Purpose: The Creation Mandate
Janet Aucoin and Jocelyn Wallace discuss our God-given purpose in life as described in the pages of Scripture and the joy found in following that purpose. (Main Passage: Genesis 1:26-28)
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Transcript:
Janet: I don't just need to feel better. I need the truth. And ultimately that will make me better.
Alexandra: I just want to make it as totally simple and no brainer as possible for ladies to see that
the Bible is really applicable to their everyday life.
Jocelyn: When they understand theology, the application flows out of it quickly with joy.
Janet: It is a journey, but even the journey itself is joyful when I'm doing it, holding the hand of
my savior and trusting him all along the way. This is the joyful journey podcast, a podcast to
inspire and equip women to passionately pursue beautiful biblical truth on their journey as
women of God. When you choose truth, you're choosing joy.
Janet: On our last episode, we spent some time talking about how much joy we've experienced
on our journey with the Lord. And that was fun to talk through and pretty refreshing.
Jocelyn: Totally. It was so good to hear your perspective and to hear from Alexandra. I haven't
been able to stop thinking about what she said her husband says, "and then I'll be happy." I
needed that.
Janet: Who cannot relate to that. So for any of you listening, go back to last week's and you'll
understand the context of that one. And it's been good. It's good to think about joy. Pretty
interesting to thinking about joy this year, the end of 2020 going into 2021. Who in the world
would have thought that we would be where we are today at the end of 2020.
Jocelyn: I know. In 2019, I had all these visions of how companies were going to use the year
2020 as their new like company logo. Like we're going to be seeing more clearly in 2020 and
something punny like that. But, you know, what's super weird. 2020 has been that experience for
me. Like it has really helped me to see a lot of things more clearly. I really had to reorient my
thoughts specifically toward God and some ways that I did not even realize until this year were
actually lacking.
Janet: I love that about God. He is so good to use things that we frequently blame Him for and
get mad at Him for, but He's using them to answer frequently prayers we've had.
Jocelyn: Yeah
Janet: We've been wanting to grow in the Lord and then He answers that prayer and we're mad at
Him for it. And He gives us exactly what we need to help us to see the areas of our heart we
didn't even know were there. And then actually being able to see them, we can actually make the
changes to look more like Christ. Like we've been saying, we want.
Jocelyn: That's one of the reasons I love God so much. I've been doing a lot of researching and
writing lately. And one of the totally amazing things I was reminded of is that God never creates
anything without already first having a purpose for that thing. And I think that's one of the
reasons that God allowed the upheaval of 2020 was He wanted our vision to be realigned with
whatever was going to be most beneficial. And for a lot of us I think it made us really question,
why are we here and where are we going? Where are we supposed to be going at least.
Janet: No kidding. I think for many people, and I'll say me too, when we're busy, we can be
distracted and think we're satisfied and we're doing what we need to do, but you take those
distractions away and there's all kinds of questions. Now I have to think about why am I really
here? What is the purpose of all of this? Is it even worth it? Then on top of that, I got COVID
over Thanksgiving and because my husband had had some health issues, I was very concerned
about not sharing it with him. So, I got to spend Thanksgiving totally alone in my room. What
opportunities to think through. I can't be as busy as normal. I have a lot of time to think and be
alone. And it's amazing what comes out of your heart during those times.
Jocelyn: Absolutely. It's amazing how much you can think about when you're by yourself or,
stuck at home. One of the things I've been most thankful for this year, Is that I think as a group of
people we're thinking a little bit more about really important things overall, like what is our
destiny as humans? What's our purpose? What's our role in the world when everything that's
normal is not normal anymore. What is life supposed to look like? It's been a challenging year,
but at the same time, like man thinking through that stuff, it's really important.
Janet: Well, and I know for you, one thing I know about Jocelyn knowing your purpose as a
human being, that's like a pretty important topic for you. I know.
Jocelyn: Absolutely. It's weird, I've had some pretty rough spots in my life in the past. There
were times I really struggled with sadness, depression, lots of anxiety and panic attacks long,
long time ago, way back in the day. A couple of years were really challenging with postpartum
depression after my first. But even as a little kid, I can remember thinking a long time ago,
what's the point of life? Why do humans even exist? I, as a person, I tend to be a kind of a
serious person. So, I, in my free moments, spend a lot of time thinking about heavy stuff. And if
there's no ultimate purpose for us as humans wow, that leads to a scary dark place.
