How God Creates & Cares

Porch, how are we doing tonight? Are we doing okay? Let's go! Oh my gosh. I cannot tell you how long I have been waiting to say those very words to this room. I have missed you. I don't know if that feeling is reciprocal, but you need to know at least one person in this world has missed you, and it is me. I'm so glad you're here.

If you're a faithful friend to The Porch, if you're with us regularly, if this is something you're a part of Tuesday after Tuesday, welcome back. It's so good to see you. I'm so glad you're here. If you're new to the room, if this is your first time, I don't know how you got dragged in here or duped into joining us, but I'm so glad you're here as well.

I said this at the beginning of the night, but I just want to reiterate it because I think it matters so much for you to understand. I truly, in my heart of hearts… I'm not just trying to sell you a bill of goods. I think, I believe, I expect that God wants to move in your life, that he wants to meet with you, that his plans for your life are better than any plans you have for yourself. So tonight, I just want to encourage you. Come on. Let's go see what the Lord has to say here at the beginning of a brand-new year.

Now, I would be remiss if I didn't say hello to everybody else who's tuning in online, because while we have a packed house here in Dallas, Texas, we also have so many people tuning in online with us right now. So, everybody out there, Porch.Live…welcome. It's so good to be back together with you. We're really expectant that God isn't just going to move here; he's going to move there too. We believe it.

I've said it, and I'm going to say it again. God can meet with any person, anytime, in any place, and that includes you. Special shout-out to Porch.Live Fort Worth, Midland, Springfield, Greater Lafayette, Boise, Scottsdale, Wheaton, Dayton, and Fresno. Hey, Dallas, can we put our hands together for all of our Porch.Live locations? Amazing. We love you guys so much.

Hey, here's what I want to do. If you have a copy of the Scriptures, would you go ahead and grab it? Would you turn with me to the first page of your Bible, Genesis, chapter 1? Normally, I try to give you some time to get to whatever book we're going to be reading, but this one is easy. You just have to flip a couple of pages and you're there.

If you don't have a copy of the Scriptures, here's what I would tell you. We would love to give you one. We want every single person to have this book sitting in their lap as they gather with us here on Tuesday nights. We, of course, will always have it behind us. That's a useful tool if you don't have a copy or you forget your copy, but we would love to make sure you have one. So, step outside and visit with our welcome desk. They would love to give you a copy of the Bible.

Here is Genesis, chapter 1. I'll say this. We're not going to read the entire chapter. I know, but here's what I would say to you, sir. You can do that yourself. There are 34 verses we're going to look at in chapter 1, and then a few verses at the top of chapter 2. I'm going to read a lot of it for us. I'm hoping it helps us to catch the rhythm of what's happening in this text. So, here's what it says.

"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

And God said, 'Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.' And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day."

We're going to jump down now, but if you were to keep reading, you would see God's creation of day three where he separates the waters from the land. You would see day four where he casts the sun, moon, and stars into the heavens. You would see day five where God brings fish to swim in the sea and birds to fly in the sky. Then he brings this on day six:

"And God said, 'Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.' And it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

Then 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 birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.' So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.'

And God said, 'Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.' And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day." Chapter 2:

"Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation." Let me pray for us.

God, this is your holy Word. It's so much more than black print on a piece of paper. God, this is your Word. You have spoken this from times past into times present so, God, it wouldn't just fill our minds but it would change our hearts; it would shape us into becoming who you want us to be. So, God, I pray you would do that right now. God, here in this room we need you. You, Jesus, have supplied our every need by way of your life, death, and resurrection. God, also, we want you because we know Christ. There is none like you. Won't you meet with us now, we pray. In Christ's name, amen.

I remember when I was 25 years old, I experienced my very own personal quarter-life crisis. At the time, I didn't know that's actually what I was going through, but now looking back, I can identify it clearly. The reason I didn't know at the time that that's what I was experiencing is because it didn't look like what I expected. It wasn't the alarm clock of some personal panic going off in my life. It wasn't that my pillow was drenched with the tears of all my existential dread. No.

