Genesis 2
Notes
Transcript
1 So the heavens and the earth and everything in them were completed. 2 By the seventh day God completed His work that He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done. 3 God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it He rested from His work of creation. 4 These are the records of the heavens and the earth, concerning their creation at the time that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. 5 No shrub of the field had yet grown on the land, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not made it rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground. 6 But water would come out of the ground and water the entire surface of the land. 7 Then the Lord God formed the man out of the dust from the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being. 8 The Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there He placed the man He had formed. 9 The Lord God caused to grow out of the ground every tree pleasing in appearance and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden, as well as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 10 A river went out from Eden to water the garden. From there it divided and became the source of four rivers. 11 The name of the first is Pishon, which flows through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 Gold from that land is pure; bdellium and onyx are also there. 13 The name of the second river is Gihon, which flows through the entire land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is the Tigris, which runs east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. 15 The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.” 18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper as his complement.” 19 So the Lord God formed out of the ground every wild animal and every bird of the sky, and brought each to the man to see what he would call it. And whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the sky, and to every wild animal; but for the man no helper was found as his complement. 21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to come over the man, and he slept. God took one of his ribs and closed the flesh at that place. 22 Then the Lord God made the rib He had taken from the man into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 And the man said: This one, at last, is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh; this one will be called “woman,” for she was taken from man. 24 This is why a man leaves his father and mother and bonds with his wife, and they become one flesh. 25 Both the man and his wife were naked, yet felt no shame.
The Word of the Lord
Doctrine of Creation
Doctrine of Creation
We’re gonna spend a couple weeks in Genesis 2.
This section of the word of God is unbelievably rich with truth, and realities about God, His World, and the people he made to populate it.
What is the value of looking into the past, when we are people who live in the present and who one day will live in the future?
Our premise as we look at Genesis 2 is to ask this question:
What vision of the future is painted for us in Genesis 2, and how does that equip us to be the people of God now?
Being a Christian is a lot like being born again.
In fact Jesus says that’s exactly what needs to happen in order to enter the kingdom of God.
Why does he use that imagery?
It’s like this,
At one point in the past, you were trucking along through life, living in the family you were born into, living in the town you were living in, going to the job you had, and hanging out with the friends you had.
And you didn’t even realize it at the time, but you were a slave to sin.
And then Christ invaded your life like a warrior, chaining up your oppressor by His death on a cross.
And now by your baptism, this water symbolizes new birth.
Now everything changed.
You’re like a new baby, born into the same world,
but with a different family,
and you’re not an American citizen anymore,
you’re a royal citizen of the kingdom of God.
But being a Christian in this age is a little like living in exile.
You’ve heard how great the homeland is,
and every time we gather it’s a little taste of that homeland,
but you’re growing up again,
as a citizen of a different nation.
In America, if you immigrate from another country and want to become a US Citizen,
you are required to take citizenship classes.
These classes teach you about the history of America,
they teach you how our government works,
and then at the end of this process, you take an oath.
This is really helpful when you are joining a new country as an adult.
Genesis, is the citizenship class of the people of God.
It’s the story that you’re told as a little child to orient you to the world around you.
And if we read it correctly, in harmony with the rest of Scripture,
it should lead us to place our faith in King Yahweh.
This week we’re going to focus on two things.
What was the condition of the world God made and what can we learn from that?
What does God’s creation of Adam and Eve teach us about work, and how we are to live as human beings?
As we reflect on these things, we want to employ the same tool we did last week.
What is Genesis trying to do?
By way of review,
Set stage and backdrop for Israel story
Detoxify Israel from pagan teaching
Teach Israel about God
Show Israel the way the world was meant to be.
This week in Genesis chapter 2, we are really honing in on #4,
How was the world meant to be?
By the end of this series we will have made it to Genesis chapter 12.
It’s in that chapter that we are given a solid view of how God is going to restore His creation.
But before we get there, things get really rough.
