DIRECT CREATION OR PRODUCT OF REPRODUCTION?

[Jan51]

Psalm 102:18
This will be written for the generation to come;
That a people yet to be created may praise the Lord.

If I am understanding correctly, also with the weight of Psalm 139, that God is still part of the creation process. Any comments about this passage?

This is not speaking about the ongoing creation of individual people. It is speaking of "a people"--a group, a nation. This group of people had not yet been created at the time the Psalms were written. At that time, the church was unknown; it was "a people" yet to be created. Paul explains this new group of people, made up of both Jews and Gentiles.

Eph 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
Eph 2:11 Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called "Uncircumcision" by the so-called "Circumcision," which is performed in the flesh by human hands--
Eph 2:12 remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
Eph 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
Eph 2:14 For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall,
Eph 2:15 by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace,
Eph 2:16 and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.
Eph 2:17 AND HE CAME AND PREACHED PEACE TO YOU WHO WERE FAR AWAY, AND PEACE TO THOSE WHO WERE NEAR;
Eph 2:18 for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.
Eph 2:19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household,
Eph 2:20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone,
Eph 2:21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord,
Eph 2:22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.

 

[Trust&Obey]

...If not, don’t let it confuse you, just stck to Scripture, in this case Psalms 139.
If it was, maybe they meant that God uses “reproduction” in the way of generations?

We all carry DNA and caracteristics from our parents and forbearers,
but that in no-way contradicts that God weaves each one of us in our mothers’ womb.

If you want to know how deeply involved our Lord is with us personally,
just read Matt. 10 and Luke 12: even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

I like how you said this.

Let's not confuse the human body we live in --with all of its needs and desires, its weaknesses and its reactions to its experiences and its environment-- with we ourselves, namely our soul and spirit which inhabit our human body. Our problem is that too often our temporal external is what people view as the real us, when the real us is the eternal internal. In other words we are not a body with a soul, we are a soul with a body.

Once we understand this, then the issue of "reproduction versus creation" becomes one of "and" not "or". God uses the physical process of reproduction to create our physical being while designing it for the soul that will inhabit it.

I also like how you expressed this. The concept of "and" or "both" Creator and the use of reproduction.

Generally, and in my experience, those who question God in that manner aren't seriously looking for a satisfactory answer. They are most likely unbelievers looking for a "gotcha" moment to justify their unbelief. Arguing with folks of that particular mindset is rarely fruitful.

The fact is, nothing is beyond God's power to heal and restore.

Steve, I agree with you as well about what this question is really about. I know that God is my Creator. I also understand it happens now through reproduction. What is miraculous is that He is a God who Sees - and He knows me intimately before I was even born. He also knows my glorified self (yet future). I just have awe in all of that!

This is not speaking about the ongoing creation of individual people. It is speaking of "a people"--a group, a nation. This group of people had not yet been created at the time the Psalms were written. At that time, the church was unknown; it was "a people" yet to be created. Paul explains this new group of people, made up of both Jews and Gentiles.

Jan51, it is a good point you make about how God in His sovereignty, can raise up a generation or nation or a Church for His own plans. And He certainly did that with the Church, bringing both Jewish and Gentile believers together into one. However, if you look at the entire psalm of 102, it is all about Israel. In this case, He raises up the last generation of Israel, the remnant, that will believe in Jesus, survive the Tribulation and enter in to the Millennial Kingdom.

 

[Trust&Obey]

Last night when I was reading Psalm 102 it struck me, because I had read this thread prior to it, that the word "created" was used. It could have said something along the lines, "raised up" or something else. But it specifically used the word created. That still strikes me, however, it is referring to a group, not an individual. I'm content to still give God all the glory in that He is the Creator of all things, but His initial work of creation of the heavens, earth, humans, creatures, angels is finished and all life carries on through reproductive means (except for the angels - please let's don't get into the Nephilim here, that's not my point). His commandment to us was to "multiply". Yet even in the reproduction stage, He wonderfully makes us.

Good discussion!