In fact, I didn't realize I was going through a quarter-life crisis because at that time I was doing a lot of stuff. In that time of my life, I had just changed companies. I had moved out of one company into this tech start-up. This tech start-up was up and coming. They had so much promise and potential. They were getting looks from the rest of the industry. It was super exciting.

At the same time, I had jumped into this residency with my local church. They were trying to get people in to gain some practical experience. I thought, "Man, you know what? I think I might want to go into ministry one day, so let me hop into that and get some experience while I'm at it." Simultaneous to that, I also knew, "Man, I need to begin to learn some of the things about the Scripture if I am going to go into ministry one day," so I started taking seminary classes online at night.

I was working in the day, and I was doing residency stuff whenever I could sneak away at lunches and early in the mornings, and then I would come home and do seminary late into the evening. Adjacent to that, I was also kind of standing up this college ministry that had not existed, but there were a bunch of college kids gathering around, and somebody needed to serve them. I felt like, "You know what? Why not me? Let me jump in. I want to teach. This is a good chance for me to teach."

Also, alongside all that, I was part of a sermon prep team for a local pastor whom I highly respected. I thought, "If I can learn a thing or two from him, that's only going to help me further in the future." You see, I had so much going on in my life. So, one day, I'm sitting at lunch with none other than Timothy "TA" Ateek. If you don't know TA, TA is the lead pastor here at Watermark Community Church.

He's just asking me good conversational questions. "Hey, man. What's going on? What's new in life? What are you up to? What do you want to be up to one day?" I just go through that whole list with him as some kind of badge of honor, because the more you do, the better you are. I unroll all of it to him, yet what I don't see on his face… I don't see that he's impressed. In fact, I see that he's surprised. He is staring across the table from me at Chipotle, fork frozen in hand above his bowl. Then he says these words: "Bro, what are you doing?" To which I replied, "I have no idea."

Cue moment of quarter-life crisis. I realized there and then that I was doing so much with my life, but I wasn't doing anything in my life. Does that make sense to you? I found myself not experiencing the crisis of some kind of panic; I found myself experiencing the crisis of overcommitment. I had no idea what I was doing. I had so much activity, but I had zero direction, because I did not know what my purpose was.

Have you ever been in a place like that, where you look up and realize you don't have a clue what you're doing? That tends to be a pretty pervasive thought around this time of year. Whenever you move out of the old year and into the new year, what happens is you're prompted to reflect on everything that happened in the past and provoked to consider what you'll resolve for the future. As you do all of that, this question of "What am I doing?" begins to surface.

Most resolutions are the product of regret. Right? Like, "What am I doing with my health? My doctor said I shouldn't, but I keep going and doing." Or "What am I doing in this job I hate? Why don't I change that?" Or "What am I doing in this relationship that I know isn't going the distance? This isn't marriage material." Or "What am I doing with my money? It's supposed to be piling up. Instead, it is emptying out. I'm spending more than I'm saving. What am I doing with my life?"

That's what often happens at this time of year. At the beginning of 2026, you're probably facing a wake-up call. Maybe it's even a gut punch, because you've been forced to stare at yourself and take a good hard look in the mirror and ask the question, "What purpose am I actually pursuing in life?" which in our world can bring about a variety of answers.

According to naturalism, you don't have to have a purpose. In fact, you're an accident. Really compelling sales pitch. The random result of a series of natural processes, like evolution and natural selection. According to New Age, your purpose is to wake up from your own spiritual amnesia (Do you know that's happening to you?) and raise your vibrational energy. Don't know what that means.

According to most Eastern religions, you're stuck in a spiritual spin cycle, so your purpose in life is to transcend into a higher spiritual state. That way, you can be liberated from the world. According to most westernized religions, your purpose is to pull yourself together and get yourself right. According to philosophy, you have no defined purpose. You have to figure that out for yourself.