Janet: And it's so interesting because I've known you for a lot of years. And when you say I'm a
serious person, I think about heavy things I would go. Yeah, I see that. I see that you think
deeply, but if you had said to me, I also struggle with depression. In the time that I've known you
have you had hard patches who hasn't absolutely life transitions, not always easy, but I would
never say about Jocelyn, a kind of dark, kind of purposeless, fairly depressed person. So what in
the world?
Jocelyn: I know you look at me now and you would never think, wow, she was in a bad place in
her head for a lot of years. God completely revolutionized my life. And I have this passion that I
am just on fire. A lot of that's just, learning God's Word, understanding it, gaining wisdom over
the years, applying it little by little, just like the Bible says I needed wisdom to know how to live.
And I got that from God's Word.
Janet: Amazing. I love that it really is frequently that, not easy, but that simple. We need the
Word of God. But in that, were there any especially important truths as you learned to live more
on the journey of joy like we're talking about here.
Jocelyn: Absolutely. And today we're going to talk about that, that we're going to talk about the
purpose that God created all humans for. I think that was probably the one concept I learned and
learning how that ties into glorifying God, that was the most pivotal thing I think I've ever
learned as a human being. And when I finally understood that, like God actually made humans
for a purpose and us doing our job could attract attention to Him, man, I was like, I was
transformed. I had already been following Jesus really passionately for lots of years. And like
everyone, I still had questions about, how it all ties together and make sense. But the concept
we're going to talk about today: the creation mandate. When I learned that from Genesis 1:26
through 28, I would say that was pretty critical in my walk with the Lord, because I learned why
God made me. I learned that He had decided my purpose for life and that there was pretty
specifically exactly what I was supposed to do to live that out. It was earth shattering. Our family
jokes about it, I have a terrible memory. There are little details of my life that leave my head
every day. But when I learned the creation mandate and God's purpose for humans, I like, I can
literally remember exactly where I was. I can remember the chair I was sitting in. I remember
literally how my face felt when it registered that I had just been given the secret to life as a
human. I was like, my brain was blown and I, humorously look at it as my life is divided into
two points, like BC and AD, like before I knew my purpose and after I knew my purpose.
Janet: Okay. I'm going to say that was pretty pivotal.
Jocelyn: Yeah, my response was like, I have to tell every single person in the whole wide world
of what I learned today, it was so amazing. I can't keep it in, like I'm just boiling over.
Janet: Okay. Okay. So here is your chance. Tell us, cause now everybody's going. Are you
kidding me? You remember all of that? What is it?
Jocelyn: Well, ironically, you were the one who taught it to me. So, it's an honor to be able to
share it with you on our podcast today. It's funny now, looking back, like we were studying
Exodus together.
Janet: I remember.
Jocelyn: The study that your husband had written. You asked me to join this study and I was like
Exodus are you kidding me? Like we're studying Exodus. And it was like, it was the middle of a
workday. I was kind of at an overextended point of life with my schedule and it was a time
commitment every week, but I laugh at it now, but that study was really ordained by God to help
me understand some pretty massively important stuff.
Janet: So, I remember that. And what's funny is I specifically had it at Vision of Hope where you
were working and during the day, because I wanted you to be there. So,
Jocelyn: how perfect.
Janet: What's funny is to know now that you were not really wanting to be there maybe, but I
was thinking Jocelyn serves in so many ways. I just really want her to have her own connection.
So, we started this Exodus Bible study with you and a few other ladies. And really, if you're
gonna understand any book of the Bible, you need to know the context. And if we're really going
to understand the context of Exodus. We kind of had to go back to Genesis and talk about who
wrote it and what it was all about and what Moses was doing when he basically, as they
wandered in the wilderness, Moses is writing Genesis and Exodus. So, knowing that helps kind
of understand how the Israelites learned their purpose and how they were going to learn how
they fit into God's plan.
Jocelyn: Exactly. So, you were teaching us about Moses and how he wrote the first five books of
the Bible to help the Israelites, remember who they were. And they'd been in slavery, in Egypt
for like 450 years by that time. I remember thinking 450 years that's like longer than America
has even been a country. And if you were to ask me a conversation, George Washington had
with some other leader of our country I wouldn't even know that. And that was only 245 years
ago.
Janet: Yeah. So of course, for the Israelites, newly freed from slavery, their prophet, Moses,
they're going through the desert. If you think about it, what they knew quickly was that God was
incredibly powerful. I mean, they just seen the 10 plagues. They'd seen God do all of this, but
they didn't really know His character or what He expected of them. Kind of terrifying. So, I'm
your chosen person, you've delivered me, what happens if I? I don't even know. So, all they
knew was what it was like to be enslaved to a wicked Pharaoh.
