Love Never StopsSample

Day 1: God’s Design—built for community & placed in families

Our God is an amazing communicator Who chooses His words wisely. So, when He says, “Let US make man in OUR image, after OUR likeness. And let them have DOMINION (Gen 1:26, emphasis added),” we see God creating humanity to be part of something bigger than ourselves. God has created us to live in community, but not just any community—His divine community. Every person on earth is designed for this, “male and female He created them (Gen 1:27).”

God is smart! It might seem strange to read, but He is very intelligent. There are no details that God misses. “Even the hairs of your head are all numbered (Mat 10:30).” So, when God is creating, designing, and defining His community, He’s shaping the ideal way for His chief creation (that’s you) to live our lives. Mankind was not made to live in isolation. You were made to exist in community with God and others. But on top of that, we’ve been charged by God to build and expand His community, to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth (Gen 1:28).”

How are we to exist in community, if that community is to grow beyond our own existence and “fill the earth?” At some point, the relationships get too vast and numerous, even for the most social of us. In this scenario, we run the risk of becoming just another face. But God wouldn’t have that for His chief creation (again, that’s you). God addresses this very real and important concern in His design. 

Not only does God show us He has designed mankind to exist in community, but also God gets much more personal and intimate in showing us that even on an individual level. “It is not good that THE man should be alone (Gen 2:18, emphasis added).” God’s solution in this ideal existence for humanity is to keep making these natural groupings that begin, and multiply, and break off to begin again, called families. Families are the most fundamental and basic building blocks of the ideal world that God created. Families are God’s design to ensure that each one of His chief creations is individually valued and recognized as important. God’s design for families is why, as the people of God, we are called to value families so highly. It’s through families that love never stops.

Reflection/Discussion Questions:

What are some ways you have experienced the value and power of community?

What do you think the impact of isolation is on people?

Reflect on the design and importance of the family. What are the implications of whole and broken families in our world?