Genesis 5 Series

Genesis 5

You know sometimes we see something and we really don’t know how it came to be. We know a little bit of its origin, but not the details. Like with Mount Rushmore.

[Mount Rushmore creation illustration.]

So if you want more detail of the creation of Mount Rushmore, you can go to websites, libraries and even watch programs on tv that describe the process more thoroughly.

That’s kind of what our passage tonight is – a more detailed, personal description of God’s six-day creation of the universe.

[Read Genesis 2:4.]

Moses tells us that we’ll now get a closer look at some of the things God did as He created the earth. And we also need to recognize that Moses starts to refer to the Lord using His most significant Old Testament title Yahweh. This is the name for God that means the self-existing holy One; the Redeemer of Israel.

Remember that as we go along. Because as we’re going to see, the One who can self-exist provides for the earth and for the man that can’t exist on their own. And His provision for His creation started right in the beginning with the earth itself.

I. The Lord God provides sustenance for the land.

[Read Genesis 2:5-6.]

In the beginning, while the firmament was still surrounding the earth as a protective shield, there was no rainfall to water the ground. So the Lord made springs of water to well up from the earth and distribute water to the vegetation that needed it to survive.

Wouldn’t that be great today? No scary thunderstorms. No delays on picnics and ball games because of rain. And no rusty water coming through our sprinklers systems staining our sidewalks and driveways and houses!

God simply provided nourishment for the land through internal streams of water.

But along with nourishment for the land:

II. The Lord God provides a keeper of the land.

[Read Genesis 2:7.]

God’s greatest creation, humanity, was created as we’ll soon see, to be a keeper of the land that the Lord had created. But this verse shows us a more personal side of creation. It shows us the handiwork of a master sculptor working with His clay.

1. Man made from the earth, (humanity, earthly)

2. Man made alive by the breath of God, (spirituality, eternal)

Different from the rest of creation, man was alive and well and ready to reflect the image

of God, as he was made in His likeness. But this man needed something to do and somewhere to do it! So:

III. The Lord God provides a home for the keeper of the land.

[Read Genesis 2:8.]

Remember your first home that you lived in with your spouse? It usually wasn’t a dream home was it? I mean, when you first get married you usually don’t have a lot of money or even have a for need a big place, so you take what you can get.

[Our first home story.]

But Adam’s first home? What an incredible place! God called it Eden, which actually means delight. And in the midst of Eden God planted a garden that was incredible. A garden that’s described by it’s trees, it’s rivers and it’s precious metals.

[Read Genesis 2:9.]

1. Trees

- Beautiful

- Fruitful

- Tree of life

- Tree of knowledge of good and evil

[Refer to tree set-up for demonstration.]

Not only did this garden have the most magnificent trees, it also had several rivers flowing through it and was also decorated with precious metals.

[Read Genesis 2:10-14.]

2. Rivers

- Pishon

- Gihon

- Tigris

- Euphrates

Now we don’t really know where the first two rivers were located. Most guess they were around the area of Egypt and the Persian Gulf. But we do know where the Tigris and Euphrates are because they still exist. (Remember, we’re talking about a pre-flood world that was very different from today.) So because of the location of the rivers, that places the Garden of Eden in ancient Mesopotamia or modern day Iraq. How ironic.

Along with beautiful trees and rivers the Bible mentions some precious natural resources that are found in the garden.

3. Precious metals

- gold

- bdellium, (aromatic resin)

- onyx, (agate)

Now this was some place. A beautiful place of trees, rivers, gold, pleasing aromas and the most fresh fruit in the world. And this was Adams home. Now all he needed was something to do. So:

IV. The Lord God provides a purpose for the keeper of the land.

[Read Genesis 2:15-17.]

We were created to serve the Lord. First of all:

1. Man is to serve God by caring for His creation.

The Lord gave man a perfect place to live. Perfect in every way. Pleasing to all the