PURPOSE: Function, Identity, Agreement pt1
Now it wouldn’t be me, to not start this journey of unpacking and understanding purpose without genealogy. My favourite starting point found in the book of Genesis. Not only does Genesis inform us of creations formation and history, but we are first introduced to Elohim. The Triune God, the All Mighty and The Creator (Bara), who created the heavens, the earth, you and I.
Genesis is a Greek word meaning ‘origin, source, generation and beginning’. And in the beginning we are introduced to Yahweh Elohim who spoke a thing and it came into existence.
The Amplified classic version captures Genesis 1:1-3 so beautifully:
‘In the beginning God (prepared, formed, fashioned, and) created the heavens and the earth.The earth was without form and an empty waste, and darkness was upon the face of the very great deep. The Spirit of God was moving (hovering, brooding) over the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light; and there was light.’
I want to draw your attention to the very first verse:
‘In the beginning God (prepared, formed, fashioned, and) created the heavens and the earth’. This beautifully captures just how intentional and deliberate God was in creation. The more you read the chapter, the more you see just how everything created served a detailed purpose with a specific function for that purpose.
If you’re like me, you probably grew up knowing that Genesis 1 was the chapter that informed you to be fruitful and multiply, so you’d skip to verse 26 to get your empowerment fix, closed the chapter and called it a day. Yeah , that was once my naive reality, but it wasn’t until I took the time to study Gods word and since then His word has shifted my perception, especially in relation to purpose and identity.
So let’s dive into a few things that I hope will bless you and renew your mind, just like it did for me.
And ‘it was good’
Throughout the first chapter of Genesis, you will find the phrase ‘it was good’ (mentioned 7 times - a number symbolising completion and perfection), during the six days of His work. (Gensis 1:4,10,12,18,21,25,31).
To further emphasise Gods intentionality with His creation, I want to draw your attention to the word ‘good’. All creation including you and I were made in goodness, to be good.
The word ‘good’ in Genesis, can be translated in the Hebrew as Tov and in the Greek as kalos which encompasses concepts of something or someone fulfilling the divine purpose for which it was created. It also encompasses concepts of beauty - something aesthetically pleasing to the eye, life giving - things that are beneficial and promote life as well as moral goodness.
So When God created, He created all things to be good. This means in God’s infinite wisdom and intentionality, He created you to be one who is fit of function, fit for purpose, beautiful and excellent in nature and character.
You have been made by no mistake but on purpose for purpose. Not to mention that the phrase was mentioned 7 times, a number symbolising perfection, goodness and completion. The repetition of this phrase alone further emphasises and helps us to understand that indeed we have been created in goodness and perfection to its complete form. Nothing broken, nothing missing and no mistake.
Isn’t that just healing to the soul?
“Let us make man”
As I have mentioned before, everything created has a unique function and purpose, for example, creation was instructed in Genesis 1:22 to be fruitful and multiply just as we have been instructed also in v28.
In Genesis 1:26, we see the Triune God having a conversation - God The Father, God The Son and The Holy Spirit. And in this conversation we see a discussion, a plan and preparation of how God intends to make man, the standard He wants to set.
26 “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth”
Going back to my naive days, I used to always skip to Gods instruction to man which was to be fruitful and multiply. But the reality was, God gave this exact instruction to creation in Gen 1:22. However, I later found that it was important that this moment between God and creation was captured because it distinguishes man from the rest of creation because God created us in His image and further instructs us to have dominion, to fill and subdue the land which we see in Gen 1:27-29. This highlights the difference between us and the rest of creation.
This is to simply say that although all of creation including you and I has been called blessed and instructed to be fruitful and multiply, God intentionally and distinctly made us to be image bearers of God. People made by Him, for Him, for relationship with Him. People with dominion, who should fill and subdue the land. What makes us different from all creation, is that we bear the image of God and have been given access to be in relationship with Him. And in turn, our relationship with Him (God) enables us with excellence, to have dominion, to fill and subdue the Earth.
This informs us of function AND identity. This is Gods perfect and intentional design. You have been intentionally created with purpose in mind.
Let us declare today:
I am a woman on purpose for a purpose
I am fit for function
I am a beneficial and sustainable resource
I am made in the image of God
I am an image bearer
I have dominion
I will fill and subdue the Earth
I can and will be fruitful and multiply
Be reminded:
Though we have been instructed to have dominion, to fill and subdue the land, to be fruitful and multiply, we need The Helper. The Holy Spirit who empowers us and enables us to do this. To fulfil the instruction, to fulfil purpose, walk in identity and become like Christ.
We will continue this in our next conversation, but let me leave you with this to bring context and prepare you for the next:
Genesis 2:1-7 NKJV
“Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground. And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.”
Until next time,
TM x