The world has no shortage of purposes to offer you, but God has one purpose for your life. It's to know him. Not like that distant relative you know who you see once or twice a year, and not like that social media or podcast influencer who you know all sorts of things about. You know every detail of their life. You've stored it up in here, yet you've never actually engaged with that person nor built any kind of meaningful relationship. That's not what we're talking about.

God wants you to know him. He wants you to know him deeply. He wants you to know him intimately. He wants you to know him personally. He wants to bring you into a relationship the likes of which you have never before experienced and never will experience. Again, that's what God is asking you to do. He wants you to know him.

So here, at the beginning of a brand-new year, a fresh start, I want to help you do it. I want to help you know him. I want to help you rediscover your purpose. Part of that means I want to reintroduce you to the God of the universe. Whether you've never met him or whether you and him have fallen out at some point in the past or maybe you know him, but you want to know him more, I think there is no greater study for us here at the beginning of a year than to say, "God, who are you?"

Because at the turn of the year, so many people are thinking about, "Who am I?" Listen. I AM determines who I am. If you know him, then I promise you will know you. So, who is he? Well, fortunately, that purpose for which he has designed you is something he begins to inform very early in the Scripture, specifically from the very first page of the Bible. He doesn't waste any time helping you get to know him. That's why we just read through Genesis, chapter 1. What you see over the course of Genesis is God explaining to us, expressing to us who he is.

Now, Genesis is 50 chapters. As we start this series, we're not going to be able to read all 50 chapters. If you've ever been in this room and listened to me preach, then you know that is completely impossible. We don't have time this year to do that. Yet what I do think can help us to know God more is to look at 10 portraits through 10 weeks of time about who God is specifically.

Why 10 portraits? Well, if I wanted to get to know you and I asked you, "Hey, would you grab the 10 most meaningful pictures from your life?" chances are I'm going to get a pretty good idea of who you are if you walk me through and explain to me what each of those photos represent. The same will be true of God. He is inexhaustible. We cannot learn him completely at any point in history, yet these portraits will help us to get a good idea of who he is nonetheless.

What we find is if we're going to begin to know him, we should begin with the beginning. We should start at chapter 1. We read it all because we're not necessarily going to look at it verse by verse by verse. We're going to check some key elements that kind of weave through this passage, but we will pick it up in verse 1. Does that sound good?

Here's what it says in verse 1: "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." Even only this far, it is so common in our westernized, post-Enlightenment mind to begin to question, "Here we go. How does all of it work, Kylen? Why don't you tell me, man? Let's get into it. How old is the age of the earth? How is it that humans came to be? How is it that the dinosaurs went extinct? Tell me, Kylen. I want to know."

That's not what we're going to be doing here, because what you need to understand is the Bible is not written principally for that purpose. Genesis is not filled with scientific intent; it is filled with theological intent. The Bible is not an instruction manual to answer all of your questions; it is a worship manual to teach you how to engage with God. So, as we read through Genesis, it's not going to answer the questions of what and how; it's going to answer the questions of who and why. It's going to help you understand your purpose.

As we look at chapter 1, specifically, what we know is that God has much to say about himself. Now, we're not going to look at all of these, but very briefly, in just this one verse… We didn't get very far. We didn't even get through the entire opening introduction of this book. In the first verse, God is telling us that he is infinite. He is limitless. Like, at the beginning, he was already there. He's outside of time.

What's amazing about his infinitude is it undergirds every other quality of him, which is amazing. His grace for that sin, which you feel like, "Gosh! I'm so tired of apologizing and seeking forgiveness for these things…" His grace is limitless. It goes on and on and on and on and on. His mercy is limitless. His patience with you is limitless. His understanding of what's going on in your life is limitless. God is limitless.

But that's not the primary thing we learn about him here. We also see that he is self-revealed. I love this. It tells us in Romans 1:20, "For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So [we] are without excuse."

