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Bible Verse: “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” John 1:3 KJV

Bible Reading: Genesis 1-2; John 1:3, 2 Corinthians 3:18; Acts 1:8

About six months ago, I suddenly thought of my old camera and decided to use it to take pictures of the deer instead of my phone. But when I went to look for it, it wasn’t in the closet where I thought. I kept searching for weeks with no success. I completely emptied storage rooms, pilfering through every crate and box. I knew it had to be in the house somewhere, yet I had searched every place I could think of. Finally, I sat and tried to recall the day I packed the things from the armoire where I had kept it in our old house. I remembered distinctly packing first all the clothes I would not be wearing anytime soon. Because of a shortage of boxes, clothes had gotten packed mostly into trash bags, which had long since been unpacked and put away. Suddenly it hit me. There had been an old trunk in my closet at the previous house which had held old clothes and purses. In moving, I had lost the key, so thinking there was nothing important in it, my husband had put it in a cubby in the basement. Could I have stuffed my camera in it just for moving? I had my husband pry the lock… and there it was. Instead of wasting endless time searching in all the wrong places, I had only needed to go back to the beginning.

Sometimes as we move through this world, we lose sight. Even as Christians, we lose our way, and we begin to ask questions like ‘who am I?’, ‘why do I exist?’, or ‘what is my purpose?’ We set about desperately searching for meaning and purpose in places like jobs, relationships, money, and things, only to come up dry. But as in the example of my camera, sometimes we need to go back to the beginning, and when we do… we discover that the Bible puts it all in perspective. When I dig into Genesis 1-2, I find that I am no accident or product of chance. I was purposely and intentionally made. Genesis 2:7 says, “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (King James Version). While the rest of creation came into existence by God’s spoken word, He formed humans by His hand and brought them to life by His very breath (See Genesis 1). And Genesis 1:27 tells me that “…God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” I was created in God’s image. Therefore, I long for love… I think… I reason… I feel… I desire justice and peace. I am His image-bearer… and as His image-bearer, Genesis 1:26 declares, “…and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth” (KJV). We are God’s representatives on this earth to care for and cultivate His creation… to make it the best it can be. But although humans failed and sin entered the world, God still had a plan and a purpose for humanity. He came to earth as man, offering Himself as a final sacrifice, defeating sin and death, and by accepting His sacrifice and placing faith and trust in Him, “…we …with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. (2 Corinthians 3:18 KJV). And Jesus has called us to be His ambassadors, giving us the mandate to “… be witnesses unto me [Jesus] …unto the uttermost part of the earth”. (Acts 1:8 KJV).

Friend, we are created through an intentional and purposeful act of God, shaped by His hand, and brought to life by His breath. We are His image-bearers, representatives of Him, and called to be ambassadors of Christ and spread His message to the world. The Bible explains it all.