Jocelyn: So, God used Moses to remind the Israelites why they'd even been created. And then
Moses attempted to help them see how they were supposed to live in that truth as they marched
toward this promised land. Genesis 1 and 2 God is speaking through Moses. He's prompting,
Moses to record the history of the creation of the world. So, we know like the sun, the moon, the
water, the stars, and land animals all the stuff that fills the whole world. And finally, Moses gets
to day six of creation. He explains that God had a plan to make this new kind of creation
humans, that hadn't yet been seen in the creation story, but basically as the pinnacle of His
creative efforts. And what's really important to see. Is it before God ever even created the first
human, He spoke their purpose for that creation. So, God didn't create and then say, "Hey, here's
your purpose." He said, here's my purpose and then He created.
Janet: So why do you think that's so important? What's the difference?
Jocelyn: Well, you know, I think it's really important to realize that God had a purpose for
humans before He ever created them, because it helps us to make sense of why we were created
and then how to live that out now even thousands and thousands of years later. So, God says I'm
going to do this thing and then He did it. He created humans after He really clearly stated what
their purpose was and what the plan was for why they were going to exist.
Janet: Yes. And it might not, it may seem like that's kind of semantics, but didn't create them and
then say, Oh, here's something they could do. But it was, this is a purpose therefore, I will create
them. And to think, we both have had the privilege of getting to counsel and disciple a lot of
different women. And so many of them are searching. I just talked to somebody who loves God.
And we were just having a conversation and it was like, okay so much in my life has changed
recently. Thank you COVID. What is my purpose? So, they're searching. Why am I here? What
is my fulfillment? Why do I exist? And if you think about how much time and energy, we spend
doing that, how much more effective we would be if with the short amount of time we actually
have on the earth, we actually already knew that we knew what we're supposed to be doing and
why we're here. And then we get to spend all that energy being productive and effective.
Jocelyn: Exactly. I think that's why I'm so passionate about it. As we humans really get to see
and understand why God created us in the first place, what His purpose and plan was. It just
takes a burden off our shoulders. I don't have to search for a purpose. I don't have to create a
purpose for myself. I don't have to force other people to fit into my purpose. We just get to
joyfully participate in the purpose that God has already stated for us.
Janet: Yes, and amazingly that purpose is what's going to even give us the most joy. I love that
about our God. So, let's read the passage together and then Jocelyn. Break it down for us. Cause I
know that's what you're passionate about. So, I'm going to be reading Genesis 1:26 to 28. "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 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."
Jocelyn: So, the really, the first thing you can see in that passage is that God stated a really clear
purpose, why He's deciding to create humans and then three distinct ways to live out that
purpose.
Janet: I'm picturing people listening to this, going very clear purpose. It is really not that clear to
me. What do you mean? He gives us a very clear purpose.
Jocelyn: So, in Genesis 1:26, God said that He decided to create humans to bear His image in the
world He had just created, and it such a little collection of words that when I read it, all the times
that I read it, I was just like, okay, cool, God created us in His purpose, read it and move on to
the next thing. But if you don't understand what that means to be created in God's image,
according to His likeness, then you're missing the entire point of what purpose is.
Janet: Because God actually says, "let us make man in Our image after Our likeness."
Jocelyn: Exactly. It's so easy to read over those words and just assume what God might have
meant when He said that. So, some people say okay, that means humans have this capacity to
think and reason like God, or we can emote like God, but the Israelites who are wandering the
desert, which remember is the original audience for this book, they had just been delivered in the
1440s, BC, they would have understood the words, image, and likeness like we probably would
never in the two thousands, unless we had a history lesson.
Janet: When I talk to people about this passage, I usually say, if you think about any of us that
are living today, and if I said, Jocelyn, I just friended you today.
Jocelyn: Hmm
Janet: You know exactly what I mean. Now picture 200 years from now, somebody reading "and
Janet friended Jocelyn", and they say who knew that friend was a verb. Can you do it to
someone? I thought it was a noun. And then we would guess, and they would say, "I bet that
means she did something special nice for her and that's why she said that or maybe it means,"
and then to realize we know exactly what that means and that's exactly like that phrase. They
knew what it meant. And basically, in the times of the ancient near East, there were five main
kingdoms. They would fight with each other. They would each have their own king to begin
with, but whoever won over the other ones was called the great King. So, the great King wanted
to make sure that wherever he had just conquered they didn't forget that they belong to him now.
