You Are Loved Series

You Are Loved

Introduction

Last week we looked at the first 2 verses of the book of Genesis. We talked about the fact that God existed before the beginning. We talked about the Eternal nature of God, the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit. And now we are ready to look at the rest of the creation account. But I want to focus on one particular part of the creation account. I want to focus on mankind. I want to focus on us. Because all of creation is focused on us. In fact, before the creation of the world, God already had His mind on us.

Ephesians 1:4-5 (NLT)

Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.

Even before God created the world God had us in mind. And as we read the creation account we need to keep this in mind.

I. The Life God Intended.

When I was younger, I used to wonder about life on other planets. I thought, “Why would God create so much just for us. I thought that it would be a terrible waste of space to created galaxies beyond number with no life on the planets of those galaxies.” And then I read the Psalms and I came to realize that God created everything with us in mind.

Psalm 8:3-4 (NLT)

When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers— the moon and the stars you set in place— what are people that you should think about them, mere mortals that you should care for them?

I no longer believe that there is other life out there somewhere. God created every star in the night sky just for us. Every star, every galaxy was placed up there for us to enjoy. Each star is a sign of just how much God loves us. That is what the creation account tells us. Genesis chapter 1 and 2 are meant to tell us how special we are to God.

Genesis 1:9-13 (NLT)

Then God said, “Let the waters beneath the sky flow together into one place, so dry ground may appear.” And that is what happened. God called the dry ground “land” and the waters “seas.” And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let the land sprout with vegetation—every sort of seed-bearing plant, and trees that grow seed-bearing fruit. These seeds will then produce the kinds of plants and trees from which they came.” And that is what happened. The land produced vegetation—all sorts of seed-bearing plants, and trees with seed-bearing fruit. Their seeds produced plants and trees of the same kind. And God saw that it was good.

And evening passed and morning came, marking the third day.

And God saw that it was good. Those words are repeated again and again in Genesis chapter 1.

• On the third day God created the dry ground and all the plants and trees and said that it was good.

• On the fourth day God created the sun, the moon and all the stars and said that it was good.

• On the fifth day God created life in the oceans, rivers and streams and said that it was good.

• On the sixth day God created birds, animals and insects and said that it was good.

All of creation was pronounced good. But good for what? It was good for us. God had us in mind when he created horses. He knew how some of you would love to ride. He had us in mind when He created cats and dogs. He knew how much we would enjoy our pets. He had me in mind when he created ribeye steaks, I mean cows.

My point is that God created everything on this planet, in this galaxy and beyond just for us. We see this fact in the creation account when we get to verse 26.

Genesis 1:26-31 (NLT)

Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like ourselves. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”

So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”