Understanding You

Introduction

Well, good morning! I hope you’re ready to dig into God’s Word…Amen?

Listen, before we get started, let’s recite our mission verse together. The verses’ll be on the screen…I’ll get us started. Matthew 28, verses 19 & 20:

Matthew 28:19–20 (ESV)

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

[Prayer]

Alright, if you have your Bibles and I hope that you do, open ‘em up with me to Genesis chapter two. Last week, we finished up the creation narrative accounts, looking at the six days that God created everything and of course the seventh day where God rested…He stopped His work in creation and He reflected on everything He had made.

And so, as we come to our passage today, it’s gonna seem a little bit odd because we’re gonna see a lot of the same things we saw in chapter one. Now, there’s critics out there that’ll try and tell us that these verses contradict the things written in chapter one, that its just a “creation myth,” and that we can’t take this literally because of that. And so, some of the reasons for that is the differences we see in this chapter from the first. We’re gonna see Moses give us another name for God…Instead of Elohim, He uses the Hebrew word Yahweh…we see that man and woman aren’t created together like it’s suggested in chapter one. It also seems that man somehow’s lacking in intelligence and has some kind of discrepancies that’s not fully presented in the previous accounts. Chapter one was all about linking us to God, showing us that we were created in His image…while chapter two seems to be separating man, showing us that there’s huge distinctions between us and God.

Listen, as we walk through this together…stay with me…because it’s important to understand why Moses chose to write the way he did. In chapter one, he was giving us the forest so to speak…and here in chapter two, we start getting into the trees…into the weeds. These accounts aren’t contradicting anything in chapter one…its just giving us a more detailed account of what God did in creating mankind. It’s helping us understand who we are and where we come from…and through that, its showing us that our lives, they display God’s handiwork. It’s meant to show us, that while we’re created in God’s image, we’re not God.

And so, if you’re there with me, let’s stand together as we read this passage. Starting in verse 4, it says this:

Genesis 2:4–17 (ESV)

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.

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, and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground— 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. And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. 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.

A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. The name of the first is the Pishon (Pe-shawn). It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah (Ha-va-la), where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good; bdellium (dell-ium) and onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is the Gihon (Gee-han). It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush. And the name of the third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Thank you, you can be seated.

Listen, how many of you guys have done the whole ancestry.com thing? Listen years ago…I got hooked…I was addicted. I downloaded the app and every free minute I had, I used it to build my family tree. And listen, I found some really interesting stuff…I found out I was related to some really crazy women that got beheaded in England during King Henry VIII’s time…there was some Revolutionary War vets and Civil War veterans…I even used some of my findings to get me into the Son’s of the American Revolution and into the Jamestown Society. I just had so much fun with it. I wanted so badly to know where I came from…I wanted to know my family’s history, right? Now of course, I was the only one in my household that thought any of this was cool…but I was just so excited about it.

And you know…when you think about it…a lot of what we do, we’re asked to look back on our family history. That’s the first place I start even in my premarital counseling…you wanna predict marriage problems?…examine how a person was raised…what they were used to or exposed to in their parents relationship, right? When you go the doctor, what do they always ask? They ask about your parents history and your siblings. A lot of what we do, it forces us to look back on our own history.

But you know, I think it’s interesting…when we lead people to Christ…when they become believers…we never take them back to their origin…we never show them our history…where we came from. And, honestly…I think the reason we don’t, its because it’s a very humble place…but guys, that’s exactly what Moses is writing about here…he’s showing us where we come from…and honestly, without this understanding, you can’t really understand or appreciate the gospel message. You can’t appreciate what God did in bringing us salvation. Understanding our dependency in Him, both physically and spiritually, it changes your whole perspective on the gospel and the work Jesus came to do.

And so, as we get started this morning…there’s three things I wanna ask you: number one - does your life demonstrate dependency on God, number two - do you recognize your place in God’s plan, and then finally, number three - does your purpose drive your life? All of this, you’re gonna see comes back to the understanding that our lives display God’s handiwork…you can’t escape it. We’re all dependent on Him.

