One thing is easy to see in this "beginning": God is careful... full of care. He provides everything, then, and only then, puts man in the Garden. What a good Father.

So, what is this all about? Why are we here? Why did our Creator create? Why us? Why everything else?

The answer the Scripture provides can be traced back to the "beginning". Our origins discovered in vv1.26-27 meet with v2.7 today to form the answer to the "Why?" question.

But knowing the answer and living it out are two very different things. More on that in the coming weeks. For now, revel in your Maker's sovereign will and design for your life. If you're living for, centered on, seeking after any lesser glory than the one for which you were made... you're not living on purpose, but on a fast track for lifelessness.

Today's passage:

4 These are the generationsof the heavens and the earth when they were created,in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.5 When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, 6 and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground— 7 then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. -Genesis 2.4-7 (esv)

How many times can God say "complete", "finished", "done" in just three short verses?

He steps back from all that He had made on days one through six and says, "yes!" Then, He blesses, sanctifies the "seventh day", a day for His children to recognize and rest in His sufficiency.

As His children, how should this shape us? What impact should God's rest have on my own?

So many opinions, ideas, plans, rumblings... so little, real, rest. Perhaps it's time for toning down, tuning in, and resting up upon the Word of God.

Today's passage:

2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. -Genesis 2.1-3 (esv)

"Be holy as He is holy." Those are the words of the Apostle Peter.

"Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect." The words of King Jesus.

Wow! Yet to aim for less would be to aim for less than God, to strive to know less than life.

Who is your god? Is it God? Whatever or Whoever it is, you are defined accordingly. The God of the Scriptures made and breathed His life into His climax of creation: man. That should shape us a bit!

The ability to know Him, to relate to Him, to represent and reflect Him is unparalleled with anything else in Creation!

How have we measured up to our responsibility? God created us to enjoy Him and all He has made, and, in doing so, to care for it, for one another, to steward all He has created just as He would have us.

Whoa! Anyone else unable to achieve the joy and steward such wealth in a manner worthy of our King? No doubt. And that opens the door on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Hope you will join us today as we see in the beginning and for all time that our God is Very Good!

Today's passage:

3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.6 And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7 And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. 8 And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.9 And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.11 And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16 And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17 And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.20 And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” 21 So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. 25 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and

If you were gonna introduce yourself to the world that you had made by the power of your word, what would be the first thing you'd say?

God knows exactly where to begin (and where to end, for that matter!): In the beginning... God.

Before anything else was, "I Am". Why start here? What makes these words so important?

Is this a valid description of the way the world began? What of other historical creation accounts from the Babylonians, Egyptians, etc.? How does Moses' account in Genesis mesh with them, or does it at all?

Knowing our origin and destination matters... in fact, it defines us: who we are, how we ought to be... all our lives are defined by the answer to one question: Who is God?

Where better to begin than, "In the beginning"?

Today's passage:

1:1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. -Genesis 1.1-2 (esv)