God's Purpose for Your Life

Good morning/evening everyone. We’re continuing in our series in Genesis 1-3. We’ve spent 5 weeks exploring God creating the Heavens and Earth and it’s implications for you and I- that we are made in His image, to be fruitful, that we are imparted dominion over creation from God, to work and rest in partnership with God.

As we move into chapter 2, those themes continue but if you’re reading this for the first time you might feel a bit confused because we heard last week that God finished creating and rested, then in our reading which you just heard it seems like God starts creating again. However, what we have here is like a zoomed in account of what would have happened on Day 6. Verse 4 shows this to us:

Genesis 2:4 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.

This is like an ancient chapter title. It is an introduction to the next part of the story and we find 11 of them in Genesis. Usually, they’d introduce a person and their lineage and end with a line such as “these were the days” or “these are the generations” of the main character of the next part of the story.

Here, is the only place it refers to a thing or object, and not a person- re-read. So, this is an account of what happened during creation. And its more personal.

The writers make a big change from chapter 1 to chapter 2, and it has to do witrh the name/title used for God.

In Chapter 1, your bible will read God- the Hebrew work is Elohim. Elohim can refer to a number of different divine beings, it is context that usually gives you the answer to which one. In Genesis 1, the context shows that the author is referring to the highest being/God. It is likely written as a rebuttal to the polytheistic cultures surrounding the Israelites, saying “the many gods that you worship, were infact made by the hightest God”. And which God woulkd that be? Chapter 2.

In Chapter 2, your bible will read LORD God- the Hebrew being a joined name- YHWH with the title - Elohim. The personal God of the Israelites.

YHWH is the name God gives Moses. God is speaking from the burning bush, he is making a promise to Moses that He will free His people from slavery and restore them to the land of their fathers where He will be in relationship with them. When Moses asks God, “who shall I say has sent me?” God responds with “I AM WHO I AM”. Which means something akin to: “I am and I will be.”

The writer is connecting the idea of the Cosmic Creater, Elohim, with the personal, covenantal God who walks with man in the garden. The same hands that placed the billions of stars in the sky, formed you out of the dust.

The God who made you, made with design and intent. You made made for a purpose and a reason. He promises to us many things and has proven to be a promise keeper.

1. The LORD God’s purposeful design.

Genesis 2:5–7 ESV

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.

These three verses present two realities, two problems and God’s two solutions.

The realities are that there are yet no bushes of the field and no small plants of the field. The bushes are likely shrubs, thorns and thistles that sprout up whenever there is rain- usually a dormant seed dropped by a bird or so. The small plants refer to cultivated crops- wheat, barley, etc. Note; it doesn’t say they don’t exist, but rather that had not ‘yet’ sprung up.

Why? Because we have two problems- no rain and no man yet to cultivate them. The rain relates to the first problem, a bit of rain and the ground will yield the bushes. However, the plants of the field, the cultivated plants, requires more- it needs man, God’s designed creature of dominion, to do the cultivating and the planting- the “working of the ground”.

So, God resolves these two problems. Firstly, God causes a mist to rise up. A better translation should read “then a mist was going up”. The point is, God causes the land to begin being watered, probably in preparation for verse 7-

Genesis 2:7 ESV

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.

God’s plan for the second problem- God forms man to work the ground. Pastor Julie covered the creation of man a few weeks ago, but if you missed it, a very quick overview- we are made in His image, male and female He created man, which just really means humankind. It was intentional that we would be made in His likeness, His image, as we are entrusted above all creation to steward and work it with Him.

We were made to work- which Pastor Brad covered two weeks ago. God imparts a partial authority over creation to mankind, His gives us dominion over it, which is why there is nothing like humans in all of creation.

How does God make man? He forms him out of dust. Who knows the Hebrew for man? Adam. God forms Adam of dust from the adamah. Dust from dust. We are formed of the ground, from the ground. Why is this important?

Have you ever wondered why God gave us a natural body? Why not make us like the angels? Why not give us spiritual bodies instead?

The answer is, God gave us a natural body for a natural experience.

I like how Tim Mackie from the Bible Project frames this moment as made by God; “we are both dust and divine breath”. The same Spirit that hovers over the waters in Genesis 1, over the dark waters, the abyss- the chaos and disorder of the world, is breathed into us here at our creation.

We are both fully formed from the natural world but apart from the Spirit given to us we are nothing. We don’t become a living creature until God’s imparts His life- His ruach. We are unlike anything else in creation: we have a spirit- a soul- which the creatures of creation do not have. Yet, unlike the Spiritual beings, we are designed as part of God’s natural order.

