Today's passages i want you to see how Paul is getting our attention with representing the image of God.

Galatians 5:22-25- 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

We are familiar with the fruit of the Spirit, but I want to draw your attention to the parallel to creation. God gives us “seeds” to cultivate. Yes, I get it, that was for planting and eating. But why wouldn't it be appropriate to see how God would incorporate spiritual seed cultivating. Either we are planting seeds of flesh or seeds of the Spirit.

What seeds do you need to cultivate in your heart? In your relationships? 

Ephesians 4:22-5:2-  22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. 25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26 “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold. 28 Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need. 29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. 1 Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

I know that was a lot. But did you notice the call out of the old self and into the new self, created to be like God?

Then I want you to go back through the passage and highlight the ways Paul is calling out what it looks like to live in righteousness and holiness. It's a hefty list. 

One of my life verses. Ephesians 2:10- For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Folks, God handcrafted you specifically to be his image in the world. You are a craftsman designed for kingdom work. In the ways you listen, in the ways you respond, in the ways you cultivate, in the ways you plant, in the ways you grow.

You are God’s handiwork, created in Christ to generously bring order and care in the world around you.

Take a moment with this song, because in order to live the image of God we need to Abide with Him. 

 

 
Yesterday’s question landed us here, If God created us, in his image, as an idol to represent him to the world, through his creative order and generosity, how are you living out that image?
 
I get it though, Genesis 3 happened, sin came in, not only separated us from God and from one another, but it distorted what that image and intention was to be. That’s another reason why God had to send a new image bearer, a new adam, a new way to be human into the world.
 
Do you find it interesting that the first man was created within the dirt and the animals and that Jesus, came to our world in the mess of a barn, amidst the creatures of the land. Kind of sounds like another creation story, Day six.
 
I want to give you broad stroke declarations of Jesus, as the new way to be human, the new image of God, that we are to bare.
 
Colossians 1:15-20- 15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
 
Do you notice the image of God in Christ? How he is to rule? Because of the peace through his cross, we then have Christ dwell in us. The same indwelling that God has in Christ, is in us.
 
What does that mean or look like for you?
 
Read Matthew 22:15-22- 18 But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? 19 Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, 20 and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?” 21 “Caesar’s,” they replied. Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
 
Again, image, the image on the coin was Ceasar’s. But the power behind what Jesus says, “give back to God’s what is God’s.” He is saying the image you were created in, the image of God, you need to give yourself to that image, give yourself to God.
 
What does it mean for you to give God what is God’s?
 
Matthew 20:20-28- 20 Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him. 21 “What is it you want?” he asked. She said, “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.”22 “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?” “We can,” they answered. 23 Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.” 24 When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers.  25 Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 26 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

The disciples were arguing over who should “rule” alongside of Jesus. Notice what Jesus said about the how to rule? 

How do you need to lead in the image of God, like Christ, serving? 

Take a listen to this song as an encouragement for your journey today.
More Like Jesus:

 

If you want a brief overview of the Image of God discussion, take a look at this video by Bible Project.
 
Image of God by Bible Project:

Okay, we need to look at what we are supposed to be doing with the image of God that was given to us within creation. Again what do we see in the creation story?
 
26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over ...28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over … 29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant … and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food… 31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.
 
We see that God invites humanity with two directives. The first is to rule and subdue. We should be reminded of how he created the sun and the moon to rule or govern the day and the night, it marks the seasons and the days. That should give us a clue that part of the creative order is to rule, oversee, but more importantly, give boundaries to, guidance with, or in our original language of God creating, bringing order to the disorder, forming and filling.
 
As the image of God, how are we bringing order to disorder, forming and filling? Remember ancient text, this is the basis for what is the civilization that we are forming and filling? What are the society and cultural realities we are bringing to the world. This doesn’t mean we find our own people and stick with just them. No, this is bringing God’s kingdom here on earth. I’ll touch on it more in a second, because I want to show the last element of how we live out the image of God.
 
What did you notice in the creation story? We were invited to rule and subdue, then God blessed us and gave us. All the other ancient gods, mythology, were gods who demanded something to be given to them. But Israel’s God, Yahweh, was a God of blessing and giving, was a generous God. A God who looked to be generous to his image bearers.
 
Let me summarize Genesis 1:26-2:1 and Day six this way. We are, God’s image, created to generously bring order and care to the world He created. Sit in that statement for a moment. Self-analyze, as God’s image, would you say that is true for your life? Maybe in some areas? Maybe not in others? Maybe on some days? Maybe not in others?
 
If God created us, in his image, as an idol to represent him to the world, through his creative order and generosity, how are you living out that image?
 
How are you living out that summary of Day six? What does it mean for you, in your world, to live out rule, subdue, bless, and give?

 

Ok, we need to get to the main course…. What do you think of when you think of the image of God? When you think image or even the Greek word, eikon (icon), the icon or image of God, what do you think of?
 
Like the golden arches, when you see the golden arches do you think McDonald’s, big mac, filet fish, quarter pounder, French fries? Or when you see the swoosh, you think of Nike and basketball shoes or clothes. Or when you see the iconic G, the only G that matters, you think of the Green Bay Packers, Vince Lombardi, Bart Starr, Reggie White, Jordan Love, Micah Parsons.
 
When we think of the image of something or the icon of something, even on currency. We look at the image, and we see that it represents something, it stands for something, it has meaning or value because of what it represents. Let’s go back to our passage, because I think it actually means more than that.
 
Genesis 1:26-27-26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, … 27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
 
The word image is similar to the word likeness, saying the same thing. But that word in the Hebrew is tselem, which actually means idol or statue. The purpose of a tselem was to represent a deity. If you want to jot down 2 Kings 11:18 notice the correlation, All the people of the land went to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They smashed the altars and idols to pieces … The word idols is tselem, or image. In Assyrian or Babylonian culture they had images or idols called Lamassu. They would put this statue or image at the entrances of their cities or their temples. They represented the icon of the king and they treated the kings like gods, a physical image, representing the king or deity. When the king conquered a city or territory, they would put up an image/idol at the entrance to let everyone know who rules now.
 
Then we read Genesis 1 and that’s what God is saying he is doing. Herbert Niehr says, “Humans were created to be the living statues of God. There was no need of a divine image because humans represented Yahweh as a statue would have done.”
 
God is creating us in his image, that we are to be his idol, his representation to the world who rules, but not ruling out of absolute authority, but ruling through bearing his essence, reflecting his attributes, and creating order on his behalf.
 
But here’s the challenge, that’s why God said we should have no idols, images before us, because we were to be the image or the idol of God, representing his essence and his purpose to the world.
 
Now some of you may say, “I don’t have an idolatry problem. I don’t have images or idols in my house, that I pray to or bow down to.” Not so fast my friends. Image or idols are simply reflecting or representing what we behold, what is before us.
 
Idolatry is reflecting or representing something other than God, or placing our trust, our essence, our attributes in something other than God.
 
We can have our careers be idols, our spouses, our family, we can have people be idols, we can have buddhas or saints be idols, or politics or ideation. We bear witness to false gods and don’t represent the image of God that he has created and invited us to live by.
 
New Testament professor Crispin Fletcher-Louis shares in plainly, but boldly.  “To locate divine presence and action in another part of creation or in that which we create is to absolve ourselves of our own responsibility to bear divine presence and action.” In other words, when we create an image and declare to others, “Here is your God!” it’s because that is so much easier than representing the presence of God to them ourselves. Being God’s image is our vocation; it’s our job. Idolatry is so egregious because it is how a person says to God, “I quit!”
 