This is telling us God is self-revealed. Nobody stumbled upon God, the unknown wonder of the world, and began to publish it so they could get a bunch of popularity. That's not what happened. Nobody arrived at this revelation by themselves. God was already revealing himself all along. But that's not the key thing Genesis 1 is wanting to tell us about him.

We also learn that he's sovereign. It says he made the heavens and the earth. The thought there is heavens and earth encapsulate everything known in creation, as well as everything unknown in creation. God is the uncaused cause of all of it. He is the primary character of the cosmos. Yet, not only did he create it; he rules and reigns over it. He's sovereign. But that's also not the primary thing we need to learn about who God is.

In an effort to know who God is, Genesis wants to let you know that, according to this text, he should be known as Creator. God is Creator. That's the big title to understand about who God is. It took us all of one verse to figure that out. So now you're probably wondering, "What is the rest of this chapter about? There are 31 more verses here, Kylen. I'm not really sure. If this is all described to us that he is Creator in just one verse, what is the rest of this chapter actually going to explain?" Well, you need to understand that though the first verse gives you God's creative character, the rest of the verses give you God's creative nature.

I remember, growing up, we would go to this local restaurant in my hometown. Inside of it, there was a sign that said, "Never trust a skinny cook." Now, I'm not saying that's good advice. What I am saying is my young mind could understand what it was describing. It was telling me that actions speak louder than words. So, ladies, if you want to confirm if he's a gentleman, you should see the way he treats the waitstaff when you go on a date. If you want to see if someone is a good leader, you should think about the way their employees or followers speak about them.

If you want to understand what kind of creator God is, you need to not only look at what he has created; you need to look at the way in which he created. Does that make sense? That's what this is about. It's going to tell you the way he created. As we see it, we learn more about him. There are three things we see very specifically.

Verse 2 tells us, "The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep." The earth was what the Hebrew describes as tôû and bôû. It had no form, and it had no fill. Another way of thinking about that is it had no structure, and it had no substance. So, what's God doing in this story? He is preparing a world, a place for people to live, yet there's no structure, and there's no substance.

Meaning, if we're going to use an analogy of something like a house, there are no walls and no furnishing. So, what then is there in this moment? A foundation. That's it. All that is here in this moment, according to verse 2, is a foundation, something upon which you can build. It describes it as this chaotic, disordered, primordial water. More on that next week.

Naturally, what we need to ask is if God is going to build a home for all people, what then should he do next? What anyone would do. He should put structure in place. He should raise up some walls, which is exactly what we see in days one, two, and three. It says he creates light and dark, sky and waters, and land and sea. But notice this. He doesn't just stop there, because the walls of a house don't make a home; it's what's inside that makes a home.

There needs to be substance within the structure of God's creation. That's what makes it feel complete, which is exactly what God goes on to do next. It's incredible. God, in the first set of three days, provides all of the structure, and then in the second set of three days, he provides all of the substance. The beauty of it is it's not random; it's reflective. Here's what I mean. I think we can put this on the screens to help describe it.

On day one, God created the structures of night and day. Correspondingly, on day four, the first day of the second set of three, he creates the substance for that night and day. He creates the sun, the moon, and the stars. On day two, he puts the structure of the sky and waters. On day five, the corresponding second day in the second set of three, he creates the substance of birds and fish to fill the sky and waters. Do you see it?

On day three, he created the structure of land from the water. On day six, we see he creates the corresponding substance for that structure. He creates the beasts of the field and humans. Isn't that amazing? Do you see what God is trying to tell us about himself? Not that he's type A, even though he's clearly organized. What he's trying to say is that he's intentional.

You see, God created the world intentionally, not indifferently, which is a huge thing for us to consider. He isn't haphazard or disinterested in his creation, like some people believe. Some people think that God, sure, created everything, but he spun it like a top and left it to wobble around on its own. That's not true. He is deeply invested. He's deeply intentional with the affairs of our world. He put all of this structure, and he filled it with all of this substance.