He did this as part of his purposeful design- that we would partner with him and steward the natural world, his creation. He did this also that we might be able to delight in his creation. Angels and spiritual beings cannot delight in the crisp of an apple plucked from a tree, or the taste to freshly squeezed orange juice, nor can they feel the softness of the grass or the gentle touch of the breeze nor the cool of water in a spring. They do not enjoy the treasures of this world, they do not delight even in Pastor Brad’s Lychee infused coffee beans.

We were intentionally designed for work and delight. Pastor Brad touched on work so let’s focus on delight-

2. The LORD God’s Purposeful Design of Delight

Genesis 2:8–14 ESV

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. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is the Gihon. 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.

God plants a garden for us to dwell and delight in- the name Eden means “pleasure, luxury” so quite literally delight. What does God plant in this garden?

Every tree that is pleasant to the sight. Why did God make trees pleasant to look at? Does he have to make them beautiful? No, of course he doesn’t have to- but he choose to. He designed trees that make you stop and look at. That’s his design of delight. He made the Illawara Flame Trees that line the New England highway, he made mangrove trees that hold together coastlines, he made Giant Sequios which live older than civilisations and Douglas Firs which grow to 100m tall, he made the native australian bottle brush trees in all their varieties and the Eucylyptus which regenerates and propgates in fire. All of these trees, can you imagine them- bundled together in great forests when God walked with man? Perhaps unnecessary but so wonderful.

God also makes trees which are good for food- we already mentioned apples and oranges but also bananas, Mangoes, Lemons, Avocados, Cherries, Peaches, Pears, Figs, Dates, Olives and coconuts- why? Because he needed to- no, God could have made us self-sustaining. Why? So we could delight in them.

These trees provided for us sustanence and delight in food and were themselves sustained by the rivers.

A river flowed out from Eden and divided into four: The Pishon, Gihon, Tigris and Euphrates. We know two of these today, the Tigris and Euphrates as they run up through Iraq from the Persian Gulf into Turkey. The Pishon would have run somewhere in modern down Saudi Arabia and the Gihon in southern Egypt. It’s likely the rivers and their geography have been altered or removed during and after Noah’s flood.

What they do paint a picture of is the life source of Eden. These four rivers flowed out into the ancient world, particularly through Mesopotamia- the cradle of civilization. God designed these rivers to sustain a fledgling humanity as it sought to fulfil its mandate at Stewards of God’s creation.

Of course, here also, we draw the parallels of this river, this source of life, to Jesus- our source of living water. Jesus spoke with a samaritan woman by Jacob’s Well in John chapter 4. Hear these words-

John 4:10–14 ESV

Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

All of Eden, the trees, the water, all of it points toward-

3. The LORD God’s Intent for Jesus

Unlike the rivers of this world, such as the Pishon and Gihon which one day will run dry or alter their course, the Living Water Jesus offers us will never dry- nor its source removed from you. Though the water of this world gives life to the most splendid of trees- the trees also will wither and die one day. Those who recieve Jesus’ living water will never die but recieve Eternal life.

What we call Redemptive History, this story arc from the Garden of Eden of the Garden of Gethsamne, where Jesus prayed the night before His death, to the gardens of the New Jerusalem, as described in Revelation, it is the story of God leading and drawing His people into His presence.

God made for us a garden in Genesis 2, knowing we’d rebel in Genesis 3. If you can accept it today, this was always the plan. This was on purpose- make no mistake- God does not make mistakes. Jesus wasn’t a bandaid, He was the purpose. It is why He is described the the firstborn over creation.

Why? So that we might delight in Him to the utmost. I’ve been hanging out to use this quote during this series, it is one of my favourites, and today it finally fits- from John Piper;

“God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.” This was the purpose of creation and it is personified to its height in the person of Jesus Christ.

God made all of creation for us to enjoy, Jesus’ life, death and resurrection secures it to us forever. Jesus was intended for God’s greatest glory and our deepest delight. He is not the far off God, not a distant deity, but the God of the promise, who draws near to the mess- YHWH.

The author, provides some detail about the rivers for a purpose- the Pishon flows in the land of Havilah where Gold, Bdellium and Onyx are.

Words have meaning- gold is the material used to decorate and design God’s Temple, Bdellium, described as like the manna God provides to the Israelites in the desert, is a resin of gum of high nutritional value, and onyx, a precious stone is imbedded in the chestpiece of the High preist, on it and ensrcibed the names of the tribes of Israel. So, these three, describe the glory and holiness of God, His divine provision and sustenance and His design of a worshipful, convenantal people- exactly the blueprint of His gardens- exaclty the outcome of those who find faith in Jesus.

