Thursday, January 1

THURSDAY, JANUARY 1, 2015

Genesis 1:1–2:25

Matthew 1:1–2:12

Psalm 1:1–6

Proverbs 1:1–6

 

 

Happy New Year!  May God shower you with His richest blessings in 2015.

 

Launching again into the One-Year Bible, we start again from the beginnings of the Old and New Testaments.  In Genesis 1 and 2, we read about God’s creation of the universe and of man and woman in His image:  each in value and unique in role.  His creation of the universe demonstrates His sovereignty and power, for everything comes to being solely through His word.  Created in His image, man and woman would similarly possess creativity, emotions, and will.  Man and woman would have the capacity for relationships, both with God and others, and responsibilities for caring for the earth, serving as God’s steward and ambassador.  Before Adam and Eve’s first sin, the world offered an exciting, joyful, and purpose-filled life for these first members of the human race.  Yet, sin would bring corruption, confusion, and death to Adam and Eve and their descendants after them.

 

In Matthew 1 and 2, we find Jesus’s coming to earth as a baby.  Later, in Romans 5, Paul would describe Jesus as the “second Adam.”  Likewise, Jesus provided a living example of the “image of God.”  In Colossians 2:9, we read that, “in Christ, all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form… ”  From Hebrews 1:3a, we understand that “the Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.”

 

Hebrews 2:14–18 elaborates on Jesus’s humanity as crucial for bringing reconciliation between God and man and for strengthening believers in their daily efforts to overcome sin:  “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.  For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants.  For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.  Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”

 

God the Father sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to the earth in order to reverse the corruption, confusion, and death that sin had caused.  By providing Christ as a blameless and perfect sacrifice, He offered a “the way, the truth, and the life” so that those who had received Him might approach God with confidence (John 14:6; John 1:12; Hebrews 4:16)

 

At this New Year, we have further reminder of God’s Incarnation in Jesus Christ and His willingness to walk among us.  This return points back to God’s presence in the Garden – “he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day” (Generis 3:8b) – and His great desire for relationship with us.

 

I encourage you to embrace God’s Word this year as guide, instructor, comforter, and vision piece.  May God give us wisdom through the Holy Spirit to know Him better and to treasure the truth He has revealed and the will that He continues to reveal.

 

 

Lord God, You are worthy of all praise, honor, and glory.  You are the Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer of every living thing.  We bow before You in humility and seek Your wisdom and direction for 2015.  Help us to drink deeply from Your Word and to commune with You often in prayer.  Draw close to the hurting and broken-hearted, and give us strength and courage to serve as ministers of reconciliation.  Pour out Your Spirit into our hearts and into our community.  Be exalted in all the earth, starting with our backyard.  In Jesus’s Name, amen.

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