Creation

Benjamin Franklin once quipped, "Half a truth is often a great lie." Sometimes we do the opposite—instead of highlighting the good and leaving out the bad, we focus on the bad and leave out the good! It might sound like this: "We are sinners in need of a Savior."

Indeed, this statement is true. We are sinners, and Jesus is our Savior. However, there's more to the story. Take a moment to read Genesis 1:1-2:3. What impression do you get from this passage?

I notice the recurring theme of goodness. Seven times, God says that creation is good! As He completes His work, God looks over His creation and declares that it is very good. And what happens after God creates Adam and Eve? He blesses them. And in whose image are we made? Genesis tells us that we are made in the very image of God!

The IVP Old Testament Background Commentary notes: "In the ancient world an image was believed to carry the essence of that which it represented... the image provides the capacity not only to serve in the place of God (his representative containing his essence) but also to be and act like him."

This theme runs through all the Scriptures. Ephesians 2:10 reminds us, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do."

In other words, God has already given you immeasurable value and worth, purpose and meaning. It's a fact, a reality, established as soon as you were created.

At your core, you are very good, personally blessed by God to be His image-bearer and representative. God intimately crafted you—you are remarkably and wonderfully made. You are God's glorious workmanship, designed and invited to participate in His good work.

Before we ever considered our own value, God had already acted to make us, his beloved image bearers, with immeasurable goodness and significance.

Today's message is deeply personal. You are not a meaningless collection of chemicals. You didn't just come off an assembly line. The Creator personally formed you—body and soul. He calls you "very good" and bestows upon you His blessing.