And so, with that…let’s jump right into it.

1.) Does Your Life Demonstrate Dependency on God (vv. 4-7)

Question number one…does your life demonstrate dependency on God?

Looking back on our passage this morning…right off the bat, we see man’s nature.

Listen, verses 4 through 6, they describe the condition of the land at the time God formed man. We see the land was in this untended state prior to man’s creation. We see the idea that there was no rain…and this plays a huge part in Noah’s story later on in chapters 6 and 7…because as this passage shows us it was the rivers that actually watered the land…where “a mist was going up from the land…watering the whole face of the ground.” The people didn’t know rain because there was no need for rain. But ultimately the purpose of it being mentioned here is because without man to irrigate the land, those rising streams and rivers, they were useless…this untended condition of the earth, it was pointing to something missing in God’s creation…it was pointing to man…because as we’ve already talked about, it was man that was charged with ruling God’s creation and subduing it, right?

Which leads us to verse 7. God begins to create man. It says this, “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.”

This word “formed,” it indicates that the act of creation was by careful design. Its the same Hebrew word used later on in Genesis 6 to indicate the “intention” of mankind’s thoughts, the intentions of their hearts. All men intended to do evil which is what brings on the flood and the wrath of God....And so, while Genesis 6:5’s all about the intentionality of man’s wickedness…our passage this morning shows the intentionality of God’s work. God’s the potter so to speak....and here He is carefully molding and shaping man in just the way He sees them. He’s intentional about it.

Its the same thought that Paul shares with the Romans in chapter 9...”20 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?”

Now listen, there’s a ton more Paul’s trying to convey in that passage and there’s a huge spiritual meaning there…but its still showing us the same thing…God molded man…He formed us…handcrafted us with intentionality. Man’s not some afterthought here, but rather the intentional product of the infinite mind that designed even the atoms and the cosmos…we see that with how Moses opened this passage up. God’s creation, it needed man to complete it and God’s intentions were always that in the very beginning.

But at the very same time…while man was created intentionally and created in God’s image (as we’ve already talked about), man was also created of the earth. Our text says, “God formed the man of dust from the ground.” In fact, if you knew a little Hebrew, the same root words are used for both man and ground. “The dust of the earth,” its in man’s name…literally!

One commentator writes, “The body of Adam is formed of clay and is destitute of sense; to the end that no one should exult beyond measure in his flesh. He must be excessively stupid who does not here learn humility.”

Listen, what this commentator’s saying…is that while we were created wondrously, intentionally…God still formed us from dust…and because of that…because of our sin and rebellion…we’ll return to dust…and so why should we boast in anything manly…why should we boast in anything about ourselves? It’s idiotic!

That’s why Genesis 3:19 says:

Genesis 3:19 (ESV)

By the sweat of your face

you shall eat bread,

till you return to the ground,

for out of it you were taken;

for you are dust,

and to dust you shall return.”

Job 34:15 literally says the same thing:

Job 34:15 (ESV)

all flesh would perish together,

and man would return to dust.

Do you see man’s nature here? Our dependency on God?

And listen, for those readers that still didn’t get it…Moses says not only did he create us out of dust…but He “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.”

Guys, life can’t exist without God…we can’t live without God’s breath of life in our lungs. All of this…what it shows us…we’re dependent on God. Everything about who we are, its dependent on God. He’s given our bodies shape and form…He’s given our lungs the breath of life…He’s the One that allows us to wake up every morning to new blessings. We’re dependent on Him.

Does your life, does it model that?

Listen, do you remember when you were just a kid? When you couldn’t fix dinner for yourself or do other stuff for yourself? Eli’s at that stage right now…and throw that on top of him not talking…he’s super dependent on me and Brittany for everything. He’ll walk up to a cabinet and just point and say, “This!”…He knows what he wants…some times he even knows what he needs, but he can’t communicate it to us…and without us getting it for him, he’s helpless. He’s completely dependent on us. And listen, because of that, it causes him to be super close to us all the time…he follows us around and he wants to be with us at all times. He just wants to stay close. Do you remember what that feels like? To be that dependent on someone else?

