ChristianDebates

BE FRUITFUL AND MULTIPLY
TAKE 3

Genesis 9:7 And as for you, be fruitful and multiply; Bring forth abundantly in the earth And multiply in it."

For the third time since Noah and family disembarked from the ark God says to them, “be fruitful and multiply.�?/FONT> First in Genesis 8:16-17, then in Genesis 9:1 and now once again here in Genesis 9:7 this word is given. Having already dealt with this twice, we will now take a somewhat more personal and spiritual look at this word, which is both a command and a promise.

As has already been noted, Noah’s experience with the flood has been likened to baptism. Peter, relating the flood to baptism, clearly says that the one is the antitype of the other.

1 Peter 3:20 who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. 21 There is also an antitype which now saves us--baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

And consequently, to every one of us, when we come up out of the waters of baptism, receive from God the commission to “go forth and multiply, and fill the earth.�?/FONT> As Christians were are to multiply and fill the earth. In the words of Jesus we are to "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.�?(Matthew 28:19).

The gospel is to go “to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people�?(Revelation 4:6). We are to bear much fruit. That is the purpose of the Church’s existence. But not just any fruit will do. Yes, we are to multiply and fill the earth, yet at the same time it is not about “numbers.�?Now, that is not to say that there is anything wrong with numbers. God intended for the church to grow. The apostolic church grew at a phenomenal rate. And how did they get that phenomenal growth? They stayed on message. They refused to compromise the gospel in order to make it more presentable to the world. The apostolic church grew at a phenomenal rate not by their own power but by the power of God.

Acts 2:47 . . . And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

In Isaiah God says to us:

Isaiah 54:2 "Enlarge the place of your tent, And let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; Do not spare; Lengthen your cords, And strengthen your stakes. 3 For you shall expand to the right and to the left, . . .

Yet sadly, these days many churches have become so enchanted with the prospect of getting the “numbers,�?of “enlarging their tent,�?that they have become willing to compromise the gospel to do it. Some once vibrant churches have bought into the idea that in order to reach the world they must become like the world. That if somehow if they lower their standards and make the gospel more worldly then that will make it easier for the worldly to make the transition into their churches. The result of this experiment are dead and dying churches littering the Christian landscape. Many of the big mainstream churches fall into this category. They did not become the big mainstream churches by being spiritually dead. But now many of them are stagnating and even shriveling up. They have lost the power.

Others in seeking “numbers�?have replaced the gospel with a lot of noise, and excitement which they call the moving of the Holy Spirit. And yes, many times they get the “numbers.�?But one must question if it is the Lord who is adding them to those churches.

And yet, God still has people who refuse to compromise the gospel, people who still stay on message. He still works in His church. And He is still adding “to the church daily those who were being saved.�?(Acts 2:47). And God’s word to “multiply and fill the earth�?/FONT> is still finding its fulfillment in the Christian world.