Before We Are Sent, We Are Named

Devotional

Day 1: Before We Are Sent, We Are Named

At the start of a new year, the pressure to resolve, change, or improve can feel overwhelming. However, the story of creation reveals that God spoke about humanity with intention before we ever performed a single task. You are not a project to be completed or a problem to be solved, but a creature who already belongs to Him. Your meaning does not begin with your own efforts to figure yourself out, but with the divine speech that brought you into being. Before you are defined by your choices or your background, you are defined by the God who calls you His own. [50:00]

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.” (Genesis 1:26 ESV)

Reflection: When you look at the year ahead, what "names" or labels have you been trying to earn for yourself, and how does it change your perspective to know God has already named you as His own?

Day 2: Identity Is a Gift Received, Not Achieved

We often fall into the trap of measuring our worth by our productivity or how useful we are to those around us. Scripture resists this by reminding us that the image of God is something we bear, not something we use or earn. Human dignity does not rest in what you contribute or how much you know, but in the simple claim that you were created to reflect His glory. True self-knowledge is found not by looking inward with anxiety, but by listening to what God has declared about you. You do not have to invent yourself; you simply need to receive the identity He has already given. [56:16]

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27 ESV)

Reflection: In what specific areas of your life do you feel the most pressure to "achieve" your worth, and what would it look like to rest in the identity God has already given you today?

Day 3: Blessing Always Precedes Our Calling

It is easy to view our responsibilities as a way to secure God’s favor, as if His blessing is a reward for a job well done. Yet, in the garden, God spoke His favor over humanity before giving a single instruction to be fruitful or multiply. We are entrusted with work not to prove ourselves, but because we are already loved and affirmed by our Father. When we forget this order, our callings turn into heavy burdens of pressure and fear. By starting with His blessing, we find the freedom to serve Him out of gratitude rather than a need for self-justification. [01:03:27]

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.” (Genesis 1:28 ESV)

Reflection: Think of a responsibility that currently feels like a heavy burden; how might remembering that you are already "blessed" by God change the way you approach that task tomorrow?

Day 4: Reflecting God’s Image Through Shared Communion

The image of God is not reflected in isolation but through our shared lives and relationships with one another. We are created for communion, reminding us that no single person or culture can fully exhaust what it means to be human. This shared identity leads to a shared calling of stewardship, where we care for the world as managers of God’s property. Authority is not meant for domination or control, but for the faithful care of what belongs to the Creator. As we walk together, we find that our belonging to God always comes before our belonging anywhere else. [01:02:23]

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27 ESV)

Reflection: Who is one person in your life that God might be inviting you to serve or collaborate with this week as an expression of shared stewardship over the "world" He has placed you in?

Day 5: Finding Our True Image in Christ

While our own reflection of God’s image may feel dimmed by sin, we look to Jesus as the exact imprint of God’s nature. We do not have to climb back to the garden on our own strength because God has come to us in the person of His Son. In Jesus, the God who named us at creation has taken our name and joined us to Himself by faith. Our hope for the new year is not that we will finally get everything right, but that God has spoken His final word over us in Christ. We can move forward with faith, knowing our identity is secure in the one who bears God's image perfectly. [01:13:55]

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. (Hebrews 1:1-3 ESV)

Reflection: When you feel the urge to "do better" or "fix yourself" this week, how can you pivot your focus toward the person of Jesus and the work He has already completed on your behalf?

Sermon Summary

The congregation is urged to begin the year with a reorientation: identity is given by God before activity is required of humanity. Scripture opens with divine speech that names and shapes creation, and humanity appears not as an afterthought but as the object of deliberate, caring announcement. From Genesis 1:26–28 the narrative emphasizes that people are spoken into being in God’s image, created male and female, and blessed before any charge is issued. This ordering — God known, humans named, blessing spoken, then calling entrusted — reframes New Year self-examination: knowing God comes prior to knowing self, and identity is received from divine revelation rather than discovered by introspection or performance.

