Specifics of Day Six

Time

Quality and Quantity

Sara and I just got back from vacation. We do this every May.

B/C, things are about to get crazy. Summer time is a ton of fun, we love seeing everyone come up, but that means we get busy!

My first summer here, 7 years ago, I started June 1, I didn’t take a day off until after Labor Day.

My bad. But, I there was a learning curve. I needed to work

But, since, I have recommitted to time off w/ Sara almost every week.

The time is important b/c my relationship w/ her is important.

Many of you get this. That’s why you’re up here for the summer.

Yes, to get out of the heat. But you’re here to spend time hiking, golfing, RZR’ering, Reading on your deck, birding, restauranting, whatever else you do for fun and whomever you do it w/ b/c they are important to you.

Now, 2 services started. Just like if you come to our house for dinner, or desserts, we’ll put out more chairs b/c we want more ppl to feel welcome. We do that here. We can only put out so many chairs, but we can do this service twice. We want to make room and make more of our friends and neighbors to feel welcome.

VBS next week. The Luau. Rough Riders. Bible studies, breakfasts, fellowship gatherings, and here we go.

We love it. But if we’re not careful, while we are doing all this other important stuff, some of the most important can get lost.

This was my annual golf weekend. I’ve been friends w/ the core group of these guys for 40 years. We go back to the singles class at NW Bible church in Dallas.

That’s where Sara and I met and were married. All of us guys played softball together, golf, attended each others’ weddings, and were there for the births of our first kids.

We’ve been doing this golf trip for 30 years. Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head, Destin, Fripp Island, San Antonio, PHX, Hot Springs Village this time.

This is a group who, when we get together, we pick up right where we left off. In some cases, nothing has changed. In others, we hear about the changes.

One guy’s son just got married 2 weeks ago. Another guy had to cancel at the last minute b/c he was diagnosed w/ prostate cancer for the 3rd time. We are that age. Making these times even more important.

We get together and tell all the same stories, they’re still funny, about softball games and golf adventures. We laugh. it’s a good time.

A long weekend, Thursday - Monday, beautiful golf courses, a nice Vrbo, The golf game not so great. My dream of making the senior golf tour is fading fast.

I quantity of quality time.

Sara, meanwhile, flew up to NW AR to visit our son and his family. She was there while I was playing golf, getting some quality Leelee time w/ the grands, our son and his wife.

I took her to Sky Harbor 2 weeks ago. Then, after my golf, I drove up there, spent a couple of nights w/ the family, then Sara and I drove back. We got home Thursday.

Whatever else goes on in your life, your job/career, you health, finances, hobbies, etc. the ppl in your life are the most important.

More stuff is great. But a stronger bond w/ the ppl you love is greater.

The relationships you have with the ppl you love need a quantity of quality time.

We all learn this, sometimes the hard way. We have to have a plan.

Make the time and take the time with the people who are most important to us.

This is Genesis ch. 2.

I finished up ch.1, the first week and creation a couple of weeks ago. Day 6 God created the animals, then Adam and Eve.

Ch.2 gets into the details and a couple of important lessons regarding the relationships we have w/ the most important ppl we have.

In Adam and Eve’s case, it was the only ppl in their life. And God.

Time

Genesis 2:2–3 NIV

By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

On the 7th day, God rested. He wasn’t tired.

If I had worked like this for 6 days, I’d be exhausted. I’d sleep all day and wake up sore. All that dirt work.

God wasn’t tired. He still had plenty in the tank.

Yes, He rested from His work. But on the 7th day, He went to work on His relationships.

That’s the point of the Sabbath.

We could work more. Make more money. Be wealthier. But there is something more important than having more. That’s the ppl we have in our lives.

God had just created Adam and Eve. He wanted to spend the day w/ them in the Garden.

Like hiking thru the forest w/ your spouse and friends. Enjoying creation.

The Sabbath was never about a lack of exertion. It was always about working on the most important relationships you have.

Begin w/ a worship service and your relationship w/ God.

Then, get to work w/ the ppl. Whatever your friends and family do to strengthen the bond, do that.

By the time Jesus showed up on the scene, the laws were ridiculous. No plucking gray hairs, no moving furniture.

There was a max distance you could walk. A Sabbath Day’s journey. It was about a half mile. They thought the Sabbath was about limiting exertion.

No. It’s not about not working. It’s about working on your relationships, whatever that looks like.

