Our perspective is important when seeking to understand something. I like the feature on Google Earth which provides a panoramic view, or the big picture of our world and then allows you to zoom in to the exact address you are looking for. The first chapter of Genesis, along with the first three verses of Chapter 2 provides the big picture of how God created the heavens and the earth and then finished and furnished it.
Beginning in Genesis 2:4, we’re able to zoom in on the specifics and get a closeup of what God did on the sixth day when He created man and woman. This simple explanation helps counter the claim of liberal theologians who allege the first two chapters of Genesis contain two contradictory creation stories. When understood correctly, these accounts are complementary, not conflictive.
To say it another way, Genesis 1 tells us that man and women were created. Chapter 2 tells us how it all happened. Chapter 3 is about the entrance of sin and chapter 4 shows how sin spreads and expands in the world. We could say chapter 2 serves as the link between creation and corruption.
Let’s give our attention to this breathtaking section of Scripture by reading Genesis 2:4-9:
4 These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens. 5 When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, 6 and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground— 7 then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. 8 And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
The main character of the grand story of the Bible is God. Genesis is all about who God is and what He has done. We could summarize our text this way: God created every person on purpose and put us in a place to live out His purposes.
We’ll use this summary as our outline.
1. God created every person on purpose. Verse 4 sets the context and signals the start of the first major narrative section in Genesis: “These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens.” The word “generations” speaks of “lineage, history, and families.” God loves to do His work through families.
Genesis is not a fable or a myth but a factual record of how God worked in history.
The phrase “the generations of…” is used 10 other times in Genesis to indicate a new family to focus on. Here are three examples:
Genesis 5:1: “This is the book of the generations of Adam.”
Genesis 10:1: “These are the generations of the sons of Noah.”
Genesis 25:19: “These are the generations of Isaac.”
The phrase, “in the day” shows this is a close-up examination of day six of creation. It’s like a recap with additional details.
I want to point out another distinction between chapter one and chapter two which critics have used as ammunition to argue Moses was not the author of Genesis. Some theologically liberal theologians hold to the “Documentary Hypothesis” or “JEDP” theory. At its root, they marginalize and minimize the Genesis account because different names for God are used in the first two chapters [The “J” stands for “Yahwist” (from “Yahweh”) and the “E” refers to “Elohist” (from “Elohim”)].
There’s a wonderful and worshipful explanation for this. In Genesis 1, the name used for God is Elohim. In Genesis 2:4, we’re introduced to the compound name Yahweh Elohim, which is translated as “LORD God” in English. This is seen in our Bibles when the word “LORD” is in all capital letters.
Let’s go a bit deeper.
• Elohim. This name comes from a word meaning, “to fear,” and signifies the highest Being to be revered. This name is in the plural, giving early evidence for the Trinity. Elohim is intensive, which indicates God’s fullness of power. The beginning letters El signify He is the strong God who is majestic and mighty. This name emphasizes God’s power as the infinitely great and exalted One, who created the heavens and the earth.
• Yahweh. This is the personal name for God which was revealed to Moses in Exodus 3:13-16. When Moses wanted to know God’s name, He was told, “I am who I am.” He is the self-existent, self-determining one, the absolute Being of all beings, who is also personal.
• Yahweh-Elohim. This compound name for God is used 20 times in Genesis 2-3 and makes a massive theological point. When these two names are put together, we’re reminded how God is powerful and personal. He is the creator who makes, and He is the covenant-maker who keeps His promises. He is transcendentally holy and tender hearted. He is mighty and merciful. He is immanent and intimate. He is sovereign and Savior. He is majestic and I can say He’s mine.
These two names are used together in many places, but 1 Kings 18:39 stands out to me: “And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, ‘The LORD [YAHWEH], He is God [Elohim]; the LORD [YAHWEH], He is God [Elohim].’” The God who creates is also the God who relates.
Interestingly, these two names for God are used throughout chapters two and three, except when the serpent tempts Eve in Genesis 3:2-3 where both Eve and the serpent refer to Him only as Elohim. Satan didn’t want Eve to focus on God being compassionate but instead to see Him only as a distant creator. There’s a whole sermon begging to be preached on this idea but that’s for another time.
Verses 4-7 make up one long sentence in Hebrew. Verses 5-6 provide a flashback to the condition of the earth before people were created. There was no bush, no small plant, no rain, and no man to work the ground. The world was waiting for man to come and rule, subdue, and cultivate the creation. The earth needed an earthling to bring order and shape to it.