So, they didn't have planes, trains, TV. When he left, he was gone. He really didn't want them to
forget because quite frankly, he wants their money. He wants their resources; he needs their
taxes, and he doesn't want them to decide why in the world we'll be sending him money. So, he
would leave behind a nine-foot-tall gold statue that looked just like him. Why do you think he
did that? Every time they saw it, they were reminded, Oh, we belong to him. And that was called
the image and likeness of the great King. So, God says just as all of those kingdoms would look
at that statue and say, that's right, we are the visible representatives of that invisible king. Now,
that's what He says about us. It's pretty amazing.
Jocelyn: Absolutely. you have these ancient cultures that don't have geopolitical boundaries the
same way we do now, the great flood happened, and you can see the expansion of humanity
across the globe. It's a different world. It operates differently than we do now. But you have this
big king, this high king that would have conquered the land and left a visible reminder of his
dominion over that conquered territory. So, those statues were designed to remind the conquered
people, they had a new King. They're excellent products reflected his glory. They're advancing
his fame. The statues of him in their land reminded them of that.
Janet: Excellent. Yep, because he needs their taxes. He needs their property. He doesn't want
them to rebel.
Jocelyn: Exactly. So, archeologists are still uncovering these statues through the ancient world,
buried deep and centuries of rubble and dust. And Genesis tells us that humans, when God
created them, He designed in the function like these statues that the ancient conquering kings had
placed throughout their land. God designed humans from the very first day of their creation to
accurately reflect Him as they lived within the land He ruled over. They lived, human beings
lived out their purpose as statues, reflections, likenesses of the one, true God that they're
supposed to have a deep working knowledge of their creator if they're going to accomplish that
purpose. So, you can see that God clarified in the creation mandate that He wanted humans to
live out the great calling and purpose that He had for them to reflect Him accurately within the
context of a specific plan inside of His created world. And then I love this part of the creation
mandate. I love it. Genesis 1:28 says that God, the Creator blessed or consecrated them with His
favor. And then He wanted them to function as His representatives. And then He deployed them
into His created world to do good on His behalf in three really distinct ways. I love studying that
word blessed. It literally means when you look in the original language, it literally means that
God gave them a couple of gifts His favor, happiness, talents, purpose. And then He consecrated
them or set them apart to do a special job for Him on His behalf.
Janet: And that's us. Like we get to do that. We get to stand back and think about that. That God
blessed His human creations then sent them out into the created world. And that gives purpose to
standing in line at Meijer.
Jocelyn: Totally.
Janet: That gives purpose to changing diapers, and I think. And if you're listening and thinking, I
still don't know what that purpose is. Think about that wherever I am other people can
understand what God's character is like a little bit more just because I was there.
Jocelyn: Exactly. It has to change the way you think about yourself as a human. Like I'm not
some random evolutionary being that just accidentally became what I am, and I have to discover
what I'm supposed to be here for. As a human being I was designed before I was ever created to
live at the blessing of knowing and loving God. And then emulating Him to anybody around me
on His behalf to accomplish His purposes.
Janet: So earlier you mentioned glorifying God, one question is going to be, what does that word
even mean? I know I spent a lot of time using that word. And then I worked with these college
girls who will ask you everything, which is so good for my soul. And I was telling them why
they need to live to glorify God. And she said, “What does that mean?” And I said, "you know,
bring Him glory."
Jocelyn: A definition using the word it’s supposed to be defining.
Janet: Exactly. Cause that's all I knew. Now I can tell you glorifying God, literally it's His
weight, His heaviness, His importance. So how does knowing all of this, how does that help us to
glorify God, to show people His importance?
Jocelyn: Well, Psalm 100 verse three says "know that the Lord He is, God, it is He who made us,
and we are His," so He is the owner. And then Isaiah 43:7 says, "I," God says, "I have made
them from My glory. It was I who created them." So as humans, we were created for God
Himself. And God says He specifically made us to celebrate His glory. Like you said, His
weight, His magnificence, His worthiness. So, He made us to bear His image accurately and to
bring His blessing into the world, around us, through our involvement with it. And when we live
that way, it literally draws people's attention to the greatness, the weightiness, the importance of
God. Why would God transcendent, omnipotent, immense, immeasurable just think of all the
adjectives that you can use to describe God, why would He want anything to do with us? But the
scripture say He created us humans to have an object to pour His love out on, to bless us, to
enjoy us, to commune with. And I'm telling you what, that does not say anything wonderful
about humans. We're nothing compared to that. But when we see that He created us to love us, to
enjoy us, to bless us. It shines a spotlight on Him. He is amazing. He is majestic, He's worthy,
He's glorious. It's just, it's overwhelming to our capacity to understand and think about
sometimes.
