Each week on Thursdays we highlight a trustworthy discipleship resource that can help you in your mission to make disciples. This week’s post is from The Gospel Project: In the Beginning. Fill out the form at the end of this post by Friday, November 9th at 11:59pm to enter for a chance to win this free resource!
God’s Good World
Every story has a beginning, and the story of the Bible begins with four astounding words: “In the beginning God” (Gen. 1:1). God wasn’t just there at the beginning; He was there before the beginning. What this means is that everything and everyone has an origin, that is, except God.
The depiction of God we see in the Bible takes our simple ideas of religion and blasts them to pieces. It shows us a God who is so fundamental to all of life that even time itself must bow to His will as one of His creations. Here is a God whom we cannot control, cannot contain, and often cannot predict.
God’s creation tells a story. It’s a story of majesty, splendor, beauty, and greatness. But the story creation tells isn’t about itself—it is about the Creator. As majestic and beautiful as creation is, God the Creator is even more so, always greater than His creation. This is the story creation whispers, and sometimes shouts, to us every day.
Think about what you believe to be the most beautiful or amazing part of creation, something that makes your jaw drop. What do you envision? Perhaps a towering mountain range or a white sandy beach. Maybe a field of flowers or a leopard in mid-stride. Whatever you picture, as beautiful and glorious as it is, it pales in comparison to God’s original creation before the fall. Even now, stained by the curse of sin, creation continues to declare the glory of God! That’s how glorious He is.
Creation was designed to point us to the greatness of God and to elicit worship toward Him in our hearts and lives. That is the story creation tells.
What are some parts of creation that make you marvel the most? What do they tell you about God?
The apostle John opens up his story of Jesus’ life by connecting Him to the creation story. The Word created all things good, but later the Word took on flesh (John 1:1) to enter into this dark, sin-filled, chaotic world that life and light might shine in it once more.
Throughout His ministry, we see Jesus undoing the chaos and darkness left by sin. He heals diseases, opens the eyes of the blind, makes the lame walk, the deaf hear, and the dead come to life. He forgives adulterers, murderers, and thieves. Where sin left a dark void in the world, Jesus came with a thundering word: Let there be light!
But Jesus’ ministry went even deeper. He laid down His life in the darkness and chaos of death, taking upon Himself our sin so that we who had rejected the Word could have light and life again. Jesus allowed Himself to be de-created on the cross so that we could be re-created through His resurrection. Your life may be a picture of chaos, but if Jesus can create everything good out of nothing, He can surely re-create everything in you.
Where is the chaos in your life that you need Jesus to re-create?
Excerpted from J.D. Greer and Chris Pappalardo, The Gospel Project: In the Beginning © 2018 Lifeway Press®. Used by permission.Scripture quotations are taken from the Christian Standard Bible®. Copyright 2018 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission.
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