A Walk In The Garden (Week 7)
Notes
Transcript
God Blesses Man
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, “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.” 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. 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. 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.
Three Psychiatrists
Vienna, Europe, the period leading up to WW2. Three Jewish psychiatrists, two learned masters in the field, one the young apprentice.
The first master is a man named Sigmund Freud. He has spent years studying people, striving to understand what makes us tick. He’s reached the conclusion that the most basic drive in human beings is the drive for pleasure. It’s our need for pleasure that explains why we do what we do, how we live.
The second master is Alfred Adler. He too has spent years studying human behaviour. His studies have led him to disagree with Sigmund Freud. Adler is convinced the bottom line explanation for human behaviour is power. All of us grow up feeling inferior and powerless. Life is a drive to gain control, to feel we are important.
The third man is a young up-and-coming psychiatrist by the name of Victor Frankl. He hopes to follow in the footsteps of his mentors. But before his career gains any momentum WW2 starts. The Nazis invade and its dangerous for Jews. Freud and Adler are world renowned scholars and so manage to escape before Hitler invades. Frankl is not so lucky. He is arrested and thrown into a Nazi concentration camp for four long years.
After the war is over Frankl is released from the concentration camp and resumes his career. He reflects upon his time as a prisoner. He noticed something quite strange – the people who survived were not always the ones you’d expect. Many who were physically strong wasted away and died while others who were much more weak physically grew strong and survived. Why? What was it that enabled them to hang on through a living hell?
Frankl reflected on the theories of his mentors. Freud’s pleasure principle couldn’t explain it. For four desperate and terrible years the men in that camp knew only pain, suffering and degradation. Pleasure was not a word in their vocabulary. It wasn’t pleasure that kept them going.
What then of Adler’s theory about power being the basic human need? That didn’t fare well either. Frankl and his fellow Jews were completely powerless during their time in the concentration camps. Each day they stared down the barrel of a loaded gun, were treated like animals, felt jackboots on their faces. They had no power and no prospect of power.
Victor Frankl came up with his own theory. The difference between those who survived and those who perished was hope. Those who survived never gave up their belief that their lives had meaning, that despite everything going on around them it would one day end and they would live meaningful, purposeful lives. What is the basic human drive? The one thing that gives life value? The ability to live with a sense of meaning. Not pleasure. Not power. Meaning.
Source: Based on a talk given by Australian speaker Michael Frost
Last week we saw that God declared man to have dominion over all of creation, this week we will see how God intended man to accomplish this. In verse 28 we find that God blessed them, and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."
Ok, let's start at the beginning. The first important thing we see is that God is addressing "them" with the blessing and with the instruction that is connected to the blessing. Understanding the reference "male and female" prepares us for the "blessing" in verse 28. This is the second of three blessings in the creation account; however, this blessing differs from the first blessing in that God speaks to human life. Both of these blessings involve procreation; but, by addressing the man and the woman, God is again reaffirming the fact that humanity is above the rest of the created order. Earlier with the animal life, there was no distinction made as to male or female; but, God is clearly speaking to "them". It is by this divine blessing that the once empty Earth will be filled and not even sin will deter God's blessing. Being human means that we are sexual beings, God created us this way. We will see in verse 31 that He deems the union of husband and wife as "very good". To understand this most basic fact eliminates much of the confusion faced in our world today. Even though we are to "be fruitful and multiply", it must be in accordance with God's word. God's intent was one man with one woman for life and through this blessed covenant, the Earth would be filled.
That brings us to the next important aspect of this divine blessing. Keep in mind that what we are discussing is pre-fall, before Adam and Eve sinned in the garden. When you examine this closely, you will recognize this blessing as the first giving of the Great Commission. In Matthew 28, Jesus tells His disciples to "go and make disciples of all nations". Adam and Eve were the first worshippers and they were to fill the Earth with worshippers. We know their story, it's very familiar to all of us. Because of their disobedience, they were cast out of the garden; but, also, they could no longer fill the Earth with true worshippers as God intended when giving this command.
Lastly, God commanded man to subdue the Earth and have dominion over the animal kingdom. While the blessing gave mankind privilege, it also carried responsibility as well. God expects us to be caretakers over His creation. The well-being of the animals was entrusted to Adam first, then to Noah in the flood narrative. We are to take care of, not destroy, creation. But, here is where the rubber meets the road folks.
What was the result of sin for animal life in the garden? What about in Noah's day? The animal kingdom suffered for the sins of man. Why did God do that? As a harsh reminder that your sin has consequence. It never affects you alone. You may bear the brunt of the consequences of poor decisions or willful rebellion; but, others will be affected by those poor decisions as well. Here's the fact of the matter, Adam and Eve were banished from paradise because of one sin; just one sin. And humanity was changed from that day forward. Sin is serious and God takes it seriously. So here's the take away for us today, what are you guilty of today?
When Adam and Eve fell from Grace in the garden, God had made provision. Had they not disobeyed, all the families of the Earth would have been blessed through them. But they did disobey and God had already made a way. That's why He could tell Abram that all the families of the Earth would be blessed through him because that is the lineage of our Saviour. And one day, the Earth will be filled with true worshippers just as God intended. It doesn't matter what your sin is, God has an answer for it. The answer is Jesus Christ.
A Broken Stradivarius
One of the greatest ambitions of any violinist is to play a Stradivarius. Meticulously handcrafted by Antonio Stradivari these very rare violins produce an unrivaled sound. So you can imagine the excitement of acclaimed British violinist Peter Cropper when, in 1981 London’s Royal Academy of Music offered him a 258 year old Stradivarius for a series of concerts. But then the unimaginable. As Peter entered the stage he tripped, landed on top of the violin and snapped the neck off. I can’t even begin to imagine how Peter Cropper felt at that moment. A priceless masterpiece destroyed! Cropper was inconsolable. He took the violin to a master craftsman in the vain hope he might be able to repair it. And repair it he did. So perfect was the repair that the break was undetectable, and, more importantly, the sound was exquisite. The Academy was most gracious and allowed him to continue using the Stradivarius. And so night after night, as Peter drew his bow across those string, Peter was reminded of the fact that what he once thought irreparably damaged had been fully restored by the hand of a Master craftsman.