Genesis 2
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Let’s pray.
Y’all remember the deal. This is participator tonight. So get your bible out and let’s get ready. I will be in the NIV version on the screen but just read whatever version you have. We will follow.
1 Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished.
2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.
3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.
Stop
So God rested? What does that mean. There is nothing more fulfilling than completing a project. There is just something euphoric about it. Sonya will tell you that when I get done with something at work or around the house, I am proud of it. I want to show people. What you see here is that He had finished his creation of an orderly universe with inhabitants. This is what he wanted to accomplish and he did it. It’s done. This is how i did it. It is complete. Don’t fall into the trap that God was tired and he needed to rest. What he is saying is it is finished.
When is the next time we will here it is finished? On the cross right. And the bible tells us that when Jesus ascends to heaven he takes an action. He sits at the right hand of the father. Let’s walk this out. In the temple of God one piece of furniture was not mentioned. A seat. You know why? because a priest job was never done. But Jesus says it is finished and goes to heaven and sits down. Not because he is tired but because…the job is done. God is saying I have accomplished everything I want to accomplish. So the work is done. He is not in a state of weariness. He doesn’t get tired or hungry like we do. It is a rest of satisfaction. the 7th day is holy because it is complete.
27 And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.
This was not meant to be some legalistic thing but it is a good idea for humans to rest. It was made for them not them for it. By the way as long as we follow Jesus, we are ok. Jesus says that I am the Lord of the Sabbath.
It is not supposed to be a legalistic sabbath that they turned it into. They had so many rules about walking on the sabbath, pushing buttons. You know they still do this. they have an elevator in which all the buttons are lit up so if it is the sabbath you can get on that elevator and ride it. It is going to stop on every floor so that you don’t have to push a button. That is too far. They had added something God never intended. Jesus never sinned. The sabbath is not an idol!! So it doesn’t matter the day you celebrate. It a blessing that is all.
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.
Stop
Now stay with me for just a moment. Remember that this is moses wiritng this summary of what happened. He isn’t giving you detailed info on everything nor all the ins and outs. I am going to show you what I mean. Take a glimpse at
1 This is the book of the genealogy of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God.
So you see what Moses is doing. He is separating things and giving a heading or giving a clue as to what he just finished talking about and what he is about to talk about. All he is doing is transitioning from one thought to another. We are about to move into details of creation of human beings but let me just sum this up.
Notice no rain on the earth yet. How is everything being water, mist from the ground. Rain forest set up right. Going to be important. We are coming up on a flood later.
Chapter 1 is everything created. Now chapter 2 let me give you so more details on how it was done before we move forward. Let’s move forward.
Let me his this right here. Notice the change in terminology. It started in verse 4. Moses transition from God in chapter 1 to Lord God here in chapter 2. This is going to be very important especially when we talk about it in chapter 3. But what is the difference. When they are saying God created…God ended his work…God said… that is the Hebrew word
Elohim
That means God’s majestic rule. But when they use Lord God that is the term Yahweh, Jehovah
this was the most holy name of God. This is so much more than his majestic rule. This is going to go so much deeper. This makes him master. This makes it personal to who? Us Humans.
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
It not just belief that God exist. It turns the control over to Him. See you can say yeah he is god. He has power. But if you make Him lord that is all together different. We have to move into faith in God not in my mastery. When it starts in creation it is just God. Now it is Lord God. Becuase in the beginning we were to trust that His authority is all that we need. Moses is making a point that even here, HE God has the ultimate say and we should bow to it. But he is going to give us a choice.
This is the first time this name is used we have a law of scripture the law of first mentions. Anytime you see something mentioned for the first time you must pay attention to the context because that gives you the best meaning or sense of the word.
Now verse 7 we see something there something else that it is mentioned for the first time. God formed man of the dust of ground. I have said it before and i will say it again. God is not afraid of dirt. He is a dirt player. He played in it to create man. He played in it while protecting a woman. He went into it when he was buried. His blood was spilled on it. He washes you clean from it. Dirt does not hurt God.
