Faithbase

Okay, we're going to get started with our first part of our stewardship series. Are you ready? Genesis 1, 26, you can read below here. Then God said, let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the air, over the livestock and all the wild animals and over all the creatures that move along the ground. So God created mankind in his own image. In the image of God, he created them, male and female. He created them. Verse 28, God blessed them and said to them, be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over the living creatures that move along the ground. Okay, so what we see here is God blessing humanity with two core causes, ready? The first is this, be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. That's a different story for a different time. But the second is this, subdue it. The ESV also uses the word subdue, but the New Living I appreciate actually uses the word govern it. It says, rule over the fish in the sea. This is a blessing from God. This is what he tells humanity to do. Have dominion over or to reign over it. This is a fascinating blessing, isn't it? In fact, it was always intended to be a blessing. It doesn't always feel like that. We in many ways do this all the time in different spaces and different capacities. But this is something that God has designed human beings to do. To reign and rule and have dominion over this world. We do that in a thousand different ways in all our capacities. This is really important for our concept of stewardship, right? God creates everything and then he hands it over to humanity and he says, I want you to rule and to reign over this for the purpose of its flourishing. That is our role. And when we play that role, we are glorifying God. Because in verse 31, it says, God saw all that he had made and it was very good. This is such a good thing when we participate in God's call on our life as humanity to rule and to reign. And we do this with his creation. It's not ours. It's his. I want you to think about and just reflect on the ways that you participate in this now. In whatever occupation you have or whatever ways that you interact with your community and your world, what ways do you participate in this? And then I want you to just spend some time sitting with the Lord with this. Peace.