God Designed for Us to Do Spiritual Good
Various members wrote the daily devotional for our recent church camp. This devotional on Genesis 1:26-27 was written by Matthew Seah.
Adoration
These verses follow the wonderfully poetic and vivid account of God’s mighty acts of creation. The climax of creation is found in these verses, where God fashions mankind in His likeness and instructs them to rule His creation under His own authority. Here are at least two points of praise for which we owe our Almighty Creator:
I. Praise God for His creation all around us! The world is full of natural wonders that should cause our hearts to well up in praise towards their creator, who has purposefully designed everything. From the tiniest ant to the mightiest mountain, we see God’s infinite power and majesty reflected in all creation. As David writes, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” (Ps 19:1)
II. Praise God for creating us in His likeness! The whole creation account tells us that God is a wise, purposeful and loving designer, but He is also a relational God due to His triune nature: “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” However sinful we may be right now, we have been created in the image of all His goodness. We were designed to be caring stewards of God’s creation. We were also designed to be a people who love one another in imitation of the loving fellowship of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Meditation and application
Regarding this year’s camp theme of “Doing Spiritual Good”, Genesis 1:26-27 reminds us that, from the beginning, we were designed to do spiritual good to one another. Our God is a triune God, existing as one God in three persons who are in perfect, loving harmony with one another. As such, we as God’s image-bearers have been created to be in loving, harmonious relationships with those around us.
On a personal note, I know myself to be an introvert. I am fairly quiet during group gatherings. I would rather be with my own close friends and talking about things that I like to talk about. But I must remember that giving in to my own preferences is really me giving up on God’s good design for me to be in community with the rest of His people!
Likewise, many of us have our own preferences when it comes to our social interactions and relationships. We abuse the labels of introverts and extroverts as excuses to meet our interaction preferences. We split ourselves up into groups based on categories like age or gender. We rely on common topics to help us decide which friendships to keep and which interactions to avoid. However, this camp is one amazing opportunity for us all to deny our preferences and live out God’s purpose for us—to get to know others who are not like us and seek to care for their spiritual good whatever the cost to ourselves.
Undoubtedly, it’s not going to be easy! Nevertheless, consider Jesus’ encouraging prayer for His disciples as He was about to face crucifixion: “I made known to them your [the Father’s] name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you [the Father] have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” (Jn 17:26) In other words, through Jesus’ mission—the mission of bringing salvation to sinners—under His Father’s authority, the love that the Son and Father share in their triune relationship has been placed inside us! Believers of Jesus share in the love that Jesus himself shares with the eternal Father, and the Holy Spirit helps us to live out this love to one another (1 Jn 3:23-24). Trust God to provide us with all the help we need to step out of our comfort zone and do spiritual good to one another!
Prayer
Pray for a renewed delight in fellowship with one another as God’s image-bearers.
Pray for God to convict us and help us repent of any sin that stops us from doing spiritual good to one another.
Pray for God to strengthen us and provide opportunities for us to do spiritual good to one another during this camp and after it.