Life can feel like a mess
Have you ever felt overwhelmed with the messiness of life?
The tensions of world politics, the differing views on gender and sexuality, the breakdown of relationships, health issues, family issues, the striving after money, happiness, grades, status…
... and then we look inside and see the mess our own lives are in… our frustration with people we love, our dissatisfaction with our identity, the mistakes we make and people we hurt… and then there’s guilt when we think about our relationship with God…
Life can feel like a mess…
Genesis three tells us exactly why life is such a mess and despite in some ways being the darkest chapter of the bible, it offers two incredible hopes
- God has a solution for the mess we are in
- God helps us live well despite the mess we are in
Do come and join us as we look at this remarkable chapter on Wednesday night. We’d love to encourage you and each other to see the hope we have no matter what the mess is that we are in right now.
Women to Women, Wednesday night, 7:15 for 7:30pm
Dear ladies,
Really looking forward to seeing you again on Wednesday coming when Debbie will be bringing us some throughts from Genesis 2 on the purpose of our lives... there is so much on that passage from what it means to rest, to work, and why God made men and women....
Do plan to come early - from 7:15 - for tea and coffee and some fellowship before we get into the word together... if you would like to get to know some people better still, or are coming from work and need to eat first... then a group of people are meeting before hand in Pizza Express for dinner. If you'd like to join them, email Eilidh and let her know you're coming.
Meantime, why not reflect on the passage so you'll get even more out of our time together:
Looking forward to seeing you, Karen x
Genesis 2
Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.
2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
Adam and Eve
4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.
5 Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, 6 but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7 Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
8 Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
10 A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.)13 The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Ashur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”
19 Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animalsand all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature,that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.
But for Adam no suitable helper was found. 21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
23 The man said,
“This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
for she was taken out of man.”
24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.
25 Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.
In the image of God
On Wednesday night we explored how God has revealed himself to us as he intentionally and lovingly created the universe. In completing his work, he created mankind in his own image to rule over the world.
Gen 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
27So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
This is the start of a big theme in the bible which is core to us understanding who we are and why God made us. The image of God helps us think about what it is to be human and what it is to be Christian
All humanity is made in God’s image
All have dignity and value as all alike are made in His image
Male and Female both have a role in reflecting God’s image
As God is relational so we are made relational
All have capacity to reflect Gods characteristics in the world – to love, to create, to forgive, to be generous and merciful etc
All are given responsibility in the world to care for and rule over the planet as God’s delegated authority
Not all humanity is able to reflect God’s image
When Satan tempted Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit he said they would be like God… ironically that’s exactly what was lost as they sinned… As sinful human’s we can no longer perfectly reflect God’s image in the world.
Only one sinless human could bear the image of God to the world… Christ himself is the image of the invisible God…
When we confess our helpless sinful state, and trust that Christ died in our place on the cross, we can again bear his image and reflect God to the world around us.
1 Cor 5:21God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God
We are now "In Christ" – the image of God in us is restored.... This is true now and will be even more clearly seen in us when we are made fully perfect in the new creation...
Take some time to think about the privilege of being created by God as his image bearers
If you'd like to hear the talk from Wednesday night do email me and I'll send you a link.
Karen
Unveil: Behold: Transform
As we prepare to begin our Women to Women journey back to the beginning – to God’s first words to us in Genesis 1 – I want to share with you a few thoughts;
- These are God’s first written words we will be looking at… familiar perhaps but also profound and foundational… so come ready to hear them again - as if for the first time.
- They were originally written to a group of refugees who had escaped an oppressive dictator, crossed through a treacherous river and were making their way to the promised land. How encouraging it would have been to have received these words from God himself as he tells them who he is, who they are, and what his plans are for them and the world.
- These words are equally meant for us as we get to know our creator and see where we fit in his world. They will help us make sense of the world we live in.
My prayer for us as we look at Genesis is that
- God will UNVEIL the truths from his word to our hearts
- We will BEHOLD God in his Glory
- And that we will be TRANSFORMED as a result
“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” 1Cor3:18
Have a wee look at this overview of Genesis 1-12 on you tube for a wee insight into what’s coming this term
And we’ll look forward to seeing you on Wednesday night- 7:15 for 7:30
