Thank God It’s Monday?

[ Genesis 1:27-28; 2:8-9, 15-22 ]

The Glory of Culture Making

Genesis 1 & 2[ selected verses]

After 700 years of doing what he was built for,

he’ll discover what he was meant for.

40 hoursThe average adult will work

2000 hours

94,000 hours

per week

per year

over the course of life

Thank God It’s Monday?

[ Genesis 1:27-28; 2:8-9, 15-22 ]

The Glory of Culture Making

27 So God created man in his own image,

Genesis 1:27-28

in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

28 And God blessed them. And God saidto them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fillthe earth and subdue it and have domin-ion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every livingthing that moves on the earth.”

Genesis 1:27-28

2:8 And the Lord God planted a garden inEden, in the east, and there he put theman whom he had formed. 9 And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sightand good for food. The tree of life was inthe midst of of the garden, and the tree of

Genesis 2:8-9

the knowledge of good and evil.

15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commandedthe man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree that is in the garden, 17 but ofthe tree of the knowledge of good andevil, you shall not eat, for in the day you

Genesis 2:15-22

…eat of it you shall surely die. 18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not goodthat the man should be alone; I will make a helper fit for him.” 19 So out of the ground the Lord God formed every beastof the field and every bird of the heavensand brought them to the man to see what

Genesis 2:15-22

…he would call them. And whatever theman called every living creature, that wasits name. 20 The man gave names to all the livestock and to all the birds of theheavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found ahelper fit for him. 21 So the Lord God

Genesis 2:15-22

…caused a deep sleep to fall upon theman, and while he slept took one of the ribs and closed up its place with flesh.22 And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into awoman and brought her to the man.

Genesis 2:15-22

Leader: This is the Word of the Lord.Unison: Thanks be to God!

The Original Great Commission

The Original Great Commission

“be fruitful & multiply & fill the earth”

“Human beings ‘filling the earth’ means

something far more than plants and

animals filling the earth. It means

civilization, not just procreation…. ~ Tim Keller,

Every Good Endeavor

“We get the sense that God does not want

merely more individ-uals of the humans

species, he also wants the world to be filled with human society.”

~ Tim Keller, Every Good Endeavor

The Original Great Commission

“be fruitful & multiply & fill the earth”

“have dominion and subdue it”

“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? You have set him a little lower

than [the heavenly beings*] and crowned him with glory and honour. You have given him

dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet.”

~ Psalm 8

The Original Great Commission

“be fruitful & multiply & fill the earth”

“have dominion & subdue it”

“God did not create a static world. He

didn’t want his pristine creation to remain the same, but commanded Adam & Eve to make it better.”

The Original Great Commission

“be fruitful & multiply & fill the earth”

“have dominion & subdue it”

“work it & keep it”

The Original Great Commission

“be fruitful & multiply & fill the earth”

“have dominion and subdue it”

“work it and keep it”

Was a Calling to Create Culture

[ ]

The Garden of Eden was an unfinished masterpiece. It was beautiful, and more importantly, as God said, it was “good.” It was without flaw. But part of the reason God made human beings was to

make it even better…. What God was telling humans to do was to make culture. He created

nature and then told us to add culture….

”~ Nathan Bierma

Bringing Heaven Down to Earth

“

Our purpose—the meaning of our lives—

is to make culture.

”~ Nathan Bierma

Brining Heaven Down to Earth

“

We are commissioned by our Creator to contribute to

the creation of culture.

“…he [Christ] died for all, that those who

live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and

was raised.”~ The Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:14-15

~ The Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 5:17

“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.”

~ The Apostle Paul in Ephesians 2:8-10

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not to your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that

no one may boast…”

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

~ The Apostle Paul in Ephesians 2:8-10

?How does my work contribute to the creation

of culture

Homework

“…every Christian should be able to

identify, with conviction and satisfaction, the

ways in which his or her work participates with God in his creativity

and cultivation.”

In her work as a professor of physics, Catherine can

do much to shape the culture of her courses and

her research lab. In the somewhat sterile and

technological environment of a laboratory, she can play classical music to

create an atmosphere of creativity and beauty.

She can shape the way her students respond to

exciting and disappointing results, and can model

both hard work and good rest rather than frantic

work and fitful procrastination.

By bringing her children with her to work

occasionally she can create a culture where

family is not an interruption from work, and where research and

teaching are natural parts of a mother’s life…;

…by inviting her students into our home she can

show that she values them as persons, not just as

units of research productivity.

At the small scale of her laboratory and classroom,

she has real ability to reshape the world.

“…to reshape the world”

Working for the Common Good

Next Week:

NCC, may you be a people who know and

experience that you are God’s workmanship

created in Christ Jesus to do good works.

flickr images courtesy of:

images used for educational purposes:

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https://indicative.ca/www1/

http://www.wsj.com/articles/iphone-se-review-smaller-gets-smarter-with-better-battery-life-to-boot-1458762252

http://www.wsj.com/articles/iphone-se-review-smaller-gets-smarter-with-better-battery-life-to-boot-1458762252

http://www.victimcaremerseyside.org/userfiles/child%20offences2(1).jpg

http://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2012/06/tiananmen-square-then-and-now/100311/

http://www.pakistannewsday.com/car-bomb-kills-8-injures-10-in-syrian-capital/

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https://povertyseniorprojectwebsite.wordpress.com/poverty-today/