January 24, 2018
Three Answers You Need to Know
Sharon Jaynes
Today’s Truth
“In the beginning God [Elohim] created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1 NIV).
Friend to Friend
Who are you?
Where did you come from?
Why are you here?
These are three very important questions to which you need to know the answer.
When I was writing my chapter for our new GiG book, Knowing God by Name, I discovered that the very first name for God in the Bible is Elohim, and it is found in the very first sentence of God’s Word. “In the beginning God [Elohim] created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1 NIV).
Before the creation of the world, there was nothing. Our human minds can’t even conceive or imagine nothing. But into the nothing God spoke, and what was not became what is.
When God hung the sun in the morning sky and the moon in the inky expanse; when He sprinkled the stars to dance in the night; when He separated the waters of heaven from the waters of the earth; when He shaped the dry land, scattered seed for vegetation, stocked the seas with marine life and filled skies with winged foul; He did so with words. “And God said, ‘Let there be’… And it was so.” “By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of His mouth” (Psalm 33:6 NIV).
But on the sixth day, God did a little something different. “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…’” (Genesis 1:26 NASB).
So the holy hand of God bent low, gathered dust of the ground, and with sacred fingertips formed man. God then leaned over the lifeless form, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being (Genesis 2:7).
After each of the first five days of creation, as the sun set over the horizon, God said, “It is good.” Six times, at the end of each phase of His handiwork, He reiterated his approval. We ride the rhythm of repetition only to be brought to a sudden halt by the Creator’s words when He looked at the lone man with no suitable companion. “It is not good for the man to be alone” (Genesis 2:18 NIV).
“So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The Lord Godfashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man” (Genesis 2:21-22 NIV).
Eve was the crowning touch of God’s creative masterpiece and the inspiration of man’s first poetry. She was not an afterthought, but God’s grand finale – His magnificent masterpiece. God concluded the first week of the world’s existence and the curtain fell with the words: “God saw all that he had made, and it wasvery good” (Genesis 1:31a NIV).
Knowing God as Elohim answers three big questions for all of us. Who am I? Where did I come from? Why am I here?
Who are you? You are an image bearer of God. Elohim said, “Let Us make man in Our own image.”
Where did you come from? God fashioned you, formed you,and created your innermost being.
Why are you here? You were created for God and to glorify God (Isaiah 43:7), because it pleased Him to do so (Ephesians 1:5). The concept of glory can be a difficult concept to wrap our human minds around. Simply put, God’s glory is how He makes His presence known. You, my friend, are a platform from which God displays His magnificence and makes His presence easy to see.
Knowing you were created by God and for God, answers a thousand questions. You have great value and great purpose, regardless of how you feel about yourself, regardless of how you came into this world, regardless of what others have said about you in the past. Every human life is sacred, no matter how it began.
Now let me go a little deeper. As you ponder God speaking the universe into existence with but a word, is there anything in your life that is too difficult for Him to take care of?
Any problem too complex to solve?
Any illnesses too severe to heal?
Any child too rebellious to tame?
Any marriage too far gone to restore?
Oh sister, nothing is impossible for Elohim, The Mighty Creator. He can breathe life into any seemingly hopeless situation that comes your way. “For nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37 NIV). You can depend on Elohim to weave a design out of the tangled circumstances of your life, even when they may seem as shapeless and void as the earth was prior to His first utterance of “Let there be.”
Let’s Pray
Elohim, Mighty Creator, I praise You for all that You have made. Thank You for the way You have fashioned my body. Tiny eyelashes that keep dust from my eyes. Flexible fingers that grasp and hold. Legs that stand and bend. Feet that walk and run. A heart that beats. A mind that thinks. Skin that protects. A soul that loves. I pray that I will represent You well today - that I will glorify You in all that I do.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.
Now It’s Your Turn
What do you think it means to be created in the image of God?
Read Genesis 1:31 How did God feel about what He had made?
Based upon God’s response to His creation, what conclusion can you draw about your value as a woman created in the image of God?
Does knowing that you are created to reflect God (to glorify God) affect how you live?
Is there any change you need to make to better reflect Him?
More from the Girlfriends
Today’s GiG devotion is adapted from Knowing God by Name by Sharon Jaynes, Gwen Smith, & Mary Southerland by permission of Multnomah, division of Random House, Inc. This is the perfect book for individual study or for gathering a group of friends in what we call GiG Groups. With impactful devotions, study questions, journal pages, and free on-line video intros, this book is a resource you’ll refer to time-and-time again.
SPECIAL OFFER:Gwen is offering a 20% OFF discount on the Knowing God by Name book from her site when you use the coupon code: 20OFF. Click here to get yours now.
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