U-turn (Day 1) The Creation of Man and God’s commandment to Man | Eld Jill Ling

Hello, everyone, Welcome to Day one of our ex Church Uturn Fast and

Prayer for twenty twenty four. The theme of this year's Uton devotion is Jesus's

Journey to the Cross that all may know. Our leaders from x k L

and EX Global will be taking us through the scripture during these twenty one days

to help us learn Jesus's Journey to the Cross that all may know him and

the Kingdom of God. Jesus's journey to the Cross begins with the creation of

man and God's commandment to men found in the beginning of the Book of Genesis.

Today's scripture reading is from Genesis chapter one, verse twenty four to thirty

one, and Genesis chapter two, verse fifteen to seventeen. Reading from Genesis

chapter one, verse twenty four to thirty one, verse twenty four. Then

God said, let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind,

cattle and creeping thing, and beast of the earth, each according to

its kind. And it was so verse twenty five. And God made the

beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind,

and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw

that it was good verse twenty six. Then God said, let us make

man in our image according to our likeness. Let them have dominion over the

fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the

cattle, over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on

the earth verse twenty seven. So God created man in his own image,

in the image of God. He created him, and female he created them.

At this juncture, I want to pause and focus on the phrase from

Genesis chapter one, verse twenty six that says let us make man to highlight

a few points. So the first phrase that I'd like us to focus in

is the phrase let us Now, if you go back all the way up

to Genesis chapter one, verse three and read the creation of the world,

you would notice that God would either say let there be dot dot dot,

or let the waters dot dot, or let the earth dot dot. In

verse twenty six. It is the first and only time that God said,

let us make This tells us that the creation of men involved extra effort compared

to the rest of the creation, that the trinity made up of God,

the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were personally involved. Now, let's

zoom into the word make. The word make in Genesis chapter one, verse

twenty six means to fashion. Wow, and all the ladies say, whoo,

just kidding. Now, we were not just spoken into being, but

we were fashioned into being by God's hands. Here again, this tells us

that the creation of men involved extra effort compared to the rest of creation.

You know, just like how we take time to think of what to wear

so that we look fashionable. I believe God took time and extra effort to

create us. So the next time you spend time thinking about what to wear

to look good, may you also be reminded that God took extra time to

make us and make us good. We were indeed made differently from the rest

of creation because we have a higher calling, which we will discover in the

subsequent verses. Now, let's zoom into the word man still in Genesis chapter

one, verse twenty six. As I was studying the word man or called

adam in Hebrew, I discovered that it can be broken down into two parts.

Ah and dumb. Our is the first alphabet in Hebrew called alih,

and it represents God. Dumb in Hebrew means blood. Wow. Did you

know that that was a discovery for me? And blood is so crucial because

it represents our lifeline. So what are dumb means is that when God breathed

life into man, he placed a portion of himself in man's life, in

his blood stream. And this is what it means to be made in the

image of God, that we have a portion of God flowing through our very

beings. And perhaps this is also why Jesus's blood was required to fully restore

man to God. Now let's continue reading Genesis chapter one, verse twenty eight.

Then God bless them, and God said to them, be fruitful and

multiplying. Feel the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of

the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing

that moves on the earth. Right now, I am going to cut short

this chapter and cross over to Genesis chap the two verse fifteen to seventeen,

which says in verse fifteen, then the Lord God took the man and put

him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. Now, reading

from this last two verses, we learn that God made us in his image

above all creation, to represent Him in order to manage this earth as an

extension of His kingdom. Verse sixteen, and the Lord God commanded the man,

saying, of every tree of the garden you may freely eat verse seventeen.

But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not

eat, for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely

die. Here we learn that God has put boundaries in our lives for our

own good, and these boundaries help us to keep our focus on God,

our creator. We are not to worship creation, but we are to worship

our creator, God. And we will learn in the covering devotions that because

this boundary was broken by men, Jesus had to come. So even as

we continue learning of Jesus's journey to the cross, remember that it all began

with the creation of man and God's commandment to men. Let's pray, Heavenly

Father, we thank you for today that we're alive, that we have a

personal relationship with You, that we can participate in this U turn fast and

prayer and thank you for your word for us today. Help us to remember

that we are made in your image, and we are fearfully and wonderfully made.

If there's anyone listening to this devotion that is struggling with your self image

or self worth, please minister to them and restore their self image and self

worth. You have made us perfectly, without any mistake or any lack,

and we are precious. May you anoint them with a fresh confidence that comes

from you. Help us also to represent You in our homes, our marketplaces,

and our community, and always seek to bring Your kingdom here on earth.

Help us to be good managers of all that you have given to us.

Help us to be careful not to worship creation, but to keep our

hearts on worshiping You, our Creator. Help us to walk with you daily.

May you grant us all the strength and grace we need to endure and

complete this uturn victoriously. May you draw us closer to You and granness our

breakthroughs in you. To You be all the glory on earth and in heaven.

In Jesus name, we pray Amen.