How It All Began: “Home and Work Life”
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Why Genesis?
Why Genesis?
Genesis means “beginning”. Ans that’s what the book of Genesis is. It is the God given real life history of the beginning of all things.
In this series, we are going to be looking at the first 11 chapters of Genesis. In these chapters we will see why the world is the way that it is, why we are they way we are, and what Go’s purpose is in it all.
We will also clearly see God’s character, get to know Him better, better learn who we are, and why all that matters.
Genesis helps us make sense of the world while also helping us know what our place is in it.
There is much you will be reminded of, and that’s good. There will be some things you will learn for the first time, and that’s great. My primary hope and prayer is that through this study all of us will grow in our understanding of God and His purpose for us so that we will better love, serve and worship Him in His creation.
Last week we looked at chapter 1 and God creating the heavens and the earth and all that is in them in 6 days.
Psalm 24:1 (NASB)
1 The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it.
Revelation 4:11 (ESV)
11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
Today we will be in chapter 2. Let’s take a look…
Genesis 2:1–25 (NASB)
1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. 2 By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. 4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made earth and heaven. 5 Now no shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground. 6 But a mist used to rise from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground. 7 Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. 8 The Lord God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed. 9 Out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 10 Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four rivers. 11 The name of the first is Pishon; it flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 The gold of that land is good; the bdellium and the onyx stone are there. 13 The name of the second river is Gihon; it flows around the whole land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is Tigris; it flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. 15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. 16 The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; 17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” 18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” 19 Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him. 21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. 22 The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. 23 The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.” 24 For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
The setting:
The setting:
Chapter 2 is Day 6 in more detail.
(v. 5-6) No tilling or fields. No rain. God had a sprinkler system.
(v. 7) God made man differently than the animals. Not just in God’s image, but the actual creation of man was different. (breath in Hebrew is the same word for spirit).
(v. 8-15) God planted the Garden of Eden. It was beautiful, lush, green, teeming with life. It was a perfect environment.
God Gave the Man WORK.
God Gave the Man WORK.
(v. 15) Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.
Who was the first farmer? Not Adam! It was God!
(v. 5-8) 5 Now no shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground. 6 But a mist used to rise from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground. 7 Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. 8 The Lord God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed…
Work is not a result of the curse. Work is good. God was the first worker. He created work before sin entered into the world. Work was good!
(v. 2-3) 2 By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.
(v. 8) The Lord God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed…
Work is good! Work is godly!
God made us for work!
To work for Him!
To work with Him!
To work alongside Him!
Psalm 8:3–6 (NASB)
3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained; 4 What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him? 5 Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You crown him with glory and majesty! 6 You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet,
Colossians 3:23–24 (NASB)
23 Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.
Proverbs 18:9 (NASB)
9 He also who is slack in his work Is brother to him who destroys.
Adam was made to work. Cultivating wasn’t the only work though, he had other things God wanted him to do…
Genesis 1:28 (NASB)
28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
1. “…Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth…”
2. “…subdue it (the earth)…”
3. “…rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth…”
But Adam could not do all the work he was given to do by himself. He needed help! He needed a co-worker or co-laborer.
God Gave the Man a WOMAN.
God Gave the Man a WOMAN.
(v. 18) Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.”
We were made for community.
The only thing that wasn’t good at this point in creation was man being alone! So God made woman.
(v. 19-20) 19 Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.
There was nothing else in creation like Adam. No animal could be the companion Adam needed.
The key word here is “suitable”. None of the animals were suitable companions or helpers for Adam.
[A word about pets and animals in general: Pets are great. We have two lap dogs and they are fun little companions, but they cannot replace people. What I mean by that is this, your pets, no matter how much you love them, are not people. They cannot fill they need God put in us for community. Pet’s cannot fellowship with you. Pet’s are a blessing, yes, but they are not as valuable as people and they cannot meet the needs that mankind had for relationships. And they aren’t your fur babies either. Pets are not children. Also, don’t fall into the pit of caring for animals more than you care for people. Seriously, some people are so obsessed with animals that they will invest more in them than they will in people. We need to care for the animals. That’s part of the work God has given us. BUT, we are commanded to love our neighbors as ourselves, we are not commanded to love pets and animals.]
