Chasing Life: Can we trust our Creator?

So the last few weeks we’ve been looking at this idea of chasing life.

Do we chase it…try to make it better…try to find happiness…try to find security…try to earn our way to a satisfying life…or do we simply receive it from God?

Today I think we’ll be able to answer this question a bit more.

That’s the question we’ve been asking. Two weeks ago we looked at the idea of God creating everything. That He is Lord. That He created everything with purpose and design. Everything is His…us included.

And then he gave instructions for everything…

Humans were his last creation…and something unique happened here…they received the privilege of being made in His image…received His breath for life....were formed by His hands. They were then given divine instructions, a divine identity, and a divine purpose which we will look more at today.

and then…God stopped creating. It wasn’t that He was tired. It wasn’t that He was out of ideas. He was finished. His creation was complete. Nothing more will be added or taken away. The artist’s masterpiece was completely perfect in all ways.

A short time later things would change.

Have you seen those news articles or stories where an activist will go into a museum and find a famous work of art and then glue their hands to the wall and then throw paint on the artwork and sit there?

Something like that happened. Satan came in and said…I’m going to change the look of this…for my purposes. Not God’s will…the master artist’s will. And he brought into this life confusion and doubt.

Doubt that God’s design for life was the best life. Humanity sinned....

And just like those art museums have experts who can restore those pieces of art after being defaced…God, the Father made a plan to restore His creation…to save His people.

We looked briefly at this last week when we thought about the heart of our Heavenly Father. His intent was and still is to save us. To rescue us…and certainly not only us but all of His creation. And then, when we become aware of Him chasing us to give us a new life…we’re invited to share His saving heart as well. We as a church family have been invited to have a part in this.

The part of this creation story that we’re going to look at today is from chapter 2. And we will be looking at the implications we can pull out of this passage. The principles of life we can see. The principles that the enemy is doing all he can to muddle up.

Let’s read Genesis 2:1-25

Genesis 2:1–25 NIV

1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. 2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. 4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. 5 Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, 6 but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7 Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. 8 Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 10 A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.) 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Ashur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. 15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” 18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” 19 Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals. But for Adam no suitable helper was found. 21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. 23 The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” 24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. 25 Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

Genesis 1:28 CSB

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.”

And then God looked over all of His creation and it was very good.

Implications. Principles. Where do we go with just this very short passage that covers around 25 verses?

This goes everywhere.

Here’s the picture. Remember, God created everything with purpose and design and then said…I’m finished. It is complete.

One day a group of scientists got together and decided that man had come a long way and no longer needed God. So they picked one scientist to go and tell Him that they were done with Him.       The scientist walked up to God and said, "God, we've decided that we no longer need you. We're to the point that we can clone people and do many miraculous things, so why don't you just go on and get lost."       God listened very patiently and kindly to the man. After the scientist was done talking, God said, "Very well, how about this?       Let's say we have a man-making contest." To which the scientist replied, "Okay, great!"       But God added, "Now, we're going to do this just like I did back in the old days with Adam."       The scientist said, "Sure, no problem" and bent down and grabbed himself a handful of dirt.       God looked at him and said, "No, no, no. You go get your own dirt!"

Man and woman were formed. Given tasks. Not only tending this garden, but having dominion over creation. A rule of sorts. A King and a Queen…over all of creation.

However…it was more like a regent King and Queen because they were under the rule of God. So God creates this for them…and for Him too....His enjoyment…and then says…I trust you with this.

Follow my plan…my instructions…and life will be full.

I’m going to submit to you that in these few verses we get a huge part of the full life picture Jesus tries to get us to see while He was walking on the planet.

What do we see?

A plan for relationships - We have two relationships that are perfect.

One scholar looked at this passage and said that we see two institutions formed.

One is the idea of law or obedience to a way or even better said a will. God’s will. So there’s an idea of authority. We might have been created to rule over creation…to be in charge of…but we rule and are in charge on God’s behalf…We “have dominion” under Him. So there’s the idea of Lordship. And for good reason…His will contains the ways for best possible life we could ever have.

