In the beginning

Creation and New Creation

After discovering how to clone humans, two scientists challenged God:

"We don't need you anymore," they said. "We can make life by ourselves now."

"Okay," God replied, "let's have a man-making contest."

"All right," said the scientists. "We'll do it like you did in the beginning." Then they reached down to grab a handful of dirt to begin to form a man.

Then they heard God's voice from heaven: "Hold it—get your own dirt!"

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Well I hope you’re enjoying our focused look at the opening 3 chapters of Genesis, the book of beginnings, the first book of our Scriptures.

And I hope, like me, you’ve found it a great encouragement as Simon and then Sharley have built on those opening four words IN THE BEGINNING GOD -

Simon encouraged us to look at the awesomeness of our Creator God and Sharley at the intentional and purposeful inclusion of humanity at the climax of the sixth day -

How are you going with the invitation, to think about how those four words IN THE BEGINNING GOD shape our understanding about creation and teh world we live in; on how we might reflect the image of that God, in the way we relate to others; how we act as stewards of this earth and its occupants.

You might think having looked at Genesis 1, what more could be said. There’s already a symmetry and completeness about the way the writer has been inspired to write down the Creation account.

I wonder, what more might we understand about God and about us, as we continue on into chapter 2 this week?

Well, firstly I should point out that my mind wasn’t on point when it came to dividing up this sermon series - but once again God redeems my errors.

You see, most people agree that actually the Genesis 1 account continus through until chapter 2 verse 3.

But looking at it through the week, I kind of felt that Genesis chapter 2 verses 1 to 3 also leads quite nicely into the verses that follow, indeed into the rest of the scriptures.

So let’s have a closer look together as we break the reading down to manageable chunks.

I’m going to try very briefly to answer a few light bulb moments I had and the questions raised in my mind as I went along - namely:

1. Where does Chapter 2: 1-3 fit with what has already been said?

2. Why have two accounts of Creation? And lastly,

3. How does this passage today set the scene and the context for reading all of scripture?

Maybe you pondered these or similar questions when looking at Genesis in the past? Maybe you’re thinking about them for the first time as the passage was read this morning? Maybe you are still wondering what difference does it make..? If God created the heavens and the earth, if man and woman have been created in the image of God, then what does that have to do with us now?

You may be sitting here listening in and wonder - haven’t we got enough to contend with? Shouldn’t we be talking about COVID-19, managing kids at home 24/7, the trials and tribulations of home learning, isolation and loneliness.

I hope reflecting on this passage might actually give us a better perspective from which we might actually contend with whatever it is we are contending with today...

No pressure then!

Let’s jump straight into to our first question...

1. Why or Why not include Chapter 2: 1-3 with what has already been said?

If you've listened in to other sermons before now you have probably already heard that the chapter and verse divisions in our modern bibles are actually a medieval invention and haven’t always been included in the Canon of scripture.

On that basis, this is probably a non-isuue really.

I only bring it up because in a way it kind of serves to show how we need to be thinking about the way we read the bible.

Chronologically, it makes more sense to include the seventh day with the preceeding 1 to 6 days.

The reference in verse 4 of chapter 2:

Genesis 2:4 NIV - Anglicised

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—

is interesting as it picks up the phrase from

Genesis 1:1 NIV - Anglicised

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

and is probably a good indication that this is the start of a new section.

But a closer look at chapter 2 verses 2 and 3 is really interesting. Look at them with me:

Genesis 2:2–3 NIV - Anglicised

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 And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

Notice what God is doing here.

Having established creation, having looked at all he had made over a period of time, having identified it as good - do you see what he does?

He takes time, the time that He has created, divided and ordered and now He sets a portion of time and ordains it to have particular significance.

What’s so special about that?

Well, we’ll look at this in more detail shortly, but remember the Book of Genesis will eventually take us beyond Eden, the rest of the book will reveal how God relates with the world that he has created;

the significance is now moving towards what ‘happens’ within time, as opposed to the earlier focus on the various facets of His awesome creation; what we might call the ‘sequence of events’.

I don’t want to spend too much time on this, except to say, on the one hand you could see that this portion of scripture fits more neatly with chapter 1, but on the other hand it provides a wonderful link between the ‘events’ of creation and the ‘purpose’ of creation, of our creation as human beings.

