Our devotionals this year are walking through the book of Acts to better understand our identity and mission as the Lord’s church. But a key aspect of that is to also have a thorough knowledge of God’s Word through which our God tells us about himself. So we invite you to join us as Tallowood embarks on a new Bible reading plan for 2024. The more we familiarize ourselves with God’s great story of glory and grace, the more we will know and love him!
This story, like most, begins at the beginning. Whereas before there was only empty darkness and chaos, God created the heavens and the earth with fullness, light, and order. From the beginning, all of creation testified to the glory of its wonderful creator. But things went awry, and mankind, the pinnacle of God’s creation, rebelled against him and fell into their own self-made, inescapable darkness. God would later begin putting a wonderful plan of redemption into action, one which the world desperately needed. But before things ever went wrong, there was a time when the world fully knew the glory of its creator.
One of the coolest things about the creation story is how it focuses on the order that God established and the purpose that God instituted. With every step of his creative process, he brought life to a lifeless void, and with life came a meaning for life. The universe, and everything in it, was created for a beautiful, wonderful purpose—to enjoy being with God. The universe, having been loved by God, is fulfilled and joyful and fully alive when it loves God back.
In fact, the creation story is written to show how creation resembles a temple. What’s the purpose of a temple? To allow God and man to draw close to each other. What did God do on the seventh day? He rested—he began to dwell in his own temple among us—he drew close. The seventh day of creation was in fact the most important, because on that day, God and his creation drew close to each other in intimate love, and creation’s purpose was fulfilled.
What does that have to do with us? Well, if Adam and Eve were given responsibilities in the original temple, than they were essentially priests. And so are we. We are given the charge of serving God, taking care of his creation, and drawing close to him. This is our purpose, and when our purpose is accomplished, we are fulfilled and fully alive. From day one, we have been destined for God’s love, and we have been designed to love him back. Today, we celebrate Jesus and await his return because we know that he is working to bring us to the complete, final fulfillment of our purpose. Let us never forget: we are made for God’s love!.
