Islington Baptist Church February 4, 2001
Sermon text: Genesis 2:4-17
Scripture reading: Psalm 104, Revelations 22, Job 36-37, II Thessalonians 3:6ff
At certain times some Christians have had a ‘crisis in the faith’. There is something that bothers and disturbs them so much about God, his ways, people, some part of his word, etc., that they begin to entertain serious doubts regarding the Christian faith.
Some of these folks have walked away from God and rejected Him, others have stayed faithful but remain filled with doubts and confusion, yet others have had their issues resolved and they have moved on in the faith.
One of the things I have found is that God’s Word is the answer—God’s word and my personal experience of Him. The more and more I study the scriptures the more I understand things that once perplexed and confused me. The deeper I go into God’s Word…….. the closer I find myself walking with Him…. The greater I find my faith in God becoming. We need to be avid students of God’s word!
When I was a teenager a close friend of mine had “a crisis in the faith”. She ended up walking away from God and rejects him still—showing by her leaving the faith that she was never one of us at all. I remember trying to reason with her, as did many others. I remember long conversations on the phone. I also remember this, when I studied with her the Bible text that bothered her the most, I could never understand why she was having such a crisis. You see, what she regarded as contradictory and problematic, I didn’t.
What passage of scripture led to my friends crisis? Genesis 2:4-17. The text we will be studying today. READ TEXT
WHY DID THIS FRIEND OF MINE FIND THIS PASSAGE SUCH A STUMBLING BLOCK?
-she felt that this passage was contradictory in respect to Genesis 1
-she was unable to reconcile in her mind the creation account of ch.1 and the creation account of ch. 2
Genesis 1 and 2 are not contradictory but rather they are complementary.
Genesis 1 tells us step by step, literally day by day, in everyday language how we and the whole came to be. In Genesis 1 who is the main character? Who is it that is the focal point of attention? God.
Genesis 2 exists for a different purpose than Genesis 1. In Genesis 2 there is a different main character. The main character is the man that God made. In Genesis 2 all of creation is referenced in respect to the man that God made, and then the woman he made from the man.
In short, Genesis 1 and 2 have different points to make.
When you and I read Matthew, Mark, Luke, John we notice that at times the same account is retold. A times different details are included; in addition to this each writer has a different point that he is emphasizing—yet they are all talking about the same event. Same thing going on here in this text!
Jesus not had any problem with Genesis 1 and 2. In Matthew 19:4-5 he answers the Pharisees divorce question by first quoting from Genesis 1 and then Genesis 2. Jesus’ use of Genesis 1 and 2 in the same sentence indicates there is nothing wrong or ‘funny’ with Genesis 1 and 2.
SO FAR WE’VE CONSIDERED 3 THINGS
I. Genesis 1 and 2 are not contradictory accounts of creation. They are complementary
II. The emphasis of Genesis 2:4-17 is this: man is the focal point of the chapter. In this chapter we see at all points how the creation is related to him/ what the connection is between the creation and him and also God.
III. If you ever find that your having a crisis in the faith—reach out for help. There are answers available to many of our questions. The Bible addresses all sorts of our questions (our problem is that often we don’t like the answer or want to hear the answer).
Note also this: those who I have seen in crisis have typically been those who have not been working on the building up of their faith (serving, meditation and study of the word, prayer life, fellowship of the saints)
Now before we dive even deeper into the text, please note this. Eleven times in the book of Genesis the phrase “these are the generations of” appears. These serve as textual boundary markers for us. In addition to the book of Genesis being in 11 parts it can also be divided into 2 main parts –ch.1-11, 12-50.
IV. EDEN: THE BEST AND MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACE ON EARTH
In Genesis 2 a fascinating picture of the world is given. In view is this: There is a garden of incredible beauty and bounty (everything man needed was right there, it was fully stocked), a garden called Eden. A garden said to be located in the East. From this garden their flowed a river—a river that branches out in 4 large rivers –2 that still exist today (Euphrates and Tigris). These 4 rivers ran out across the land, land beyond the gardens borders.
In respect to Eden there is something exceptional about it that distinguished it from all other locals upon the earth. It was a garden that God especially planted for the benefit of man. In this garden God daily walked, he presenced himself there in a special way. In the garden everything that man needed was there. It was to and in the garden that the animals were—the animals Adam named. In this garden God put 2 special trees (which we shall soon discuss)
As you know, the garden’s name was “Eden”. The literal meaning of the word Eden is “delight”. That’s exactly what Eden was: a place of delight and joy. A place of unspoiled and majestic beauty. The place where God walked and fellowship with the man and the woman he created.
When I read of Eden a certain longing grows in my heart to tread in this place for Adam and Eve walked. Within my heart there is a certain longing to be in Eden. This is a good thing, for Eden, while being a literal place is also typological in nature.
Eden is a type of Heaven, just like the Promised land—the land of Israel was to.
Longing to be in the presence of the Lord is a good thing. Longing for Heaven is a good thing. I can’t wait to be there. As the scriptures say “there are eternal pleasures at the Father’s right hand”.
If you are a Christian, Heaven is your home, that’s where your citizenship is. Jesus has gone to prepare for us a place and he will come for us. Our greatest delight is going to be to see Jesus, our Savior, as he is with unveiled faces—beholding his radiant glory and person.
ASIDE: Revelations 22:1-5 telling us of what awaits, picks up on Genesis 2 and its themes
WHEN GOD PUT ADAM IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN, HE DID SO FOR A REASON…..