Janet: So, if I were in any way, a better singer, I would be singing right now because there is a lot
that it makes you want to just praise God when you think, wow, that's the kind of God that we
serve. Incredibly beautiful. I'm attracted to that. I want more of that kind of God. I want to get
near Him.
Jocelyn: Exactly. This, the fact that God created humans to know and enjoy Him, that it's like
overwhelming. It's such a difference than just Oh, humans happened to be here. Hope you can
figure out why you're here. It shines a light on Him, the job of every human since that first one
ever created, Adam, was just so enjoy the relationship with the Creator that their life shines with
His reflected glory, by the way that the humans are imaging God's character, as they live out
their life assignment on the earth. And specifically, we can see in that passage, the three specific
jobs are, to be fruitful and multiply, to have dominion, and to subdue His creation as His
representative, but specifically on His behalf. So just enjoying my relationship with the Creator,
to the extent that God's image is born out of my life, it should cause so much satisfaction that
people who are watching can't help, but notice the God who’s behind it, whose life I'm
emulating. So, it's not Hey, I'm so wonderful pay attention to me. It's like what in the world
would cause someone to live that strange, beautiful way. It's simply that our life is shining out
the character of the God that she spends a lot of time knowing and loving.
Janet: Well that actually kind of takes our lives away from being behavioristic, for a lot of us it's
what does it mean to please God? What does it mean to bring God glory? I need to do this, this
this, and this, but what you're saying is it's just the natural by-product of my life lived out in a
relationship with this kind of an amazing God who is delighting my soul and is giving me the
soul satisfying plan.
Jocelyn: Exactly. So, life for humans, purpose for humans was about loving the Creator,
knowing Him, spending time with Him, and then emulating Him. And then you can see outlined
in the rest of the creation mandate three specific ways that that would be lived out. So, first God
instructs His humans, and we need to remember as His representatives, to be fruitful and
multiply and fill the whole earth. So, in obvious terms like we understand that means like God is
instructing His created humans that are functioning as statues representing His goodness and
love in the created world, like proceed with creating other humans who would also function in
that capacity. So, fill the whole earth with His glory, with additional human beings.
Janet: Yes. In that context, make more humans who will be the image and likeness of God,
meaning they're loving and enjoying God that they're being His visible representatives within the
created world. I picture it if we think before sin, because that's all of this was before sin and God
says, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. And we know that we're filling it with His images
and likenesses. It's almost like thinking where Adam and Eve were, there was this light that was
connecting them to God. And as they had children and we fill the earth the whole earth just lights
up. And the whole goal was to bring glory to God by lighting up the world with little images and
likenesses that showed God's values.
Jocelyn: Exactly. In addition to that, very clear command to be fruitful and create additional
human beings. You can also see that as a pattern, God intended His humans to just be
abundantly, productive, and fruitful. And it's really neat. You can see later in the New
Testament, there's lots of ties back to this original command like, Oh, you want to be fruitful
here's how to be fruitful. You want to be productive. Here's how to be productive. So, it's both
producing offspring as well as simply producing fruit and the labors as a way to fill the entire
earth with God's glory that represents His goodness. And it brings His blessing into this created
world for Him on His behalf. And He instructs His humans to both be blessed by the work that
He designed for them to do, and to use that work, to bless other people through the way they
joyfully participate in it. And it's like work from the very beginning before the curse of sin, it
was designed to be a blessing and also cause a blessing.
Janet: Okay. So, the first thing God created humans to represent Him. And the first way He did
that, enjoying their relationship with Him and bringing His blessing into it by being fruitful and
multiplying.
Jocelyn: Exactly. So secondly, from that same passage, God gives His humans guidance to have
dominion or to rule over His created world on His behalf in a way that spotlights His
righteousness. So as His ambassadors, Adam and Eve were tasked with basically representing
Him through their reign over this dominion that He'd given them. And we know from Genesis
that Adam had been given dominion to keep and cultivate the garden and Eve was assigned to
help Him in that endeavor. And they were specifically assigned to bear testimony to how great
and wonderful the Creator was as they cared for the creation that God had just spoken into His
existence. So, their administration of the created world, it was designed to function within their
knowledge of God. So, the more they knew God, the more they knew His ways, they then lived
out His ways in order for everyone to know God's ways better. Every created thing to know
God's way is better.