Honestly, I never saw idolatry this way and I never saw the power of being created in God’s image this way. Yeah, I knew that I needed represent him, be a disciple, but I wonder how many times we miss the depth of this, because we have surmised the creation story, and ultimately the gospel story to, “be saved and behave so he will let you in.”
 
Yes, there is sin and brokenness in the world, we need a rescue, we need a savior, but if the Genesis story is true for all of scripture, then we need to go back to the fact that God desires and designs to work through human beings. Humanity is the eyes, ears, mouth, being and activity of the creator; God’s image within his creation.
 
Which should cause us to pause, how are we doing at representing God to his creative order? How are we doing at being his eyes, ears, mouth, being and activity to others? Remember, God didn’t just put his image inside Christians, or inside the good people, or inside the people that look and think like you. God placed his image in all of humanity, yes it is broken because of sin, and Christ redeemed. But do we treat others with a dignity that reflects the image of God? Man, there’s another message for another time. Showing dignity to others is probably part of the buffet you want to skip, but it is one that should get our attention.
 
Today, I want you to sit with the challenge of what it means, according to Scripture to live out the image of God? How it may be unsettling to hear it as an idol? But also, how we have other idols in our lives?
 
Meet with God and allow him to shift your heart, mind, and actions to align with his image.

 

Let’s jump into it, Genesis 1:26-2:1, this is the rest of Day six in creation. Remember, we are looking at the Spirit-inspired ancient text, where the authors are sharing with us the creation story, depicting God’s (Yahweh’s) creative work. Where Yahweh, creates order out of disorder, forms and fills, Creator-King who creates a good kingdom. Now humanity arrives on the scene.
 
Genesis 1:26-2:1- 26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
 27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” 29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.
 
I want to highlight two things briefly, that will play into the rest of our discussion, but I can’t do it justice, entirely, I think it is another message or two for another time.
 
What I want to briefly tie together is the statement, “Let us make mankind in our image…. God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”
 
Typically we understand the “us” in relation to God, as the Trinity, which is true. But the Trinity wasn’t an ancient understanding when this was originally written. They would argue that God was singular and plural, because of how he created humanity.
 
The word “mankind/human beings” in the Hebrew is adam, where we get Adam. Adam is related to species, humanity as a singular species, but that God also created humanity as plural, gender, male and female. One species, two genders; humanity, male and female.
 
I think this is really important as we see we are created in God’s image, for ruling and subduing, there is a singular, yet plurality to God and to how we are to function within the created order.
 
Tim Mackie from the Bible Project puts it this way. “Ruling in partnership together is a key part of being the image of God. The gendered, distinct differences between man and woman, while also sharing similarities and becoming one (Genesis 2:24) is a potent image of the nature of God.”
 
Hear me, I am not saying God is male and female, male or female. God is Spirit, who, in Christ, did take the nature of a man, but as you will see shortly in Colossians, God is invisible, but his nature has male distinctions and female distinctions, yet are one, are unified. But humanity is broken and divided. Which is why, a gender discussion about respect and honor, is necessary, but not for this message. Because I believe, once we unpack more of what the ancient author is saying about the image, rule, and blessing of God, it will preach for itself.

 

Last observation, day one God separated light and darkness and day four he filled the heavens with light to govern. Where do we see Jesus separate light and darkness? Where do we see him separate rule?

With a word, he took care of darkness forever and stepped into ultimate rule. “It is finished.” And he breathed his last breath.

If you want to jot down a few passages where we see God’s victory over darkness is God’s victory over sin and death. You can jot down Romans 8:34, 1 Corinthians 15:54-58 and Hebrews 2:14-15.

For today I want to read Romans 6:3-11 (Message version)- That’s what baptism into the life of Jesus means. When we are lowered into the water, it is like the burial of Jesus; when we are raised up out of the water, it is like the resurrection of Jesus. Each of us is raised into a light-filled world by our Father so that we can see where we’re going in our new grace-sovereign country. Could it be any clearer? Our old way of life was nailed to the cross with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life—no longer captive to sin’s demands! What we believe is this: If we get included in Christ’s sin-conquering death, we also get included in his life-saving resurrection. We know that when Jesus was raised from the dead it was a signal of the end of death-as-the-end. Never again will death have the last word. When Jesus died, he took sin down with him, but alive he brings God down to us. From now on, think of it this way: Sin speaks a dead language that means nothing to you; God speaks your mother tongue, and you hang on every word. You are dead to sin and alive to God. That’s what Jesus did.

Which means when we experience sin, failure, a sense of death we need to look to Christ’s victory. Christ separated light from darkness, death to life and he sits victoriously at the right hand of God, and we are to live in that same victory, that same life, that same rule.
First, it is a decision to live in that life-saving resurrection, choosing to believe Jesus’ redemptive work at the cross and empty tomb. Do you believe? If not, why? If not, please reach out and let’s talk more about this life-giving decision.

Second, it is confessing those areas that we are living in the “old-country” of sin and repenting (turning) to live in the grace-country.

It can be as simple as this, “God, I give you this area of my life, I no longer want to be ruled by it. I want to live under your rule and grace. Forgive me, set me free, because of the powerful work of the cross. May my spirit be guided by your Spirit. Thank you for the victory YOU have given me.”

This is the creative order, when what is formed around us or in us is in chaos, may we look to what is filing us; God’s truth, the Spirit’s peace, and Christ’s victory.

In what ways do you need to go 'deeper still' in your faith journey, and what is holding you back from taking that next step of trust and obedience?

Take a moment as well with this song as a song of reflection A Thousand Hallelujahs

 

Remember, this week we are looking at God’s forming and filling of creation and then how do we see that through the lens of Jesus?

Day two was separating the waters, water and sky and day five was filling with sea creatures and birds.

Mark 4:35-41- 35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. 40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” 41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

What do you notice?

Remember, water represented chaos and there was an undercurrent of fear related to the sea creatures.

What do we see with Jesus? In the midst of the storm, in the midst of the chaotic waters, what was Jesus doing? Sleeping, sawing logs, deep sleep that he had to be woken up in the middle of the storm. Was this because he was just that tired? I don’t think so, we don’t know for sure, but I don’t think so. I think it’s bigger than that.

Remember, at least four of the disciples were trained fishermen. They knew how the storms on the Sea of Galilee would come out of nowhere and be fierce. Yet, trained fishermen, who knew what they were doing were filled with fear, to the point they make a pretty honest but challenging question to Jesus, “don’t you care…. Don’t you care if we drown?”
I wonder, in the midst of our chaos, have we ever cried out to God in that way, “God, don’t you care? Don’t you care about the storm I am in? Don’t you care that I’m drowning? Don’t you care that I’m struggling in this storm?” To the point where we think Jesus is just ignoring us or asleep.

But what do we notice about the passage? Yes, Jesus was asleep because Jesus had peace. Jesus had peace because he was Lord over creation. We see that because of what he says after being woken up.

Jesus doesn’t chastise the disciples; he doesn’t bark at them. In the midst of Jesus’ peace, notice what he did. He rebuked the wind but spoke to the waters, creation language. With a word, “quiet, be still” or in some translations it says, “peace, be still.” The Lord of creation, because he governs over all had peace and spoke peace. He governs over the sea and the sea monsters, the fear and the doubt, even of the disciples.

