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Love
Teaching Text: Genesis 1: 16-31
God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.
And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.
And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds:the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds.And God saw that it was good.
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.”
So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number;fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
Themes
Consider these themes and ask your group what else they see in the passage:
Vocation
Formation
Thoughts and notes you can use for discussion:
Which of these do you resonate with?
Purpose of your vocation:
To provide resources for living
To serve a larger personal purpose
To serve the world we live in
To have fun
To bolster personal identity
Any others…??
Epiphany: Moment of great revelation. Particularly, as it relates to the church calendar, it is a realization of what life is like in light of the appearance of Jesus.
“The word vocation is a rich one, having to address the wholeness of life, the range of relationships and responsibilities. Work, yes, but also families, and neighbors, and citizenship, locally and globally—all of this and more is seen as vocation, that to which I am called as a human being, living my life before the face of God. It is never the same word as occupation, just as calling is never the same word as career. Sometimes, by grace, the words and the realities they represent do overlap, even significantly; sometimes, in the incompleteness of life in a fallen world, there is not much overlap at all.” – Steven Garber
God, in creation, brings order out of chaos.
The order is still abundant (TEEMING) - order doesn’t mean boring or stale, but there is thriving in FULL life
“God’s creative act brings forth not carefully regimented sets of creatures, but “swarms” of them…Anyone who has been near a swarm of honeybees, gone scuba diving among schools of fish or seen a wheeling flock of sparrows over a grain field at sunset knows how awesomely unpredictable a swarm can be. Other translations use the word teeming…another word for incalculable and inestimable abundance. The Creator is not seeking a world full of pets, individually domesticated animals bred to be attentive to their human masters. He delights in wildness. Swarming and teeming are part of what make the world good - the overflow and excess of life. All of this actually gives greater glory to God, who has breathed into existence the vast spaces of earth, sky and sea where these creatures can teem, than would a meticulously tended back yard. The Creator loves teeming.” – ANDY CROUCH
“28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” – GENESIS 1
God invites our participation in abundance and order creation
But the function is to join in the WORK of the world - THE VOCATION.
Being made in the image of God means joining in with…. In making good of the world:
ADAM and EVE were given good work to do, and this wasn’t just because sin came into the world
Cultivation
Exploration
Bringing Order- naming the animals
Some aspects of ruling or dominion
Doing meaningful things was part of creation before the fall
“Human beings] “cultural mandate” - the call to rule, fill, and transform the earth - was established before the Fall and exists independently of our need for redemption. God clearly had an initial basic plan for the development of the newly created earth, which includes human beings cultural involvement.” – David Bruce Hegeman
Tim Mackie from The Bible Project summarizes this as…
“To oversee creation as God's partners and representatives in the world"
The categories in Genesis still work:
RULE - FILL - WORK - PRESERVE
We are called to…
JOIN WITH GOOD IN THE WORLD
TO PUSH BACK DARKNESS
TO BRING ORDER TO CHAOS
“All day, every day, there are both the wounds and wonders at the very heart of life, if we have eyes to see. And seeing - learning to know, to pay attention - is where vocations begin.” – Steven Garber
Pay attention to God
Pay attention to your Life
Pay Attention to Your Community
Pay attention to God - PRAYER
Pay attention to your Life - PRAYER, SILENCE, REFLECTION, THOUGHT, LEARNING, DEVELOPMENT - you are made in God’s image.
Pay Attention to Your Community - Choose relationship, choose love
RELATIONSHIP - REVELATION - RESPONSIBILITY
ARE THERE THINGS GOD HAS INVITED YOU TO CARE ABOUT?
IS THEIR DARKNESS YOU CAN PUSH BACK?
IS THEIR ORDER YOU CAN BRING TO CHAOS?
WHAT ARE YOU GIFTED WITH?
WHAT ARE YOU PASSIONATE ABOUT?
WHAT CAN YOU ENDURE IN THAT PERHAPS HAN OTHERS?
WHERE CAN YOU FIGHT EVIL WITH THE WEAPONS OF THE SPIRIT?
HOW DO YOU UNDERSTAND YOUR LIFE MISSION?
