A Unique Story Genesis 1 & 2
Until you understand God’s story,
you will be missing important pieces of the puzzle in your own life.
Our story and God’s story are intertwined:
1. Our story begins with and revolves around God. Psalm 90:2 Genesis 1:1
God is Eternal: there has never been a moment that He wasn’t
God is Creator of all: everything hidden or seen was created by God
God is All-Powerful: His power is infinite and never depleted in any way
God is All-Knowing: there is nothing He doesn’t know
God is Love: not that He is loving, but He is love
God is Holy: He is different from anything and everything else.
2. Our story is designed by God Genesis 1:26-27; 2:7
a. We can reason and choose
b. We have a moral compass
c. We can have a relationship with Him
3. Our story is wrapped up in worship Luke 4:8
Everyone loves a good story, right? What is your favorite story? Think for a moment…favorite story. I’m going to mention some of the most popular stories ever according to a couple of compilations I checked out on the internet. Among the most favorite stories is “To Kill a Mockingbird” (pic) by Harper Lee, the story of justice and compassion featuring Atticus Finch and his daughter Scout, and Tom Robinson, a black man unjustly accused of raping a white woman in the deep south. “The Great Gatsby”(pic) by F.Scott Fitzgerald, the story of a young man chasing the American Dream only to find out it can be a nightmare. Miguel de Cervantes’s Don Quixote,(pic) the story of a man on a quest to bring chivalry and romanticism back to the forefront of his own life and in his country. Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. (pic) One of my favorites, Pride and Prejudice (pic)by Jane Austen. Then there are more contemporary stories like Lord of the Rings (pic) and Hunger Games (pic)…Catness! On the other end of the literary scale from those stories are stories like that of Rocky Balboa (pic) the story of a down and out thug who rose to take on and almost defeat the world champion boxer, Apollo Creed. Adrian! And of course, the great literary work “Princess Bride”: (pic of Montoya) “My name is Inigo Montoya: you killed my father, prepare to die.”
Good stories, all! We love a good story. What’s your story? Unless I miss my guess, your story is marked with joy and sadness, struggles, triumphs, tragedy, and perseverance. Each one of us has a story. This series we’re going to talk about your story, and how your story fits in God’s story.
Why is that important? Because life is a puzzle, right? Why am I here? What am I supposed to do in this situation? Where am I going? Why am I feeling this? How do I overcome this challenge? Why did God let that happen to me?(can these build randomly on the slide??)
And until you understand God’s story, you will be missing important pieces of the puzzle. (pic of puzzle with important pieces missing) Let me say this again: Until you understand God’s story, you will be missing important pieces of the puzzle in your own life.
This is going to be an incredible series that will open your eyes to know what God’s story is and how your story fits in it.
I find that most people don’t know God’s story. “The Bible isn’t mainly about you and what you should be doing. It’s about God and what he has done. . . . The Bible
is most of all a Story. It’s an adventure story about a young Hero who comes from a far country to win back his lost treasure. It’s a love story about a brave Prince who leaves his palace, his throne—everything—to rescue the one he loves. It’s like the most wonderful of fairy tales that has come true in real life! You see, the best thing about this Story is—it’s true. There are lots of stories in the Bible, but all the stories are telling one Big Story. The Story of how God loves his children and comes to rescue them.” Sally Lloyd-Jones
Can I just pause here and say that this series will not only help you, but it will help people you know who are struggling with life, struggling with God, struggling with themselves. I’d really encourage you to invite people you know to be a part of these next 4 weeks. In fact, let’s stop right now—why don’t you call someone you know and invite them to come this morning—we’ll wait on them! JK. But seriously, who would you invite? Someone you know who seems to missing a piece of the puzzle and can’t figure life out? Let’s pray now…
Now turn with me to the beginning of God’s story, Genesis 1.
“Many people know stories from the Bible, but they do not know the story of the Bible. That is like having a handful of pearls with no string to link them together.” Colin Smith (find/take a pic of pearls on a table or something and a string laying beside them)
I’m going to help you get the big picture of the Bible this morning. It breaks into 4 main Acts: Creation Fall Redemption Victory We’re going to repeat this each week so that it becomes ingrained in our minds and hearts. Like a good story, it follows a plot line (draw on tablet) Creation Fall Redemption Victory This morning we begin with Act 1: Creation In the story of Creation, we discover our God’s story and our story are intertwined with each other. So that’s the Big Idea of my message this morning:
Our story and God’s story are intertwined:
1. Our story begins with and revolves around God.
God is the hero of the story. It’s all about Him. We have a tendency to try to make ourselves the hero of our story, don’t we? “Look what I’ve done!” “Look what I’ve accomplished!” “Look what I have overcome.” Let me just say, if you place yourself at the center of your story, it’s not going to end well for you.
