Created FROM Community, FOR Community

INTRODUCTION

Introduce myself…really excited to be here and very grateful to Larry for the invitation.

Intro theme for the day—“one another.”

So important because this is at the core of who we are as human beings.

Culture—“SELF”—as Christians, we’ve swallowed the lie hook, line, and sinker.

Self-promotion—selfies—at the beach…EVERYONE.

Express yourself

Be your true self

Idolization of “self”—prioritization over community

This is actually anti-human.

CASTAWAY—WILSON

>>TRANSITION>> Go back to the beginning.

Math…you mess up…go back.

Genesis 1:26–28 “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. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.””

Genesis 2:5–7 “When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground— then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.”

WE WERE CREATED OUT OF COMMUNITY

Genesis 1 & 2 give us the foundation for the Christian worldview//for making sense of/understanding the world.

Look, again, at chapter 1 verse 26—God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…”

Now, up until this point in the creation story, everything else God had made—living creatures, plants of the field—He spoke into existence and made “according to its own kind.”

But, here with mankind, it’s different. Now, two things we need to ponder and unpack if we’re going to understand who we truly are.

Who is “us”//“our”? God is either talking about Himself or someone else, or, is he bipolar? Confused?

No! God is TRIUNE—Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Three persons—ONE God. Not 3 gods. Not one with 3 personalities. For ALL OF ETERNITY, God has existed as TRIUNE—eternal relationship and community with one another.

What does God mean when He says that He will make man in His “image” and “likeness?” What does it mean for us to be created “in” and “after?”

Created out of this relationship—for all of eternity the TRINITY has existed in love and life and enjoyment of God.

Created out of the overflow.

VOICES FROM CHURCH HISTORY

“Adam had it in his being … [and] he not only knew God and believed that He was good, but he also lived in a life that was wholly godly.” (Luther) — righteous & holiness—right relationship with God.

Sharing in the life and love of God…but this also & especially means…

WE WERE CREATED FOR COMMUNITY

A) With God

“and God blessed them…” He showed favor and grace.

Relations—Invited to trust & obey—God provides

Responsibility—Steward (rule & dominion) creation

Righteousness—Tree of life

River from the throne

God walked & communed with Adam & Eve

We were created to be in relationship with God! To share the life and the love and the community of the Father, Son, and Spirit. This was the purpose that God created for. It wasn’t because he wanted little workers or…he created us out of the overflow of the life and love of the Trinity and gave us the command to be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth with other image bearers so that the earth would be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God.

Here’s the thing…Adam couldn’t do this alone!

WE WERE CREATED FOR COMMUNITY WITH ONE ANOTHER

A wonderful two-fold truth, here. I think it’s easy to see this creation story and think, “Yeah…the community/relationship Adam was created to live in was with Eve—his wife.”

That’s true, but, what was the purpose of their relationship? To be fruitful, multiply, and what? FILL THE EARTH. Create community. Create families. Live in relationships—many of them—with other image bearers.

God’s design is that we live in community with Him and with one another.

You weren’t created for isolation. You weren’t created to strike out alone in life and live cut off from relationship with others.

SIN BREAKS OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD AND WITH ONE ANOTHER