Janet: Good. So, as they came to know God better, they would rule on His behalf using His
standards, not their own of what was right. And in accordance with His character. So, they were
going to have to know Him and then be able to administer His thoughts and His ordinances as
they exercise their demands.
Jocelyn: Absolutely. And thirdly, from the creation mandate, God instructs His created humans
to subdue the world He had just created and to bring it into even more orderliness. And
fruitfulness. I'm kind of a word junkie. So, I love looking up words in the original language,
which only makes me sound smart because all I can do is just look up someone else's definition.
I don't really know how to do anything other than that, but in the original Hebrew, that word
subdue has this connotation of treading something down or beating it to be forced into
submission. And I, and through periods of history, people have taken that and really handled it in
a very corrupted way. Like we're going to force people to follow Jesus. That's not what this is
talking about, but it does bring to mind the concept of conquering something and making it obey.
So, Adam and Eve in the likeness of God and on His behalf, they were functioning in this world
that God had created, and they were supposed to be bringing it under subjection of this really
good Creator and then forcing it to be tamed by His goodness. we're not supposed to be wild and
crazy animals acting outside of any kind of rules or norms. God's goodness tames us and keeps
us under control. Adam and Eve, really aware of the beautiful character of God, because of this
relationship they had with Him, they were called to bring His righteousness or His right thoughts
and His right judgements about life into the world that they were living in on His behalf and with
His authority.
Janet: Excellent. So, as they did their work in the garden, it's God's standards, they're upholding.
And I just love that His standards bring us more satisfaction and joy than our own. I love that
about God. So, when they thought about their tasks and their relationships with each other, God's
value God's righteousness, that's, what's driving them. Then they could reflect God accurately
within the world God created for them to enjoy.
Jocelyn: Right. They know the righteousness of God because they're learning God, they're
getting to know Him better. And then they're living out the righteousness of God in their
environment. So, they didn't have personalized thoughts about stuff. Like they were supposed to
be taming, their thoughts, taming wildness, so that they were holding up what it looked like to be
righteous. So, God's authority had tamed them. And they were taming their dominion as well.
Janet: Good. So, God created humans after He spoke with their purpose was which you're calling
the creation mandate.
Jocelyn: So, God created humans because He wanted them to know Him and to love Him and to
represent Him accurately.
Janet: Then as His representatives or His ambassadors, He wanted them to do three things.
Jocelyn: Exactly. First, be fruitful and multiply, fill the whole earth with His glory. Be
multiplicational, be abundantly productive.
Janet: Second. He wanted them to rule that created world on His behalf, using His righteousness
as their standard.
Jocelyn: Exactly. And then thirdly, He wanted them to subdue creation to make it even more
orderly, more productive. He wanted all creation to be subjected to His authority. He wanted
them to be tamed by His greatness.
Janet: We're going to talk more about that in a future podcast, but we do know from reading
scripture, we just have not ever done a very good job at obeying that mandate.
Jocelyn: Sadly, very sadly. No. And we're going to talk about that in a future podcast, but let's
talk about what this means for us mere mortals now in 2020 a couple of thousand years after the
creation mandate, what would it look like if we lived this out?
Janet: I mean the first thing I think about, especially with COVID and everything that's
happened, even when our purpose that we've given ourselves are smaller, inferior purposes that
we think are so important. Even when those are gone, I don't have to fumble. I don't have to be at
a loss as to why I'm here.
Jocelyn: Exactly. I know the precise reason why I am on this earth and I'm telling you what, I
spent a good 20 something years wondering what that was and being freaked out because I didn't
know what it was and examining everything I could do to figure out what it was, but like truly,
we're going to have to think about how the specifics of that effect specific decisions within our
life. Like I make a thousand decisions every day, but behind every single one of those choices. I
know what is supposed to be the backbone of my life. I was designed to revel in God's love for
me to know Him intimately and out of that deep love relationship to represent Him accurately, to
like my husband and my kids and my friends and my small group. I know why I am here.
Janet: One of the things I think that is so exciting superior to everything that God does. I don't
have to have any particular circumstances in my life in order to be able to accomplish that. There
is such hope there. It's not like I can't fulfill my purpose unless I can do whatever.