But notice two characteristics of man. They were formed with the hands of God and they had the breath of life breathed into them. NO OTHER CREATURE!!! Not going to get back into that but your pet is not your child. Nothing wrong with loving them. They just aren’t human.
Then here is the God part duality of it all. Yes we have the breath of life. Yes we are special. Yes we are greater than all other species. but we were still formed out of the dust. No matter how great you think you are, you are still formed from the dust. God says I elevate you, but he also humbles you. this is the only time this happens also. So good right. God plans everything. HE does nothing out of happen stance.
Ok next. Verse 8
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.
Stop. Underline this verse 9. Just do the whole thing.
Now notice what two trees are mentioned. tree of life and tree of knowledge of good and evil. One of those was for food. One was not. We will talk more about it later.
First part of that verse, why do you think God made trees that are pleasant to the sight? Wouldn’t it have been enough for them to just be good for food?
We need food but he didn’t have to give us beautiful things to look at. But he does because we are created after him the creator. he breathed life into us which gives us parts of him and part of him is beautiful. this is where art and music and the desire for things comes from. right here in genesis it is mentioned. There is no other reason for music or art except to give us joy so that could not have come from evolution. God could have just said adam i know this doesn’t look good but its good for you. No he puts him in beautiful surroundings.
Who is next verse 10
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.
Stop
Ok what does all of this mean? It means that not only was there a special garden but out of that garden flowed and entire world for exploration. Adam and Eve are put in this place but they are not confined here and some of these places are still here today. They play major roles in development of society. The garden has been hidden but not the rest of this. HE has a lot of acreage. Now verse 15
15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.
Here it is. I told you all that work is not the curse. the work we now do is cursed. Right now the work Adam will be doing is beautiful and fulfilling. The work later that is cursed is meaningless and hated. this was a blessing and productive. After the fall we will see it but right now when you go out and till the ground, no weeds. The ground works with you. After the fall it will work against you. Work is something God expects us to do!!! If you are able to do so, and you aren’t, you are in sin. Period. Whatever you can do you whatever your job is you get out there and get after. What we don’t do if we are trying to live the christian life style is sit up on the couch stuffing our faces with chips and bonbons expecting someone else to take care of us.
Next
16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat;
17 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.”
Stop
So God has placed man in the garden. Who did he place in the garden? So no eve. Woman is not there? Who heard these instructions we are about to talk about? So who is she supposed to hear the commanded of God from? Ok that’ll come back on us in the next chapter. Now God has set up some parameters for his life. You may eat freely. No worries which is best for you. No counting calories. Nothing. Freely. No waste to worry about. But the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat for in that day you will die. the first commandment with negative consequences. the actual first covenant we see. And God has the very right to do so! You cannot tell the creator as the creation what you are going to do. He gave us the privilege of life so he has the right to tell us how to live it. Up to this point they have never experienced evil.
What is evil? The absence of goodness. Right that is how we judge bad ness based on what we know to be good. So they had perfection in god all the time. So they never knew a moment without him. Dark is the absence of light. Cold is the absence of heat. Evil is the absence of Good and God is good so they never knew or experienced evil.
Why does God even create the tree in the first place. The perfect expression of love comes in choice. How much do you love me Adam? You are going to demonstrate that love by obedience. What does Jesus say. If you love me you will obey my commandments. Right So the tree has to be there otherwise there is no choice if there is no choice there is no love. It also has to do with giving God glory. Let me ask the parents in the room. If you take your kids to the mall and they are old enough to walk and talk just not old enough to take care of themselves and you ask them. You trust daddy. Yes sir. You believe daddy knows what’s best for you and always wants to do whats best. Yes sir. Then you walk into the mall and you have to get food forever but you cant get food for everyone and have them all over you so you set them at the table and say stay here. Now you can still see the table. It isn’t far but you just need them to sit in the sit till you get back. But you tie them down to the chair. Is that going to show they trust you. Will you get a great parent reward for that? But if you come back and didn’t tie them down what do people say. You have some awesome kids right there. You are doing a great job raising them. you say to them thank you for listening and you feel honored they obeyed you. Hello God the Father.
