We are going to limit this message to the “third day” in the first chapter of Genesis. The phrase “third day” always reminds us of the resurrection, for it was on the third day that Jesus arose from the dead (Acts 10:40). Therefore, the third day always speaks of new life; that is, resurrection life – life that can only be created by God.
Keep in mind as we look at these few verses of Scripture that they are primarily concerned with spiritual life and our relationship with God. The most important thing about each of the days in the first chapter of Genesis is their spiritual implications. They are prophetic and hold mystical truths about a spiritual life in God.
Probably most Christians look at these days as increments of times. Some think of them as 24-hour days and some consider them as longer spans of time. Either way it is on a time line. Man lives in the realm of time and for that reason he thinks historically on a time line. But it is not so with God. There are no days in His world. God is Spirit, and He is eternal. God’s day, then, has no beginning and no ending. The Scriptures, though, are written in man’s language, according to the way and life of man’s world. Therefore, if we are to perceive the spiritual truths of God’s world, we must learn how to transpose the writings from man’s world to God’s world, from natural to spiritual. My wife is a musician and she often transposes her music from one key to another. It is the same principle.
By transposing the days in Genesis chapter one to the spiritual realm of God we see that each day is speaking mystically of a relationship with the Lord. The first day, for example, is concerned with a Christian’s relationship with the Lord as a result of receiving divine light. God said, “Let there be light,” and a relationship with the Lord is born. The work of the second day is separation; a new relationship with God that begins the separation of soul and spirit (Hebrews 4:12). The work of the third day is designed to bring us into resurrection life. Each day’s work of Genesis chapter one is progressively moving us into more of God until we are brought forth into His image. The light of the first day continues on through the rest of the days, as does each of the other day’s work, until His creative work is completed, and even then there is spiritual increase. When you come into all that God is, He will expand and your spiritual growth will continue – Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end (Isaiah 9:7).
This was all foundational for the third day, which is what we are most interested in at this time. You study the rest of the days and see if you can transpose them to God’s world. How do they relate to God’s work of creating His sons?
Genesis 1:9-13 Then God said,
Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let
the dry [land] appear; and it was so.
10 And God called the dry
[land] Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called seas. And God
saw that it was good.
11 Then God said, Let the
earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that
yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth; and
it was so.
12 And the earth brought
forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that
yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that
it was good.
13 So the evening and the
morning were the third day.
The topics of interest in our text are the following:
The Word creates.
Rivers and seas are boundaries.
Dry before fruitfulness.
Different levels of spiritual growth.
Fruit after its kind.
Verse 9 Then God said…
Eight times in this chapter we find the phrase “then God said” (verses 3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, and 26). All things are created by the Word. Through faith we understand that the ages were framed by the Word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. Hebrews 11:3. The King James Bible says that “the worlds were framed by the Word of God.” “Ages” is the correct translation. What we must understand here is that it is not just ages on a time line but ages in the realm of Spirit. Spiritually speaking, the first day would be an age and also the second day, third, etc. Paul brings this out more fully in his epistle to the Colossians.
For by Him (Jesus Christ; He is the Word) all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. Colossians 1:16. Notice carefully what Paul is saying here. The Lord created all things in heaven and in earth, visible and invisible. His creative work takes place in the natural realm and also in the spirit realm. If you are going on to know the Lord, then the creative work of the Lord is taking place in your life as you are being “delivered out of the power of darkness and are being translated into the Kingdom of the Lord” (Colossians 1:13). Many Christians think only of God’s creative work in the earthly realm because that is all they are aware of, but those who are passing through the spiritual days of Genesis chapter one are aware of the creative work of God in them.
Verses 9-10 Then God said,
Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let
the dry [land] appear; and it was so.
10 And God called the dry [land]
Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw
that it was good.
Rivers and seas are natural boundaries on earth. Let’s take the Atlantic Ocean for an example. The Atlantic Ocean divides America from Europe. Life in America and life in Europe are very different. The people talk differently and act differently. They even think differently. Their way of life is very different, and the mannerisms and influences of one is quite different from the other. You find the same things on a smaller scale. Each country in Europe has its special characteristics, and the same is true for America; each state has different characteristics. The spiritual atmosphere of each area has its own uniqueness. The spiritual realms have their variations also. The Scriptures often use rivers or seas to indicate different levels of Spirit. For example, when the children of Israel crossed over the Red Sea, they had left the bondage of Egypt. They not only entered a new territory, but they also entered a new relationship with God. Their natural life and their spiritual life changed. Things changed when they crossed the Red Sea and entered the wilderness. When they crossed the Jordan River things changed again. Now they were in the land God had promised their fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They could no longer relate to God as they did in the land of Egypt, which wasn’t much of a relationship at all. They could no longer relate to God as they did in the wilderness. Life had changed for them. They left Egypt as slaves, but they were entering the land of Canaan as the army of the Lord.
Verses 9-11 Then God said,
Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let
the dry [land] appear; and it was so.
10 And God called the dry
[land] Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God
saw that it was good.
