Friday, February 22, 2008 at 1:01am
Blessed to do what?
Column: For His Glory
Why did God create us? Have you ever stopped to think about that? Why did God make you and me? He is all powerful, all knowing, self-sustaining and eternal. Why would He need us for? He did not need to create us and yet He did, but for what reason? Genesis Chapter 1 says, "God blessed them," that is Adam and Eve. Some have correctly concluded that we are made to be showered with God's blessings. But my natural question, then, is to ask what I am to do with my blessedness? Well, what was Adam and Eve's role in the Garden of Eden? God tells them their role:
"And God blessed them; and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.'" (Genesis 1:28)
So Adam and Eve were to rule over the entire earth, and they only had to answer to God. Why, you may ask? Because He is the owner, He is our creator. That is part of the reason we worship Him, did you know that? Let's read Revelations 4:11: "Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created."
God is the creator, the owner, and Adam and Eve were the ones who had to rule the earth. That makes Adam and Eve God's stewards or — to use a word more common today — Adam and Eve were God's managers. And it is in this context that they are blessed. Because, after all, we do not own anything; all that we have has been given to us by God to be managed as He instructed us in His Word. God has made it clear that all of it is His.
Psalms 50:12 says, "For the world is Mine, and all it contains." He owns your clothes, your house, your car, your money and did you know He even owns your very breath. The breath of air you are taking right now belongs to Him. "In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind," Job 12:10 tells us. Talk about owning everything.
And since God owns everything, our main concern should not be the cares of this world — how we are going to clothe ourselves or where we are going to live, what car are we going to drive or how we going to purchase our food. But rather, as God's stewards we are to concern ourselves with building a relationship with our creator or the owner of the things we possess in order to properly know how to manage His creation, including ourselves.
Matthew 6:33 sums it up best: We should "seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." Therefore, the essence of this verse is that if we take care of managing this planet and ourselves after God's glory, according to His will, our necessities will be taken care of. Why am I so sure of that? Because at the heart of who God is, God is a giver: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." (John 3:16)
— — —
Gio Marin is the pastor of the College Station and Waller Seventh-day Adventist Church in the state of Texas. He graduated in December 2007 with a master of divinity degree from Andrews Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary, with a dual emphasis on systematic theology and church growth & evangelism. Send him an email at {email GioMarinColumn@aol.com}GioMarinColumn@aol.com{/email}. © Copyright 2008 by Gio Marin.
"And God blessed them; and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.'" (Genesis 1:28)
So Adam and Eve were to rule over the entire earth, and they only had to answer to God. Why, you may ask? Because He is the owner, He is our creator. That is part of the reason we worship Him, did you know that? Let's read Revelations 4:11: "Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created."
God is the creator, the owner, and Adam and Eve were the ones who had to rule the earth. That makes Adam and Eve God's stewards or — to use a word more common today — Adam and Eve were God's managers. And it is in this context that they are blessed. Because, after all, we do not own anything; all that we have has been given to us by God to be managed as He instructed us in His Word. God has made it clear that all of it is His.
Psalms 50:12 says, "For the world is Mine, and all it contains." He owns your clothes, your house, your car, your money and did you know He even owns your very breath. The breath of air you are taking right now belongs to Him. "In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind," Job 12:10 tells us. Talk about owning everything.
And since God owns everything, our main concern should not be the cares of this world — how we are going to clothe ourselves or where we are going to live, what car are we going to drive or how we going to purchase our food. But rather, as God's stewards we are to concern ourselves with building a relationship with our creator or the owner of the things we possess in order to properly know how to manage His creation, including ourselves.
Matthew 6:33 sums it up best: We should "seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." Therefore, the essence of this verse is that if we take care of managing this planet and ourselves after God's glory, according to His will, our necessities will be taken care of. Why am I so sure of that? Because at the heart of who God is, God is a giver: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." (John 3:16)
— — —
Gio Marin is the pastor of the College Station and Waller Seventh-day Adventist Church in the state of Texas. He graduated in December 2007 with a master of divinity degree from Andrews Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary, with a dual emphasis on systematic theology and church growth & evangelism. Send him an email at {email GioMarinColumn@aol.com}GioMarinColumn@aol.com{/email}. © Copyright 2008 by Gio Marin.