Tuesday, March 10th

Yesterday we looked at God’s image and intention with generosity through creation. But then comes Genesis 3 and everything is distorted. Evil comes on the scene and asks two revealing questions that we battle with to this day.

Did God really say that? Is God holding out on you? That’s essentially what he asked Adam and Eve, creating doubt in God’s truth and can he be trusted? Which means when WE get to generosity, we doubt God’s truth and much of our battle is a subtle belief that God could be holding out on us.

From that point on, God was pursuing mankind, yes for the restored relationship, but to reset things back to the creative order, which includes generosity. That’s why it doesn’t take God long to try to do this again with humanity.

Read Genesis 12:1-2- The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. 2 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing…”

God is saying to Abrahm, “do you trust me? Leave what is familiar and go to a new land. As you trust me, I will do what I said I would do. I will bless you and you will be a blessing to others.”

God is saying, “As you trust me, I will be generous to you and you then are to be generous with others.”

Not only does he declare that to Abraham, but then he establishes the Jewish culture with that generous mindset

Leviticus 19:9-10- where he encourages land owners to mark out the ends of their field for those in need to glean off their fields.

Leviticus 25 gives us this radical picture of generosity with the year of Jubilee. Every 50 years the jubilee would have effectively prevented cycles of intergenerational poverty and create a social and economic parity that would make Israel unique among all nations.

Even notice Proverbs 14:31- Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.

King Solomon says that we reflect, honor our Creator, our God when we are generous to those in need. God’s image and intention is to be generous.

Then we fast forward to Jesus. Remember he makes the declaration in John 14:7- 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

Which means when we look to the life and teachings of Jesus we should see the image and intention of a generous God. The challenge in that statement, is that may be true and we may be able to cognitively understand Jesus’ teaching and life of reflecting God. But do we trust God or are we still plagued with what happened in the garden and our sinful nature. “Is that what God is really saying? And is God holding out on me?”

Today, I want you to sit with the way God is pursuing redeeming generosity, how you’ve seen it throughout the Old Testament and how Jesus is a reflection of God’s image. Then I want you to wrestle with those questions: Did God really say “that”? Is God holding out on me?

As a part of that, if you want, please sit with this song as well. Goodness of God