Of course, we see lots of history within the bible, records of dates and events that show the sweeping hand of God across the millenia - but I don’t think it is insignificant to notice here that from the moment God declares day 7 - the Sabbath, as holy - the concept of time in the bible changes.

One commentator puts it this way:

The Message of Genesis 1–11: The Dawn of Creation a. Time

Biblical time, then, is not so much a matter of one thing after another, as it is the story of God’s interactions with his world; a story in which God gives moments of opportunity, moments of decision, times of repentance, a day of grace.

And through that one act of instituting the Sabbath, God aligns Himself with His people and carries them from past creation into the present and on into the future.

Now if that isn’t mind blowing in and of itself! Then what about this -

What if we started to think about this gift of the Sabbath not as one day of recovery - so we can get stuck into another 6 days of work...

but rather, our Sabbath, our day of rest as an invitation from God to JOIN Him in thankful worship of His work -

As Sharley reminded us last week, we are invited to share God’s work of bringing order in His creation, to grow in communion with Him as His image bearers and now...

that invitation includes sharing in the delight of His rest, so that we might fully embrace fellowship with the Creator of the heavens and earth.

I wonder how might that inspire your worship today?

Well, we must move on to the second light bulb that went off in my mind:

2. Why have two accounts of Creation?

Have you ever wondered that? And when you read Chapter 2 does it seem to you at ‘first sight’ that the order is different?

I say, at first sight…

Someone once suggested to me that it helps to think of Genesis 2 in relation to chapter 1 in a couple of ways.

Firstly to see chapter 2 as one of those blown up inserts you find on a larger map. A bit like this:

Another person that it’s helpful to approach Genesis 2 as the other side of the same coin.

The first account, or side of the coin, is the Creation account from above, from where God is. The world is created for God, for His honour alone.

The second account, by contrast, is about the world in its nearness and about the Lord who is near on earth, with Adam in the garden.

In chapter 1 heaven and earth are separated. Human beings are not God, heaven cannot be grasped, owned or controlled.

But do you notice the shift in this second account? In verse 4 we see a shift from heaven and earth to the earth and the heavens:

Genesis 2:4 NIV - Anglicised

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—

As Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in his book Creation and Fall:

In chapter 1, we see ‘man for God’. In chapter 2, the perspective is ‘God for man’.

Even the name of God has changed from the generic Elohim or God, to Lord God or Yahweh, the covenant making eternal Father.

Elohim to Yahweh

And though I don’t want to stretch things beyond which they can naturally be stretched, some suggest that perhaps not all plant life was created initially - that everything but those things that man would work and grow had been created, that other species good for eating and cultivating came at the right time, when there was someone there to cultivate them.

I think for me I’ve come to see that whilst I may not be able to explain everything, both accounts are preserved for a reason.

Transcendent

Both accounts help me to see a God who is transcendent, above His creation, not a part of it - not so long ago we would speak of God’s Omnipotence: He is Sovereign, Self- sufficient, Supreme.

But at the same time, thanks to chapter 2, he is also present in His creation.

Immanent

He is immanent - Deeply connected and involved with the humans He has created.

Before we run out of time we better move on to the third point:

3. How does this passage today set the scene and the context for reading all of scripture?

Well, for me, I can’t get passed the way our writer captures the creating, conforming and commissioning actions of God in this account.

Simon and Sharley have highlighted much of the creative actions of God, if you missed either of their talks I would really encourage you to go back and listen to them from faithlife or our website.

Consider again a few words Sharley brought to the fore last week and see them again in the context of today’s passage.

Last week we saw how the writer of Genesis captures the dignity of humanity - our value in God’s eyes and the sanctity of life.

The dignity of humanity

The Value and Sanctity of Life

Notice now the physical nearness as God ‘forms’ man from the ground.

All other aspects of Creation are brought into being as God speaks His Word. Here we get that sense of a potter forming and working, a piece of clay; an image Jeremiah uses so well.

Jeremiah 18:6 NIV - Anglicised

6 “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.

We don’t know the specifics, but we see a difference when it comes to creating man and woman - there is a bodily nearness conveyed during this part of God’s creation. God shapes man - man is God’s creature.

We are of the earth says Genesis, we are near to the Creator and derived from the Creator. Again, notice the use of language here:

Genesis 2:7 NIV - Anglicised

7 the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

There is a unity between the product of clay in God’s hands and the breath of God’s nostrils that is required to make man a ‘living being’.

