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THE PURPOSE OF HUMANITY
Listen to the audio guide to hear the complete devotional with Scripture, teaching and a worship song! Find a condensed, written version of this devotional below:
What is the secret to a purposeful life? The very beginning of Scripture illuminates this question. In Genesis we learn that God created us in his image so that we might live as reflections of him on Earth. This is the purpose for which we were created: reflecting God. But what does this look like practically?
In observing God’s work in the Genesis creation account, we can discern what it might look like to reflect him. God created the world by bringing order out of chaos. God separated the light from the darkness. He divided the waters and the sky. He set the land apart from the sea. And then God filled all these entities, creating the sun and the moon, the animals and the vegetation.
In the same way, when we bring order out of chaos, when we “elaborate and unfold creation beyond where it was when we found it,” as writer and pastor Tim Keller says, we are mirroring God and his work. We are fulfilling our purpose. And the way we work matters too. Mirroring God’s work looks like building relationships with love and patience. It looks like attending to our daily work with joy and faithfulness. It looks like innovating and creating with goodness. To reflect God, our work must be characterized by attributes that reflect God’s character.
As God’s Spirit transforms us to reflect God more and more, purpose erupts into every area of our lives! Developing medical cures, building relationships, harnessing the earth’s energy, constructing bridges, restoring brokenness in the wake of social and racial injustices, creating art and music, teaching a child...anything that “unfolds creation beyond where it was when we found it”-these all become vessels overflowing with purpose.
REFLECT: From this Genesis passage, we learn that every type of work is an opportunity to reflect and represent God. Think about an area of your life that feels mundane and lacking in purpose. How might you change your perspective on this area of your life?
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About this Plan
In Genesis, we encounter God's persistent relationship with his people: he continues to bless them even when they do not hold up their end of the relationship. As we journey through the story of Genesis, we receive the peaceful assurance of God's unshakeable faithfulness to his promises and to us his people! In this 4 week plan, listen to the audio guide to hear Scripture, teaching, and a worship song.
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