102206 Pentecost 20
Pentecost 20, October 22, 2006
Aloneness Destroyed, Oneness Restored
Text: Genesis 2:18–24
Other Lessons: Psalm 119:49–56; Hebrews 2:9–11 (12–18); Mark 10:2–16
Sermon Theme: The sinner’s aloneness is destroyed as the sinner is brought into oneness with his God by the forgiveness of all sin.
Goal: That the hearer would lament the brokenness sin brings to our lives and extol the oneness restored to us in Jesus.
Introduction: “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good” (Gen 1:31). But before that pronouncement, God did one more thing. There was a good planet; good stars, good trees and plants and birds and fish and beasts of the field. And there was Adam, a man formed especially well! But, it was not good for the man to be alone. So God took care of it!
But, even after everything was done and the pronouncement made that it was very good, sin crept into mans habitation in the garden God had made, working against God’s good. Adam and his life companion, Eve, actually felt the change. Once in oneness and union with God and everything Good, separation, brokenness and aloneness take over their good existence. But God provides, and …
the Sinner’s Aloneness Is Destroyed as the Sinner Is Brought into Oneness with His God by the Forgiveness of All Sin.
I. Good contrasted with not good (v 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.”" (Genesis 2:18, ESV)
A. Good is that which brings forth, supports, enriches, and embraces life.
1. In Creation, God brings forth everything that supports life.
a. The stars, the waters, the plants, were good in that they were created to support and enrich life, ultimately, the life of mankind.
b. That the human male and female were good and the highest creature of every living thing is shown in the role God gives them and blesses them for. (1:26–28)
"Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, (here’s the blessing) “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”" (Genesis 1:26-28, ESV)
2. The Creator himself is good in bestowing gifts and upholding all creation “by the Word of his power.” (Heb 1:3) So everything that comes forth from God is Good, because it gives and sustains all that is needed for life.
B. What is Not good is that which does not embrace and bring forth life; that which essentially denies life.
1. Man without woman (even before sin’s entrance) was not good. “It is not good that the man should be alone.” (Gen 2:18) Man by himself was not able to bring forth life as God brings forth life by merely speaking it into being.
2. Man without woman (even after sin enters) is not good. God created them male and female for their mutual benefit that fulfills each of them in their created roles. Together they will fill the earth and subdue it.
This is something that so-called “gay marriages” can never have. Such a union cannot procreate new life. It is not blessed by God to fulfill His Good purpose. In fact, it mocks the God who intended only for the male and the female to unite for fulfilling his purpose and building a family united with God.
So, what can be done about this sad human condition—the oneness and loneliness that takes us into death? How ironic is it that the only way provided out of death so that good and oneness are restored is to be reconciled to the very one whose Word Creates life.
II. Oneness and Good restored.
A. This is precisely what Jesus did for us. He made himself one with our sin and death and thereby, according to Hebrews 2:9, “He suffered death, . . . [tasting] death for everyone.”
B. And there is more! Jesus makes us one with God by his own righteousness.
1. He sanctifies us with his blood, so that we are “of one” (NKJV) with him (Heb 2:11).
2. This is how the sinner’s aloneness is destroyed as the sinner is brought into oneness with his God. The union of God with man truly is a holy communion (a mystical union) brought about as man is washed and sanctified in the blood of Jesus Christ. Thus, Jesus lovingly declares, “Here am I, and the children God has given me” (Heb 2:13, from the Epistle).
C. You see, our rescue from death (aloneness and what is not good) really has nothing to do with us, but it has everything to do with Jesus. By the very Word of Christ our Lord works faith in the human heart—and faith begins to desire the good that that continues to create and sustain new life. Faith feeds on the word with a desire for more because faith is strengthened in the certainty of what we do not see but know from our Lord’s Word.
As Luther wrote of faith: “Faith, however, is a divine work in us that changes us and makes us to be born anew of God…. It kills the old Adam and makes us altogether different men, in heart and spirit and mind and powers; it brings with it the Holy Spirit” (quoted in FC SD IV 10).
D. Even in our brokenness, by faith we know that our Lord gives restoration by his Word of Gospel. And this is how we experience it in our new life.
1. The husband who has not loved his wife may rejoice in sins forgiven.
2. The wife who has not looked to her husband for the gifts of marriage may rejoice in her Lord’s word of grace.
3. Parents who see conflict in their families may teach their children the words of reconciliation in Christ Jesus.
4. And even those who are alone, whether because of one’s own sin or divorce or abandonment or death or timing or circumstance, may look to their Lord in faith, knowing that even as we live in this world of division and aloneness, our Lord lovingly speaks to us his Word of oneness—“Here am I, and the children God has given me” (Heb 2:13). Please do not presume upon His divine goodness that you can continue to live in your sin—that would be a very costly mistake because it denies the very life Christ gives.
Conclusion: And God saw all that he had made, and now it was very good. He saw that we are not alone any more, but united with Him in Christ. Amen.