God Created a Family for His Glory
FOCUS TEXT: Genesis 1-3
On Sunday, we kicked off a brand-new teaching series called "We Are Family," exploring the BIG IDEA that God created a family for His glory. This truth is rooted in the Biblical concept of Imago Dei or "Image of God." Genesis 1:26-27 states: "Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.' So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”
The first three chapters in Genesis reveal tremendous truths about God and His image. He is the main focal point of the human story, and we are meant to glorify Him. God is Trinity, meaning He is ONE God in three distinct persons: Father, Son, and Spirit. God is Light, and life comes from God. Christ is the Word of God, emanating throughout creation and in history. God is good, and everything good comes from Him. God set creation and even human relationships in order based on His nature and character. God is completely holy, perfect, and just. God is love and gives perfect love.
The truth of Imago Dei means that God’s nature and character are built into humanity, like the qualities of a parent being reflected in biological children. His Image in us forms the foundation of our understanding of God as our true and eternal Father. God’s purpose in creating humanity in His image was to establish a family that relates to Him as Father.
But our relationship with Him is not where the display of His image ends. God also made humanity male and female as a means of reflecting His nature and character in relationship with one another. He invited men and women to be one in marriage, to be fruitful and multiply, to form earthly families, exercise stewardship, work together, help one another, and do so in freedom and without shame.
But Genesis 3 reminds us that sin marred God’s image in humanity, ending the relationship with our true father and destroying order, trust, delight, wisdom, helpfulness, love, holiness, oneness, mutuality, and joyful work in human relationships.
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
How does the idea that God created a family for Himself impact your thinking on earthly family? What dangers exist in devaluing the idea of God as our true and eternal Father?
How might relating to God as our true Father impact how we approach relationships with our earthly families? How might it inform our approach to marriage and parenting?
What are your greatest struggles in reflecting God’s image in relationships with others, including your spouse, kids, extended family, and church family?
PRAYER FOCUS
Take time to reorient your mind and heart around the truth that God has created a family and through Christ has included you in it. Ask God to help you live from His Fatherly love.
MEMORY VERSES: Genesis 1:26-27