I should have brought this as an illustration, but it would be as if I gave you a vase (structure) and filled it with flowers (substance). See what God did? He is producing the constructs of creation so that life can flourish. We do this too. Like, I don't know what kind of look you're going for in your house, yet more than likely, in your house, you're trying to strike some sort of vibe, whether it's mid-century modern or Scandinavian. I don't know what your thing is, but you are trying to structure and fill that space in a way that produces flourishing.

Maybe it's a playlist you listen to whenever you go running, but no other playlist that someone has made is going to qualify. No, you must curate it yourself. You must structure what you want the atmosphere of that playlist to play, and then you must fill it with your own songs, because that produces flourishing.

Others of you have a power outfit. You've worked really hard on it. You have structured together that which is going to ultimately help you express the greatest levels of confidence you can have whenever you step into the world. We do this all the time. We organize our lives in a way that produces flourishing.

I remember one of my college roommates was dating this girl around Christmastime. He was really into her. He liked her a whole lot. So, in an effort to make sure things would continue to go really well, he did the inexplicable. He rented a Christmas tree farm, which I didn't know you could do. He rented a Christmas tree farm, but not just that. He also went and purchased snowballs from a local snow cone shop, and he ensured that the two of them could have a private snowball fight, just the two of them, in this Christmas tree farm with no one else around.

Why would he go to all this trouble? Because that is the recipe for success, gentlemen. That's what it looks like to woo a woman and bring her into a relationship, except for the fact that their relationship ultimately ended. What you need to know is that he wanted to provide the structure and the substance that would ultimately lead them to a thriving and not just surviving type of relationship. God does the same thing.

Now, as I say that, I know that can feel really hard to believe for some of you, because the truth of the matter is you may hear that God is intentional, but what you experience in your own life, what is closest to your own reality, is that he's very indifferent. You're here, and you feel like, "Man, he doesn't see me. He doesn't care about me. He doesn't listen to me. I've prayed the right prayers. I've been steadfast in the face of trial. I've pursued faithfulness, and what have I gotten for it? I've gotten nothing, Kylen. Nothing good has come to me. God has not been intentional; he has only been indifferent."

If that's you, would you just hear me? It is not that God is indifferent toward you. In fact, it is that God is being extra intentional with you, because for those times in life where things feel so complicated and make no sense at all, God is often…not always but often…leading us into places we would not go so we can grow. He does this all the time, and he does it because he is a good Father.

I got to relate to this reality really clearly this last week, because we took our little baby boy and shipped him off to day care for the very first time. I'll just level with you. I wasn't excited about it at all. I would much rather keep him in our house and ensure that he never feels abandoned, he never feels unloved.

Yet at the same time, I know, "Dude, you need to grow up. You need to realize the world doesn't revolve around you. You have to learn how to socialize and share some toys and make sure you are a good contributor to society. I have to help you become what you're meant to become. If you stay here, you're not going to be able to do that."

So, what did we do? We led him to his inevitable doomsday, and we shipped him off. We put him in day care. Yet here was the thing. The night before we did it, Brooke and I were lying in bed. Both of us still felt this anxiety. We were like, "Man, we know it's right, but gosh, it's so hard. What if he feels abandoned by us? He has never been outside of our home. He has never been left by himself. What if he feels abandoned?" Well, he doesn't know this, but we always have an eye on him, because we literally have a live feed into his classroom.

"What if he feels unloved? What if he gets dropped in a place he knows nothing about and totally feels unloved?" Well, he may feel that way, but the reality is we looked high and low for the best day care possible, and we tested them thoroughly to make sure they would take care of our boy. In those moments when he feels like Mom and Dad are never going to show up, we know, "Five o'clock is coming, and we're going to be there waiting for you, ready to pick you up and take you home."

I think God feels very similar to you in your moment of pain and difficulty. I think he dreads sending you into the wilderness, but he wants you to know, "When you feel abandoned, I have an eye on you. When you feel unloved, I have already gone before you. And when you're worried I'll never show up, don't worry; I'm waiting for the moment to come." That's who he is. God is intentional. He is not indifferent.