The text presses that the image of God is not a badge of utility or intellectual capacity but a holistic claim about rightly ordered hearts, minds, and affections under God. Male and female together mediate that image; embodied, communal life is intrinsic to human dignity, resisting both self-invention and hierarchical appropriation of God-given worth. Authority entrusted to humankind is described as shared stewardship — dominion as faithful care under God’s sovereignty, not domination or entitlement. Because blessing precedes duty, vocation can be carried with freedom rather than frantic proving; obligations flow from a prior gift rather than from anxious self-justification.

The fullness of this truth is located in Christ, who is presented as the exact image of the invisible God. Knowing God finally involves union with Jesus, who bears the divine likeness perfectly and thereby enables believers to receive their identity as those already named and blessed. The New Year is therefore to be entered not primarily as a season of self-improvement projects but as a time to live out received identity in dependence upon Christ: to act under blessing, steward creation with humility, and walk in the freedom of a people whose meaning is grounded in God’s revealed word and the incarnate image.

Key Takeaways

1. God is known before humans are defined Knowing God precedes attempts at self-definition; divine speech in creation establishes identity as an act of revelation rather than self-invention. This shifts the spiritual work from anxious self-scrutiny to receptive listening, inviting persons to accept a God-given story that orients their desires and decisions. Receiving identity from God protects against both self-exaltation and despair, because worth is located in divine intention, not fluctuating achievement. [46:59]
2. Identity is received, not achieved Bearing God’s image describes the whole person — mind, heart, and affections ordered toward truth and righteousness — not a scorecard of usefulness. Male and female together reflect that image, grounding human dignity in relation and embodiment rather than in performance or social ranking. True self-knowledge therefore comes by gaze outward to God’s revelation, not inward toward isolated introspection. [52:15]
3. Blessing precedes human calling God blesses before assigning tasks, which means vocation flows out of favor already given, not from a need to earn acceptance. This ordering makes stewardship a grateful response rather than frantic proving, and it keeps authority from becoming coercive because dominion is entrusted communally under God. When blessing is remembered first, duty can be practiced with courage and peace. [62:38]
4. Christ perfects the divine image Jesus is the decisive disclosure of God’s likeness; union with him is how humans truly bear God’s image. Knowing God comes through the incarnate Word, and identity becomes a received reality in Christ rather than a self-fashioned ideal. This grounding frees the believer to live faithfully in the world under God’s blessing. [71:50]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[08:26] - Opening Worship
[28:14] - Announcements & Bible Reading Plan
[40:56] - Genesis Text and Series Introduction
[46:59] - Identity: Named Before Being Sent
[71:50] - Christ, Blessing, and New-Year Application

Bible Study Guide

Bible reading

Genesis 1:26–28 (ESV)
26 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.”
27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
28 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.”

Observation questions

In verse 26, the language changes from God’s previous commands in creation. Instead of just speaking things into existence, there’s a pause where God says, “Let us make man in our image.” [46:59] What does this shift in language suggest about the creation of humanity?
Verse 27 repeats the phrase “in the image of God.” Why do you think this idea is stated twice in the same verse? What is being emphasized?
Look closely at the order of events in verse 28. What does God do for humanity *before* giving them any instructions or responsibilities like being fruitful or having dominion?

Interpretation questions

The image of God is not something we use, but something we bear. It speaks to a whole life rightly ordered under God—our minds, hearts, and affections. [54:19] How does this understanding of the “imago Dei” differ from common ideas that link a person’s worth to their intelligence, usefulness, or productivity?
Dominion is presented not as domination or entitlement, but as a shared, entrusted stewardship under God. [01:06:25] How does this idea of being a “good steward” rather than an “owner” change how we should think about our authority in our families, workplaces, or communities?
The text says God created them “male and female,” showing that the image of God is reflected communally, not in isolation. [58:35] What are the dangers of trying to understand our identity apart from others? Why is our embodied, relational existence so essential to what it means to be human?
The New Testament tells us that Christ is the perfect “image of the invisible God.” [01:11:50] How does knowing Jesus help us understand what it truly means to be made in God’s image? How does our union with him by faith change how we see ourselves?

