You Were Created For A Purpose Series

INTRODUCTION

This morning to find our text you can open your Bible with me to Genesis chapter 1.

At First Assembly we’ve started an exciting new series on the book of Genesis. Last week in Genesis chapter one we learned three significant lessons about God. This week in Genesis chapters one and two we will learn three important lessons about ourselves.

As you saw in the drama, people go to great lengths to discover who they are in relationship to their Universe. But before you turn to a psychic, to astrology, or to a metaphysical cult, I suggest you turn to God’s Word to find real answers. From the Scripture we can learn who we are by virtue of creation, why we were created, and where we can find true fulfillment in our lives.

Proposition: Today you will discover that you were created to bear God’s image, to fulfill His purpose, and to know His fullness.

Let’s pray together.

(Prayer)

TEXT

Gen 1:26 “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’”

The Bible is a God centered book. In the beginning we find God at work. The first chapter of Genesis is one of the most God-centered chapters in the Bible. God is mentioned by name 32 times in 31 verses. Add to that use of personal pronouns, and He is mentioned no less than 43 times. On the very first pages of Scripture the Holy Spirit brings us into the presence of God and keeps us there. Last week we saw that the word Elohim is a plural name used in a sentence with singular construction. That’s because there is only one God but that one God is three, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Here we find it again. God said, “Let us – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – make man in our – Father, Son, Holy Spirit - image.” We learn much about God in this first chapter of Genesis

In addition by studying the creation of mankind in Genesis chapter 1 and 2 there are also three important lessons you can learn about yourself. First, you learn you were created in the image of God. Gen 1:27-28 says, “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” Last week we tackled the subject of evolution and creation. Today as we begin to talk about the creation of man, I’d like to say a few words about evolution once again, because it is so important. You see if you think you’re nothing more than a cosmic accident; if you think you simply evolved from lower life forms through random chance; then you will have no sense of value, no sense of purpose, and no sense of destiny. Frankly most of us know better.

Despite the wide spread teaching of evolution in high schools and universities, few people believe it. Several years ago Gallup took a poll and learned 48% of people believe God created fully developed human beings approximately 10,000 years ago. Another 40% believe the time span was longer, and evolutionary processes were used, but that God carried out the process. Only 9% believe in evolution by natural law.

Dwyan Gish, the noted biologist says, “Evolution is a fairly tale for adults. In Grimm’s Fairy Tales someone kisses a frog and 2 seconds later it become a prince. We call that a fairy tale. In evolution, someone kisses a frog and 2 millions years later it becomes a prince and we call that science.” Evolution is indeed a fairy tale for adults.

We are taught monkeys are the same as us, so are frogs, and even the sod of earth. That would mean I am only a sophisticated machine. Yet we all know a machine can’t love. So I must not actually be able to love. What I’m sensing is only a chemical reaction. Regardless of what the evolutionist tells us, deep down we know are not simply machines. We can’t live with the conclusions of evolution.

You aren’t a machine and unlike the drama we saw today, you aren’t a zero and you weren’t created to worship a big zero. You are not a sophisticated ape that grew up out of the slime, who was created by a freak accident. God tells us that you are a person uniquely and wonderfully made in His image. You have value, significance, and worth. Your life really does matter.

In Genesis chapter one God gives us an overview of creation and in Genesis chapter two we receive more details. Look at Genesis chapter two, verse 7. It says, “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.”