Be Fruitful and Multiply

Genesis 1:28

The very first thing that God did after creating the very first man and woman was to bless them and to give them a command.

And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living
thing that moves on the earth.”
Genesis 1:28

Immediately following the flood, God gave Noah and his sons the same blessing and command.

And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them,
“Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.”
Genesis 9:1

This primary and repeated command from God tells us something important about who we are and what our role and focus for life should be.

First, God has blessed us and continues to bless us each day.  We are God’s created image bearers.  And He has chosen to adopt us as His children.

Second, God charges us to “Be fruitful and multiply”.  While this certainly had and continues to have direct application to “fill the earth” it also points us to some spiritual truths.

We are to be fruitful spiritually.  John 15:5 tells us how to be fruitful, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”  Abide in the Vine of Jesus’ grace and He will bear much spiritual fruit through your life.

We are also to multiply.  In the Great Commission, Jesus commands us with all authority to “Go and make disciples of all nations”.  Our chief role and the focus of our life should be on multiplying disciples of all nations.  We are called to take part in “filling the earth” with the glory of God.

What an awesome privilege to be blessed and called by God!