Jocelyn: Exactly. Like we're so tempted to spend all this energy, trying to make sure our setting
is perfect around us so that I can be happy during the years of my life. And I'm like, if you really
think about it can I revel in God's love for me, even if my job is not perfect?
Janet: Can I represent the lover of my soul in this circumstance?
Jocelyn: Can I know God intimately, even if my family life or circumstances, aren't perfect?
Janet: Absolutely. Which is what I love. And I love when I get to share that with a woman, who's
been trying to figure that out and watch the light bulbs come on.
Jocelyn: Yeah. I mean, if something about me feels inadequate, like I'm not talented or I don't,
I'm not educated the way that I wish I was or even I have so much suffering. It's not necessary
for those problems to be resolved before I can represent Him accurately within this world that
I'm living in.
Janet: Yeah. Wherever I am. No perfect degree, no job, no family circumstance, no relational
thing that I've been desiring. I don't have to have any of that to be fruitful and to be abundantly
productive. I don't have to have the perfect family to have dominion and to subdue myself. I can
represent the lover of my soul in whatever circumstance He gives me.
Jocelyn: Exactly. God's humans. He made us literally we're His. Living on His behalf with His
purpose and plan in mind, I can be overwhelmingly successful in any area under any
circumstance. My thoughts about my purpose as a human are drastically affected when I realized
God never intended a single human to have to live without knowing why they were created,
knowing His purpose, and knowing His plan for humans.
Janet: My husband and I used to work with college kids, and they can get understandably
inordinately focused on what is my degree going to be? What is my career going to be? I need to
pray. I need to get the right one. I need to make sure that I'm doing whatever. And well, one of
the funny things, Brent always tells them is statistically, 80% of you are not even going to work
in your degree. So, it doesn't really matter. Yeah. But what he would always tell them is life is
about relationships. That's where I get to represent the savior and my work, everything else I do,
is just a tool. So, I can do it instead of spending all that energy. What is my purpose? Where am I
supposed to be? What's my purpose? Am I a doctor? Am I going to be whatever it is. I still have
to make those specific decisions. Who am I going to marry? What am I going to do? Am I going
to go to school? Yes. We want to have wisdom. We want to pray, but all of those big decisions
just really are reflection of the everyday, little ones of saying wherever You have me, Lord, I'm
just going to represent You. You just want me to be faithful and representing You that wherever
I am, people see Your goodness, people understand Your character a little bit more. They may
not say, Oh, my word Janet's job. She is like changing the world because she has changed
genetics and no one will ever die, but they walk away and say, God is beautiful.
Jocelyn: Which takes so much of a burden off. I don't have to get the, get it perfectly, right,
because it all rests on me and I'm going to have to be, wise and careful in the questions that I ask
and the directions that I'm going. What job should I be in? And what career should I pursue? But
no matter where I land, there's this underlying understanding that every single career path is
supposed to be designed to let me emulate my Creator and to be abundantly productive and to
rule whatever area of dominion God's given me in a way that no matter what job I'm in, no
matter what setting, location, what I can represent is God's overflowing love, His amazing
compassion to the rest of the created world whatever that dominion and that circumstance looks
like.
Janet: Which reminds me of Jesus saying in Matthew 11:28 that we should take His yoke on us.
It's a lighter yoke. I have to choose a spouse. Yes. I'm just choosing a spouse to represent God to,
and to represent God with not the perfect spouse. So, it does, it lightens the load.
Jocelyn: And we're all going to have different skills or giftedness. Honestly, in the different
seasons of my life, it's going to look like I'm using them differently, but ultimately, I'm designed
for fruitfulness and ordered to use my gifts to bring God's blessing into the world.
Janet: And at the same time, so helpful with the underlying understanding that we can be
confident, and I don't have to strike out and find myself anymore.
Jocelyn: Exactly. There's two passages that I've been really reflecting a lot on this year. And one
is first Corinthians 7:17. It says, "only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to
him and to which the Lord has called him." And when you understand that in relation to Acts
17:26 and 27, it says, " He made from one man," Adam, who have we been talking about today,
"every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having predetermined their
appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation for this reason that they would seek God if
perhaps they might grope around for Him and find Him."
Janet: Basically, God's saying there that He designed us as those who know Him to live in such a
way and with such a purpose that others who don't know Him would see how we function, and it
would cause them to seek God.
Jocelyn: Exactly. So, Acts 17 is telling us that every human from every place at every time
they're groping around to find the One who created them. He's not far from each of them, but
what's really sobering and amazing is that as we live out our purpose, we can be instrumental in
helping other people find the Creator.