God’s people are in His garden but we know the story- we fall. Our final verses;

Genesis 2:15–17 ESV

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.”

God places us in the garden to work it, but it seems he repeats the command- to work and to keep it. Keep here means to guard and obey i.e. keep watch; keeping the commands. If we are to guard, what were we to guard frm exactly? I think the answer would be ourselves.

God installs two institutions in the rest of the chapter. Keep in mind thse are instituted pre-fall. Already, God has instituted work and rest as vital parts of our natural exitance in relationship with him. We are to be fruitful, to procreate as a species. Now God will institute in Chapter 2, marriage, which Ps Brad will address next week but here in verse 16 & 17 it is the Law.

Now, when I say the Law, I don’t mean the Law as given to Moses, which was necessary for the state of sinful humanity, nor is it modern Law- but Law here is simply God’s moral authority over us. It is recognising the reality of God calling the shots. God determining right from wrong. This is why it is wrong for us to eat from the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The tree is not evil itself, nor does the fruit hold any sort of special powers- rather it is symbol of a real choice; obedience to God or moral autonomy.

Will we trust God and His wisdom? Or will we decide we’d rather define good and evil for ourselves?

Now this might seem a difficult thing to comprehend- yet it is all still God’s designed purpose and plan. God knows the decision we will make and permits it. Without it, the words “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.” can never be true.

How can we be most satisfied in God if we do not know the depths of His grace?

How can he be most glorified in us if we do not His attributes of mercy, forgiveness, patience and justice? Would the God we believe to know only be a shadow of the true form of His love?

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil would open the door for sin, man’s rebellion, to enter the world but the door would also open to a path that picks its way up the mount of Golgotha where another tree would be planted. Not one that gives life but rather takes it- a roman cross, hewn from creation. The fruit it bore was death. To it, Jesus, Son of God, would humbly and willing go and take of it. And he would, surely die.

This is the God we worship, the God of the promise. The hands which formed us in the garden now piecred by nails. Eternal creator of the universe making new life for those whom were condemned to die.

Jesus extends this invitation: choose life. And life is only found in Him.

John 3:16–19 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.

Life is found in obedience to God. It’s logical: when created beings live under their created order, life flourishes. When we choose to find life, not in streams of Living Water but dry river beds of our own autonomy- death awaits.

In Redemptive History, Israel, God’s chosen people, are presnted with a choice- trust in God by going into the land He has promised them despite their fear of the people there, or decide to trust in their ownselves. They choose not to trust God and find themselves lingering in the desert for forty years. Moses, their leader, at the end of this exile and his own life, speaks these words to the people-

Deuteronomy 30:11–16 ESV

“For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it. “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.

Trust in God is not a far off decision, but one very near. It is in everything we do. It is a principle of recognising everything you have- your very life and the breath in your lungs are from Him, the ability to live and contribute through work, volunteering, raising a family and personal relationships are designed and delivered to you by him, your resources: your time, money and possessions- He is the creator, author and source of all of these things.

We would be remiss to not recognise we live in a land of delight and of plenty. God has given us so much for us to enjoy. Heed the warnings though, of those who have gone before us- to delight in God’s creation doesn’t mean a permission to over indulgence or restrained pleasure. The purpose of delight is to glorify God, and that delight is greatest when we live according to our created order- partnership and relationship with Him.

My greatest delights in this life have been my marriage and my kids, but even more when I’ve watched Hayley grow in her faith and trust in Jesus and in hearing my kids talk to me about Jesus too. Those delights also include leading close friends to Jesus, baptising them here at Whitehill, journey with couples here toward marriage, leading my life group an d watching you all grow in your faith, your knowledge of God and this church as it continues to swell (and today, opens a playground).

We need to be wary, that in this land of delight we do not fall into the same trap the Israelites will- when the delights of creation become their gods- where they are ruled by their wealth, controlled by their careers and driven by their desire to be pleasured and comfortable. This is the choice of death and dry river beds.

He has given you natural things in this natural world to glorify and enjoy Him. Will you choose life, submitting in obedience to what He is calling you to do? Or will you choose death, even death in part by withholding from Him and desiring autonomy over what you believe to be yours?

God made you for a purpose. “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.” This is the fullness of life Jesus offers you. Do want that fullness of life? How should you then live for the One whom gives it?