Read Genesis 1:1-2:25

This is one of those passages that I have read countless times.  Perhaps you have too.  I have heard and personally proclaimed many valuable truths from these chapters.  I have used these words to point people to God as Creator.  He is the omnipotent One who can call things into existence.  I have been instructed about the progression of creation.  I have taught others about the sense of worth derived from the fact that God made man in His image.  This passage reminds us of the value of rest and the sacred nature of marriage.

But I haven’t paused often enough to consider the fact that this beginning was a foreshadowing of the end.  The beautiful edenic setting will one day be restored.   And God’s purpose, in telling man to “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it,” will one day be realized.   You see, God’s purpose from the outset has been that the peoples of the earth would live to the praise of His name.

That is the biblical motif that we want to trace over the next several days.  From the beginning of time, God wanted, you see, to have the whole earth inhabited, not just small portions of it.  But mere habitation of the earth was not all.  He wanted people who would honor Him as the very One, whose image they bore.  He wanted the peoples of the earth to live to the praise of his name.

Over the course of the next several days, then, we will see how that divine passion is expressed.  In order to accomplish that task, we will…

• See that God seeks to rescue people from the ravages of sin.
• Observe man’s reluctance to occupy the earth and honor the creator.
• Understand that God chose a man to become a nation in order to bring blessing to all people.
• Witness the fact that God is a missionary God who sends His Son and His Spirit to draw people to Himself.
• Recognize the role that the church is to play in seeing God’s mission accomplished.

Would you begin to pray now that God would soften your heart and open your eyes to His plan of praise for the people of the earth?

Steve Kern