The question Jesus asks the disciples isn’t slanderous or even offensive. It’s a pause for them to truly think and respond. “Why were you fearful? Where is your faith?” Or let me put it this way. What do you have faith in?

Jesus was at peace and but the disciples were in chaos. Jesus was expressing to them, “I am Lord of Creation, the Lord of Order.”

Which means, when we face the storms of life, when the waters of life are crashing all around us, do we believe God cares for us? If not why? Because it’s his promise. But also, how do we seek his peace? Seek His calm? His rest? (Which we will talk about in a few weeks.)

His peace is his presence, seeking prayer, quieting our mind and heart, “take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ.” Which means I take the thought of insecurity or the thought of fear and I ask is this from God? If not, I give that thought to Christ because he cares and he is Lord of creation.

Or maybe, recite what he spoke into the storm. “Peace be still.” Heart, mind, Christ’s peace in me, peace be still.

Today, what would it look like to take 10 minutes to practice silence and prayer, taking your thoughts captive and bringing them to Jesus, seeking his peace with what is swirling all around you.

 

I want to go back the question I raised last week. Do we see Jesus do something similar in his life, that we see at creation?

Obviously, if I’m asking the question, it is a yes. I want to show you three stories where we see Jesus, with a word speak into the chaos of the wilderness, water, and darkness and bring order.

I’m going to go backwards in the days of creation and Jesus’ life. Day three and six was talking about the forming/separation of water and land and then filling it with animals and humanity. Where do we see Jesus interact with the chaos of the wilderness?

Luke 4:1-13- Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. 3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” 4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’” 5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 If you worship me, it will all be yours.” 8 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’[c]”

9 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. 10 For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; 11 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” 12 Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 13 When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.

What do you notice? In the midst of the chaos of the wilderness, the lies of the evil one, Jesus was filled with truth. The truth of Scripture and the truth of the Spirit filled him in the midst of the lies. And with a word, “it is written” he rebukes evil. Btw- did you notice the last time he spoke back to satan? “It’s said” … I would harken back to creation, when the author said, “God said….” God said, Jesus said and with a powerful word, chaos and evil is repelled by truth.

Can I give you one other interesting connect, if you read this similar story in Mark 1:12-13- 12 At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, 13 and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.
A call back to creation, wilderness, chaos and Jesus brings order through filling himself with the Spirit of truth.

Which means, as we live in the wilderness, when we are walking through a barren time in life, a lonely time, a time of weakness, what is formed around us or within us can be chaotic. Think about it, the chaos of circumstances around you, some you can control, some you can’t. The chaos within you, doubt, fear, shame.

What do you do when you are walking through a wilderness and feel desolate, weak, or lonely?

How are you filled? Are you filled with his truth? When you begin to hear the lies of the enemy, how are you combating the lies with the truth of God?

To be filled with the truth, we need to know the truth. Reading scripture, writing it down, memorizing, declaring it.

What passages do you need to fill your mind, heart, and attitude to come against the lies, loneliness, and weakness we can face in the wilderness?

 

Read Genesis 1:20-23- 20 And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” 23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.

What do you notice? We see that God created living creatures in the water and birds to fly in the air. Depending on your translation, we also see a phrase, great creatures of the sea or sea monsters. This is the word tannin (tan-neen), which is translated whales, marine or land monster, sea-serpent, sea monster.

I understand that this may be strange, especially the way some of our English translations try to tame the meaning. This is a parallel to other creation stories (Babylonian, Egyptian, Canaanite). But the Lexham Bible Dictionary states it plainly. “The bible writers regularly use the sea, serpents, and various sea monsters to represent forces of cosmic chaos that must be held in check by the power of Yahweh.” Simply put, taneen were the ancient mascots of Chaos.

With them in the creation story, God has dominion and power over the sea and all that is in it. If you want to jot down Psalm 74:13-15, 104:26.

Back to the pattern of days. Day two we see God created or formed the “dome”, separated the waters from the waters. Day five we see him fill the waters below and the waters above with living sea creatures and birds of the air.

Ok, day six, but we are only going to look at the first part of what is created in day six. We will leave humanity until next week. Genesis 1:24-25- 24 And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

Very simple, day six Yahweh created land creatures of its various kinds. I’m not going to spend a lot of time on this section because I want to get to the application piece. But notice the pattern? Day three he formed by gathering and separating the water and the land. Day six he filled the land with land creatures.

Let me put the pattern together for you Day one- light, darkness, Day four- sun, moon, stars Day two- sky, water, Day five- birds fish, Day three- land, Day six- animals and humans. Forming and filling.

A sequence is laid out in a literary way, not necessarily a chronological way. I think it can also demonstrate the care with which God prepares the cosmos for its inhabitants. We see a God of order, separating and gathering, forming and filling.

Let me summarize what we’ve been talking about for the last two weeks, as we maybe see creation in a new light. With His powerful word, our God, Creator-King forms and fills all of creation.

 

If you have not had a chance to listen to the message on April 19th or 26th, I encourage you to go back and take a listen. This all builds on each other.

My intention last week, wasn’t to land on one specific way creation took place, but to throw out the challenge to all opinions of creation because I believe the declaration of the creation story, of Genesis 1 and 2 isn’t about the HOW of creation, it is about the WHO of creation. As Genesis 1:1 says, In the beginning GOD created….

Which means do I believe that God could have created in 7-24-hr days? Yeah, I believe he could. Do I believe that God could create over 100,000’s of years? Yeah, I believe he could. Do I believe that God could have used micro-evolution? Yeah, I believe he could. Do I believe that God could have said, “Bang” and created the heavens and the earth? Yeah, I do. Now I got you squirming, didn’t I?

It’s not how, it’s the WHO. Because through the Spirit-inspired, ancient text, the focus wasn’t on science, but on Yahweh, the Creator, or as we said, With His powerful Word, the King of the Universe created earth as His good kingdom. That’s the point of the creation story.
Last week we looked at Days 1-3 and I would say those days were about God forming, taking what was in chaos and bringing order. Day 1 he said, “let there be light” and he separated the light from the darkness, formed light in the darkness. Day 2 he separated the waters from above and below, he formed the vault, the sky above and the water below. Day 3 he separated the water by forming the land and vegetation with seeds. Now let’s look at how God is going to fill what he formed.

Read Genesis 1:14-19- 14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

I want you to notice a couple of different side bars, just to expand our understanding of the passage. On day one we see that God said, “there be light” and now on day four we see him create lights in the vault of the sky, greater and lesser lights. Many believe the light in Day 1 was the light of His glory, or as it was said of Jesus in John 1, that he was the Light of the World. But now, we see him create lights in the heavens as “signs”, they are physical symbols of God’s own light, glory, and power that meets the darkness on day one.
But what does he call these lights, these signs, these symbols of his own light? Greater light and lesser light. Why doesn’t he just call them sun and moon?

That’s why reading it with the backdrop of the ancient text is so important. Because the ancient creation stories and mythology had names for pagan gods, called the sun god and the moon god. This is a declaration that Yahweh, that God was greater than any pagan god because he created, made, spoke into experience the sun, moon and stars. If you want to write in your margin, Isaiah 40:26 and 42:5, you can do some more reading that is connected to creation.

What was the purpose of the sun and moon? To govern, to rule. The sun to rule the day and moon to rule the night. Again, bringing order in the midst of the chaos.

