The God of all the Universe, the One in whose image you’re made loves you. He knows you; your innermost fears, your deepest insecurities, and your hopes and dreams for the future. He has counted every hair on your head
This is the same God who can count the stars by name, who has caused worlds to come into being, and who has decided that no two snowflakes should be the same.
This God is interested in knowing and being known by you.
You are of infinite worth to God.
God
Long before the stars were hung in the inky velvet of our night sky, God was there. Long before the planets of our universe were assembled in their places, and the earth and sky and sun of our very own planet appeared, God was there. Before there was anything, God was there.
God has always been there.
God is The Subject Of Life. The Centre Of Everything. The Story of the Bible starts with Him and ends with Him
The Bible speaks in majestic, sweeping tones, declaring Him to be Sovereign over all; King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, the only God. Without beginning and without end, He is eternal, clothed in light, glorious as the sun.
He has stretched out the heavens like a tent, sprinkled the stars in their places, and established the earth in its course. He is the God of promise, at whose Word the universe came into being. He is faithful, true, and just, and His loving devotion endures forever.
All of creation bows in honour to His majesty, for all things owe their existence to Him. All the earth is His and everything that is therein. His Sovereignty is over and above all other kingdoms and His rule is absolute.
This is the God introduced to us in the first pages of Genesis, the One who created both the visible and the invisible, who walks on the waves of the sea, who gives life to all things, and whom all the host of heaven worships.
“Just ask the animals, and they will teach you. Ask the birds of the sky, and they will tell you. Speak to the earth, and it will instruct you. Let the fish in the sea speak to you. For the life of every living thing is in His hand, and the breath of every human being.” | Job 12:7-10, NLT
Jesus
Jesus is the only Son of God, the Word Who was in the beginning with God and through whom and for whom all things were created. He was before all things and in him, all things hold together.
The ancients styled him ‘the logos’, the logic, wisdom, and truth by which all the world is held together and who is the source of light and life for humanity.
Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born to a virgin, the invisible God made visible. Truly human and truly God, he was sent into the world to save and redeem it from Sin, forming the great bridge of redemption between God and humanity.
Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life, died on the cross, was buried, and rose again after three days. His resurrection forms the cornerstone of the Christian faith, for, as Paul the Apostle comments, if Christ didn’t rise, faith is in vain, nothing makes sense, and we are of all people completely hopeless and helpless (1 Corinthians 15:14).
Now ascended into heaven, He is seated at the right hand of God awaiting the day that he will come to judge the living and the dead.
The Holy Spirit
Known as the “Comforter” or “Advocate” (Greek: “Paraclete”), the Holy Spirit plays a crucial role in the process of sanctification, helping believers grow in holiness and become more Christlike in their character and actions. Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as ‘the Comforter” or “Advocate”, telling his followers that he would not leave them as orphans but would ask for the Holy Spirit to come to them in his absence, leading them in all truth and reminding them of everything he had told them.
The Holy Spirit is seen as the personal presence of God, active and powerful since creation and working still in the world today, empowering believers to live in accordance with God’s will and to spread the message of the Gospel.
Humanity
Full of promise and destined for glory, humanity was formed from the dust of earth.
Like a potter shaping and molding clay beneath his fingers, God fashioned a human being from the light, sifting particles blowing across the surface of the earth. He breathed into the human the breath of life and, in a single moment, this inanimate object became a living, breathing soul. Like everything he sees around him, this God-breathed life is what will sustain the human.
But the human is alone, without a friend and companion. Nothing in God’s creation is his equal; corresponding to him in all his attributes and capabilities. So God creates a woman, a worthy and appropriate counterpart to the man, ‘formed from a part of the man’s side’. She is the final masterstroke of creation, the finishing touch of the Creator’s hand.
Humanity’s purpose is to rule the earth on God’s behalf, to have authority over it and its inhabitants, and to steward it wisely and well. Our identity will be shaped by a close and intimate relationship with our Creator. We are to be His image bearers, filling the earth with His glory.
With this purpose in mind, God intentionally creates the man and woman with unique characteristics and differences, embedding these deep within our DNA. We are the same, and yet not the same, equal and complementary, like two halves of a whole. Together we become one, displaying the perfect character and nature of our Creator.
God sets humanity in a garden The blueprint for human flourishing is expressed; access to all of God’s goodness but also necessary acknowledgment of His sovereignty. “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die”.
On one hand, God’s abundant life. On the other, certain death. The power to choose lies within them.
Sin
It’s impossible to overstate the catastrophic outcome of what transpired in the Garden of Eden. Sin entered the world, and with it, death, spreading from Adam and Eve to all those who would come after them. Humanity was now bound by mortality; dying became hard-coded in our DNA, passed on through each generation.
Sin is a powerful and destructive force that humans find impossible to resist. Since the garden, humanity has been sold under sin, constantly battling against the pull of our own self-will, which is invariably in opposition to God. Despite having the desire to do good, more often than not, we lack the fortitude and courage to do what is right, so powerful is Sin’s influence.
The introduction and continued presence of Sin in the world is what gives death its power over humanity. We die because we’re mortal and death now reigns supreme and we remain dead because of the power that Sin gives death.
Sin is like a sly and sneaky animal, crouching at doorways and hiding around corners. He is a misshapen, twisted, hyena-like caricature of the true king, ruling over his dominion of darkness with a fist of iron, and offering only death as wages for a life of servitude. Humanity called him into existence, humanity brought him into this good world that God had created, and ever since humanity has suffered under his control.