In God’s creativity we discover a mandate for believers today
By Dean Collins
So far this new year I have assumed that God might be calling us to repair some walls and hang some gates. Nehemiah prompted these thoughts, but as we read the New Testament Scriptures, we quickly understand that we followers of Jesus today are also called to join him in his kingdom work of restoration and renewal in the world around us. Watching God’s restoration work progress through his followers brings great joy to us.
Reading through Genesis, we are also reminded that since we are created in the image of God and have been given dominion over the earth, we are called to create. Adam and Eve’s mandate to be fruitful and multiply and subdue the earth and to have dominion over everything that moves on the earth was clearly more than an order to do repair work. And we believe their directive is ours as well. We are involved in bringing new things into existence. As image bearers of God, we are called to create!
Bringing life
God designed us to bring forth life. But our creative work is nowhere limited to just having children and raising them. That is one part of our job, but the work of image bearing involves so many ways we partner with God in creating new things. We partner with God in agriculture and horticulture, too, but our creative work isn’t limited to having babies and creating beautiful landscapes. The creativity given us as image bearers can and should extend in every area of life.
It’s worth noting that at the beginning “the earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep.” This might give us a mental picture of chaos. But that darkness gives birth to light. Just as my black iPad screen finally yields the sentences and then the paragraphs that make these blog posts, God brought life from the blackness that covered the face of the deep.
This same process is available to all people; it is a gift from our Creator. We get to partner in creating articles, books, businesses, ministries, neighborhoods, commerce, governments, policy, treatments, medicines, foods, songs, and on and on. As image bearers of God, forgiven and made new in Christ, we partner with Jesus in his creative work in the world each day.
Getting to work
We were created to create but also to subdue. I don’t know about you, but to subdue doesn’t sound like as much fun as to create. There is work to do! To embrace our role as image bearers and citizens of the kingdom of God, we cannot simply sit around!
The work of subduing the land draws me to the words of Jesus in John 15. The Gardner had to prune branches to get the most growth and life on the vine. This indicates that our assignment to create and subdue demands that we remember our own good growth comes because we are connected to Jesus as the vine and source of our lives. He will prune away the behaviors and mistakes of our lives that limit our productivity. And he will nourish us through his Word and his Spirit to understand fully what we are charged with daily in our work of creating and subduing. It would be unwise and maybe even dangerous to attempt our calling independent of the wisdom and life of God in us.
This year, as in every year, we are called to join our Creator and our King in creating, renewing, restoring, and subduing until he comes again. I think our next step today is to say a prayer and get to work!
Your time with God’s Word
Genesis 1:2, 26—28; John 15:1-9 ESV
Photo by Arthur Franklin on Unsplash
To receive daily posts delivered directly to your inbox, complete the form at the bottom of our home page.
To download a printable version of today’s post, click here.