Notice how God created woman…and, again, it is unique. Adam was made in a different way than all the rest of creation. Eve was made in a different way that Adam.
(v. 21-25) 21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. 22 The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. 23 The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.” 24 For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
God put Adam to sleep, brought Eve to him, and put them together. Eve was the woman of Adam’s dreams!
Adam was formed by God our of the dust of the ground (v. 7) but Eve was fashioned from a rib of Adam.
(Even in the beginning, women were far more “fashionable” than men.)
Eve was made after Adam’s kind. (v. 23)
(v. 24) Here we have the definition of marriage.
One man, one woman.
Leave & cleave
(v. 24) For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.
One flesh.
Unity
Intimacy
Faithfulness
Matthew 19:3–6 (NASB)
3 Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?” 4 And He answered and said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 “So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”
Eve was the perfect fit. She was exactly what Adam needed. Nothing else would do. No other living thing could be Adam’s helper. Eve was who God made to help Adam be who God called him to be. And marriage is a picture of Christ’s relationship with us.
Ephesians 5:31–32 (NASB)
31 For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. 32 This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.
One last thing about marriage…
(v. 25) And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
Complete openness, hiding nothing, no shame. Husbands and wives are supposed to love each other in such a way that they know everything about each other and their love and trust in each other is such that there is no shame or guilt in the relationship.
And don’t miss that God made the woman, she didn’t make herself and Adam didn’t make her either.
And a man didn’t become a woman.
Genesis 1:27 (NASB)
27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
Males cannot become females and females cannot become males.
Gender is not a human construct. There are only two genders. God made them male and female. You don’t get to choose. God chose, and we are to conform to God’s will, not our own, no matter how we might feel about it.
And we are different!
The word for “woman” here is “issa” and it comes from the root word that means “soft/delicate”. That was Adam’s first impression of Eve… she is soft or delicate.
Men and women are not the same. We are equal in worth and value, but we are not designed to do all the exact same things. We do some of the same things but not all.
Women can have babies, men can’t.
Men have more testosterone, and as a result have a stronger, harder, muscular frame.
Women have more estrogen, and as a result have a more delicate, softer, frame.
Men and women are physically different. That’s God’s design!
Men and women are usually emotionally different. That’s also God’s design.
Who we are is based on God’s design, not our desires!
So God gave man a woman and together, being who God made them to be, they could do they work God gave them to do and as a result, bring God glory.
God Gave Man a WARNING.
God Gave Man a WARNING.
(v. 16-17) 16 The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; 17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”
We are given a choice. God gave man and woman a will. But God expects us to conform to His will, not our own. Doing things our way rather than God’s way will always bring, suffering, destruction and death.
James 1:14–15 (ESV)
14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
There was only one sin they needed to avoid, and in Chapter 3, we see that they couldn’t even do that.
Romans 3:23 (NASB)
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Just as God set a choice before Adam and Eve, He has given us a choice as well…
Revelation 3:20 (NASB)
20 ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.
God gave us His word and He calls us to Himself through it. He calls us away from death and into life in Christ.
Deuteronomy 30:19–20 (NASB)
19 “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, 20 by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live…
We choose death or suffering when we choose to live contrary to God’s desires and design. As we examined Genesis 2, if you found that in some way in your life you are not living according to God’s desires or design for you, choose the life God has for you today. Repent. Ask God for help. Call on Jesus. He saves. He renews. He restores.
As I pray, you pray and God to help you be who He has called you to be.
Memory Verse of the Week:
Genesis 2:24 (NASB)
24 For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.