18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”
Stop
The first thing that God has said is not good. That man be alone. And look at this. Again the first time something is mentioned pay attention to it. God says I will make a helper suitable for him. That means everything made up until this point is not a suitable helper.
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.
Ok picture it. You can’t just read the bible you have to read the bible. Adam there in the garden. God is walking the animals by. What is this Adam? Ok great. What is this? And Adam starts to notice something. Remember back in chapter 1 the animals were given a directive to be....and..... So in order for that to happen there have to be a male and female. So adam begins to notice this. Lord uh. They have two. And in all of that no animal was suitable. 3 times in 2 chapters we are seeing that animals are not comparable to humans. Dog is not mans best friend. A woman is. Now you can say you know better than god and i hang out with animals because they are better than humans but you'd be an idiot for saying that against God. OK. God is about to tell us who the suitable helper is.
21 And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place.
22 Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.
Didn’t ask Adams opinion or give him choice. The Lord is creator of everything for the first time decides the perfect helper and is not another man. it is not an animal. it is a woman. It goes all the way through revelation. Bride and Groom. Ephesian Husband and wife. It NEVER WAIVERS!!!!! GOD HAS NOT CHANGED!!! It should not be allowed in the church and people who speak any other way blaspheme the holy scripture and should be removed. Not because we are against them but for Him.
Beware of the inclination to dictate to God what consequences you would allow as a condition of your obedience to Him. Oswald Chambers
Well Lord I don’t want it to cost my family.
God did not make you that way Sin did. No more than God made the murderer, the liar, the adulterer or the thief. Sin made you that way and He can redeem you. So come to him.
Ok let’s get back. Can you imagine this moment right here. For the first time Adam sees a creature that looks like him. That talks like him. I know God had some characteristics but Adam clearly knew the difference. i mean here she is the most perfect woman ever to walk the plant after my wife. Think about what was going through adams mind. he just woke up. and here she is.
23 And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.”
Look at what this man is saying about her. the praises he is giving her. She is equal to me. Different but equal. She is bone of my bone. She came out of me.
It saddens me how he is going to talk about her next week but right here…she is his everything.
Then look at this verse that Jesus refers to that would get him canceled today.
24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
Ok let me hit this really quickly. MEN LEAVE YOUR MAMA!!!! Ladies if your man cannot get more than 5 feet away from his mother…he ain’t the one. If she does everything for him. He aint the one. What this is establishing is a hierarchy and the woman, the wife is first. Above mom and daddy. That means we don’t arrange our family schedule around mom and dad schedule. When you enter into this relationship of marriage, YOUR SPOUSE IS THE TOP!!!!
This is stating that when you take a wife it is a new family. The old one is gone and the same for the wife. Don't compare your husband to your father. You left him.
Last verse
25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
God established marriage. It is not a construct of society. It is not something made up as a cultural norm. God established it. Look at this. they were both naked and unashamed. I love that. You know why. It had nothing to do with appearance but everything to do with purity. This will preach right here so just hold it. You know why they could both be naked and unashamed because they were both knew that the other had never been this way with anyone else. They knew no one else had ever had the privileged that they were giving to each other right here. moses makes a point right here. I want us to get it. Bearing all in front of someone is hard just on a physical level. But here they are baring all on every level and they were unashamed. don’t give yourself away to anyone who isn’t your spouse. I wish that i could put that on a shirt. I am naked and unashamed. lol Well maybe not. I just want poeple to know that God has a way of doing things and if we coudl just trust him.
