The First Family-September 17, 2023

Introduction

Genesis Genesis 2:4–25—The First Family

“The woman was formed out of man—not out of his head to rule over him; not out of his feet to be trampled upon by him; but out of his side to be his equal, from beneath his arm to be protected, and from near his heart to be loved.”

Matthew Henry

The creation challenge

God vs scientist.

“No, no, no, get your own dirt!”

Ecclesiastes 3:11 ESV

11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.

This is such a marvelous beginning to the book a reminder to us that God has put eternity into our hearts yet we still don't fully understand what has happened from the beginning.

Our hope as we dive into this passage is to take a look at the first family and perhaps as we see the first family and how God created man and woman we will understand how God calls us to live and to relate.

Point 1: God’s Formative Work (Genesis 2:4-7)

Genesis 2:4–7 (ESV)

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.

The first thing you want to notice here is this idea of toledot. This is the first toledot that we see in the book of genesis. And the intention is to show what life is like on earth before sin.

What we also see in this section is a recounting of the creation of man. Some biblical scholars complain about this because they think that this repetition means that genesis was assembled by multiple people rather than one person. They think this contributes to the documentary theory that a bunch of people assembled Moses or rather genesis rather than Moses himself writing it. But when you think of the Bible as a whole and how is literature works you've got to understand that the Bible repeats things that are important. When Hebrew writers want to show us how important something is they do it by repeating it by reexamining it.

I like how the writer Francis Schaeffer puts it:

Genesis B. Two Creation Accounts in Genesis 1 and 2

More light is shed on the relationship between Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 by a consideration of a literary structure that occurs throughout the entire Book of Genesis: First, less important things are dealt with rapidly, and then the things more important to the central theme of the Bible are returned to and developed more fully (Schaeffer, 40–41).

So Genesis 1:1-2:3 was all about the cosmic creation of the universe..

Genesis 2:14-23 is about the creation of mankind and the beginning of the Biblical focus on mankind.

The Breath of Life

First of all this passage is interesting because the language it uses in this account of our creation is more of an active word. In genesis chapter one when it tells how mankind was created it's kind of lumped in with how God made all the rest of creation. God spoke and it existed. Here God is like a Potter working clay to form mankind.

And mankind is formed of the dust of the ground. From dirt we came and we will return to dirt. But our lowly origins don't define us.

The text says that God breathes into us the breath of life. He calls us into existence creating us in his own image.

As one author writes:

Genesis A. God’s Formation of Man (2:4–7)

“Especially noteworthy is the fact that man did not get a soul but he became one, that is, he became a person”

- Illustration: God imparting life, distinguishing humans from other creations

- Deep dive: Exploring the immaterial aspect that allows us to communicate with God

- **An Image Bearer**

- Illustration: The privilege and responsibility of being created in God’s image

- Deep dive: Discussing the inherent dignity and worth bestowed upon humanity

Point 2: A Sanctuary of Abundance (Genesis 2:8-14)

Genesis 2:8–14 ESV

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. 10 A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush. 14 And the name of the third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

God prepared a beautiful world for mankind that provided for their needs.

Point 3: Boundaries and Moral Foundations (Genesis 2:15-17)

Genesis 2:15–17 ESV

15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 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.”

Work as an expression of the mandate God originally gave to man

Exercise dominion

Fill the earth and subdue it.

Not lazy and not a workaholic

Not worshipping rest or work…but God.

The Tree of Knowledge

- Illustration: The setting of boundaries in Eden and its implications

- Deep dive: Unpacking the symbolism of the tree of knowledge and its relevance in today’s context

Today we face decisions about whether to choose to obey God or note.

Obedience and Free Will

- Illustration: The gift of free will and the gravity of choices

- Deep dive: Understanding the call to obedience as a reflection of our relationship with God

Point 4: Completion through Companionship (Genesis 2:18-23)

Genesis 2:18–23 ESV

18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” 19 Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. 21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”

Creation of a Companion

- Illustration: God’s thoughtful creation of a partner for Adam

- Deep dive: Understanding the divine intention behind creating a companion for Adam

Did you catch that? for the first time God said it was not good about something He created.