But what about the stars? They were not intended to rule, which is a challenging thought along the lines of astrology and horoscope. I would challenge that we shouldn’t look to the stars for our guidance or our destiny or greater understanding, because God didn’t create them to “rule” or “govern” and the role he placed with the sun and moon was for the material world, not our spiritual world. If we trust Yahweh, the Creator of all, then we shouldn’t look to lesser things to guide us.

Notice what was formed on day one, the heavens, separating light from darkness. What is filled on day four, the lights filled the heavens. What was formed on day one is filled on day four. Notice this pattern as we read the next two days.

What does it mean for you to see God as creator of light, separating light from darkness, and giving us order in the midst of chaos? How do you take what he created and apply it to your life; forming and filling?

If you want, please take time with this older worship song as well. God of Wonders

 

The Psalmist does a beautiful job of summarizing what we’ve talked about. I share it because this is how the ancients would have understood the creation story. Psalm 33:6-9- 6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth. 7 He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; he puts the deep into storehouses. 8 Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere him. 9 For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.

Oh what an awesome picture of creation, the awe, the reverence, the humbling we need to have. Notice again how God created with a word. He spoke and he named things. God said, “let there be light, let there be a vault, let there be gathered in once place land…” the God called “the light day and the darkness night, vault sky, dry ground land, and waters seas.”

Then ancients would see that as a King. The king speaks and it is done, the king brings order out of the chaos, or functional purpose, king calls or names something, it has dominion over. The ancients are revealing God is King over the universe and has authority over all of life.

Again, let’s look at this creative story and who God is with the fulfillment of Jesus.
Over and over again, Jesus talks about bringing God’s kingdom here on earth, it was what got him crucified, King of the Jews. The sign above his head was a mockery of the situation, because he was truly King.

Notice the awe and power of this passage. We started in Genesis, let us end in Revelation. I told you this entire book is about creation, fall, redemption, repeat. We will see it climax with this declaration.

John is writing what God revealed to him in a vision. Revelation 19:11-16- 11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. 14 The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

Awe, power, that’s an amazing visual of Jesus as Warrior King for you. Jesus is the King of Kings, he sits at the right hand of God and at creation with a word spoken, he had authority over all of life. Yet, here we sit, thinking that we have authority of our life. I don’t know about you, but there is nothing that I have that rivals this passage.

This passage is awesome, awe-inspiring, this is my God. This is your God. That’s why when the ancients had to share about creation, it wasn’t revealing how creation worked. It was revealing the awe and power of the Creator.

A Creator who isn’t far-off and distant, but comes close to our chaos to bring order. A Creator who is a King, for when they speak there is form and purpose, and when they name something they have authority and all that this Creator does is good.

Oh what an Awesome God we have. But we need to sit with this staggering summary from John Walton, because we don’t live as though we have that kind of Creator. We don’t live with His powerful Word, as the King of the Universe who created the earth as His good kingdom.

“We too often portray God as standing back from a world that runs on its own. We banish him to the hidden corners of our lives while we amble through life, pursuing our own ambitious goals driven by narcissism, hedonism, and materialism and refusing to allow God to bridle our self-sufficiency. We need a revitalized concept of who God is and Genesis 1 is our starting place.”

"We want a Savior, but we don't want Him to be Lord. We want a rescue, but we don't want Him to be King." How does this statement challenge you? In what areas of your life are you most resistant to Jesus being King?

Take a moment and reflect on the passages and the above questions/challenges in light of this song. What an Awesome God

May you adopt Psalm 51:10 (MSG) as a continual prayer for you. God, make a fresh start in me. Shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life."

 

We mentioned on Tuesday about how Jesus’ name may not be on the pages of Genesis, but because God is revealed in Genesis, we can affirm that Jesus was as well. Take a moment and read John 1:1-5, 9- In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it… 9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.

I love the power of this passage that combines our creation story. It mimics Genesis 1:1- In the beginning was the Word, which is a direct name to Jesus. Not only does the Word represent Jesus, represents authority, what is spoken has power, to separate and gather. Jesus speaks into the darkness and light comes because he is the true light.

Friends, what part of your life is dark? Jesus is wanting to shine his creative light in your darkness.

Jesus also speaks and has authority. Where does Jesus need to speak into your life? Or maybe more importantly, where does he NOT have authority in your life and you are living as a little “g” god in your life.

Jesus creates with a word, with authority brings order in the chaos, light in the darkness. Jesus also reveals God’s goodness in His Kingdom. You can jot down Matthew 7:10-12 and John 14:27, where we see Jesus gives us good gifts and peace. I want you to look at John 10:10- The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

We see, that through the fall we have an adversary that wants to come against all the goodness of the Father. But Jesus reinforces to us why he came, to give us life and a full life. A good life that is overflowing with His goodness. Where in your life do you need to seek God’s goodness? Where have you settled for a counterfeit goodness that the adversary has deceived to think you can be satisfied outside of the creative order?
, everything God created is good, goodness is God’s character. That doesn’t mean your life is good right now, it just means your circumstances may not be good, but God is still good. Take a moment and allow this song to minister to you. God You're so Good

 

Let’s read Genesis 1:1-13. What do you notice, what gets your attention? What is created on each day? How is it created? What do you notice about the repetition of words?

Genesis 1:1-13- In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day. 6 And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” 7 So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day. 9 And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.

Focusing on “day” 1 (Genesis 1:3-5). What do you see. God said with a word and God called with a word, that’s important. Then we see that God separated, which is to bring order. Then God describes what he did, it was “good”. We’ll talk light and darkness a bit later. That’s “day 1”- with a word God said and called, then separated and it was good.

What do we see on “day” 2? (Genesis 1:6-8) God said with a word and God called with a word, then separated. Yes, this is a challenging “day 2” because it appears that there was just water all around and to some degree, that’s how the ancients described it; a watery mass that was formless, no boundaries, and God separates the watery mass from sky and sea, which means God shapes and forms.

Pause for a moment, because I understand this may not make any sense. But think about it. Without our current knowledge of science or even meteorology how do you describe what we experience? We see rivers and seas and understand water below us. But then there is a clap of thunder or a dark cloud and we begin to have water above us. How do you explain it in your ancient world? God must have separated the waters from above and waters from below with sky.

That’s “day 2” God, with a word, said, called, separated what was formless and without bounds.

Finally, what do you see on “day” 3 (Genesis 1:9-13) God said with a word, with a word God called. Now he gathered, we see it was good. We see vegetation, seed and it was good. I don’t find it a coincidence that God gathered land and sea and vegetation all on the same day. They were together for a purpose and a function, soil and water with seeds, crucial for vegetation and their agriculture. That’s “day 3”, with a word God called, said, gathered, gave vegetation AND seed, critical for life and called it all good.

Can I just say, the awe and wonder of what God did with a seed? How true that is for life? God packed, in a tiny little seed; the roots, stem, leaves, fruit all to be placed in the ground, with water and eventual light and it grows to reproduce more and more. If a seed isn’t descriptive of God’s creative and redemptive process, I don’t know what is.

What does Genesis 1:1-13 reveal to us about God as creator? Let me share with you Theologian Sidney Greidanus’ answer. “With His powerful Word, the King of the Universe created earth as His good kingdom.” That is what we are to see in Genesis 1 and 2 and how we need to orient our life under fear and reverence. The ancients needed this declaration with all that was in their life trying to make sense of the world. We need this as well. We need this declaration in our life.