In creating man by forming him from the ground, placed into the garden man now must conform within the secure boundaries the Lord God has provided for him.

More about that in a minute.

The text also makes much of water and the image we get is of life giving water flowing from Eden out and beyond its locality via four huge rivers. The vitality found in Eden is designed to nourish everything else.

And at the centre of the garden we find the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 2:9 NIV - Anglicised

9 And 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.

The tree of life demonstrating life is given as a gift by God.

The second tree, representing the knowledge of everything, the sort of knowledge that God has.

We are not God. Yes, we are valued, loved, significant to God and to show that he placed man right at the centre of things, but we are not the keepers of life and death, nor do we possess the kind of divine wisdom that can come only from above.

Humanity is not given the role of holding moral autonomy, our choices are meant to reflect the goodness which is found in God himself, which he makes available to us through the revelation of His will.

Today, however, we are told that there are no longer any moral absolutes.

Values are down to our personal choice or personal taste.

And so the end of life, either before a child is born or to hasten the end of one’s life, becomes about ‘choice’.

The deployment of weapons or the extermination of a race or culture, decided on the basis of one’s perspective on morality - our minds buy into that lie, because of some spin within it that strikes a cord with us - but I suggest that our hearts can see through that.

Sure, some ethical decisions are complicated - but we know in our heart of hearts, there is something safe and secure in there being a line of good that must remain beyond us and our choices.

After all, where would be be if that was not true?

No, the tree of knowledge in the centre of the garden reminds us that moral boundaries are given to us for our good, it’s as it should be and it forms part of the divine pattern that we will see again and again as the history of God and His people unfolds throughout the rest of scripture.

David Atkinson refers to this part of the Creation account as the Paradox of freedom.

This one - yes, one prohibition is set in the context of divine care and provision. It’s not a harsh restriction when you consider that context.

You could really see it as a warning rather than a prohibition, because in obeying this direction, heeding the warning, we are saved from the diminishing effect that crossing God-given limits has on our well-being.

Liberate a goldfish from its bowl and see how long it survives in its new-found freedom.

You see, the very freedom the goldfish enjoys is dependent on respecting the appropriate context it needs for life itself.

For where the boundary - the tree of knowledge stands, there stands also the tree of life, that is, the very God who gives life. God is at once the boundary and the centre of our very existence.

And so our passage sets the scene - God has placed humanity in the garden of Eden, He Himself is at the cente with man -sound familiar - it should...

God’s people, planted in God’s place, under His rule and blessing.

It is here that the pattern for the rest of scripture is set.

In God’s created order we find distinction between earth and heaven and yet from here on in begins a series of events where we will see those who God has created grasping for something that is not theirs to own or control - and every time the result is chaos.

I said at the outset that I hoped reflecting on this passage from Genesis 2 might actually give us a better perspective from which we might contend with whatever it is we are contending with today...

In our reading today we see that created man is conformed within the establishment of the Sabbath and prohibition around the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Man is commissioned by God for a purpose, here demonstrated by the cultivation and care of the earth.

The very best that Sabbath offers us are moments of opportunity, moments of decision, times of repentence, a day of grace - how might that gift speak to us as we begin Lent in 2021? How might we enter God’s rest today, imperfect as it still may be?

We are not like every other created creature - we are creatures who have been commissioned to share in the cause of God, creatures invited to grow in personal communion with Him, reflecting His image to the world.

Just as the prophet Isaiah in our second reading spoke the Word of God to those around him - so we are invited to relflect God’s glory and proclaim His plan to restore all things in and through His Son, Christ Jesus.

Adam’s knowledge of God and relationship with Him was to express itself as Adam obeyed and fulfilled the commission God had given him. In a way nothing has changed.

1 Corinthians 1:30 NIV - Anglicised

30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.

The Apostle Paul writes in his first letter to the Corinthians that God is still the source of our life in Christ Jesus, who is for us the wisdom of God.

I wonder…might that engage our hearts as we contend with the things of this world and as we wait for the fulfilment of God’s plans and promises?

Creation and New Creation

I pray that this Lent we will realign ourselves with God. That we would allow Him back at the centre of our lives and that our relationship with Him will grow as we participate through obedience to the cause of Christ in our world and in our lives.