Application questions

At the start of a new year, it’s common to look inward and chart a course for self-improvement. [43:46] How might your perspective on this year change if you began not by asking, “Who do I need to become?” but by resting in who God has already named you to be in Christ?
We are told that human dignity rests in the simple claim that God created us to reflect His glory, not in what we achieve or contribute. [56:01] In what areas of your life do you feel the most pressure to prove your worth? How can you remind yourself this week that your value is already secured in how God made you?
When we forget God’s blessing, our calling can turn into pressure and our responsibilities can lead to anxiety. [01:09:11] Think of a specific role or task you have right now. How would remembering that you operate *from* God’s blessing, not *for* it, bring a sense of freedom and peace to that work?
We are sent into the world because we are *already* something in Christ, not to go out and earn a name for ourselves. [01:08:21] How does this truth reframe your daily mission, whether at home, at work, or in your neighborhood? Does it feel less like you have to earn your place and more like you are simply called to live faithfully in the place God has already given you?
True self-knowledge comes not from intense introspection, but from listening to what God has said about who we are. [57:37] What is one practical step you can take this week to listen more to God’s voice about your identity and less to the voice of self-criticism, comparison, or cultural pressure?

Sermon Clips

``We bear the image of God not in our own strength and not in the anxious pressure of having to keep keep up with a self decided New Year's resolution, but we bear the image of God in the union with the one who is the image of God. And that's the gospel. Not that not that we're gonna do better this year. Not that we're finally gonna get it right. But that in Christ, God has already spoken his final word over us, and that is a word that stands. [01:14:22] (40 seconds) #Do you want one hashtag per paragraph (each blank-line separated block) from the quoted text, or would you like a different way of dividing the quotes (for example, one hashtag per numbered point)? Please confirm so I can produce the exact matching number of hashtags.

Point three, blessing comes before calling. Verse 28, it says it starts with this, and God bless them. That comes before anything else is is said. Before any word of instruction, before any mandate is given to humanity, God blesses. Before the to do list, right, the responsibilities that are named, we are named and then we a gift of blessing is given. Before humanity is entrusted with anything, humanity is affirmed by God through this blessing. The blessing is spoken first, then the commands follow. [01:02:33] (61 seconds)

And so that friends is where the knowledge of God and the knowledge of self finally meet in the person of Jesus Christ. We know God as father because we belong to the son. We know ourselves not as some project to be completed or improved, but as people who belong to Jesus Christ. And this is good news about who we are. [01:13:48] (34 seconds)

And and we are not introduced human beings, Adam. We're not introduced as some kind of problem that needs to be solved. We're not introduced as a a project that must be completed or charted out. We are introduced as creatures who already belong to God. That order matters. And I think it matters and it helps us at the start of a new year. [00:45:06] (32 seconds)

Well, which means that we don't come to know God by by climbing back to Genesis on our own. We come to know God because God has come to us in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Right? The God who spoke the world into being speaks again, not just in commands, not just merely through the prophets, but speaks to us through his son. It's another Hebrews text. Right? In the former days, God spoke to us for the prophets. But now, in these last days, he has spoken to us by his son. [01:12:34] (41 seconds)

Before humanity even exists, God speaks about humanity. That's kind of what it means to be named. Right? Because up until this point, it's like, okay. Yeah. Speaking things into being and and so. But now there's speech concerning what he is about to make. Well, that reminds me and I hope it reminds you that humanity is not some kind of afterthought. It's not just simply another creature that's added to the list of creatures, but it is one that is created with intention and care. Some might say, using the language of the Psalms fearfully and wonderfully made. [00:48:00] (54 seconds)

That means your life up to now and going forward is not it didn't begin with an accident, and it is not accidental. And the rest of it and this year does not begin with you trying to figure yourself out. Because meaning with respect to you is already in place because your meaning begins with God. And that is why the knowledge of God must come before the knowledge of self. [00:50:16] (40 seconds)

Male and female are not interchangeable, but this also tells us that neither one is sufficient on their own. Instead, the image of God as reflected in man and woman testifies that that human life is created for communion. Right? It is not created in, like, individual silos. But it also means that our embodied existence is not incidental to who we are. Because you are not just a soul that is temporarily using a body. We are embodied creatures that are created deliberately and called good. [00:59:33] (49 seconds)

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