In the Beginning God Created (Genesis 1:1-26)

God meticulously and purposefully created everything that exists. John 1:3 tells us that "apart from him nothing came into being..." God created everything in perfect order, harmony and balance. He knows and understands every minute detail of how and why everything that was created was created, and how it works in His perfect Eco-system.

God knows and understands everything about every plant and animal. He meticulously made each animal and plant for a purpose, to work together in a beautiful life flow. He knows why some animals are small and cute, while some are strong and vicious. He has a purpose for every beautiful shrub and flower. He made the insects and snakes and rodents as part of that life flow, even if we may be terrorized by them. And God said, they were good.

Then God created "very good"- man. Man was created in God's image or likeness or shadow (Genesis 1:26). Man was given the wisdom and authority to cultivate the world God created (2:15). God placed man in authority over His creation for his life and enjoyment, to develop it within the context of God's vision (sadly man has decided to cultivate God's creation in his own image and vision).

God meticulously created His world in perfect order, balance and harmony. His creative system is perfect, and man was created to cultivate that perfect vision. As a result of sin God's creation has been twisted and broken; but Christians are called to restore that creative vision by God's wisdom, authority and power. It seems like an impossible task, but we must understand that ultimately it is God who restores, we are just called to do what God calls us to personally do.

How do we begin restoration? First we must ask God to help us recreate His creative vision in our minds: what did it look like? How did it operate? How was it blessed and a blessing? What was man's role, and how might this restoration be accomplished?

First we must ask God to restore His vision of His creation to our minds and souls. We have lived so long in this sinfully driven and defined world, it is hard to envision the world as God created it to be. But man was created to cultivate creation, therefore for man to ever know effectiveness and fulfillment, he must get back to the work he was created for. So we must be restored (saved, sanctified) by the grace (gift or restoration) of God, so we can envision and begin the task of restoring and cultivating the world God placed us in. God made that restoration available as the result of His death on the cross, His resurrection and in the sending of the person of His Holy Spirit. In this experience God will begin to restore His vision in us.

Then we must begin the task of restoration/cultivation. God placed us in a specific place, with specific people and specific struggles. That world (specific place) is our responsibility.We can fear, whine and blame like our original father (Adam); or we can take the grace of God and begin to restore our world step by step and person by person. God does not play games, so we can count on His power and authority every step of the way. We may want to start in our own personal lives and our own homes, and work out from there. There will be resistance since we live in a world that is comfortable with the destruction it is experiencing, and will fight against anyone who will not normalize their destruction. But we can begin the restoration.

Please do not expect restoration to be easy or comfortable. This world has normalized every twisted/destructive abomination man can imagine. And he will work to destroy anyone who has the audacity to question his twisted logic. But our responsibility is to stay focused on the truth of God, not change truth in hopes that everyone will like us. They hated Jesus Christ, why would they like us? We must stay focused on the fact that restoring our world to God's creative vision is eternally good for everyone, whether they like the restoration or not.

I'm not sure what is involved in the restoration in your world. I'm not sure what destruction you are dealing with in your world. But I know this, restoration is God's will and you can count on His power and wisdom to accomplish this. To restore your life will be beneficial to every person in your world. To restore your home will benefit everyone in your neighborhood. To restore your profession will benefit everyone involved. To restore your church will benefit everyone the church touches. Restoration is eternally beneficial to everyone in your world and beyond.

Too many Christians have given up on restoration. They believe it is too big and difficult a task. But our God is powerful enough to accomplish the task. He has the vision, authority and ability to accomplish this restorative task. The question is not, can He, it is will we? Will we allow God to restore us to the cultivators we were created to be? Will we allow God to provide us the focus and authoritative we need to accomplish the task? God bless you as you pray through this restorative task you were saved to accomplish!

Dr. John Letterman