We Are Creators

Although God first said of us to be rulers before we were created, He spoke something first to us once we had ears to hear. “Be fruitful and multiply,” He said. “Fill the earth.” (Genesis 1:28)

God’s greatest joy (or so it would seem), is found in His creation. At the very pinnacle of creation, He chose to reproduce Himself in us, making children in His own image. And how incredible it is that His first command to us is to share in that joy!

Now it’s quite obvious that this means to have children (or to create those in our own image), but there is much more to be found in this command than that. To be fruitful and multiply is a command for every aspect of our lives. From finances to relationships to even how we spend our time, we are to find joy in multiplication. But the joy of fruitfulness is not just for the fruitful.

Fruit is made for others to enjoy. It’s made to give life and nourishment to the hungry. It’s a very selfless thing. A tree does not need its fruit. It doesn’t care if it reproduces. It cannot be a mother to a young sapling. It cannot teach its child how to be a tree. Its fruit is for the enjoyment of others. It is to give life and food and shelter to God’s creation.

We spend so much of our lives trying to get for ourselves—even spiritual things—to build our own kingdoms, and to satisfy our own hunger. But Christ’s example to us was not about gathering. It was about sowing. “Give and it will be given to you,” He said in Luke 6:38. We were created to give. We were created, not for ourselves, but for others, to bring life and nourishment to all who would receive it.

We’ve spent way too long seeking the things of Heaven out of selfish ambition and wondering why God seems to be holding out on us. But if we start seeking the things of Heaven so that we might share them with others, we’d be amazed at how the Lord pours out. We need to stop looking for the next personal touch from God that will change ourselves, and start looking for the personal touch that will change all the lives around us. It comes down to the original sin of prioritizing our own kingdoms ahead of God’s Kingdom. But we were made to give.

And not only is our fruit for others, but it’s also full of seeds. Fruit is made to reproduce itself. A single piece of fruit with ten seeds in it could potentially create ten whole trees of fruit that would each continue to reproduce. That’s so much more than just addition—it’s multiplication (“be fruitful and multiply”). And the same is true of us when we bring life and nourishment to others.

Now, some trees bear good fruit, some bear bad fruit, and some bear no fruit at all. I don’t think very many of us fall into that last category, and aside from a total recluse, I’d say that almost everyone bears some sort of fruit in their lives.

The question is whether or not the fruit is good. Does it give life to those who eat it, or does it suck the life out of everyone who takes a bite? Jesus says, in Matthew 12:33, “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.”

This is not just a lesson about your children. Yes, being fruitful does mean having children, and those of us who are parents know what a joy and privilege it is to raise a child in their image. But whether or not we have physical children, we can still reproduce in our own likeness. It’s called discipleship.

After His resurrection, Jesus spoke to His disciples and said, “All authority has been given to Me in Heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations.” (Matthew 28:18-19). First off, we see that He took back the authority that we had forsaken. But then, we see Him give it right back to us, telling us to be fruitful once again. Just as He (the tree) created fruit in His disciples, He also commanded His disciples (of which we are fruit) to go and do likewise—to become trees themselves, and to make more fruit—to multiply.

We produce fruit in those around us, and we either leave the taste of Christ in their mouths, or we leave them tasting death (which can sometimes be deceivingly sweet). This often boils down to the question of whether we’re giving or taking in a relationship. I personally think we’d all be happier if there were no taking whatsoever—only giving and receiving (and there’s a big difference between taking and receiving).

But the next question is, what’s being given? A tree, and ultimately the fruit that comes from it, is a product of the soil it’s planted in, the care it receives, and the amount of water and sun it receives, among many other things. The life it gives comes from the life it receives.

And that means that if we are to produce good fruit, we must first be planted where we can draw from the life of God. This means being careful about what we let enter our bodies, especially through what we see and hear, as what we draw from will become the fruit we bear. Ephesians 3:17 says that we are to be rooted and grounded in love, and so long as we remain in God’s love, we will bear good fruit, and we will see our fruit multiply, just as God intended for us from the beginning. This is who we were made to be.


Continue to We Are Producers ->