Sermon Tone Analysis

Genesis 2:1-17

Opening of the chapter is the closing of the Creation account

God looks back upon the work and He proclaims that it was very good

God rested form His work

Meaning, He stopped the act of Creation

His part was complete

The boundaries have been determined.

in this verses there is a perceived contradiction

There are people who will argue that the Bible contradicts itself

Scoffers

This is one of the instances that people will point out.

They will say that, God already created plants in Gen. 1:11 but now the text says there were plants.

God created plants on Day 3

2 things are happening

there is no contradiction, just inadequate understanding on the scoffers

Genesis chapter 2 is somewhat of a summary of Chapter one.

Chapter 2 gives more detail to some of the events in chapter 1

No contradiction, just more detail.

The other things is, in verse 2:5, God says that there was no shrub or plant of the field.

This is a qualifier of what type of plant

You may have noticed that the text states, no shrub or plant of the field had sprouted.

God not talking generally about vegetation

He is talking about cultivated farming

(sa-de(h)): a cultivated area for growing things.

שָׂדֶה (śā·ḏě(h)): n.masc.; ≡ Str 7704; TWOT 2236a, 2236b—1.

LN 1.95–1.98

field, i.e., a cultivated area for growing things

No contradiction

God is giving more detail

At the end of verse 5, God says that there was no man yet to cultivated the ground

The word cultivate means to work the ground

In this verse God is giving mankind responsibility

God is instructing humanity to participate in expanding the garden

During the Creation account God spoke order into chaos

He was giving definition to Creation

When God was finished, He looked at His work and said it was very good.

The reality of creating order in chaos was good.

That is what God does.

He brings peace in the things that are submitted to Him.

In chapter 2, God includes humanity in this process of bringing order to chaos.

God designed us to carry forth His work.

No man had been created to cultivate, work, the ground.

To expand order

To extend God’s authority

2. Our job, as His people, is to expand the garden.

God did not stop creating order

God does not need us

God wants us to walk alongside of Him

God wants us to participate in faith

He wants us to walk in the authority of Jesus Christ to establish order

He wants to bring order in our lives

He wants us to be a testimony of order for others

This is the hope of the church

This is the hope that the church can give to the world.

The world is in disorder

The church has an opportunity to bring peace

This is the most exciting time

We often suffer from pessimism

Woe is me, the church, faith is fading

Leave this for now, we are going to come back to this thought later

God formed man, Adam out of the dust of the ground

3. God formed mankind in His own hands.

He did not just speak humanity into existence

We are so special to Him that He took the care to create us in His own grasp

He held Adam in His

The first sight Adam beheld was that of the face of God

Explain working with clay

Painting or drawing there is a tool that separates the artist from the art

With clay, no tool

There is no separation between the Creator and the created

God took care in creating His children

He held Adam in the palm of His hands and breathed into him the breath of life.

God holds you in the palm of His hands

4. God speaks words of life over you.

He offers you hope

He offers you peace because He loves you

He cares for you

This is our promise

He will never leave nor forsake us, because we are His

Point of clarification for the Scoffers

People who argue that we are evolved primates

In verse 7 that myth can be refuted by a simple word study

The text says that man became a living being.

Living being in Hebrew is the word:

5883 נֶפֶשׁ (ně·p̄ěš): n.fem.; ≡ Str 5315; TWOT 1395a—1.

LN 4 creature, being, i.e., an animal of any kind, as a living thing in creation (Ge 1:20); 2. LN 26 heart, the inner self, i.e., the essence of life, including thinking, feeling, willing, desiring (Ge 34:3); 3. LN 23.88–23.128

life, i.e., that animate part of a person existing until the state of death (1Sa 19:11); 4. LN 9.1–9.23 person, i.e., a human being as a living person

All living organisms have nephesh

We share this commonality with all life

Biology is relative to the environment

God created the environment, designing life to thrive

The beauty of God’s creative process is that He can create such diverse life

Creation museum example of the skeletons

Brevity is the soul of wit

From Hamlet

This means that a sign of intelligence is the ability to express something using the least amount of words

A good writer or speaker can get an important point across by saying very little

God, in His ultimate wisdom, created an environment that can support an incredible diversity of life using the same mechanisms

Brevity is the soul of wit

I say this knowing that I am going to stand up here and talk for about a half hour