Sin is going to originate in this garden, and then spread all of the world, with horrifying effects.
By the time we get to the Israelite people being led out of Egypt, they are well acquainted with sin.
They were enslaved for crying out loud.
Part of what Genesis 2 is trying to do is help this people who are majorly effected by other people’s sin, and are themselves a very sinful people,
it’s trying to help them see that this is not how God intended life to be.
But in the midst of that, not only does he not intend for life to be that way, he is actively taking steps to restore this creation.
They are not alone.
And neither are you, church.
Genesis is a book for God’s people.
And you are Christ’s, and Christ is yours.
Remember the reality that we are living in an “already not yet” age.
Other people’s sin effects us greatly.
Our own sin brings us sorrow and hurts the people around us.
But each day as we live in a world that is marked by sin, we cling to the hope that God is getting sin and death off of the earth once and for all.
That one day, our bodies, which get sown in the ground like a seed when we die, will be raised to glorious LIFE with Christ one day, where sin no longer has a place.
By looking back into Genesis 2, we can build a better picture of what our future looks like, AND gain insight to how we should be living in the present.
This strengthens our hope.
So let’s dive in.
What can be gleaned from knowing that God created all things good?
It would be helpful for us if we think about what that actually means.
Because the storyline of history shows that God is going about the business of restoring what was lost in Eden.
Life in the New Creation
Life in the New Creation
How do you imagine heaven?
Boring: Far Side Comic
Exciting but Christ-less: Piper Question
We cannot conceive fully of what a restored creation could mean.
The end of Revelation gives us a glimpse as well as we see the New Jerusalem, the city of God descending from heaven onto earth as heaven and earth are reunified in a way that hasn’t existed since before the fall of man.
What is that world gonna be like??
It’s gonna be on earth for one.
We image life with God in the next age by participating in creation well.
This is our heritage as sons and daughters of God.
What are elements of creation that we see present or commanded before the fall?
Work
From the very first moment of creation God is at work IN that creation.
And then after God makes Adam, he tasks him with the care and cultivation of this creation. A task that will require a lot of work from Adam.
We have what is sometimes referred to as the “dominion mandate” where God tasks Adam and Eve with ruling the non human creation.
28 God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.”
Part of being human is the careful rule of the non-human creation.
It’s really key to note that this charge is given to both men and women.
Rest
God lays down a pattern of rest that is then replicated by his creatures.
We don’t have time to get into all of the dimensions of how incredible it is that an infinite God rested.
It can be helpful for us to realize that God wove rest right into the fabric of creation.
Expand
Art
We see that the creation that God made, was pleasing to the eye.
The world that Adam and Eve was created into was specifically designed to be enjoyed by all of the senses God gave us.
We don’t have a record of art that these first humans made before the fall, unless you count Adam’s poem when his wife is made,
but by nature of the fact that Adam and Eve were created in God’s image, and since He is clearly an artist, in a restored creation we could expect to see unbelievable art.
Because of this, Christians should be excellent artists.
Christian art has suffered greatly recently.
This is in large part due to the fact that we have been conditioned to view physical things as bad, and spiritual things as good.
Consequently the physical stuff we produce is lame.
Eating
The trees were good for food.
Eating is one of the most regular things we do isn’t it?
Because of that, we have a tendency to either make food an idol, or completely unimportant.
If God wanted to, he could have made food more like downloading data.
No taste, no enjoyment, just pure sustenance.
But no,
in His kindness, God makes this super regular thing we do really enjoyable.
Christians should make really good food.
Suppression leads to idolatry
Exploration
Another element we see in the creation was exploration.
A term that has become commonplace in our culture is “wanderlust”.
I met a dude a year or two ago who was in a high level of management with Coca Cola.
He was quitting his job to travel.
The creational good and evil of this tendency.
Suppression leads to idolatry.
In the garden we see these rivers flowing out of Eden.