V. THE GOODNESS OF WORK
Genesis 2 presents us with a theological lesson on work.
The Bible speaks much on the subject of work:
One could preach a number of sermons on the subject of work, it’s goodness, it’s purpose, its necessity, how working is in obedience to the command of God, how there is spiritual work and physical and how the 2 connect, rest: for one cannot speak of work without speaking of rest, the typological aspects of work.
Bottom line: Work is good. Work- productivity, industry, activity, is part of God’s plan for people. When we work and are productive we show ourselves to be good image bearers of God—for God himself works
Work is something that God gave Adam to do.
In Genesis 2 this fact is emphasized in a most unique way. In our text there is a neat little play on words that emphasizes that Adam had work to do.
In the Genesis 2 the Hebrew word, when transliterated into English, for “ground” is adamah. In Genesis 2 the Hebrew word for man, when transliterated into English, is adam.
Note with me verse 5 “there was no adam to till/work the adamah” and so what does v.6 say God did: he took care of the adamah by watering it. And then note what God does in v.7 “The LORD God formed adam of the dust of the adamah.
Q Why did God make adam?
To take care of the adamah (and in particular to take care of the garden of Eden). And note this: who better suited to take care of the adamah than the adam who was taken from the adamah.
I can only imagine Adam in the garden with Eve, taking water from river and watering the plants. I can almost imagine Adam digging irrigation ditches and channeling the water to wherever he willed it to go—all in accord with God’s purpose for him—taking care of the adamah/ ground.
Point: Work is good. Work is God ordained. God created Adam—whose very name reminded him of what he was made of, for a purpose: one of those purposes was to till the ground and take care of it.
VI. WHAT MAKES US SPECIAL: PART II
In Genesis 1 we learned that we are super special because we have been made in the image of God. Here in Genesis 2 there is another distinctive thing that makes us special: God’s personal making of us and His breathing into our nostrils the breath of life. v.7 READ
_________
Before we dive right in to dwell upon this particular distinctive that makes us so special, let us first note that our being created from the dust of the ground ought to have a humbling effect upon us.
If you ever start to feel “high and mighty” remember this: you are but dust.
At times, people have fancied themselves on par with God, immune from his requirements, or some how “above”. The same fate awaits us all- not I believe by God’s original intent, but because of sin which has brought death. We are but dust. Because of Adam’s sin and ours to dust we will return.
Our text tells us that God made adam from the dust of the adamah. (science has confirmed that all of our essential elements can be found in common dirt)
The scriptures commonly speak of God as the potter and we as the clay (note in particular Romans 9:19ff) . From the dust of the ground he lovingly shaped us and molded our form. God personally made us, not by the spoken word—when God made the sun, the moon, the water, the animals, etc, he did it by his spoken word. When he made us the thought communicated is that He personally did it himself. Our text emphasizes this for it uses the personal name of God (LORD =yahweh) and not a descriptive name when our being made is spoken of.
Now before we move on: Verse 19 tells us that all the animals were made from the ground by God. Yet there is a difference between us and the animals. We have been created in the image of God and only of us is it said that God personally breathed into our nostrils that we might become living beings/souls.
“God’s breathing into us”
Q What’s the longest amount of time you’ve ever held your breath?
What is it that your body begins to cry out for? Air
When you and I are breathing we are alive. When you stop breathing you are what? Dead.
Adam was not a living being until God breathed life, His own life, into the Adam’s nostrils.
There is something special to the image of Genesis 2 that is generated; the picture of God breathing his breath into us. There is something deep to and unfathomable to this as well.
This text steps beyond the physical and points us to certain spiritual truths.
In breathing into Adam’s nostrils, God animated and brought Adam to life; but in breathing into Adam’s nostrils God did more than that: he communicated something of himself to Adam, he made Adam—this one who was but dust of the ground, his image bearer.
In God’s creating of Adam and breathing into him, God also gave to Adam and us, a soul- that part of us which survives physical death and continues on. Animals do not have souls. When an animal dies that is the end of it. When we die: we who bear the image of God, of whom God has breathed something of himself into us—we continue to exist (either going to eternal judgement in Hell or to the eternal pleasures of God in Heaven)
I know that our time is short but there is a neat NT passage that I think will give us some insight into our Genesis 2 text which speaks of God’s breathing into the nostrils of Adam. In John 20:19-23 it says “On the evening of the first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you for forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
When Jesus breathed on them, they received the promised Holy Spirit. When Jesus breathed on them they became filled with power, His power, to serve God and advance the kingdom of God. When Jesus breathed on them, they received the Holy Spirit, also called the Spirit of Christ. When Jesus breathed on them, they in effect received something of himself to them..
When God breathed into Adam’s nostrils he received a spirit/soul. He became a living soul (our problem at birth: we physically alive but spiritually dead). When God breathed into Adam’s nostrils he was activated and empowered and commissioned to serve Him.
Q Are we fulfilling our creation purpose?
CONCLUSION
1. Genesis 1 and 2 are not contradictory but complementary. These 2 passages serve different but complementary purposes.
2. If you ever have a crisis of faith……..
3. Garden of Eden: picture of Heaven on earth, points to our heavenly home
4. Garden of Eden needed a worker to care for it. Work is good and God ordained
5. The creation of man and what makes us special
-of the dust of the ground
-God’s personal, intimate making of us
-God’s breathing life and a living spirit into us.