Think about it for a second, what does it mean for you? With God’s powerful Word, the King of the Universe created YOU for His good Kingdom?

What does it mean that God spoke creation into existence with a word, and how should that reality impact the way you view His authority in your circumstances?

 

Let’s read Genesis 1:1-13. What do you notice, what gets your attention? What is created on each day? How is it created? What do you notice about the repetition of words?

Genesis 1:1-13- In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day. 6 And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” 7 So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day. 9 And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.

The first observation, I want to make briefly is the last phrase. The Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. That word hovering is like an eagle flying over it’s next watching, protecting, be close to it’s babies. Spirit of God is the ruakh, breath, wind, energy force. We have this picture of the breath, wind, Spirit of God hovering over the earth, which was formless, empty, dark, and deep.

Next take a look at how the “earth” was described. It was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep … over the waters. I share that because the Hebrew word for formless and empty is tohu va-vohu. It’s just fun to say. What tohu va-vohu means is wasteness, laid waste, desert, emptiness, voidness. Other translations are place of chaos, wilderness, barren. And the word deep is translated tehom or abyss.

I share it in that way because we need to understand the state by which God created, there was barrenness, there was abyss, deep, it was empty of purpose, meaning and foundation, a place with no order. What we see right away is that God created order out of chaos.

With every mythical or cultural creation story there is a sense of going from chaos to order, but even the other “gods” of creation their stories are through force. What the God of Israel, Yahweh, shows us is that he is a God of order, one who forms. God doesn’t move creation from nothing to something. God moves creation from chaos to order. This is what God does, he moves life from chaos to order.

That in itself should begin to give us a clue for our personal lives. What do we do when our lives are in chaos? When they are formless, devoid of purpose, all over the place, crashing into things? Do we try to add more chaos or try to solve it on our own? OR do we go to the one who brings order to our chaos? Who brings purpose, form, direction?

Let’s take a shift for a moment. Think about this for a second, Jesus’ name isn’t directly on the pages of Genesis, granted, we’ll see in the next few weeks how we were created in the image of a Triune God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But if Jesus says, “you have seen me, you have seen the Father.” The opposite is true as well. If we see the Father, we see Jesus. Which means, what is revealed at creation about God and does Jesus fulfill it?

Colossians 1:15-17- 15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Jesus is creator and is before all things and holds all things together. Which, for a moment we need to pause and ask the question. What does Jesus need to create within your life? Knowing that creation is about bring order to chaos. Where is there chaos in your life? What is formless, void, purposeless? How do you need to let Jesus create, bring order to your chaos?

Which means, how do you apply verse 17, He is before all things. Is Jesus before all things in your life or is he after? An after-thought? Or after everything else that has priority in your life? You want a Savior, but you don’t want a Lord. You want a rescue, but you don’t want a King.

In what areas of your life are you holding onto chaos instead of allowing God to bring order, and what would it look like to surrender those areas to Him?

 

Last week we introduced our new series on Genesis- back to the beginning, seeing how God establishes life through creation, fall, redemption and repeat. This week we are kicking off the specific verses, going from Genesis 1 to Genesis 50.

If you are familiar with Genesis 1 or remember how it started from last week, this is what we read: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Which means there are a few dilemmas right off the bat with the first sentence of the Bible.

First, some of you are already coming into this discussion with a belief about how God created the heavens and the earth. (hold that thought)

Second, some of you are wondering, how in the world does a “creation” story impact my life today.

Hopefully, by the end of the week, both of those observations will be shifted to something greater.

First of all, seeing Genesis 1 and 2 as a creation story. Let me take you on a brief journey of my understanding of the creation story. I grew up believing, based upon how Genesis 1 was read to me, children’s books, and some studying that God created the heavens and the earth in 7, literal 24-hour days, to the point that I would argue about it with my science friends. Which, some of you here today believe that as well, creation is 7-litearl 24-hour days.

I then went to a Christian college and began to unpack Genesis more and was introduced to deeper teaching; such as parts of Genesis was written like poetry and it was more descriptive than scientific. As well as looking at how the days were created, how did we measure time when the sun, moon, and stars, by which we mark time, weren’t created until “day 4”? So I began to look at days as periods of time, not a point in time.

Then we would have discussion around science and the discovery of fossils and dinosaurs and how could we say that we lived with a young earth (6,000 years old) when that doesn’t count for all the other science questions.

So here we sit, young earth versus old earth, 7- 24 hour day creation, to evolution to somewhere in between. And yet, is that what the author of Genesis is getting our attention with?

What if your idea of the creation story isn’t what you think it is? That Genesis 1 and 2 is actually bigger than that?

Creation story isn’t what you think it is, it’s bigger than that.

Remember, what is bible? Yes, the Bible is the written, inspired Word of God. AND it is an ancient text. What I mean by that, is that Genesis 1 and 2 isn’t a science textbook, it is a recording, inspired by God, of how the ancient people saw and interacted with “the beginning.”

At the time of this ancient writing there were competing beliefs about the creation story. You can read creation accounts from the Babylonians to the Egyptians to the Canaanites, which some of them are wild and I would encourage you not to read them to your children.
Which means, the Israelites had a personal God, YHWH, and they wanted to understand and share how their God, the one and only God created the heavens and the earth, hence we have Genesis 1 and 2.

Because guess what, the ancient people, who recorded Genesis 1 and 2 weren’t asking questions about young earth or old earth, they weren’t looking at theistic evolution or macro to micro evolution. They weren’t asking themselves those questions. They wanted to reveal the One True God.

If we go back to our text, Genesis 1:1- In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The ancient text is telling us what? What is clear? God is creator.

But if your faith rises and falls with being ABSOLUTELY certain about the HOW of creation, then you have a Jesus plus something faith. And that isn’t faith in Christ. That is faith in self or having the right understanding more than having faith in Christ.

For some of you today, you need to lay down your hard-core view of creation as priority and see how God is getting our attention in this ancient, Spirit-inspired text for something more than just a creation story.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying understanding creation isn’t important. I’m saying having the only source of our understanding of creation be based upon Genesis 1 and 2 isn’t the point of the Biblical text. Revealing who God is, that’s the point.

Today, I want you to wrestle with what it means to you for Genesis 1:1- In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. What is important about this declaration? What do you need to lay down about this your assumptions of this declaration?

May this be a prayer for you, “God, as you were revealed on the pages of Gensis 1 and 2, would you reveal to me, who you are and how you want to create in my life.”

 

Genesis, origins, the beginning is the story of God, not just history, and it’s not just their story, the origins of Israel, it’s our story. John Walton says, “It expresses God’s love for the people he created and his intention to bless them in spite of rebellion and sin. The picture of love, mercy, and compassion thus portrayed by means of blessing stands in stark contrast to the self-protection and self-promotion that characterized the gods of the ancient world (and ourselves). The theology of Genesis thereby leads us to an understanding and appreciation of grace as an expression of God’s character that reaches far beyond our own personal experience of redemption.”

How are you looking for ways that God wants to create or bring life anew in your lives, naming the failure when we do move in self-protection or self-promotion or control or fear or shame, as well as seeing the ways God is desiring to redeem us.

Are you moving towards the things of God or away?

Are you living a life pleasing or unpleasing towards him?

Are we living in the blessing of his relationship or wanting to take advantage of the blessing and use God?

Assess your relationships with God, others, and yourself. Choose one area to intentionally pursue healing and health.