The perspective has narrowed to the need for someone to care for the land and has zoomed in on one spot on planet earth where we get a front row seat to the creation of one man, whose name is Adam. Listen to verse 7, which is one of the most intimate scenes in the Bible: “Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.”
There are at least three truths about human beings taught in the Book of Beginnings.
• We come from dust. We are derived from dust and Genesis 3:19 says: “and to dust you shall return.” This should keep us humble. I appreciate the insight from one pastor: “We would do well to remember that in our dealings with each other. No one is made from super-dust [or diamond dust]. We’re all made from the same hunk of dirt. We should not be surprised when we act like clods. That’s all we were in the first place.” That means none of us should boast about our bodies, because we’re all made from dust and dirt. We should be hushed in amazement that we are made in the image of God and humbled at our earthiness.
This week I read an article describing how much the human body would be worth if it was broken down into its constituent elements. If you figure the amounts of iron, carbon, phosphorus, sodium, calcium, potassium, magnesium, and chlorine, at today’s market prices, the total comes to about $4.50. Think about that. You’re worth five bucks with fifty cents to spare. We’re just dust in the wind (that reminds me of the 1977 song by Kansas, which I won’t sing for you).
Same old song
Just a drop of water in an endless sea.
All we do
Crumbles to the ground, though we refuse to see.
Dust in the wind, all we are is dust in the wind.
Once a month I’m part of a mentoring program at Youth Hope, one of our Go Team partners. Five guys from Edgewood (sounds like a hamburger chain), join a total of 20 men as we meet with third grade boys who attend a school in East Moline. These boys struggle with showing respect and are often in trouble at their school.
The administrators and counselors reached out to Youth Hope for help, which is amazing. The name of the program is called, M.O.V.E., which stands for “Men of Valor and Excellence.” The main thing we try to teach these young men is respect. Here’s the creed we go over each time: “Men of valor are respected because they have the courage to respect others!”
This week, the boys were asked to write down who their heroes were. Many of them said their hero was their mom! But coming in number one were heroes like Spiderman, Batman, Ant-Man, and Aqua-Man. When I came back to the office I sat down and worked on the sermon again and reflected on whether Adam could be considered a superhero. If so, he would be “Dirt-Man” or “Dust-Man,” because he descended from dirt and dust.
The word “formed” means, “to fashion or shape from a substance already in existence like a potter.” The Hebrew word for man is “Adam” and the Hebrew word for ground is “Adamah,” so the dust of the earth is embedded in his name – it’s part of who he is. It is as if God said, “He will be called Earthling because he is taken from the earth.”
I like the story of the boy who asked his mother if he came from dust and will return to dust. “Yes, sweetheart, it’s true,” she told him. “Well, I just looked under my bed and saw a pile of dust. I can’t tell who it is and whether he’s coming or going.”
Psalm 103:4 says, “For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.” Once again, we see no room for evolution in this account. Jehovah Elohim deliberately made Adam from the inanimate dust; humans didn’t come from some primordial soup that stewed for millions of years, starting a random process that somehow led to life.
• We are created with dignity. Adam is the first Dirt-Man. He can’t stand, move, talk, sing, feel, think, or remember. He can’t do anything because he’s not alive yet. Until God bent over and carefully, tenderly, breathed into his nostrils the “breath of life.” And then, Adam opened his eyes for the first time, looked around, stood up, and beheld the world God created for him. Adam’s body came from the earth; but his breath came from Jehovah Elohim.
The LORD God “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.” This is a deeply tender and warm moment. God formed Adam intentionally and intricately and now we see how he is made intimately. Someone said it like this: “The Yahweh Elohim, who had just used His mouth to speak the universe into existence, now stoops down and gets face-to-face with this lump of dust. His word created galaxies and His breath gives life as the Creator came close to His creation.”
After our daughter Lydia was born, we left the hospital and stopped by Beth’s parents’ house. Beth’s dad was a doctor and he noticed something was wrong when Lydia started choking and turning blue. He held her gently in his big hands and put his mouth over hers to suck out some mucus and then he breathed into her lungs, thus saving her life!
In a similar way, when the athletic trainer performed CPR on Damar Hamlin, his heart was not beating. While he didn’t breathe life into him, he kept him alive. Let’s make sure we express our thanks to athletic trainers, first responders, and medical professionals.
