6 October 2026

The third important relationship in Genesis 1 is between human beings and living creatures. The catalogue of living creatures is brief but revealing. The story-teller has other points to make too!

As well as the fish of the sea, the birds of the air and the cattle of every kind, there are some unusual creatures mentioned – creeping things (which are not very pleasant) and great sea monsters (which are a but scary)!

Isn’t this wonderful too? God’s providence extends to those animals which are creepy and scary. They all have a place within his creation. For  there’s much more to the creation than human beings.

Animals are not denigrated but blessed. And in exercising our dominion over them, we have no right to abuse them. Vegetarians, the anti-hunting lobby, the animal rights activists, the RSPCA, the World Wildlife Fund and so on encourage us to exercise restraint and redefine the boundaries of our dominance.