Guys, does your life show that same kind of dependency for the Creator? Because you see, without God, you can’t experience Him…without God, you can’t experience salvation…without God, you can’t find real joy and satisfaction…Does your life demonstrate that dependency? Do you wake up every morning, understanding that its a whole new blessing because He gave it to you?

Going back to last week, does the way you fill up your calendar demonstrate that dependency you have for Him? Because if you’re filling your life up with a bunch of stuff that doesn’t include Him, its not showing that dependency…and its probably the reason why you’re always stressed out or depressed or anxious or whatever…you’re not living your life like it depends on anything but yourself.

Guys, we have to stop (like we talked about last week) and remember that without God we’re nothing…we’re only dust, created with a ton of limitations and created for relationship with Him.

Does your life demonstrate that dependency on God? Does it display His handiwork?

2.) Do You Recognize Your Place in God’s Plan (vv. 8-15)

Question number two…do you recognize your place in God’s Plan?

What we see in these next couple verses, its that God intentionally places man. God places Adam in a very specific garden…a garden that He created and made specifically for him…We see that man was created purposeful, to manage the resources that God filled the earth with.

Look at verse 8 with me again. It says this, “8 And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.” There’s specific details that Moses gives us here, right? God placed man “in Eden, in the east”…which from Moses’ perspective, being at Sinai where he’s getting these details…it would mean that this garden was most likely somewhere in modern-day Iraq. And the way that Moses describes this account here, shows that Eden itself wasn’t the garden, it was more of a geographical location or area…and listen, there’s some that’ll try and say that Eden didn’t exist, that its all part of the myth of creation…but looking at this account…at all the details, there’s no reason for us to believe this wasn’t a real place. I mean why give us the details about the rivers and the placement of this garden? What sense would that make? What purpose?

And so, here’s this area of Eden that God creates and inside this geographical location, God plants a garden. And it’s in this garden that God places man…And a little more detail. The word “Eden,” it literally means delight, paradise. God plants a garden, and what Moses is communicating here, its that it’s a delight. It’s a paradise. He creates a paradise for the man.

Verse 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.” We see in the next couple verses that there’s gold and onyx stone…there’s the water from the rivers. God gives man everything! He gives him things that’s pleasing to man’s senses…to his sight and to his taste.

And then of course, He names the two specific trees. The tree of life that was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, right? We’ll talk more about that in a second. But the point here is that God gives man absolutely everything he needs to thrive and to live forever…to find real joy and satisfaction. He planned it all out and God specifically placed man in this intentional, thoughtful garden. And He gives man this specific job to take care of creation. Again, that’s just the heart of God. He’s always got a plan…He always thinks things through.

And listen, you might be thinking, “Well, if that’s the case, then why He’d put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil there?” Well, I’m not entirely sure how to explain that but I do know that without it, we don’t have true freewill and we don’t have a need for the cross of Christ. We’ll examine more of this in chapter three…but listen, we can trust…especially as we read through these accounts…that God always has a plan. Of course, He knew man was gonna fall…He knew they’d be tempted…but He still gave them everything they needed and He still purposefully placed them where He did.

Verse 15:  “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” 

And so, God creates man, He forms a garden, He takes man, places him in the garden, and then that’s where He creates woman out of man later on.  But listen, He creates man to be put in the garden to do something specific.  He creates man to work it and to keep it.

Now, again, some of you, you’re a little iffy here and you’re wondering if the Bible’s really right.  You’re thinking, “Work?  But we haven’t gotten to the curse yet.  Doesn’t work come because of sin?”…No, work happens before sin.  Work itself’s not a curse. 

The difficulty of work…the way that crops don’t always do what we want ‘em to do, or the way sprinkler systems just go out, or the way your boss makes bad decisions that affect your productivity—those things are a result of the curse.  Work itself’s not a bad thing. Work’s something to be treasured. It’s a privilege.

