WORD OF THE WEEK - BEGINNING - 10/20/24

Definition: origin, source; first or the first part; start

Scriptures: Genesis  1:26-27 “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
Genesis 2:18 - “ Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”
St. John 1:12-13 But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to those who believe in His name,  who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

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Transcript

Definition: origin, source; first or the first part; start

Scriptures:Genesis  1:26-27 “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
Genesis 2:18 - “ Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”
St. John 1:12-13 But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to those who believe in His name,  who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

In the beginning, for what purpose was man created?

Genesis 1:26-27 states, "God said, 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.' In the beginning, God created man in His image; He created him male and female."

The scripture describes how the first man, Adam, was created. "The LORD God formed man out of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul" (Genesis 2:7). He called his name Adam, meaning "man of the earth." God placed the first man in the Garden of Eden, where everything needed for his survival was provided.

God told Adam he could eat from any tree in the garden except for one: the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Here, God clarified man's connection with God’s divinity. The man had the spirit of God, meaning he was given the gift of divine authority to choose life or death. God provided man with access to all that was divine.

It was there that God began to share with Adam the purposes for which man was created:

1. 1. He was created to tend and keep the garden and
2. 2. Declare man’s dominance over all the creatures by naming them.
3. 
   

With such an enormous task, God declared, "It is not good that Adam should be alone; I will make a helper for him."

Instead of creating a new creature from the earth, God created Adam’s helper from a part of Adam to ensure that the life and spirit given to Adam would be shared by the new creation. From Adam’s body, God took a rib and created woman to be the female version of the man. As proclaimed by Adam, “She i

s "flesh of my flesh and bone of my bone."

From her creation came Adam’s third purpose:

To cleave to his wife, so that they could be as one flesh.

They were the same in spirit, responsibility, and accountability to God. When they chose to give in to the temptation to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God put them both out of the Garden of Eden.

Their expulsion from the garden the resulted in God defining Adam’s fourth purpose:

To till the ground from which he was taken and work to sustain his existence.  While Adam would have to work, Eve would bear children in sorrow.

Since Adam had dominion over all that existed, his fifth purpose would be:

To care for his family.

God’s original purpose for man’s existence has often been ignored since Adam’s time due to choices made by man. Redemption has become possible because God allowed His only son to be sacrificed for the sake of humanity.  That offered the possibility of reconciliation with God.

Although Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden, God has never changed the purposes for which man was created.  

He was created

• To take care of the earth.
• To love one another.
• To help one another.
• To work to sustain himself and his family.
• To procreate.

When man individually and collectively accepts the redemption given by the sacrifice of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, and when humanity realigns with the purposes for which man was created, the possibility of a return to the Garden of Eden becomes possible.

Until you choose...