We see this expressed not just as he declares it to us but as he exemplifies it to us through the person of Jesus. We know from Hebrews 12:2, Jesus, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross. Do you see that? He entered into immense difficulty, the likes of which you will never understand, and he despised its shame. Now he is sitting at the right hand of the throne of God. You see, Jesus himself understood sometimes it has to get harder before it gets better. Sometimes the path to life goes through the valley of death. God is intentional with you. I promise. He is declaring it from Genesis 1, and he is declaring it to you today.

This would have been something the ancient Israelites would have been processing themselves, that idea of "Is God actually going to lead me through difficulty for my own development?" The reality is they would have been chewing on this too. Contextually, you need to know the book of Genesis was written by Moses, and it was given to him by God when he had led the Israelites out of Egyptian slavery and into the wilderness there at Mount Sinai.

So, Moses is teaching these same truths to a group of people who have just been liberated out of captivity. They are a group of refugees. They are two million in number…men, women, and children. What he is declaring to them is "Yes, you may have been in Egypt. It may have been hard, but God has come to get you out."

Yet here's the thing we see as we continue to read into the story. We know God looks at them and says, "Yeah, they are set free of their circumstance, yet their circumstance has really done a number on them. I got them out of Egypt, but now I have to get Egypt out of them." That's what we see as he keeps going. He realizes they have been conditioned into believing some lies that they need to unlearn.

To help them unlearn them, he continues to speak. He speaks to them in a principle that reminds them, "Hey, in Egypt you were valued for what you did. Your value correlated with how many bricks you could make for Pharaoh. Now you're not valued for what you do; you're valued for who you are," because God wanted them to know and wants you to know God created human beings not human doings.

That's why we read in verse 5, "And there was evening and there was morning, the first day." Then we read in verse 8, "And there was evening and there was morning, the second day." And in verse 13, "And there was evening and there was morning, the third day." Isn't that crazy? Mind-blowing. Maybe it doesn't strike us as such, because we don't realize just how subtly significant what we're reading here actually is. This is a massive point of importance, because what God is saying is "You're valued for who you are, not what you do."

Let me describe it to you like this. What do you do in your mornings? What do your mornings represent in your life? More than likely, they represent things like stress, stress over the fact that it's busy season and your boss has high expectations; anxiety because you know you have to have that conversation today, and you are dreading having that conversation; dread because you woke up to 15 emails, even when people should have been sleeping. Somehow they're still working, and now you have to answer all this stuff. The mornings often represent productivity, performance, and demand.

Now, what do the evenings represent? The evenings represent kicking your feet up, curling up on the couch, winding down at the end of a long day with some good food and maybe a glass of wine, making sure that before you hit the hay you open a book or watch that show you're interested in. The evening represents rest, peace, and supply. That's why you look forward to it so much. That's why you're watching the clock and can't wait to get out at 5:00. You know, "Man, that's where rest is found."

We live in a world that orders our days morning to evening, but God is looking at them and saying, "No, no, no. Our day is ordered opposite. Our day is ordered evening to morning, because I don't want you working for rest; I want you working from rest. I don't want you waking up and feeling all the rush and demand of having to go and do; I want you waking up and feeling the blessing that you are perfectly accepted by way of who you are apart from anything you do."

Genesis 1:27 tells us something really important about our value. It says, "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." This is an idea in theological circles known as the imago Dei. We're going to spend a lot more time talking about it next week, so if I don't cut every angle on this for you, then just come back next week, because we're going to talk extensively about this.

One thing you have to understand about the imago Dei is it's describing to you where your worth comes from. It's saying that your self-worth is not rooted in what you do; it's rooted in who you are. So, who does God say you are? God is saying that you are made in his image. That word image in the Hebrew is the word tselem. The thought there is it represents an image or an idol. Literally, God has made you an idol.

