Scriptures: Genesis 1:28 & 3:15 & 17:15-21
Song of Praise: Doxology
Devotional:
What comes to mind when you hear the word 'fruitful'?
Maybe you think about a tree bearing an abundant crop of fruit, or perhaps even a cornucopia, filled to the brim with all kinds of delicious fruit.
Being fruitful is a design feature that God has programmed into His creation.
It is the most natural and inevitable outcome of human existence. If we are alive, then we cannot help but create and be fruitful.
Because we are created in God's image, we are designed to create as a way to mirror our great Creator.
The instruction that God gave to Adam and Eve was to "be fruitful and multiply".
Adam and Eve were created with the capacity to re-create more humans; to have babies.
This astonishing fact has become quite common to modern culture, but I think it would have been an amazing notion to newly created Adam and Eve.
Childbirth is symbolic of God's commandments being obeyed. It is also a sign of God's blessing being poured out onto His people.
It is the very act of childbirth that God's people, especially the women, placed great hope in.
Because of the curse that God had placed on Eve, (and her daughters after her) childbirth became a painful endeavor.
Still, being fruitful and giving birth to children was a woman's only hope for redemption.
The only way for the Messiah to come, was through the womb of a woman.
Why was that? Genesis 3:15 is what Bible scholars refer to as the "protoevangelium", or "the first gospel".
When God was pronouncing His curses on His newly fallen creation, He gave His people a glimmer of hope. The promise was that one day, a man (Jesus the Messiah) would be born of a woman. This man would crush the head of their tricksy foe, defeating once and for all the great enemy of God's people, Satan. This victor would restore fellowship between fallen man and God.
In order for that promise to be fulfilled, Eve and her daughters would have to obey God, enduring the pain of their curse, and be fruitful; they must give birth to many babies, in hopes that one of them would deliver the baby that would ultimately deliver them from their curse.
If you skip forward a few chapters in Genesis, we are introduced to a man named Abraham.
God made a covenant with Abraham and promised him that He would make Abraham fruitful. This was great news to Abraham because he and his wife, Sarai, were unable to have children.
They were old and well passed their childbearing years. They thought that their chance at producing a child had long passed them by.
Sarai's womb was a desert, and she was now 90 years old. Have you ever known a 90 year old woman that became pregnant?
Certainly not!
This seemed foolish to Sarai, so she devised a great plan to help God accomplish His promise.
Sarai acted sinfully, and ordered her servant to commit adultery with her husband, Abraham.
Sarai thought, since she couldn't have a baby, she would just sanction a sinful act, ensuring Abraham had a child by other means.
Those means were outside of God's ordered design for human flourishing, and Sarai knew that.
She had acted faithlessly.
Sometime after all of these sad deeds transpired, God spoke to Abraham again.
He told Abraham that Sarai's name was to be changed to 'Sarah', meaning, 'Princess'.
Despite her faithlessness, God would be true to His promise.
Sarah's womb would no longer be a desert wasteland, but by the power and grace of God, it would become fruitful.
The child that God gave to Sarah was named Isaac, meaning, 'laughter'.
It is certainly laughable to think that a 90 year old woman can have a baby, but it is even more laughable to think that God could use Sarah to play a part in His plan of ultimate deliverance. Even after Sarah doubted and sinned against God, He would make her a Princess. Her son, Issac, would be the great patriarch of a Kingly lineage, leading to King David, and ultimately, to King Jesus.
The family that was once cursed with the famine of fruitlessness, became the family that God used to restore fellowship between Himself and His people.
Benediction:
May the Lord bless you and keep you;
May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
Numbers 6:24-26
Table Talk Questions:
Prior to Christ's birth, why did women so badly want to be ' fruitful'?
Why did Sarah doubt God's promise of a child?
How did God use Sarah's famined womb to restore fellowship between Himself and His people?
Meal: Green Chicken Chili, Cornbread, Chili sides, & Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
Recipes:
White Chicken Chili
Prep and Cook Time: 30 minutes + 30 minutes to cook chicken
Serves: 6-8
1 tablespoon Olive Oil
1 small Onion, chopped
2 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 Jalapeno, diced
3 boneless and skinless Chicken Breasts, chopped and fully cooked
4 cups Chicken Broth
3 cans White Beans drained
1 can of Rotel
2 cans of diced Green Chilies
1 Tablespoon Cumin
3/4 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Paprika
1/2 teaspoon Cayenne
1/2 teaspoon Oregano
Soup Toppings:
Cilantro (optional)
sliced Jalapeno (optional)
Sour Cream (optional)
Cheese (optional)
Instructions:
In a large soup pot on medium heat, add oil and cook your onions until they become translucent.
Add in remaining soup ingredients, allow the soup to simmer on low for 30 minutes.
Serve Hot and with preferred toppings sprinkled on top.
Sweet Cornbread
Prep and Cook Time: 45 minutes
Yields: 1- 8 inch skillet
2 cups Self-Rising Corn Meal (I prefer yellow cornmeal)
1 ¼ cup Buttermilk *see notes to make your own
1 large Egg, beaten lightly
¼ cup Vegetable Oil
¼ cup sugar
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 F
Combine buttermilk, egg, vegetable oil and mix.
Add cornmeal, sugar and mix completely.
Pour into a hot skillet or pan.
Bake at 400 F for 20-30 minutes or until top is lightly browned.
Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
Prep and Cook Time: 1 hours + 30 minutes
Serves: 12-14
2 ½ cups All-Purpose Flour
1 ¾ teaspoon Baking Powder
¼ teaspoon Baking Soda
½ teaspoon Salt
½ cup Butter, softened
½ cup Vegetable Oil
1 ½ cups Sugar
½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
4 large Eggs
¾ cup Milk
½ cup fresh Lemon Juice
2 Tablespoon fresh Lemon Zest
2 Tablespoon Poppy Seeds
Cream Cheese Frosting:
8 ounce Cream Cheese softened
½ cup Butter, softened
5-6 cups Powdered Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Instruction:
Prepare 3- 8 inch cake pans with parchment paper circles in the bottom and grease the sides.
Preheat oven to 350 F
Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium sized bowl and set aside.
Add the butter, oil, sugar, and vanilla extract to a large mixer bowl.
Beat together until light in color and fluffy, about 1 ½ to 2 minutes.
*Do not skip the creaming process.
Add eggs one at a time, mixing until mostly combined after each.
Scrape down sides of bowl as needed to be sure all ingredients are well incorporated.
Add half of the dry ingredients to the batter and mix until mostly combined.
Combine the milk and lemon juice, then slowly add the mixture to the batter and mix until well combined.
Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix until well combined and smooth.
Scrape down sides of bowl as needed to be sure all ingredients are well incorporated.
Do not over mix the batter.
Add the lemon zest and poppy seeds and gently stir to combine.
Divide the batter evenly between the cake pans and bake for 22-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with a few crumbs.
Allow to cool completely, and then frost.
Frosting:
Combine all the ingredients and mix until fluffy. Frost your cake once it is cooled.