Genesis 1:1-31 What is my purpose?

If you've seen a hippopotamus at the zoo, you may have wondered why it seemed to be bleeding. In fact, what appears to be blood is actually sweat colored by a thick reddish-orange pigment. This special sweat functions as a natural sunscreen, helps regulate body temperature, and works as an antibiotic, fighting bacteria and helping hippos recover more quickly from wounds. God's creation is endlessly surprising and delightful!

We're starting in Genesis, the “book of beginnings,”—in order to fulfill our purpose, we must know our origin. To understand how we end, we must know how we began. In fact, God Himself proclaimed,“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End” (Rev. 22:13).

God's creation of the world is the first answer to our question of purpose. This key event and doctrine has been obscured in modern times by polarizing debates. In the middle of the dispute over how to interpret this first chapter of the Bible, some people forget the bottom line. What biblical truths must we understand and affirm? The central one is that God created. The existence of the universe is not the result of merely naturalistic occurrences or processes. This means we'll never find our ultimate purpose in creation, wonderful as it may be. We must look beyond it to the Creator Himself.

So what do we learn about God in this chapter? He's creative, orderly, and powerful. He fashioned things for both usefulness and beauty. Our world was made to sustain and reproduce life—plants, animals, and human beings. All that exists, exists because of God. (Whole article taken from "Today in the Word", Moody Publishing. Jan 1, 2005)

Grace, MB