We’re looking at Psalm 119 together in our Sunday meetings. It’s the longest Psalm in the books of Psalms and the longest chapter in the Bible. I think its purpose is to get us to love and live the Bible, because the Bible is God’s word to us and for us.
Now each week we have an all-age slot and I was trying to work out what to do in that slot that linked to Psalm 119. So I thought we’d look at what the whole Bible is about, which is no small task. However, there is a thread or a storyline through the whole Bible and I thought it would be worth sharing on the website so you can read what we’re doing.
This week we started with the pattern of God’s kingdom that we’re going to see throughout the Bible (and which will help us understand where we are in the Bible story in different parts of the Bible).
- God’s People
- God’s Place
- God’s Rule and Blessing1
And we saw this pattern perfectly worked out in Genesis 1-2 which describe the creation of the world.
God’s Perfect Place
God creates the most wonderful world in Genesis 1, which he describes as “very good” (Genesis 1:31). In Genesis 2 we read of the beautiful and productive garden of Eden which was to provide generously (Genesis 2:8-14). This is God’s perfect place at the start of creation.
God’s Perfect People
We also see, God’s perfect people. In Genesis 1:27 we read of God creating male and female in his image The story is expanded for us in Genesis 2 where find Adam created from the “dust from the ground” and breathing the “breath of life” into him (Genesis 2:7).
There’s more though. We find out the first thing in creation that isn’t good, which is for the man to be alone (Genesis 2:18) and so Eve is created, as the perfect complement for Adam and so we have the perfect husband and wife relationship with the first man and woman (Genesis 2:18-25).
God’s Perfect Rule and Blessing
One this that is very clear in Genesis 1-2 is that God is the creator of everything. That immediately gives him authority. He is the one who made us and our universe and he is the one who gives us life. We also see his authority in Genesis as he sets two special trees in the garden – the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The tree of life gave Adam and Eve life forever as they ate the fruit from it (see Genesis 3:22). The rule God set them, was that they must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil – this would mean that they would want to takes God’s role in deciding what is right and wrong (Genesis 2:16).
If they kept that rule, they were to live in a wonderfully blessed world. This is how it should be: God’s people living in a wonderful place which is full of the generosity of God (see Genesis 1:29-30) and in a wonderful relationship with each other (Genesis 2:23-25) and with God. They live under his rule as their creator and kingly authority and take the responsibilities he has given them to do the perfect and fulfilling work he has provided for them (see Genesis 1:28; 2:15).
Hopefully you can see those things in the picture above, which some of our children made in the service.2
But…
We know the story doesn’t end here, because this perfect pattern isn’t what the world looks like now. But the story does start here. It reminds us of what things should be like and it makes us long for those thing again.
Wouldn’t it be great if our relationships with each other were perfect? Wouldn’t it be great if marriages just worked? Wouldn’t it be great if we all experienced the abundance of all the earth has to offer, if none of us were short of what we needed? Wouldn’t it be great if our work was fulfilling and not boring and frustrating? Wouldn’t it be great, most of all, to have a full and blessed relationship with the God who created us?
Why it’s not like that is for next time…
- This description is originally from a theologian called Graeme Goldsworthy. See his book Gospel and Kingdom p.47. And it’s picked up by minister Vaughan Roberts in his book God’s Big Picture p.21 (the pages numbers are from my older versions of the books).
- This is our version of the banner from The King, the snake and the promise material. The enhanced CD which I have has Sunday School material on it.