Is Your Gospel Big Enough?Sample

The Chapter of Creation

The gospel is the greatest story ever told. Every story has a beginning, and the beginning of the four-chapter gospel starts in Genesis 1:1 with the creation of the world. It’s the beginning of God’s love story to his people.

In Genesis, we learn that God created the earth out of nothing to operate in perfect peace and complete flourishing, also known as shalom. He saw all that he made and declared it “very good” (Gen. 1:31). God was pleased with his work. In Genesis, we learn that God is a maker, a creator, and an artist.

Genesis also gives us the context of our creation. God created the earth, but there was “no man to work the ground.” God made Adam and Eve and gave them the task to be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it (Gen. 1:28; 2:5). This command, known as the cultural mandate, gives humans meaning, purpose, and a job description. God didn’t create men and women to robotically accomplish his goals, nor did he create them for purposeless existence. Out of his great love for his people, God fashioned men and women as partners in his grand story to carry out his work alongside him. He entrusted humankind with this task before sin entered the world, making work a good, God-given aspect of life. God does not need us to help him accomplish his goals, but because he loves us, he invites us to partner with him.

The creation account reveals God’s magnificent love for us. He shaped us in his image to reflect his glory and charged us with the greatest responsibility of all his creatures, to care for and cultivate his kingdom. In his image, we have the ability to create. In his image, we have the desire to be in relationships. These aspects of God’s image undergird our human dignity, desires, and abilities. We often forget that because of God’s love for us, he gave us purpose on earth. God has called each of his children from death to life, from darkness into his glorious light, and he has done this for a reason. Part of that reason has to do with what he wants us to accomplish in the here and now.

The first chapter of the four-chapter gospel explains where we came from and why, and it powerfully informs how we live our lives.

Have you ever considered why God created you? How does understanding the chapter of creation change your perspective?

Additional Elements

God’s purpose for creation unfolds in Genesis. Learn more about how your mission fits into God’s grand plans for all of creation in this study, God’s Purpose in Creation, by the Institute for Faith, Work & Economics.