We can uncover the message of Genesis by focusing on the picture of God that it offers. The church is desperately in need of recovering the view of God offered by Genesis.
Deuteronomy 4:32-35, 39- 32 Ask now about the former days, long before your time, from the day God created human beings on the earth; ask from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything so great as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of? 33 Has any other people heard the voice of God speaking out of fire, as you have, and lived? 34 Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation, by testings, by signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, or by great and awesome deeds, like all the things the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes? 35 You were shown these things so that you might know that the Lord is God; besides him there is no other…. 39 Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other.

What does this passage mean for you? Mean for your next steps in faith?

Take a moment with this new song and reflect on the power of the lyrics. God You're So Good

 

Notice how God steps into the life of Abram, eventually Abraham and how he starts anew with similar promises of Creation.

Read Genesis 12:1-3- 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. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

What do we see? What are key words that stand out to you?

God creates a new covenant, a new relationship with humanity. It starts with Abraham, which will eventually be the people of Israel, but his desire is to go throughout the world and be what? A blessing, blessing represents God’s favor.

John Walton shares it this way. “God revealed himself through the covenant. The promises given to Abraham were both a means for God to reveal his attributes (power, love, mercy,
justice, etc.) as well as a benefit to him and his family, conditional on their cooperation and participation.”

Was Abraham perfect in it? Oh no, we will see his failures, the ways he tries to take things into his own hands, he fears, and his lack of trust. But God continues to pursue and redeem.
We see the blessing continue to Abraham’s grandson Jacob, even though he was the younger son, he was blessed by God. Even though Jacob was a deceiver and followed in his father’s footsteps of taking things into his own hand. God pursues him, to bless and give him a new life.

Genesis 32:24-30- 24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” 27 The man asked him, “What is your name?” “Jacob,” he answered. 28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.” 29 Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.” But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there. 30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”

What do we see? What are key words that stand out to you?

Again, we see new identity, new relationship, and we see blessing. God is continuing his pursuit of creation (giving life), failure, redemption (grace/blessing) repeat.

The final story we see this in and the incorporation of an entire nation is with the story of
Joseph and the infamous line he shares after all that he went through.

Genesis 50:21-22- 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. 21 So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.”

What do we see? What are key words that stand out to you?

Even in the pain, hardship, challenges we see that God kept his promise and is a blessing, through Joseph and to the nation.

Take a moment and journal around these thoughts or questions:
Journal about a time when you failed but God extended grace and redemption. How does remembering this help you trust Him now?
Transformation often comes through struggle, and blessing sometimes leaves us marked. God doesn't always remove our wrestling; sometimes He meets us in it. The very act of holding onto God through the night, refusing to release Him despite pain, demonstrates the faith He honors. What are you wrestling with today?

 

The talking snake slithers onto the scene and starts up a deceiving conversation with Eve and then Adam.

Read Genesis 3:6-11- 6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. 8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” 10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” 11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

What do we see? What are key words that stand out to you?

We see the fall, failure, sin which leads to running away from God and running away from one another, hiding, and shame. Scot McKnight in his God’s Story Commentary shares it this way. “That harmony was fractured by their rebellion against God, and thus they forfeited a blessed existence. No longer was their relationship with God or with each other or even themselves harmonious.”

Which is where God could have finished the story. He could have said, well, that was quick. It didn’t take long for humanity to walk away from the blessing.

But he didn’t. He pursued us, but it came at a cost. There was consequences to the brokenness, there was judgement that needed to be had to make things right. It was out of grace, that God pursues redemption.

If you jump down to Genesis 3:21-23- 21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. 22 And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one ofus, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” 23 So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.

What do we see? What are key words that stand out to you?

We see our first sacrifice, blood covering the wrongs of another, but it was grace that God covered Adam and Eve.

Again, we will get into this more throughout our time. But this is the pattern that we need to see throughout Genesis and the rest of the story. God creates, gives life, blessing, we fall, fail, sin, God redeems, extends grace, redefines our relationship anew, and this is on repeat.

Take a moment to journal around these questions:

Adam and Eve wanted to decide for themselves what was good and evil. In what areas are you tempted to define good and evil by your own standards rather than God's?

What are the consequences you've experienced when you've chosen your way over God's way?

Write down areas where you're trying to define good and evil for yourself. Pray and ask God to reveal His perspective on these areas

 

The purpose of Genesis is to remember the beginning of who God is and his activity- creation, fall, redemption, repeat. We see this in Genesis, as the micro-story, but we also see this throughout the Bible. In Genesis we will see it through different words or key ideas; life, blessing (creation), failure (fall), redemption, and covenant (new relationship or commitment).

What I want to do for the rest of the week is illustrate those key words as God and his activity is revealed to us throughout the book of Genesis. Then in the months to come we will unpack it more dynamically.

Let’s start with the first few verses of Genesis 1.
Genesis 1:1-2- In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
What do you notice? What gets your attention?

Right off the bat, we should stop and see, “In the beginning God…” The focus is God, the attention is God.

Then we see God creating and interacting with creation. We see that he brings order out of chaos (darkness and formless). Which right there is a testament to intelligent design.

Because the Second Law of Thermodynamics says you can’t create order out of chaos. We see disorder, which cannot create order. Unless there is an energy or force or God behind such order. Which is where we see the Spirit, God’s ruach- breath, wind, energy that was hovering over the waters.

John Walton invites us to see God this way. “He is Yahweh, the Creator, patient with sinfulness, planning reconciliation; in his plan of history he intends to reveal himself to his fallen creatures. He is the covenant maker and the faithful promise keeper. This is a God-centered approach to the book.”

Jump to the end of Genesis 1:27-28, 2:7- 27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” … 7 Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

What do we see? What are key words that stand out to you?

Life, we are created in the image of God, we have received the breath of life, which is a receiving God’s Spirit, ruach. We see blessing, that God desires to give us goodness. We see blessing as a vibrant, healthy relationship with him, with each other, and with the world which we live.

That was God’s starting point, God’s beginning with humanity. To create us, to give us life, to have His Spirit within us and to bless us. Which is what we see at the end of Genesis 2, where is says, that “Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.”

Which simply means there was trust, vulnerability, God’s protection, no shame or guilt or fear. The beginning, the origin was perfect relationship between God and humanity and with humanity itself.

Take a moment and journal around:

What does it mean that humans are created "in God's image"?

How does God's "breath of life" (ruach/spirit) within us change how we view ourselves?

Where have you experienced His presence bringing life?

You can also reflect around this song- Nobody Like You

 

We are kicking off our new series: Genesis- Back to the Beginning.

For those of you who were with us when we went through Mark, this will be similar. Don’t worry, it won’t be as long . But what I want to invite you to do is take your time through Genesis. Even if you have another reading plan, go ahead and add this to the list. We are going to take our time going through Genesis and today, I hope you walk away with the encouragement as to why it will be important.

Because let’s be honest, the book of Genesis is not an easy book to read. Granted, it probably feels a touch better than Leviticus or Numbers. But Genesis is hard. Sure, we know it is a story about creation and the fall and the flood and then a bunch of names that are important to the overall story.

But then there are questions like, were the patriarchs real flesh and blood or were they literary-cultural constructs whose legends grew up to embody the cultural heritage of a small but influential ethic group? Did God really have conversations with these people? Are the many diverse languages of the earth the result of God’s judgement? Was there a worldwide flood? Did Ad and Eve actually exist, and di all people come from them? Was there a garden with such marvelous trees? Did the serpent really talk? Did God create in seven twenty-four days? Where do the dinosaur fossils fit in? (We may or may not be answering all those questions.)

