Genesis 1:28 - God’s Design for Humanity

When I was in Lisbon two months ago, I met a painter in his late sixties displaying his art along the street.

It started as one of those casual conversations you have while walking by. His canvases were propped up beside him. Out of curiosity I asked him how long he had been painting.

He smiled and said, “Since I was seven.” He then went on and shared how much he loved painting. How it was always his passion. How he poured everything into it.

Then his voice changed. The excitement faded, and a quiet sadness slipped into his words.

He said, “I was so in love with painting that I missed building my own family.”

The sentence hung in the air.

Then I asked him casually, “Would you ever change anything?”

There was a long pause. The kind that makes you uncomfortable because it says more than words ever could. His eyes filled slightly. He shrugged and said, “Well, I wouldn’t be where I am now if not for everything that happened. I’m alone, but I’m okay.” Then he shrugged again. This time the sadness in his eyes was harder to hide.

As I walked away and found a spot overlooking the city, the conversation stayed with me. And in that quiet moment, I heard the Holy Spirit whispered:

“Romelle, this is what happens when you build your life outside of God’s design. You were created for covenant. You were created with purpose, to love and to be loved, to build a family, to build something beyond yourself. But when anything, whether it is a craft, a job, a career, or even your loved ones, takes the place that belongs to God, it becomes an idol. And when that happens, you step outside of His design, and eventually you will feel the consequences.”

That covenant and purpose are exactly what we see in Genesis 1:28.

“And God blessed them. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion…’” - Genesis 1:28

Notice the order.

God created them male and female (Gen. 1:27).
He blessed them.
He called them to be fruitful and multiply.
He entrusted them with dominion.

From the very beginning, humanity was designed for covenant, for family, for legacy, and for stewardship under God. We were not created merely to exist, to perfect a craft, or to chase success. Those things can flow as a result of living in God’s will, but they were never meant to be the purpose of our lives.

Jesus later makes the order clear:

“Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and everything will be given to you.” — Matthew 6:33

You can love your work. You can pursue excellence. You can even feel fulfilled in certain seasons. The painter had decades of passion behind him. He had mastery. He had accomplishment.

But in that long pause, something deeper surfaced.

Genesis 1:28 teaches us that we were created with purpose, called to build within God’s design so that what we build outlives us and carries into eternity.

When we step outside of it, we may still find success, but we lose the true purpose and deep inner fulfillment that only alignment with God can give.

And over time, that becomes evident.

May this Bible study bless you!

Love,
Romelle