Genesis 2:18 ESV

18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”

“Helper”

Helper; not slave....in fact this same term is used to describe God himself!?

Exodus 18:4 ESV

4 and the name of the other, Eliezer (for he said, “The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh”).

Deuteronomy 33:7 ESV

7 And this he said of Judah: “Hear, O Lord, the voice of Judah, and bring him in to his people. With your hands contend for him, and be a help against his adversaries.”

1 Samuel 7:12 ESV

12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen and called its name Ebenezer; for he said, “Till now the Lord has helped us.”

Naming the animals---dominion and authority

The creation of woman

Made without the help of man—he was asleep

Not a totally distinct creation—she was made from man.

Woman was created from man....not that man lost something.

God wanted man to first realize he experienced loneliness and then God would fill that need with woman

You could even say Adam was “beside himself” when God brought Eve to him.

1 Corinthians 11:11–12 ESV

11 Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man nor man of woman; 12 for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman. And all things are from God.

Point 5: The Sacred Union of Marriage (Genesis 2:24-25)

Genesis 2:24–25 ESV

24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

Becoming One

- Illustration: The harmonious blending of two lives in marriage

Not just physical but a pursuit of oneness

Ephesians 5:28–29 ESV

28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church,

- Deep dive: Understanding the mystical union of becoming one flesh in marriage

Trust and Vulnerability

- Illustration: The freedom of being “naked and unashamed” in the marital relationship

Conclusion

False understandings of humanity.

Man is king and woman is an object—Man needs a helper

There is no man or woman—God created male and female.

God created male and female to fill the earth

God initiated the first family to fill the earth with children who would obey and glorify God.

Genesis Applications

• Thank God for his wonderful of the human race, both male and female. creation

• Even a believer in perfect fellowship with the Lord needs others. Remember, Adam, who had never sinned, needed Eve to accomplish all that God had for him to do.

• If you are married, don’t try to make your spouse a replica of yourself but “enjoy the differences” God has produced in the different sexes.

• Recognize the necessity of both “leaving” and “cleaving” if a marriage is to work in a biblical fashion.

• Males must affirm the truth that it is not good for man to be alone. Allow your spouse and other believers to minister to your needs.

- **More than Meets the Eye**

- Illustration: Debunking the reduced valuation of humans to mere chemical composition

- Point: Emphasizing the sacredness and eternal aspect of human life as created by God

Genesis IV. Life Application: Only Worth $4.50

IV. Life Application

Only Worth $4.50

From a Web site named uselessknowledge.com, I obtained some interesting information about the human body. When the monetary value of the elements in our bodies and the value of the average person’s skin are totaled, the net worth, as of 2002, is $4.50! We are reminded on the Web site that “this value is, however, subject to change, due to stock market fluctuations.”

The U.S. Bureau of Chemistry and Soils invested many tax dollars calculating that the chemical and mineral composition of the human body amounted to less than $1.00 at today’s prices!

Our most valuable asset, according to scientists, is our skin because of its possible use as a leather substitute. The Japanese invested their time and money in measuring this part of our bodies. Basing the skin’s value on the selling price of cowhide, the value of an average person’s skin is about $3.50. This amount, along with the approximately $1.00 value of the chemicals and minerals, makes your body worth about $4.50! Don’t you feel precious?

But really, you’re worth more than you can imagine! As Genesis teaches, mankind is more than minerals and chemicals. God breathed into man “the breath of life.” This immaterial part of man is that part which will exist for all eternity. Ecclesiastes 3:11 declares, “He [God] has also set eternity in the hearts of men.” It is that part that allows us to communicate with God.

In fact, you’re so valuable that God sent his own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to come to earth and die on your behalf so you might spend eternity in relationship to your Creator. You really are priceless in the sight of God!

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