Which then can lead us to the question, how does a book, which took place thousands of years ago apply to our life?

To answer that question, let’s open our Bibles. You would assume, a study on Genesis we would start in Genesis. But we are actually going to start after the resurrection, yup, fitting isn’t it a week after Easter, we are going to go to Luke 24 and Jesus is actually going to answer that question for us.

I preached through this story a few years ago and referenced it a few weeks ago, but I absolutely love the uniqueness of this story. It was just after Jesus was raised from the dead. Luke 24:13-19a, 26-27- 13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognizing him. 17 He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?” They stood still, their faces downcast. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” 19 “What things?” he asked. “About Jesus of Nazareth,” ... Jesus then explained .... 26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

Notice how Jesus draws the attention of the purpose of Moses, in some translations it says the Law of Moses, the Prophets, essentially saying, the entire Old Testament explained what was said about himself, about Jesus.

The Law of Moses is also referred to as the Torah or the Pentateuch, which represents the first five books of the Old Testament. It was actually not referred to as books, as it was the scroll of Torah; which we have Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Torah actually means teaching or instruction. And Moses was one who compiled much of the Torah, which is why it is referred to as the Law of Moses. Many believe that he wrote some, but not all, minimally complied much of what we have with the Torah.

Jesus is saying, the Law of Moses and the rest of Scriptures points to him. Which means, there is an overarching story, one big story in the bible, but all the other little books help communicate that one big story.

The individual book of Genesis means origins or the Greek word, beginnings. Which tells us, this is the origin or the beginning of the overarching larger story of the Bible. Which means, we are going back to the beginning because the book of Genesis informs our understanding of God, ourselves and the world.

What is the story that God is uncovering for us in Genesis?

To answer that question, take a look at this great overview video by the Bible Project guys. Overview of Genesis

What stands out to you about Genesis and the smaller story within the larger story? Do you think you will see the things of Jesus, even in Genesis? What is one goal or application you want to take from this new journey in Genesis?

Because of his great love, our lives should look different. When Jesus spent the last night with his disciples, he washed their feet before the Passover meal and before everything
went “amuck”, even though it was for our good. Jesus gives us a new command in John 17. Notice how Peter Briscoe shares it,

“Man-made religion and legalism would soon be nullified by the sacrificial death of Jesus “because God so loved the world…” Love is the new standard. But this new command, is it just a new thing we must do? A new burden to carry? Not if you look at the context and Jesus’ prayer that follows: I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them. (John 17:26) At the very end of the discourse, Jesus says that it will be His love in us that will distinguish us as His disciples. He is in you, and it’s His love that fulfills this new command to love others.”

Because of his great love, our lives should change, they should not just be the illusion of love, but they should be loving. Loving in gentleness and loving in strength.

What would it look like if you lived out this passage? Sit with it for the day and notice the power through the Spirit, in Christ, with His love. May His love fill you and flow through you.

Ephesians 3:16-21- 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

May this be your prayer as well. God of Love, the Son showed me the Father’s love on the cross. Your love is real, and you have placed it in me. Let it flow, Jesus!

The spoken word that was shared on Sunday and then again with the Daily Faith Challenge on Monday was written by our very own Holly Vogel and read by Josh and Emilie Dahm.
We started and ended the reading with the most popular verse in all of Scripture. John 3:16- For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

For God so loved the world, that he gave us his son. Why did Jesus die? Because of his great love.

But, it is also deeper than that. This passage would be referred to as a Gospel passage. Gospel simply means good news. Jesus came to bring good news. But here’s the challenge with good news. In order to understand that it is good news, you need to know what the bad news is.

That was the crux of the spoken word earlier, God’s great love. It was a parable, a dialogue between God and humanity, the struggle that faced God’s love and our separation. Notice this section, “The connection of the two were never meant to be separated. But a great tragedy- the two were torn apart. Such a distance they could never close. The distance was great, but greater was the love the one had for the other. There was unimaginable turmoil as a result of the separation, suffering hardship, violence, destruction, pain and death.”
That is our reality, that is the bad news. Jesus took on the bad news.

Notice, “Eventually, the piece of the great love that was sent to the others side was taken, tortured, mocked, beaten, and hung. The piece of the great love took on all the pain and suffering the great separation had caused. He took it all on Himself – and died.”

We are familiar with John 3:16, but notice John 3:17- For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. According to God’s way, he sent Jesus into our world, to save your world, which is you and all that is in it.

Let me summarize Genesis to revelation with one passage in 1 Corinthians 15:21-22- 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.

Because of sin, that is the tragedy that separates us all. But because of the sinless Jesus, who took on the sin of the world, it is through his resurrection that we can live and live life to the fullest.

Sure, we can ask the why questions and we can wait for all the right answers. But the questions asked at the resurrection are the ones you need to embrace and trust. Who is it that you are looking for? Why do you look for the living among the dead?

This is about receiving God’s answer to the greatest question, why did Jesus die? Because of his great love. Trust in receiving God’s great love.

I appreciate Pete Briscoe’s quote. “To be saved by faith is not just accepting the gift of eternal life. It is trusting Jesus Christ enough to follow Him and obey even when we don’t understand where He is taking us and why the journey is so hard.”

Folks, there are some of you today that need to accept that invitation of his great love. No matter your questions, no matter how far gone you think you are. That’s part of the reason I love the events of Jesus’ last days. When he was on the cross and after his death, there were two people that never should have believed, but they did. They didn’t have all their questions answered and didn’t even see the love that Jesus truly had for them, but yet they believed.

The criminal on the cross next to him, responded in belief and Jesus accepted him.
The Roman guard, at Jesus’ last breath, responded, “truly, he is the Son of God.”

If they received what Jesus did on the cross, then why not you. Like Jesus did with Mary, he’s calling your name and God is saying, directly to you, “For I so loved your world, that I sent my one and only son.” Folks, this is about trusting and receiving God’s great love for you.

You can do that with a prayer. “God, I know I have more questions and doubts then answers and belief at times. But if you chose to bridge that gap for me, because of your great love. I’m sorry, I’m sorry I’ve lived life separate from you, that my sin deserves death, but you have brought me life. I accept your life for mine.”

Let’s take a brief look at Luke’s account of the resurrection. Luke also wrote the book of Acts. Which based upon word count, Luke wrote more in the NT than any other author. I know Paul wrote more books, Luke just wrote longer books. I share that because Luke gives us great detail with all that he experiences.

Luke 24:1-8- On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’” 8 Then they remembered his words.

Again, as the women discover the empty tomb (another powerful message for another time), they are left with questions, “wondering about this”. But notice the question that was asked of them. “Why do you look for the living among the dead?”

Then they said, remember. Remember what Jesus said. He must be crucified and on the third day be raised again. He is not here, he has risen.

Then they remembered his words and went to tell the others.

I wonder if sometimes we don’t choose to follow or obey until we understand the why of faith? Once we get all our why questions answered and can begin to get our arms around our questions and our doubts, maybe then we can truly believe.

Yet, we will never have all the answers but, like the followers at the empty tomb, their questions began to shift to trust because of what Jesus said and did.

The greatest “why” question that God answers, is why did Jesus die? Because of His great love.