“Before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to the earth and the world, from eternity to eternity, you are God.” Psalm 90:2 (Christian Standard Bible)
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” Genesis 1:1 (Christian Standard Bible)
If God has a story and every human story begins with Him and revolves around Him, let’s take a brief look at the author and see who He is.
God is Eternal: there has never been a moment that He wasn’t. We read Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning, God.” Whenever the beginning was, God was already. Everything we know has or had a beginning, right? You had a beginning. Your school had a beginning. Our country had a beginning. Even the universe had a beginning. But God Never. Had. A. Beginning. (explosion)
God is Creator of all: everything hidden or seen was created by God. “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the expanse proclaims the work of his hands.” Psalms 19:1 (CSB) Whether the magnificent heavens (pic) or the towering mountains (pic) or the newborn child (pic), God is the creator of all.
God is All-Powerful: His power is infinite and never depleted in any way. “The Lord does whatever he pleases.” Psalm 135:6 (CSB)
God is All-Knowing: there is nothing He doesn’t know. He has no need to learn because He already knows all there is to know about everything. “ Our Lord is great, vast in power; his understanding is infinite.” Psalm 147:5 (CSB) Have you ever known someone who thought they knew everything; a know it all? Well, God is just that: a know it all!
God is Love: not that He is loving, but He is love. 1 John 4:18 “God is love.” We have loving attributes or do loving things, but God is at His very core, love. His mercy and grace flow out of His love.
God is Holy: He is different from anything and everything else. No matter how much something in creation may resemble God, it does not make it God. The sun is radiant, but its radiance doesn’t approach God’s. Humans are created in His image, but we are not Him.
So this is a partial list of the attributes or characteristics of the Author; the Author who has written the greatest story ever told and who is writing YOUR story.
2. Our story is designed by God
“Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.” So God created man in his own image; he created him in the image of God; he created them male and female.” Genesis 1:26-27
Three times in these two verses God makes it clear that He is the designer and creator of human beings. We were quite the personal project of God. All through Genesis 1, the dominant verb is bara: created. How did God create in Genesis 1? He spoke and it was, right? “let there be light, and there was light.” In the original Hebrew, it just says, “LIGHT” and there was light. ATMOSPHERE, and there was atmosphere. Now get this; this is an important fact to grasp if you want to understand Genesis 1 & 2: Genesis 1 is the macro; (build) Genesis 2 is the micro. Chapter 2 contains some of the same events of chapter 1, but they are more up close and personal. So in Ch.1, God says, “Let us make man in our image,” similar language to the rest of creation. But in chapter 2 it’s different. Genesis 2:7 “Then the Lord God formed the man out of the dust from the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.” That word formed (yatsar): to mold, shape, or form So you get the picture that God got down and dirty in the dirt and mud and shaped us and fashioned us PERSONALLY. Our body is unique in all of creation. But it’s not our body that makes us like God; because God is not physical. The Bible says He is spiritual.
We are created/made/fashioned in the image of God. The stars are not created in God’s image. The forests are not created in God’s image. Dogs are not created in God’s image…and you know cats are not!
What does it mean to be created in the image of God, the imago dei?
a. We can reason and choose. The rest of creation cannot do this. The rest of creation can be harnessed; the rest of creation can be trained. But no creature but humans can reason and choose.
b. We have a moral compass. Whenever someone writes a law, establishes a value, is repulsed by evil, praises good behavior, or feels guilt or shame, he or she is confirming the fact that we are made in God’s own image.
c. We can have a relationship with Him Only human beings can have a relationship with God because only humans are in His likeness. Goats can relate to goats, but they cannot relate to frogs. Why? Not the same likeness. Horses can relate to horses, but not to camels. Why? Not the same likeness.
So if God is the master Designer and Author and He created you me to bear His image and to live out His personalized story for us, the question is: Am I living my life from the story I’m crafting for myself, or am I living life based on God’s personal design and preferred future for me? We’ll talk about this more in the weeks to come.
3. Our story is wrapped up in worship
Some stories are all wrapped up in drama, right? Is Catness (Movie logo) going to survive the evil President Snow? Some stories are all wrapped up humor. We love to watch Elf (Movie logo) every Christmas: “Ooh, he’s an angry elf”
But God’s story is all about Him being worshipped. Jesus said, “And Jesus answered him, “It is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.”Luke 4:8 (CSB)
See, our story makes the most sense and is most satisfying when we are wrapped up in worshipping Him. If we’re writing our own story, we worship ourselves and resist worshipping Him. But if we are living out His personalized story for us, we are drawn to worship Him. Let’s spend some time this morning worshipping Him.
(Sing 3-4 worship songs)