It's why he takes so much issue with there being idols of other gods in the world, because he has already filled the world with so many idols. He has filled it with you and me. You are a representative of his likeness everywhere you go. You are a living, breathing, walking, talking representation of who he is. There is no higher calling than that. You are distinctly different than the rest of creation.

You are set apart, because this is God's purpose for your life. It is not only to know him; it's to make him known, which means whatever sense of significance you find in whatever it is you accomplish, you don't need it, because God has already declared you as significant. When you don't feel like you matter because you don't have enough zeros on your paycheck or enough letters behind your name… You don't need to matter anymore, because the truth of the matter is God has already declared that you matter.

Whenever you feel like you're not as important as you want to be, you need to know it doesn't take thousands or tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of followers to declare to you that you're an important person, because God has already declared you are important. Does that make sense to you? This is so vital.

Now, as I say this, here's the thing I know. I know that so many Christians in the room… If you're not a believer, then just give me a minute, because I have to have a family talk with some of my brothers and sisters. So many Christians in the room hear, "Yeah, I'm made in the image of God," and their brain turns off. They're like, "Yeah, I know that. I got that, Kylen. Thank you. I know I'm valued for who I am, not valued for what I do. Thanks."

Here's the reality. If you know it, then why don't you live like it? Why is it that you have so much insecurity? Why is it that you live with so much false humility? Why is it that you have this deep-rooted fear of the future, that you're trying to control specific outcomes, that you are so performative in Christian circles? Why are you doing it? That is a declaration that you do not understand where your value comes from, because if you knew "God gives my value," you wouldn't be looking to the world to give you any more. You would understand where your value is found.

Follow me. This is important. If you're struggling with this, it means you find greater worth in what you can make of yourself than what God can make of you. You already have value, Christian. Please live like it. You are overestimating your ability to add anything to your worth, because not only did God give you worth at creation; he re-dignified your worth at salvation. He showed you, "I made you right. You screwed it up, and I came to make you right again."

You should be able to find rest in that truth. That should lead you to a place where you're able to take a load off. The reason I know that is because in that truth, God rests himself. That's what we see as we come to the end of this passage. We see in Genesis 2:1-3… I'm going to read it again because it's important.

"Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation."

I would have loved to have taught this in a lecture kind of format in a smaller room where we could put things up and draw them out for you, because Genesis 1 is so poetically beautiful. There's so much happening in the literature of how Moses wrote this, inspired by the Spirit, which unfortunately, we just don't have time to get into. One thing you need to know is there is this striking element all throughout this chapter where we move in this rhythm of working to resting, working to resting.

You see it. It says that God spoke, it was good, there was morning and evening, and the day ended. That happens again and again and again and again…until day seven. Day seven is the day that never ends. Day seven is not marked by any conclusive commentary. It seems like this never-ending day of rest.

I know some of you hear that, and you're like, "Oh man! I've been on the fence about Christianity, but if that's what I'm signing up for, put me in, Coach." That's where so many of you are at, because you would love to jump into something where it affords you a little self-care treatment, a day at the spa, a little retail therapy, maybe a golf trip with the boys.

That's not what this is talking about. You see, we often mistake godly rest for worldly rest. Here's the difference in the two. I want you to catch this. Worldly rest just wants to escape the sadness of reality. Godly rest, the kind of rest God himself does, wants to enjoy the goodness of reality. Worldly rest wants to escape the sadness of it all, but godly rest wants to enjoy the goodness of it all instead.

That's why seven times he declares, "This is good. This is good. This is good." Not because he did the job. The Holy Spirit doesn't roll up and be like, "Man! That lion. Nice job. Love what you did with the hair." That's not the way this is working out. He looks at it and says, "It's not good because it's complete; it's good because it's from me."

