Providence Church

If God made everything good, why are things so bad? The answer is sin. Sin upends God’s good design and corrupts everything in the world, especially us.

The account of the fall not only tells us what happened — they took of the fruit and ate — but also how it happened. It is written for our benefit, so we can understand the components of temptation and sin in our own lives: deception, doubt, desire, and disillusionment.

What is marriage? How we answer that question matters, because there are many different views of marriage in our culture. Genesis tells us, like everything else in creation, marriage is from God. Marriage is created by God, marriage is defined by God, and marriage is a reflection of God. A God-centered view of marriage reveals its beauty and goodness, but also reminds us that it is not ultimate.

Relationship is essential to who we are because it is essential to who God is. But our idea of community often misses the mark. That is why we need to come back to Genesis. These are foundational principles for Christian community.

We live in a restless culture, where it’s hard to sit still, hard to turn it off, and hard to stop striving. It’s exhausting. Thankfully, God shows us that rest is part of being created in his image. He even sets apart a day of rest for us. But, we still struggle to rest. How can we practice rest and experience true rest of the soul?

We spend more time working than we do on anything else. And yet, most of us are in sort of a fog about the meaning and significance of our work. We need a robust vision for work if we are going to thrive in our postmodern world. And a deeper study of Genesis 1-2 gives us just that.

What does it mean to be a human being created in the image of God? It couldn’t be a more relevant question. Because there are a lot of competing narratives out there about what it means to be human…who we are, what we’re here for, and what makes us valuable. Genesis tells us that humanity is the crown of God’s creation.

Genesis 1 introduces us to the one true God who created everything by His Word. He knows what is good for humans and he provides by speaking it into the world. Creation and humanity flourish in conformity to God’s Word. 

Genesis 1:1 is only seven words in Hebrew, and yet it is the foundation for everything to come in the Bible. Not surprisingly, the subject of this verse is our glorious God.

Whether you are new to following Jesus or you have been a believer for a long time, it’s worth returning from time to time to some of the most foundational questions of our faith. In Matthew 4, Jesus gives us some key insight into one such question: What does it mean to be a Christian?