This is Max Locato.

Want to know what's coming next?

Well, then consider what came first.

God's designs for you and me were unveiled

in scripture's opening pages.

Escatology, which is the study of end things,

begins with protology, the study of first things.

Our story begins like this. Then God said, let us make human beings in our image to be like us.

And they will rain over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth,

and the small animals that scurry along the ground.

By this point, God had created much.

Stars sparkled at night.

The air was sweet with the fragrance of flowers and the music of birds.

Animals roamed the valley, but creation, albeit magnificent and mighty, was not made in the image of God.

That privilege was reserved for the likes of you and me.