But here’s the point I’m trying to make…God created Adam to specifically tend to this garden…He creates Eve later on to specifically help Adam. He placed them both there in garden with intentionality. Because as we’ve already talked about…nothing happens outside of the spoken word and will of God. And listen, as we’ll talk about later on, even in this perfect setting, Adam and Eve, they missed this intentionality…they still thought they were in the wrong place, called to the wrong work. They wanted something different, which led to the fall. They were in paradise and yet still weren’t satisfied.

Guys, remember this…it doesn’t matter where you are…if you’re not walking with God, you’ll never be satisfied. It doesn’t matter what He gives you. The place God’s called you to at this very moment in your life, it might not seem like it’s where He wants you to be…or what He wants you to do…maybe you’re impatient…maybe you want something entirely different…but can I challenge you? Take every opportunity He gives you and just serve Him to the fullest…because just like Adam and Eve, He’s created you with purpose and He’s placed you with intentionality exactly where you are. God doesn’t make mistakes…we do!…Listen, you were created and placed specifically to advance His will. Otherwise, you just wouldn’t exist. Trust that when He’s ready to move you (if that’s what He wants to do), trust that He’ll open that door or lead you away.

God’s created us to serve him in a very specific environment because we each have purpose. Do you recognize your place in God’s plan? Do you see where He has you and how He wants to use you?

Guys, whether you realize it or not, God’s placed you where you are for your own joy and satisfaction. But listen, you’ll never experience that until you get past yourself.

Our lives and the places He’s positioned us, they’ll display God’s handiwork if we’d just focus on Him and allow Him to work. If you pay attention…He’s given you everything you need for the task He’s called you specifically to.

3.) Does Your Purpose Drive Your Life? (vv. 16-17)

Which leads to question number three…does your purpose drive your life?

Listen, if God created you and placed you with intentionality…then there’s a responsibility attached to those things.

Again, verse 9, it introduced these two different trees, right? The tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. These two trees, they stood side by side in the very center of the garden. Life and death itself were at the center of the garden. And of course, eating fruit from the tree of life, it resulted in continued life…and eating fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, it resulted in death. Verse 16 says:

Genesis 2:16–17 (ESV)

And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

It’s for that reason Adam and Eve are kicked out of the garden later on…because they eat from this forbidden tree…it’s to make sure that they can’t eat from the tree of life and live forever…their choice brought death and God was gonna allow their freewill to give ‘em what they wanted. Genesis 3:22, God says, “…lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” God gave ‘em a choice. They chose their own path.

But listen, the point of this is the command itself....God tells Adam that he could eat from every tree in the garden except one. He gave man everything he needed. He gave man everything to find satisfaction and joy. He gave him everything he needed to live forever. He placed Adam in the midst of this paradise that He created specifically for him. But even then…it still wouldn’t be enough for Adam and Eve. We’ll see in the next chapter that they’d do exactly what God instructed them not to do. They wanted wisdom…they wanted to be like God in every way…and so, they sought after those desires outside of the word and will of God. That’s the very heart of original sin…and its the same for us today when we sin. Like, Adam and Eve we try and sidestep God…we try and move past His word and will in order to do the things we think are best for ourselves.

But in contrast to that, Jesus, the second Adam, as Paul says…lived “by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Jesus lived every second of His life in radical dependence on God’s word. That what He meant in Matthew 4:4. Jesus believed the word of God and He lived it out to its fullest.

And so, here’s the point for us today…What we do with the word of God, it’s everything. Adam had the whole garden before him. He could’ve eaten from the tree of life and recieved all that it promised. But he decided to seek wisdom from the opposite tree....apart from God’s word and apart from God’s will. And listen, in doing so…he died…Guys, that’s the greatest temptation for us today…to establish wisdom apart from God’s word. We’ve developed this society where our opinions and our own personal beliefs matter the most.

Listen, can I be real honest with you? That mindset, it’ll lead to death. It’ll lead you down a road of destruction. As fallen man, and fallen woman, our only hope is to trust the bare word of God…and to live by it.

And so, the choice is yours…its still no different than the initial command God gave Adam…you can eat from the tree of life and ensure that you’ll live alongside of God forever in eternity…or you can take from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil…you can seek manly wisdom and bring death on yourself. It’s your right, God created you with freewill.

