Beyond the Weekend

April 25 | The Garden

April 25, 2022

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27

Read: Genesis 1
Listen:
Genesis 1

TODAY’S MESSAGE

The opening pages of the Bible invite us into an epic story. The story begins with darkness while God’s Spirit hovers. God speaks, and light and life fill the story. He surveys his creation and calls it good. Yet he’s not done. He creates humans in his image. He desires people to be a reflection of himself and to have a relationship with him. He places them in a garden and charges them to care for his beautiful, new world. Now, he surveys creation and deems it very good.

Yet the story shifts abruptly. The first people believe a lie from God’s enemy Satan and rebel against God. They choose to go against God’s design, and sin and death enter the world. People’s relationship with God is broken. Their relationship with each other is fractured. Creation itself suffers as a result of sin.

The first three chapters in Genesis help us understand the rest of the story of the Bible and our part in it. It’s the backstory of the whole story. We see what we were meant to be and why we aren’t that way through the garden. God wants a people to know, reflect and partner with him. The rest of the story of the Bible shows us how God seeks the restoration of all things. He invites us to move from observer to participant. It’s not just the story of the Bible. This is our story. And it has the potential to change our lives.

IN YOUR CHAIR TIME TODAY

Pray and ask God to help you see the story of the Bible with fresh eyes in the coming weeks. Pray you would not just observe the story but be an active participant in his plan for restoration. “God, thank you for the Bible and for showing us who you are through this story. Help me not just read the words but to become an active participant in your story in this world. Amen.”


2022 BIBLE MEMORY PRACTICE

Develop spiritual roots and tap in the power of God’s word by memorizing monthly a Bible verse! View previous verses at beyondtheweekend.org/biblememorypractice.

ROMANS 8:28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.


Download a printable PDF of the BTW week here.

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