Genesis 1: The Manager

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Theological Proposition/Focus: God, as creator and sustainer of creation has exclusive right to determine how creation functions.

Homiletical Proposition/Application: God created man to be the steward of his creation and as such everything man does should reflect the will of God as owner and operator of creation.

Introduction:

Image: The One Minute Manager

In 1982 Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson made waves in the world of Business with their book The One Minute Manager. The book quickly became a New York Times bestseller and has sold over 15 million copies. Within the book, a few key ideas stand out. One of the most prominent ideas is that a good manager teaches others to be good managers. A good manager uses his resources: time, money, people, wisely. A good manager provides an opportunity for those under his management to bring praise to the good manager.

In Ecclesiastes 1:9 Solomon tells us that there is nothing new under the sun and this case is no exception. You see God is the Owner/Operator/CEO/Chief Manager of the universe and he is training each of us to be good managers as we manage well we bring praise to the ultimate Good Manager - God.

Need: We need to understand what it means to manage under the Good Manager.

I have been using the word manager a lot but I want to switch terms. You see there is a more theological word we often use to describe management, that word is Stewardship. Over the next several weeks we are going to be studying the concept of Stewardship and trying to understand what it means for us today.

Subject: Stewardship

Text: Gen. 1:1, 26-31.

Preview: Within the text of Genesis 1 we are going to work with three major themes: God, Man, Us

As we look at these themes I want you to lookout for the theological truths about who God is, what God created man to be, and how we today should live in light of those truths.

Setting the Stage:

Have you ever thought about the circumstances or reasons why God led Moses to write Genesis? This is something we do all the time when we talk about the New Testament. Think about it, we talk about Dr. Luke writing for his Gentile audience or Paul writing to the church in Corinth. In Genesis, Moses is writing for a audience of Israelites leaving Egypt to enter a new land and take responsibility for that land

Body

God: God owns and operates it all because God made it all.

Creator: God created it all (1:1)

Operator: God sustains it all (Col. 1:17)

MTR: Do I recognize that everything belongs to God?

Man: Man was created to manage everything God created.

Purpose: God’s purpose in creating man in his image is stewardship (1:26).

Description: God’s description of man’s role in his creation is one of dominion. (1:28)

Extant: All means all (1:29-30)

Ecology

Physical Health

Intellectual Health

MTR: Do I accept God’s purpose in creating man in his image is stewardship?

Us: God values good management (Matthew 25:14-30).

Good management brings opportunity

Poor management brings loss

MTR: Am I managing God’s property well?

Conclusion:

Image: Even a family heirloom is just in the care of the owner.