Genesis means beginning. The book opens with the fact that everything that has been created is a gift from God. Everything starts with Him and ends with Him.
The Bible is about God and what He has done. In this book, God is the main point, it is His story. The world does not revolve around us, the world revolves around God. God is number one, others are number two, and you are number three.
Your soul was designed to work best when God has His rightful place in your life.
Moses writes Genesis because he knew that the Israelites were prone to forget God. Just like the Israelites, we try to live a life of purpose by trying everything else besides a deep abiding relationship with Him.
We look for our purpose in success, money, affirmation, people, good things that become ultimate things, that eventually become destructive things because they were never meant to be the center of our lives.
Genesis 1:1-3 says “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and the earth was a formless and desolate emptiness, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.”
The word created comes from the Hebrew word bara, it means to create something out of nothing.
He did not take something that was already in existence and fashioned it. He took nothing and made something.
Why are there two different creation accounts?
- Genesis 1 is a worshipful celebration of God’s creation.
- Genesis 2 contains the details of creation.
Genesis 1 and 2 are not competing, they are complementing each other. God created the heavens and the earth and then it shows us how He did it.
Where do we fit in?
The Bible records God’s purpose for mankind. Imago Dei means to be made in the image of God.
Genesis 1:26-27 says, “Then God said, ‘Let Us make mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the livestock and over all the earth, and over every crawling thing that crawls on the earth.’ So, God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”
This is the Imago Dei. These verses make clear that men and women are set above the rest of created order.
You are image bearers of the King. Your existence reminds you and others that there is a God.
Three Ways the Imago Dei impacts you:
- It changes how you view yourself.
You were created on purpose and for great purpose. If you are saved, you are now adopted, redeemed, sanctified, called, you are not your own, and God gets to tell you who you are.
The Imago Dei is all about how you see yourself.
- It changes how you see others.
The Imago Dei goes through every cultural issue we see today. We are made in the image of God to mirror Him. God is righteous, so in Christ we get positionally made righteous.
Our positional righteousness compels us to practical righteousness. We love people because God loves us.
- It changes the way you see God.
If you think God is great, it will overflow in the way you worship Him. When you think of a God who knows all your sin, your mistakes, your future and still put the fullness of His love on you in Christ, you will worship!
Even when things are tough, you can still have joy and peace because of how great God is.
Pastor Chris Williams
To learn more about Pastor Chris and his teaching, visit us on the web at fcfamily.org and make sure you subscribe to receive these weekly encouragements in your inbox.
