GENESIS 1:1,27 – In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”
THEME OF THE DAY: ALL ABOUT HIM. These may very well be the most important verses in the entire bible. If not, they are ones that should be in the forefront of our thinking, and that daily. They have the power to transform everything about us. They also have a New Testament equivalent – For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen (Romans 11:36). Combining these verses together, we are reminded with clarity all of life is all about the Lord. The book of Genesis did not begin with In the beginning, man and sadly, that is exactly how the world in sin operates and too many Christians as well – centered on self, centered on the creature, not the Creator. So how do we break out of this bondage to self-centeredness? It requires three things in our lives.
First, to be released from a life revolving around us, we must believe there is no power within us to set us free. To understand this, we need a little history on selfishness. It is a result of the fall in the Garden of Eden – sin. The “DNA” of sin is selfishness, and when it comes to sin, no human remedy exists. We cannot get ourselves out of the grip sin has upon us. No amount of effort, no among of self-restraint, and no amount of morality sheds the sin of selfishness. Believe this or remain in bondage.
Next, we run to and stay in the power of the Gospel. It is the truth of the Gospel, and only the truth of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus that brings deliverance from selfishness – For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith” (Romans 1:16-17). The word the Apostle Paul uses to describe the power of the Gospel is the Greek word dynamis from which we get our English word “dynamite.” And we need the “dynamite” power of the Gospel to “blow off” the chains of self-centeredness in our lives.
Finally, we apply today’s scripture to shed a life of all about us. The application is in our thinking. Remember, God is the Creator, we are not. God possesses us by creation and salvation – But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9). When we learn to live all of life under the truth of God being the Potter and we, His clay, then life takes on its rightful purpose, our hearts find spiritual rest, and our minds are renewed in the truth that changes us from being selfish to self-less . . . exactly God’s design for those He created and then re-created in Christ Jesus.
PRAYER: “Father, forgive me for the too many times I make life all about me, not all about You.”
QUOTE: “Learn to see and live life through the mindset it is all about God, and our joy in Him deepens.”
In the affection of Christ Jesus,
Pastor Jim