When the angel says, “remember what Jesus said”, it was a call back to all the Jesus said and did. Which is the exclamation point on the resurrection. Because Jesus did what he said he was going to do. We know that everywhere it says God loves you, it is true.

Today, sit with the question, “why are you looking for the living among the dead?” What does that mean for you and the impact of Jesus doing what he said he was going to do?
Also, take some time with this song, Love of God

This week is post Easter week. Yesterday you hopefully were able to experience the writing and reflections of Holly Vogel, our Communications Director. She did a fantastic job of capturing the God’s story and our story.

Today, I want to go after a little bit different perspective, because I think when we spend time around Easter, no matter our faith journey, I think we can struggle through a lot of different questions. And as you know, questions are natural. They start with children.

I love the curiosity of kids and the questions they ask, no matter if their questions are social or defiant, they are looking to understand, looking to know more. But what happens when our “why” questions, as adults, aren’t satisfied by our child-like curiosity? What happens when our “why” questions keep building and building that it stunts our faith or squeezes out our belief? Or what happens when we believe our “why” questions need to be answered before we believe, have faith or even trust?

Why is there evil in the world? Why do bad things happen to good people? Why did God send his son to die? That doesn’t sound very loving. Why did Jesus have to die anyway? Why is there hell? And who is going? Why would a loving God send anyone to hell? Why do I have to believe in one man who lived and died 2,000 years ago in order to experience eternal life or heaven or whatever, if anything, is on the other side?

Hold that thought…. Because in part, when I was preparing for this week’s Easter message, in the middle of my prep, my prayer, and reflection on Friday, I got up from my desk, and I went and sat in your seat. Not every seat, but I sat throughout the sanctuary, sitting where you sit. Praying and reflecting as I sat in your seats.

Wrestling with how do I bring the things in my world, in your world, and in the past world all together? Because that’s what we are doing, right now. My world is intersecting with your world, as we intersect with the world of the past. Coming together to remember and celebrate the death AND resurrection of Jesus.

Our worlds are colliding even if for a moment, even if you don’t want to be here and have already tuned me out. Even if you have more doubts that belief. Our worlds are colliding even if you have more questions than answers or even if you have more hope than you could have ever dreamed. Because you know Easter is about bringing dead things back to life and your life was dead until you met Jesus.

That’s the wonder of Easter. That all of our worlds are colliding, here in this moment and I believe the questions I have had over time and the questions you have, are similar to the questions the people of Jesus’ time had as well. Not only the followers of Jesus, but even the questions Jesus asked.

Let’s look at two different firsthand accounts of the resurrection event. The resurrection is an event, not a story. Not like, “once upon a time, in a land far, far away.”. This is an event in history. His story, God’s story intersecting with our story. The first account I want to look at is from John 20; we will start in verse 1. Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

What do you notice right away? Mary Magdelene went to the tomb, but found something very other, something she wasn’t expecting; the stone rolled away and no body. She was distraught, she ran back to Peter and John, asking questions. Where is Jesus’ body?
The next few verses are about foot race to the tomb between Peter and John. John wins and goes in first, then Peter. But then notice what happens after Peter and John go back to tell the other disciples. Notice this interaction that Mary has.

John 20:11-16- 11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. 13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”

“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. 15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

We see the emotion of Mary, but we also see her questions, still looking for Jesus. We also see other questions, “why are you crying “from the angels, but Jesus echoes that same question, “why are you crying”.

I love the power of that interaction. John doesn’t shy away from the questions, the bewilderment, the fact that her life was in misery because all hope was lost, or so she thought.

But then do you notice Jesus’ next question. “Who is it you are looking for?”

Which can be a question we ask today. Who are you looking for? Who are you looking for that will answer all your questions? Who are you looking for that will give you purpose? Give you hope? Give you success? Give you love? Maybe it isn’t a question of who, but a “what”? What are you looking for? What are you looking for that will give you hope? Give you success? Give you love? What are you looking for? Is it the next job? The new ______________? The right retirement plan? The right spouse? All real-world questions and nothing wrong with those questions; who or what are you looking for? But how will you
know it will satisfy? Or has your life been one giant question of searching and you are still left wondering if there is more?

Take a moment with God today and go through the questions that were asked in John. How may he meet you in those questions, for yourself.

 

Yesterday was an incredible time reflecting on Jesus - His coming, His death, His resurrection, and His great love. Let us continue in that reflection this morning, so that the significance of celebrating Jesus’ resurrection is not limited to one day a year, but a joy and gratitude we can live in often.

A poem called “The Blood That Built a Bridge” or “The Great Love” was shared yesterday and gave us the opportunity to see the gospel from a unique lens - a love story.

I am very grateful for the opportunity to have this writing shared, something that came out of me spending time with God one morning, journaling around a dream I had, then this writing coming immediately after. I wrote it, but in reality, I was just providing the pages for God’s pen.

I want to share how this writing came about, then encourage you with the faith challenge that can come with it.

The dream was that I was speaking to a gentleman. He was dressed in dark clothing and, let’s just say, was not in appearance friendly or approachable, but I approached him, stood next to him, and asked, “Why do you like darkness? The darkness hates you - the demons don’t want what’s best for you.” He started telling me how he struggles with anxiousness and depression and an overthinking spirit. I said to him, “Have you ever heard the gospel?”

He said no, but agreed to hear it.

I sat down with him, and as I did, other people started to sit down around us to listen. 

I began saying, “Most of us have heard Jesus died on the cross for our sins - but what does that actually mean? How does that apply to us? I grew up Catholic, so I only knew religion - you do this because you’re supposed to, and you don’t do this because you’re not supposed to. That’s about all the further reasoning I understood.

But the truth is, to really understand what that means for us - that it is good news - we first must know the bad news. From the beginning, what happened in the garden was a decision that came with humanity being separated from God - that’s what sin is, separation from God. That’s the bad news: that every one of us has sinned, lied, stolen, cheated, and there is a separation between us and God - there is nothing we in ourselves can do to close that separation.

This is the good news: Jesus came down to earth, fully God, fully man - He lived a perfect, sinless life and was beaten, whipped, tortured, and given a crown of thorns with thorns over an inch long pressed into His skull, and was crucified, naked. He took the punishment for each and every person’s sins.

What does each living thing need to live? Blood. Blood = life. Sin = death.

Jesus covered our death sentence with His blood, and it is the bridge between us and God - a gap, a separation that Jesus made a bridge over, and the only way to cross the separation is by the cross, through Jesus.

If you put your faith in Jesus and believe in what He did for you - you can live for eternity in heaven with God.

And when you put your faith in Jesus while you’re here on earth - He gives you the Holy Spirit to live in you and help you. He helps you turn from the things that Jesus suffered and died for. That’s good news.”

And the dream ended. Then I began to write, “Your blood is the bridge...”

My Faith Challenge for us today is:

• What does being reminded of the gospel bring up in you?
• If someone were to tell you they have never heard the good news about Jesus before, what would you share with them? Is that an area for growth?
• Read through the writing “The Blood That Built a Bridge/The Great Love” and meditate on the story. Read it slowly, and absorb the message.
  What are you seeing? What are you feeling? What’s standing out to you?
• Whatever comes up for you - thoughts, questions, feelings, or further revelation - the final challenge is I want you to share that with someone. That someone has absolutely no required qualifications of attending service or reading the poem or “understanding” what you will say. Just share it - give yourself and someone else the opportunity to talk about Jesus and the impact He’s had on you.