We have this idea when we read about the garden of Eden that it's perfect, but that's not an ancient Near Eastern idea. They would not have assumed it was perfect, because that would mean you could understand the end of it, but you cannot understand the end of God's goodness. It goes on and on and on and on. His goodness is one where there is a total absence of evil in the total presence of himself. The beauty of this is this day doesn't end. God has invited us into a story where we enjoy him forever. Isn't that amazing?

God created life to enjoy, not just endure. Last story. When I was sitting with TA at lunch that day, he looked at me, and he asked me what I was doing with my life. I was struck to the core. I didn't know what I was doing with my life. Then he extended an invitation. He said, "Hey, when you feel like God makes it clear for you what you're supposed to be doing, why don't you give me a call, because I'd love to bring you on staff here with me."

In that moment, I went from crisis to clarity. In a world where I felt so much confusion about what I was supposed to be doing, so much so that I was doing everything instead… In that moment, I felt like I had crystal clarity of what my purpose was. It wasn't just to work in this ministry to sign up for vocational, full-time, lifelong church work. That's not what I felt clarity of.

What I felt clarity of from God, as I processed the offer of leaving everything else behind and stepping into what God was doing through this ministry by way of his gospel… What I felt was purpose. I knew my life is meant to make him known. It's to know him and it's to make him known.

That is the same offer on the table for you, friend. You're here, and I don't know what your world feels like. Maybe you've entered in the new year and you're pumped. You're so excited. You have great goals, and you're already checking them down. Every single day on your calendar, you're checking off whatever it is you're trying to stay true to and build the habit of.

But others of you are not here excited for the new year; you're here, and you're concerned about it, because already, three weeks in, the sins of your past are already here in the present. They're already walking with you today. So you're wondering, "Man, is it already too late? Have I ruined 2026?" The truth of the matter is you haven't ruined anything because Christ has fixed everything for those who place their faith in him.

Jesus is not indifferent toward you; he is intentional about you. So intentional, in fact, that he left heaven and came to earth, and he moved with such purpose, such clarity of conviction, that he would live the life you could not. The way he did it is he didn't just become a human being like us; he actually became the human doing that we cannot do.

He did everything perfect in the life he lived. He accomplished all the Law and the Prophets in a way that led us into right relationship with God. But it isn't just that. Christ has come to give us life, but also life abundantly, because you have been designed not just to enjoy this world but to enjoy the God of this world, and where he is, in his presence, is the fullness of that kind of joy. Christ has come to restore you to that.

So, I don't know where you're at tonight. I don't know how you feel about this year, but here's what I would say. Whatever story you're trying to write for the year that's still ahead, Christ wants to write a completely different story, and I promise you that story will be better. Your purpose is to know God, and when you know him, you'll realize there is no one more worth knowing. Let me pray that you would know him.

God, thank you. Your Word is so good. It's so beautiful. I love that we can just sit here and study it in a way where, God, it doesn't just fill up our hearts; it enriches our minds. We realize who you are, how good you are. God, what I'm praying right now is that you would work by way of your Spirit and you would call people to place their faith in you if they have not, to rededicate their lives to you if they have not, and to go faster and farther with you than they may already be going.

This is a truth, God, that doesn't just apply to some of us; this is a truth that applies to all of us. So, God, I'm praying what my friend Natalie prayed earlier, that you would work in a way that touches every single soul. O God, you can do that. God, you can do it. I'm praying for it, God. I am entering this year expectant, not just because I want all the fruit of a really awesome year but because, God, I want the one who makes all things awesome. I want you. So, God, come to us.

Right now, I would invite you. Would you just invite God to invade your space, to enter into your mind, to move in your heart, to stir what need be awakened awake? There is a response in the room for us all, so let us respond, not because I'm asking you to but because he is worthy of it. What a God we have.

What a God you are. There is no one higher. There is no one greater. There is no one more worthy. So, God, it is to you that we declare this year, this year from this night… It is yours. King Jesus, we follow you. We follow no one else. We want your Spirit. We want the life you have to give, so won't you come and give it to us right now, we pray. In Christ's name, amen.