad had built these beds with desks and closets. And we slept above. That cat could literally jump from the floor to the top. It was just an amazing creature. Well, I don't even know why I brought that up. It was somewhere here in my notes. It was going to make sense. And so I will just I would just move along. God made them, oh there it was, the cats and the dogs. God created them as different kinds of creatures, different kinds of animated creatures. Those of you who have ever had had hound dogs. They're not all so animated as they get older, are they? Some of you who have labs, when they're puppies, they're animated as puppies, and as they get to be old dogs, they just basically lay around a lot. They become less animated, they become less kinetic, which is why you have to feed them a different kind of a diet, isn't it? It's kind of like me. Well, so there is this beautiful, glorious way that God is glorifying Himself in all of the creatures in which He's creating, and keeping them within their kinds. So again, to emphasize the point, verse 25, that God made them like this. He made them with limitations. He made them to not reproduce with other kinds of creatures. It's a very beautiful expression of the glory of God. And it makes sense as well why God sets limits. And His limits have to be upon humankind, because it's humankind that deliberately offends and disobeys God. God made, He didn't choose, not by chance. God didn't just say, out of the earth, come. And God's looking there going, well, I wasn't expecting that, and I wasn't expecting that creature to come. No, God specifically made them as they are for His glory. Different, aren't they, than the creatures He created on day five? The sea creatures, the water creatures, the creatures of the air. These quadrupeds, these creeping crawlers, these beasts of the field, they are quite different, aren't they? They'll have some similarities, for sure. They'll have reproductive systems, they'll have digestive systems, they'll have respiratory systems. But never shall the two cross and become a different kind. God's actually telling us in verse 24 and 25 that evolution, the idea of evolutionary creation, doesn't work with the creation narrative, because God is limiting them to their kind, as He does with the plant kinds, as He does with the fowl of the air and the fish of the seas, He's doing with the creatures of the land. They're uniquely fit for the ecosystems in which God created them to live in. We see that the progression of the creation narrative of the six days of the active hand of God and the active speaking of God, that God has already fit a habitat, an ecosystem in which these creatures can live in. They'll be able to live on a land that has grass and trees. They'll be able to live on a land that has water, fresh and seawater. They'll have all kinds of habitation. They'll have rocks to climb on. They'll have swamps to march through. soft lands to bed in, they'll have rocky desert roads to crawl through. All of which God is saying, go and show my glory. And as we think of this, whom? Who of all of God's creation is going to be the most captivated by the glory of God? It will come when he creates man. And when God says to man, Go and take dominion of all of My creation. So you have these ecosystems that are uniquely fit and designed for all the creatures, both water and land creatures and air creatures. You have air or atmosphere. You have water, land, sun, moon, vegetation, trees and plants. You have fish and birds. You have swarmers among them both. You have cattle and beasts and creepers. Creation is being established here for God's glory and for man's good. God ordered it to be and God made it to be exactly as you would see it and observe it today. In these last days, everything that you're seeing in these last days of creation, the last of the six days, we're beginning now to see that this is the completed formation of what you would expect the natural world, the natural universe to be like. Those first couple of days, quite mysterious, isn't it? Quite glorious. We do not begin to chase the worshiping of the mysterious. We move from the sea and the air to the earth as we come to day six. We see, we use the word progression, but we use it Carefully, because we're not meaning evolution, but the progression when we get to day six is different than what he's doing on day one and day two and day three. Here, it's being much more. Because the ecosystems are in place, now he can create the creature to live in it. It's not evolution toward mankind, but it is rather the preparation for man to glorify God with his hand, to work, and to give glory to God. This work of God is really a blessing for a special creation, a unique creation. Not an evolutionary mistake, not an evolutionary wonder, but rather it is a blessing of a special creation with a special purpose for a special glory that is given only to God. He creates in the water an ecosystem for the swarmers And in the water, there are natural resources, both in the fresh and in the salt water, and in the environments of them both. In the land, there is an ecosystem for the plants to survive, to grow, and environments for some to grow and for them to grow in certain regions or certain places. And that will follow in suit for the animals that he creates that would be in those same types of ecosystems. And also in the land, that there would be resources in abundance for man to use for the glory of God. As well in the air, you have the oxygen, the observation of the stars. There you have the flyers and the natural resources that is specially unique to all with a respiratory system, both in the