Permission to Be Imperfect: How to Strive Less, Stress Less, Sin LessSample

The Divine Design

It isn’t difficult to find God’s will for humanity. You don’t have to look any further than the first two chapters of the Bible as it describes creation before sin. These chapters contain three huge clues as to what God wants most for you and me.

The first clue comes from the order of creation. Scripture records that God created the universe in six days. On days one through five, He created the sun, moon, stars, land, sky, water, plants, and animals. As His final act of creation—at the end of day six—God created humans (see Genesis 1:1–27). Do you see that God created people after all His work was done? (Perhaps that’s because He didn’t want any advice on how to do it!) All joking aside, humans were created last because God didn’t want or need the help to produce anything.

The next day provides the second clue. “On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work” (Genesis 2:2 nlt). Unlike the six days of creation before it, the seventh day is not concluded with “evening passed and morning came.” This day of rest wasn’t to set with the sun. No, God intended for His creation to live perpetually inside of a state of rest (see Hebrews 4:1–11).

What does a “state of rest” look like? The answer is found in the third clue of the creation story: Eden, the place where humanity was made to live. You see, “Eden” is not only the name of a location. In Hebrew, it’s the description of a place. Eden means “God’s delight.” Genesis 2 describes Eden as a place of grace. It was a place where Adam and Eve didn’t have to earn any blessing. A place where there was no pressure to perform or prove, no fear of disappointing or displeasing. Eden was a place of enjoying God and being enjoyed by Him.

Together, these three clues unravel the divine design—God’s will for humanity. God didn’t want or need the help of humans to produce anything. Not during creation. Not after creation. That’s why He created people after all the work was done, and then established them to live inside of a perpetual state of rest. What’s more, He created humans for Eden, a place where He is pleased by our being, not our doing.

Sin happened, of course. And with it, humans were removed from Eden. Yet Scripture and science reveal God’s plan to restore people to the place and position of His delight. We will explore that tomorrow. But for now, consider what it might mean that you are designed to live from God’s delight, not for God’s delight.