Untitled Sermon (5)
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Reflections Group eMember
05/04/2021
Creation, Man & Woman in the Garden
Genesis Chapters 1 & 2
Opening Discussion: What time of day are you most creative or productive?
Genesis 1:1-5
1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
Question #1: Which word stands out to you as the focal point of this verse: “beginning,” “God,” “created,” “heavens,” or “earth”? Explain.
Genesis 1:6-19
6 And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7 And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. 8 And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.
9 And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
11 And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.
14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16 And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17 And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
Genesis 1:20-25
20 And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” 21 So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.
24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. 25 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
Question #2: Based on this reading, why is it important for us to care for the earth and its natural resources?
Genesis 1:26, 27
26 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.”
27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
Question #3: What does it mean to you to be created in God’s image?
Genesis 1:28-31
28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “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.” 29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
[Read Colossians 1:15-20]
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
Question #4: How has the natural world helped you encounter God? What steps can we take to more fully experience God through His creation?
Charles Pfeiffer (The Biblical World, Baker) suggests this pattern:
Work of Division Works of Adorning
1st: light 4th: sun, moon, stars
2nd: air and sea 5th: birds, fish
3rd: land, plants 6th: animals and man1
1 Richards, L. O. (1987). The teacher’s commentary (p. 22). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
Differentiation. Often our text says, “And God separated,” as in, “He separated the light from the darkness” (v. 4). The Hebrew word here means “to make a distinction between.” Light is distinguished from dark, earth from sea, day from night—as God sets up a stable pattern for His universe.
Dominion. Priority is also found in Creation. Genesis 1 speaks of rule and dominion. There is a difference in function, and some functions have a higher value or priority.1
1 Richards, L. O. (1987). The teacher’s commentary (p. 23). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
Diversity. The vast complexity and multiple forms of inanimate matter and of life are also revealing. From the uniqueness of each snowflake to the individuality shown in the animal world, God’s delight in creative expression and His concern for individuals are shown.
Dependability. Through it all, in the alternation and pulse between night and day, season and season, God’s consistency is clearly revealed.1
1 Richards, L. O. (1987). The teacher’s commentary (p. 23). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
Delight. And then we hear God’s judgment: “It was good.” In the pattern of the universe which God created we discover a God who we can trust because He clearly cares. He is not changeable or capricious, for He designed the world to be stable and orderly. We discover a God who values and, in valuing, chooses always to do that which is, in every way, good.1
1 Richards, L. O. (1987). The teacher’s commentary (p. 23). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
➔Image and Likeness. When found together, as in Genesis 1:26; 5:1, 3, selem and demut make a theological statement about human nature, affirming that we bear a “likeness-image” to God. Like God we are persons, with an emotional, moral, and intellectual resemblance to our Creator.
➔ Rule. The Hebrew word in 1:28 is found 25 times in the Old Testament and is used of the rule of human beings rather than of God. It does suggest authority, but also implies responsibility. We are to care for God’s earth, which He entrusted to humankind.1
1 Richards, L. O. (1987). The teacher’s commentary (p. 26). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
Genesis 2:1-3
1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.
Genesis 2:4-7
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.
Question #5: What stands out to you about the creation of Adam?
Genesis 2:8-14
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.
[map of Tigris & Euphrates rivers]
Genesis 2:15-23
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.”
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.”
Question #6: What stands out to you about the creation of Eve?
God was growing a healthy desire in the heart of man for the need for a companion.
Genesis 2:24-25
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.
Speak volumes about the nature of the relationship between men and women the way it was originally designed.