animal kingdom and in the human kingdom. Yet still, As of yet, to verse 25, the creation narrative is not complete. We read through the completion of the creation narrative, but where we'll stop today is not the completion of it, but rather it is the completion of that which God will command man to take dominion of. But it's not complete yet because God has not yet created man in the timeline of the narrative. Not because God is not satisfied. Creation is not complete here at verse 25 because God's not satisfied. He's saying, well, I wish I had done one more thing. It's not God thinking how lonely I am that I didn't create someone to worship me. It's that God's doing everything necessary for Him to put the special creation of mankind in place to create Him for the purpose of giving glory to God by doing the work of taking dominion of His creation. So it's not because God is not satisfied. It is the Bible that shows us that God is obviously pleased here. How often have we noted? How many times do we hear God in the creation narrative look at His finished day's work or mid-day's work and say, oh, that's good. I'm satisfied with that. That's exactly what I told with my mouth to do. And it's good. It's pleasing. That's telling us something about God, by the way. That God is pleased. God can be pleased. God should be pleased, because He's God. The environment pleases God. This isn't to make environmentalists out of us. This is just to say that everything God's creating, God stops and He observes it, and He says, that's good! That satisfies me and what I did on this particular moment of creation. It shows us as well that creation is for the glory of God, because God is pleased by it. And it also shows us, because I'm getting ahead of myself to address the issues between verse 26 and 31, and for that matter, as the creation narrative will get really close in on the creation of man and woman, that God is also saying, Not only am I pleased in everything I've created thus far, but also I'm pleased that I'm about to create a human creature who is unlike every other creature I've created, and He's going to take care of everything I've created. And God would be pleased with that. The complexity of the creation should have a natural reflection of the complexity of the Creator. I've made this well noted around here. I don't speak as a scientific authoritative voice. But I know how to read medical journals. And I know when I'm reading something that's full of a bunch of humanism garbage. And I know when I'm reading a medical journal when someone is just simply giving glory to God. When they dive deep into the respiratory system. And they navigate through the intricacies of our respiratory systems, not only of the animal kingdom, but the similarities of it in the human kingdom. Also, that of the circulatory system, the blood, the movement, the need for the blood to have oxygen in it in order for it to move and to give life, kinetic energy to the rest of the body. these medical journals. They'll dive deep into the neurological systems. And they'll look at the beauty of the neurological nervous system of creation. It is intricate. It is complex. And even largely to a good argument in the modern day, with as much as we can see, we still have much we don't understand. Which again, reflects back to the complexity, not of man, but the complexity of God. And the complexity of His creation demands a complexity of our worship. We do not worship God on a whim. We do not worship God according to our feelings. We worship a God who reveals Himself to us, and He reveals Himself to us in His created world. There's that natural way that God reveals Himself to us. That way, in Romans chapter 1, no man is without excuse that there is a Creator. And then, of course, the glorious language of all of the Bible, we will not know this God just by simply observing creation. We will need God to tell us who He is. Because otherwise, we have the propensity, because we're designed to worship, we will have the propensity to worship His creation rather than to worship Him. So the complexities of our digestive systems, our circulatory systems, our reproductive systems, our muscular systems, they are all worth observing. And by the way, every time I learn of you going into a hospital for surgery or going to see a doctor, this is one of the ways I pray for you, is I pray that your doctor sees the glory of God. while He observes and looks at the complexity of your body. You say, well, preacher, you have no idea how complex my body is. That's true. I don't. That's why you're going to the doctor. But oh, may God reveal His glory to your doctor when they probe and they look. Isn't it amazing that we can now see inside the body? And that's really a relatively new privilege that God has given humanity. See closer to what's going on. to address more closer, and still even that, we still call it the practice of medicine. Because we're being practiced on, I suppose. But again, the complexity of the creation, it reflects the complexity of the creator. And so because of a complexity of a creator, it should be reflected in the worship of the creature. means we must take care in the how we worship God. And we can say, blessed be the living God. He's given us very clear instructions on how to worship Him. So today, while we think about the beast of the fields, we think about the cattle and the creeping creepers upon the earth, may God be glorified that a people will not set their worship upon His creation, but will look higher and will look bigger, and will look holy, and will look righteously at the Creator Himself, and be pleased to worship the Almighty God.