Learning from God - our Creator

“This is the history” (Genesis 2:4).

This is His Story. This is God’s Story. In this great Story of creation, which leads on to the great Story of salvation, we read about the God who has done for us what we could never do for ourselves. We could not create ourselves. We could not save ourselves. We have been created by God. We have been saved by God. Apart from the work of God, we would have no life. Our life has come from Him. Apart from the work of God, we would have no new life. It is through His mighty power that we have become “a new creation in Christ Jesus” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Apart from the work of God, we would have no hope of eternal life – “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son” (1 John 5:11). In ourselves, there is no hope. In the great God of our salvation, we have this glorious hope – “the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

“rain” (Genesis 2;5)

No rain, no plants of the field, no herbs of the field, no man to till the ground. This is a picture of life without God’s blessing. To His faithful servants who look to Him for the blessing, God gives His precious promise: “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is My Word that goes out from My mouth: It will not return to Me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:10-11).

“watering the whole surface of the ground” (6)

It’s water that makes the difference. Without water, everything dries up and dies. There’s a better way than the way of spiritual death. God says to us, “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters” (Isaiah 55:1). Jesus says to us, “whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14).

“the breath of life” (Genesis 2:7)

Everything changes when the Lord breathes His breath of life into us. Until God comes to us in power, our situation is desperate – “I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry” (Ezekiel 37:2).

“garden” (Genesis 2:8)

To those who put their trust in Him, the Lord gives His very precious promises – “You will be like a well-watered garden,

like a spring whose waters never fail” (Isaiah 58:11); “They will be like a well-watered garden, and they will sorrow no more” (Jeremiah 31:12). Looking to the Lord as we move towards the great future He has planned for us, we look beyond the Old Testament prophets. We look forward to the glorious fulfilment of God’s wonderful purpose of eternal salvation – “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city … I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God … God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away”(Revelation 22:1-2; Revelation 21:2-4).

“Out of the ground the Lord God made every tree to grow” (Genesis 2:9).

If we are to make progress in spiritual growth, we must be grounded in Christ – “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). It was the Lord God who made every tree to grow. It is the Lord God who gives us the strength that we need to grow in Christ. Spirtual growth is not our achievement. It is the work of God’s grace. “To Him be glory both now and forever” (2 Peter 3;18).