I don’t know if Adam left Eden or not before the fall,
but I betcha if he did he would have been captivated with the question of
“Where does that river go?”
“What did God make over there?”
Pima Canyon
Order
We see order at every level of God’s creation.
From how the sun and moon interact with each other,
to how mankind interacts with animals,
to how men and women interact with each other,
and how ALL of it interacts with God.
There is a distinct order to it all.
This follows since we see that before God creates, what we have is essentially chaos.
An orderly God who interacts with His creation banishes chaos and builds order that allows for maximum freedom.
Freedom and chaos do not coexist.
Order brings about freedom.
Next week we will reflect more on how God’s freedom is very different from how we often think of freedom, but for now, suffice it to say that in the new earth,
we will see order restored to creation exactly the way God intends for everything to work together.
Nakedness
In the garden, we see nakedness.
The shock of nakedness can distract us from some simple things that we can learn from the fact that Adam and Eve were naked and without shame.
The point of them being naked isn’t to show that God just didn’t like the idea of clothes.
Nakedness without shame is a sign of deep relational knowing of another person.
For in a sense, you are seeing that person for who they really are.
I’m not convinced that if sin hadn’t entered the garden that Adam and Eve would have just been naked forever and the earth populated with only naked people all the time like a giant nudist colony.
Clothing could easily fit under the category of art.
Also we need clothes when it’s super cold.
But in God’s created order, clothing is not needed to hide us from people who might harm us or take advantage of us.
Without sin, human relationships are marked by self-giving love.
And if are relationships are always defined by this self giving love, than the fear that is associated with nakedness goes away.
C.S. Lewis example of nakedness in Great Divorce
Ray Ortlund example of what people will look like.
Marriage and Sex
We also clearly see marriage and sexuality present in God’s creation.
I placed these together, because it is together that they are fully understood.
God’s commands to both the non-human creation and the human creation to be fruitful and multiply by definition are giving both freedom and purpose to sexuality.
But God didn’t create a bunch of men and women and then tell them to all multiply together,
he gave 1 man, to 1 woman,
and it is in that context that he gives them immense freedom to be sexual.
We’ll talk more about this next week, but for now, suffice it to say that sexuality within the context of marriage is a very good idea in God’s eyes.
Theology of Work
Theology of Work
So then with all of these elements of creation present now,
we have to ask the question,
What were humans created for?
How do all of these things interplay with each other to build
“What it means to be human?”
To image God?
We can answer with a catechism answer,
Q: What is the chief end of man?
A: To glorify God and enjoy him forever.
but does that get at the realities of what we were truly created to be?
Just HOW do we glorify God and enjoy him forever?
Lots of different ideas.
Acts 17 - We are created to seek after God
26 From one man He has made every nationality to live over the whole earth and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of where they live. 27 He did this so they might seek God, and perhaps they might reach out and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.
How can we find God if he is holy and we are not?
Adam and Eve were.
A high priest brings us to God.
To be royal priests.
We see Adam exercising dominion over the animal kingdom by systematically naming them.
But he NEEDS his wife.
God purposely let Adam live and work for awhile without his wife.
This doesn’t mean you need to be married to be fully human.
It simply shows that creation is designed with men and women and mind.
Priesthood throughout scripture...
Royalty and priesthood restored in the new creation… and now.
But under a High Priest.
The hardest part of being a shepherd is remaining a sheep.
The hardest part of being a master is remembering that you’re a servant.
What are the priestly duties?
Main duties are prayer and obedience.
1 Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
The New Testament is chock full of exhortations to pray.
To pray all the time.
But this doesn’t mean that we become monks who never engage with the world around us.
To be sure there is a need to withdraw, Jesus did that.
But we also see Jesus walking among people,
eating food
drinking wine
resting
laughing
exploring
knowing and being known
bringing order to the world around him.
Jesus is our great High Priest who allows us to draw near to God.
He is also our model of how to engage in priestly service to the world around us.
n
n
n
n
n