Janet: So even just thinking practically on a day-to-day basis. So, I'm a wife. I'm working hard to
enjoy my relationship with God. And then I get to grow never perfectly. My husband be the first
to tell you that grow and bearing His image to my husband, Brent, in my normal life, in my
normal house.
Jocelyn: Exactly. And as I'm being a mom, I'm enjoying my relationship with God so much that I
hopefully am bearing His image accurately to my kids just like while we do normal stuff, like
hang around our kitchen or drive home from work.
Janet: Then my time I spend with Brent, he is, hopefully more and more, able to feel as if he's
been loved by God if I'm using God's standards as a result of being loved by God, myself. What
a privilege.
Jocelyn: Totally. And as I do my work, I'm being faithful and abundantly productive, and I'm just
living in my context, whatever that context looks like. I'm ruling with the dominion of Christ's
righteousness. Walking through life, subduing myself. It's so freeing and intensely empowering.
Janet: Actually, at this point in our podcast, in the future, this is where we want to say, therefore,
here's some resources you can read that are going to help you on that. But we're not really sure of
any books that we're aware of. They may be out there that explore that specific creation mandate
and practically apply “Then what is my purpose today?” Lots of theology books that would help.
But in the meantime, I know someone who is looking at writing a book. Jocelyn, do you know
anything about that?
Jocelyn: Weird. Well, this topic has, like I said, revolutionize my life. I've thought about it pretty
much nonstop for all the years since I learned it. And for the last 10 years, my family and I have
brought up several times. Would this be a good time for me to write about it? And every single
time that for one reason or another, it just hasn't been the right time. But as I realize, we're about
to go into our second winter with COVID and everything normal is canceled and all my speaking
engagements are not happening. And I'm basically a chauffeur for my kids and have to be home
available to take them places we realize this is a good year to try to write it. So, I'm praying that
God will give me the right words to say, and that it will be some sort of publishable project in the
end. So, my goal is to explain the creation mandate, the fall into sin, the Redeemer, and then
what it would look like if the redeemed could live out their ordinary lives with a renewed sense
of purpose in a way that really draws attention to the greatness of our Creator.
Janet: And I love the title. So, tell us your working title at this point because I think it says what
you're trying to do.
Jocelyn: The working title is: "Shine, Radical Purpose, and Ordinary Lives" and the goal is just
to break down how, as a group of redeemed individuals living out the life of the body of the
church, we could collectively be shining, radiating the glory of God that we have come to share
with anyone who's watching. And as we function in our dominion, in our little town and our little
house, our like, our city becomes a pretty shiny place as we're shining the glory of God as we
live out just ordinary lives, doing ordinary stuff, but in relationship with an extraordinary Savior.
Janet: So, that's coming probably not for a couple of years, maybe. So, in the meantime, you can
read through our show notes share this episode, get the word out if you want. And if we have
other resources, we will add them and link them in the show notes as well.
Jocelyn: So, 2020 wasn't just a giant waste.
Janet: Apparently not.
Jocelyn: I mean, like if God can use us questioning our entire existence through a pandemic and
crazy political situation that forced us to reevaluation, why we're here, how we're supposed to
live, like in such a way that we humans. Almost blindly. It fell at some points this year. We
grope around until we find our Creator. That sounds pretty fantastic to me.
Janet: Yes. So, we mentioned earlier, we clearly didn't fulfill our mandate. And what was God's
response? Come back in a couple of weeks, we're going to discuss that our rescue in more detail,
you can follow us on Instagram, Facebook. You can subscribe on Apple or Google or Spotify.
Hope you'll do that but join us next time. And then remember when you're choosing truth, you're
choosing joy.
To keep from missing any future episodes, please sign up for our newsletter on our webpage
joyfuljourneypod.com. From there you can also subscribe to this podcast on Apple, Google, or
Spotify. You can also visit us on our Facebook page or Instagram at Joyful Journey Podcast. If
you have questions or comments for us, you can email us at
joyfuljourneyquestions@outlook.com. Joyful Journey Podcast is a ministry of Faith Bible
Seminary. All proceeds go to offset costs of this podcast and toward scholarships for women to
receive their MABC through Faith Bible Seminary.
Host Janet and her husband, Brent, also speak at a variety of conferences as a way to raise money
for the seminary. If you want to look at what they offer or book them for a conference, go to their
website.