But that’s why Jesus said to obey all that He’s commanded us, right? Even in our rebellion, He’s trying to give us what we need to live and thrive and find real joy and satisfaction. It’s the same command…Either we trust and follow the revealed word of God and let His will for our lives manifest itself…or we do our own thing and we die.

Guys, that’s the purpose for our life. We were made for God and created to follow His word and His will. Does that purpose drive your life?

Closing

Listen, as you think about that question…would you bow your head and close your eyes with me?

You might be thinking, “I wanna obey it, but if I’m being honest, I really don’t know what to obey. I don’t know what God’s word says. I’ve never really spent time reading it. I’ve never really had the desire or the time.” Guys, this is why I’ve been telling you to have a quiet time…it’s why we’ve put out a church reading plan. You need to know your responsibility and your purpose…you need to know which path to walk…and if you’re not careful, you’ll find yourself making the same decision as Adam. The only difference is, Adam actually knew the command of the Lord…he just chose the opposite path. If you’re not in God’s word, spending time with Him individually…not only are you in a position to be tossed to and fro and tempted to follow false doctrine....but you’re demonstrating the same thing as Adam and Eve, you think you know what’s best for your life…and guys, that leads to death.

And listen, just because you know Jesus…just because you come to church…it doesn’t mean you’re headed in the right direction. Jesus said, “If you love me…obey my commandments!” Guys, He said that…because ultimately its the same command He gave Adam…one leads to life…and the other leads to death.

Now, listen…I wanna be clear…I’m not preaching a works based salvation…what I’m saying is if you truly love Jesus, the Spirit of God’ll give you the desires to wanna obey Jesus’s commands…it’ll give you the desire to wanna live.

And so guys, what do you need to do this morning? What do you need to do to start allowing the word and the will of God to drive your life?…I heard someone say once, “If I could only find God’s will?”…Guys, God’s not concealed His will from us…He gave us His word so that we might know it and live by it. And ultimately, when that’s happening, it causes us to live completely dependent on Him…because when we are…we know He made us, we know He breathed life into us, we know He placed us, we know He gave us purpose. When we’re living by His word, we know we’re dependent on Him.

And listen, maybe you’re here and can feel this tug in your heart even now. You wanna chose life…you want the things God promises us…you wanna walk with God…you want your life to be different. Guys, the Bible says that all of us, just like Adam and Eve…we chose sin…we’ve all chosen the path opposite to God. And because of that, God’s given us over to our own desires…He’s given us what we wanted…death. We chose it. It’s the punishment we brought on ourselves.

But the Bible also says, that God sent His Son, Jesus…to come into this world. To live a perfect life, one without sin…one that followed the word of God to its fullest. Its says, this Jesus went to a cross where He was beaten and tortured, where He’d eventually die. And it says, that it was on this cross that the weight on every sin was placed on Him…He experienced our punishment…He experienced God’s wrath so that we might experience this life all over again. Even in our rebellion, God’s given us a second chance. That’s His desire…that’s what He wants most for you and I, its to find that joy and satisfaction we were created to find in Him. And its when we come to Him…it’s when we confess that we’re sinners…when we turn from ourselves and turn to Him…it’s when we believe that He’s everything He claimed to be....its when we believe He raised from the death…we can be saved.

And the Bible says when that happens…His Spirit takes up residence in us…it begins to clean up all the nastiness in us. It makes us new…it changes us, gives us a new heart and new desires. It gives us the ability to finally go down the path of life.

Listen, if that’s you…you feel the Spirit of God drawing you even now…give into that. Come down front, come talk to me…give your life to Christ…let Him change it…let Him make you new…let Him give you life.

And so listen, Wendy’s gonna play…this is your time…whatever you’re struggling with right now, you come…if you need to pray to get your life back on track…come ask God to give you the strength, the discipline…if it’s salvation and you want Jesus to change everything for you…you come and you let Him do that for you this morning…if its just simply to come and to pray…do that. It’s your time, I’ll close us in just a few minutes…you come!

[Prayer]