The second is marriage. This is major…its not “just” marriage. Marriage is the reason we have all of humanity after Adam and Eve. The scholar Victor Hamilton writes, “The second is marriage, the purpose of which is to teach people to live for someone other than themselves.” That there’s someone else that helps us complete this life picture. And this is out of God’s design.

Out of these two institutions we see purpose and design.

A design to be with our creator…made in His image…so we can connect and understand Him and His heart.

A design to be with another for life. Moses wrote, “And that’s why...” a man leaves his father and mother and unites (specific word) with his wife and the two become one flesh....

Out of design....male and female in marriage. God designed the two for very specific reasons. to compliment each other and to be a part of the creation process themselves…even as they rule...

They serve God together…and each other in their respective purposes…design…GOD’S WILL.

1st a plan for relationships. The second implication we see here is this. There’s a plan for pro-creation.

Genesis 1:28 tells us that God looks at Adam and Eve and says…part of your purpose is to fill the earth....be fruitful and multiply.

God’s image filling the planet. But not by God reaching down and forming…this is out of the marriage relationship.

Here we see another aspect of the institution of marriage. KIDS - you not only live for your wife or husband…you live for your kids.

There’s a really cool passage out of the way that’s often skipped over… it is Genesis 4:1

Genesis 4:1 NIV

1 Adam made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, “With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man.”

This is not a surprise to God. Like whoa…how did that happen. This is by design. And look…God’s image…but also what? …the image of a mom and dad as well. The image of God will be throughout because that’s how it began. And now…added images…parents!

And before sin…this would have been awesome. Kids would have grown up …This is just Ed guessing now…walking with God in creation…like Adam and Eve did. Not at a distance after sin. They would have had a very real experience of the image of God they were created in. Their parents…and their Heavenly Father…right there.

And on…and on…and on…and on...

Third implication - The role of male and female. Humanity’s relationship with God…the Marriage relationship. The design of pregnancy and raising kids. And now male and female. I guess this might be seen as a supporting implication because you can’t have the first two without the idea that these two people were created different…for a reason. Design in God’s will.

Both humans - but different for very specific reasons. And in this context…when I say reasons…I mean

Reasons = God’s Will. The will of the Lord. The will that we are to hold to …and in doing so receive a full life.

You can’t have the idea of children without these differences…and without the idea of marriage.

You can’t have the God’s intent that the two become one as designed in His will without m and f. Two becoming one for each other…and for more little imagers of God.

(side note) marriage wasn’t a legal thing in the beginning…it was the given relationship humans…man and women. marriage meant the giving of one another…for the purpose of God…and for the idea of living with someone else God created. God’s will.

In Hebrew marriages…the marriage celebration was built around the “.....” time when they became one....

A relationship with God...

A relationship with another…for each other and for filling the earth.

The idea of gender supporting all of this.

God’s will. This is the Kingdom of God. …before sin.

The title for today is Chasing Life: Can we trust our Creator?

26+/- verses on the foundation of human life…love…marriage and family.

Can we trust God’s will?

Or do we sometimes chase after life…in our own ways.

And…in a room with group of people this size…there are lots of ways…we’ve walked outside of God’s Will here right?

Now…yes…lots of ways we’ve misused the ways of life that God gave us. We live against His will…which means we...

…sin.

Satan looks at all God created and said to humanity....Did God really say…?

Maybe you can look at God’s will of sex and or marriage and move it around a little bit and do this…or take his idea of pregnancy and make it more of your idea …or take His plan for male and female and make it more of what you think is best for you....Did God really say?

And we can fill in the blank…especially with all these we talked about today. Did God really say?

Is there hope for us? Absolutely! God sent His son…so save us. That’s His heart. He knew we would walk away. And Jesus then said so many things like...

Seek His Kingdom first.

Jesus said I came to give life…Satan steals it away from you.

Jesus said God loves the world so much.

What do we need to do? First of all revisit the idea of God’s will over our own. Doing away with our need for personal pride.