These illustrations, while very powerful, fall short of the miracle of God creating Dirt-Man from the dust of the earth and then breathing a soul into him. The phrase, “and became a living creature” literally means, “a living soul.” Instead of saying we possess souls, it’s more accurate to say we are souls. Have you ever noticed when a plane crashes or a ship sinks, those who die are referred to as “souls”?
Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” We are not the result of some coincidental cosmic accident. God made us with dignity, value, worth, and purpose. You are more than just matter because you matter to the Almighty. Psalm 100:3 says, “Know that the Lord, He is God! It is He who made us, and we are His.” Psalm 139:14 adds we’ve been “fearfully and wonderfully made” in the womb. That’s why we stand up for the preborn and celebrate the sanctity of life at Edgewood.
We come from dust, and we’re created with dignity. These two truths are found together in the Book of Job.
Job 33:6: “I too was pinched off from a piece of clay.”
Job 33:4: “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.”
Ray Pritchard has some good insight: “Your value does not lie in your body or in the things you do with your body. Your value comes from the life God gave you. Apart from the ‘breath of life,’ you wouldn’t survive even one more second. If God should remove his hand from you, you would cease to exist, and your body would quickly return to the dust.”
BTW, would you notice gender is assigned by our Creator at creation? God created us as male or female. Sadly, according to the State of Theology survey conducted this past September, 37% of American evangelicals believe gender is a choice and 1 in 5 affirm “gender fluidity.” In response to our cultural confusion on this topic, I preached a message called “Gender Matters” in mid-November and made this primary point: In God’s good design, He created everyone as male or female.
Edgewood members will have the opportunity to vote on adopting a proposed addition to our Statement of Faith and Covenant Regarding Human Sexuality and Gender. This vote will take place at our annual meeting on Sunday, February 5 at 2:00 pm. There are copies of this proposed addition available at the Welcome Center.
• We are commissioned with duties. Life is to be lived under Jehovah Elohim’s Lordship and design. Genesis 1:28 says we are to be fruitful and increase in number (we’ve done a pretty good job on this one) and in Genesis 2:15, Adam was put in the Garden of Eden “to work it and keep it.” More about this next weekend.
God created every person on purpose and put us in a place to live out His purposes.
2. God put us in a place to live out His purposes. We see this in verse 8: “And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.” The word “planted” means, “to start, to set in order.” The “garden” was more like a park with an abundance of trees. “Eden” means, “paradise, delight, or pleasure.” The word “put” means Jehovah Elohim placed Adam in a specific place, just as He does with us. This was a real place, not some imaginary or metaphorical concept.
Likewise, God places us in places for His purposes. You live where you live so you can live on purpose for His purposes with your neighbors. You go to school where you do so you can live on mission with your classmates. If you’re homeschooled, it’s to serve your siblings. You work where you work so God can do His work through you. If He wants you in another place, He’ll move you to that place.
Another act of grace is when God created a garden home for man to dwell in. Verse 9 describes how God planted an orchard of trees that were pleasant to look at and their fruit was pleasing to eat: “And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food.” God is the majestic creator and the master gardener. He brings things to life, and He causes them to grow. These trees were fine-looking and functional for food.
The last part of verse 9 sets the scene for the responsibility God will give to Adam: “The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” The “tree of life” appears 11 times in Scripture. Jesus died on a tree to bring us life and Revelation 2:7 says, “To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” The “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” is the source of the serpent’s temptation of Eve. This could be translated as the “tree of evil enjoyment.”
I’m not sure we can call Adam a superhero because his sin plunged us all into sin. Dirt-man let us down, but Jesus, the God-man, came to lift us up. The Bible refers to Jesus as the second Adam in 1 Corinthians 15:47: “The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.” Jesus came to reverse the curse on the human race by bearing all our sins on Himself when He died on the cross and rose again on the third day.
Play Video: Let’s watch the Google Earth video again, only this time we’re going to reverse it. It will start at Edgewood and go out to the world.
God created every person on purpose and put us in a place to live out His purposes. According to Matthew 28:19, God has called His people to go with the gospel to the whole world to make disciples of all nations. God calls certain people to go to specific places and He calls the rest of us to send those who go while we live out His purposes in this place.
After the resurrection, Jesus gave His Spirit to His followers in a way which is reminiscent of Genesis 2:7. When He gathered with them in the upper room, John 20:21-22 describes the scene: “Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.’ And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” By breathing the Spirt on them, He empowered them to fulfill their purpose of taking the gospel to the globe.
