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Genesis 1:26-28

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

So God created mankind in his own image,
    in the image of God he created them;
    male and female he created them.

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

  • God created humanity in His image to be one, unified.  
  • He created us to partner with him and represent him.
  • In this unity is diversity, right away: male and female.  
  • No one can be the Image of God  

Genesis 3-10 - Skim these chapters and see the unraveling of humanity because of sin.

Genesis 11:1-9

Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As people moved eastward,[a] they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.

3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”

8 So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

  • The people are unified, but in the wrong way.
  • God is not their focus - He is not even mentioned in the first few chapters.
  • They are building the wrong thing, for the wrong reason, honoring themselves instead of God.

ask yourself, your family, your small group:

  • What are we building?
  • Why are we building?
  • For whom are we building?
  • What lessons can we learn from the opening chapters of the bible:
    • God's vision for humanity
    • The unraveling of human relationships
  • How can we follow God's vision and be FAITHFUL TOGETHER?