Today we start a new series of focusing on people from the Bible, and appropriately today, we begin with Adam as we read Genesis 1:26-2:17.
As I read these verses, I asked myself….what can we learn from God’s creation of Adam and his message to him? What does that mean for me today? Two themes jumped out to me.
Theme #1
Find your identity through God in Jesus Christ.
Genesis 1:26 reads, “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…’” As a side note, the use of the word “our” is the first sign of the Trinity and that Jesus and the Holy Spirit were there in the beginning. John 1 also reiterates that Jesus, the Word, was there in the beginning. Genesis 1:27 also reads, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God He created him, male and female he created them.” The word image means shadow or shade. If God created us in his image, similar to Him, that tells us how highly he thinks of us and how much he loves us. He didn’t have to make us in His image similar to Him. He could have made us completely different. He created us because He wanted a relationship with us. That is why we exist. We should find our identity, and take peace, in that.
Theme #2
God gives us responsibilities that we are called to fulfill and calls us to use our God-given gifts and abilities to the absolute best we can.
In Genesis 1:26 He says….”And let them have dominion over the fish of the seas and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth…” He reiterates this again in Genesis 1:28-30 and again in Genesis in 2:15 which says, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work and keep it.”
What has God put you in charge of? What responsibilities has He given you…your family, money, career, and other things? Maybe you are young and not sure if any of these fit yet, but He has given you the responsibility to “work,” and use your God-given abilities and talents to the absolute best you can. And yes, He has given you some great talents and abilities to use in a big way… whether your realize it yet or not because He created you in His image! Colossians 3:23-24 are a few of my favorite verses. They read, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as though you were working for the Lord and not for human beings. Remember that the Lord will give you as a reward what He has kept for His people. For Christ is the real Master you serve.” We do not get our identity from our work, only from Him, but we are called to “work in the garden and keep it” to the best we can.
Let us pray to help us remember these lessons from the creation of Adam and God’s message to him…
Lord, thank you for creating me in your image which you didn’t have to do. Please help me find my identity in that today and everyday..knowing I’m a child of yours who you created out of love to have a relationship with you and to do big things and impact others by using the talents and gifts you’ve given me to the absolute best I can. I’m humbled by this blessing and responsibility. I love you. Amen.