11 Then God said, Let the
earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that
yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth; and
it was so.
You will notice in your Bibles that the word “land” is in italics. That means it is not in the original Scriptures. It was added by the translators because they thought it would make more sense. There is a Hebrew word for “land” and it is erets. However, the Holy Spirit did not allow the writer of the Book of Genesis to use erets here. Sometimes the absence of a word or the absence of a bit of information is a key to some spiritual truth, and we believe that is the case here.
If you are viewing these three verses only in a natural sense, then the word “land” needs to be inserted to make it reasonable to the natural mind. But the absence of the word “land” causes us to look for a mystical interpretation. Notice the train of events. Verse 10 gives the indication of water everywhere. Then God gathers the waters in certain places so that what is left is dry. Then in verse eleven there is fruitfulness. God makes the dry and then out of the dry He brings forth fruitfulness. That is a very important principle in the Scriptures.
Anyone who has ever planted a garden knows that dry ground cannot be fruitful; without water nothing will grow. On the other hand, it is an absolute must for spiritual growth. God only brings fruitfulness out of dry. The same series of events are seen in the 107th Psalm.
Psalm 107:31-38 Oh, that men
would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to
the children of men!
32 Let them exalt Him also in
the assembly of the people, and praise Him in the company of the elders.
(The people are not worshiping the Lord and exalting Him as they should. So
what does the Lord do?)
33 He turns rivers into a
wilderness, and the watersprings into dry ground;
34 A fruitful land into
barrenness, for the wickedness of those who dwell in it. (The Lord drains
all the rivers and springs of human abilities, making them barren.)
35 He turns a wilderness into
pools of water, and dry land into watersprings.
36 There He makes the hungry
dwell, that they may establish a city for a dwelling place,
37 And sow fields and plant
vineyards, that they may yield a fruitful harvest.
38 He also blesses them, and
they multiply greatly; and He does not let their cattle decrease.
Do you see it? In order for you to be fruitful in God, your human resources must be dried up. You will not hunger and thirst after the Lord until you become dry. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Matthew 5:6. You will not hunger and thirst for righteousness until you become dry. Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone thirsts, let him come unto Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. John 7:37-38. No one who has been feeding off the things of this world will be hungry for God. You will only thirst after Him when you have become a dry desert. Hear the prophet Isaiah. Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. Isaiah 43:19. It is the desert-people of God who experience the living waters of the Spirit. Those who become a wilderness will become a highway of the Lord God. This is what He is speaking of in the third day of Genesis chapter one. God only brings fruitfulness out of the dry.
Verse 11 Then God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth; and it was so.
The third day is the day of resurrection of life. The first day was the day of revelation-light; the second day was a day of separation. We can see the progressive work of God in His people. Light comes to us and we begin seeing what we were not aware of before. The next phase of work is the separation of soul and spirit. This opens the door for us to begin experiencing the resurrection life of the Lord. Each day presents a particular relationship with the Lord; the work of the first day prepares for the second day, which also prepares us for the third day, and so on.
On the third day we begin seeing the results of the work of God in our lives. The resurrection life of the Lord is coming forth within us. The grass, herbs, and trees speak of the different levels of spiritual growth. Spiritual life is a variable in the Body of Christ. Everyone does not begin at the same time and everyone does not progress at the same rate. It is important to understand this because it eliminates the absolute thinking of human nature, which says it is either this or that.
The third day Christians always have varying degrees of spiritual growth. Everyone is not on the same level. Remember also that this is merely the third day of a sixth day work. Therefore, while resurrection life has begun there is still the presence of the flesh life, more in some than in others. Too often one will think himself a tree when he is only a blade of grass. So it is at this time that our brother Paul gives us some apostolic wisdom. For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith (and also a measure of resurrection life). Romans 12:3.
Verses 11-12 Then God said,
Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree
that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth;
and it was so.
12 And the earth brought
forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that
yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that
it was good.
The principle of everything producing after it own kind is obvious. Only the life of an apple tree is in the seed of an apple. It will not produce an orange tree.
Now I’m going to explain to you why the third day involves tremendous dealings of God upon your life. Although resurrection life has begun to some degree, there is still the active flesh life that is opposed to the will of God. But let’s look at this in the light of the principle of everything only producing after its own kind. That would mean grass only produces grass; herbs only produce herbs; and trees only produce trees. If you are grass, does that mean you will always be grass? Grass, herbs, and trees represent different levels of spiritual growth. Now, if I am on the grass level, how to I become an herb? or a tree? This is where the dealings of God come in, because grass can’t become an herb, and an herb can’t become a tree. This is where the principle of “fruitfulness out of dry” comes in. That is how God creates. Remember the first two verses of this chapter? Before the earth (man) could come to the day when God says, “Let there be light,” it had to be without form and void. So how does grass become herbs? God dries up the grass and brings forth herbs. Have you noticed your grass drying up lately? Now, it feels good when you are coming forth as herbs, but it doesn’t feel good at all when you are grass in the drying up stage. But such is life in the third day!
Copyright © 2005 by Henry DuBose