So, God intentionally planned it. Make the time and take the time.

And the most important things He created that He wanted the time w/, were Adam and Eve.

Priority

Genesis 2:5–7 NIV

Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

This isn’t a separate story. These are the specifics of day 6.

Plants were created on day 3. But, was planning for Adam before planing the plants. This was not just off the top of his head.

Before day 3, during days 4 and 5, He was prepping his work for day 6. All part of the plan.

It didn’t rain on the earth until Noah and the flood. That’s one of the reasons everyone else though Noah was crazy. Water from the sky. Whatever. Different climate environment.

Adam’s job will be to tend the garden, including digging irrigation trenches. There were water sources. But he would have to do the work to get the water to the plants.

So, God planned the work.

Sara laid out the plan for her garden in March. Drew it up. What is getting planet where, and when. She planted her plants that can w/stand a light freeze before she left. The rest will get planted in June.

Her watering system is set up. It all has to be planned. You gardeners know this.

Be like Jesus. Plan your garden.

I talked about this last time. Adam, in Hebrew, means mankind. All people. It is only mildly gender specific. It is broader than just the males. Mankind has 2 genders, males and females, as God created us.

Adamah is the Hebrew word for ground. Adam came from adamah. We are linked to creation b/c Adam was created from the stuff that God created first, dirt. We came from dirt. We will return to the dirt.

Adam received something the rest of the animals did not.

God breathed into Adam the breath of life. Or, literally, the breath of lives, plural.

It’s not that the animals don’t breath oxygen. The importance is in the oxygen God breathed into Adam.

Lives is plural in the Hebrew. Plural, representing the Trinity. 1 God, 3 persons, plural. But, also, representing all mankind including everything Eve is going to get.

Adam got it all. I’ll explain more in a minute. But Adam, before the Fall, had the ability to do everything he needed to do w/out help.

That changed w/ Eve.

The animals didn’t get this breath. We didn’t evolve from animals. We got something different, special. And b/c of what we rec’d from God, we are capable of a special relationship w/ him that the animals are not.

There is a NT parallel to this. After the fall, we are dead, separated from God, incapable of this relationship. When we come to faith in X, the HS breathes something similar into us when He baptizes us.

Once again, we get the breath of life.

Adam was formed by the Lord God.

An important title for God, someone asked me last time. This is the God of the covenant. The same God that makes all the promises w/ us and keeps them.

Jesus, spoke everything into existence. He is the Lord God of the new covenant we have, promising us salvation if we believe in Him.

The word formed, is the the work of an artist, a sculptor who produces artwork.

You are a piece of work, a piece of art that God created. He planned you out, put you together, and placed you here. If you insult the art, then you’ve insulted the artist.

This is the special relationship that is possible w/ God.

And, like all relationships, there are boundaries.

Boundaries

Genesis 2:8–9 NIV

Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 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.

Then,...

Genesis 2:15–17 NIV

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

I spray the weeds and wild sucker oak trees on our lot. I’ve tried pulling them. But the roots run together and too deep. So, I just spray them. Kill them.

They are a fire hazard. We trim the limbs and clear the ground.

Sara won’t let me spray anything on the ground w/in 15’ of her garden. That is a clear boundary in our relationship.

We don’t hit each other. We don’t insult each other. No criticizing each other behind our backs, and no spraying weed killer w/in 15’.

That’s our formula to a successful marriage.

God created all kinds of trees and shrubs w/ good fruit. You know fruit forms above ground and vegetables form underground.

Why tomatoes are considered a fruit, but taste more like a vegetable.

Beautiful fruits and veggies. And, God gave Adam a job.

A job is a gift from God. A purpose. A reason to get up and go. The satisfaction of a job well done. God wired us to be healthier when we work.

Adam wasn’t supposed to sit around idle. It was good for him to work. The work was not stressful. But it req’d exertion.

After the Fall, work became a toil. More on that next week.

We may think on some level how great it would be to win the lottery and not have to do anything. But, many of you have learned that when you retire, live off your savings, you need to find something to do. A real time-sucker.

Volunteer, garden, something. We need it.

There is an entire doctrine developed around the importance of work. It destroys us to sit around and do nothing.

So, Adam had a job to do and he could benefit from the work by eating anything he found on these plants. Except 1.

There was 1 rule. 1 boundary God placed in front of him.

And the trees would become a test for Adam and Eve. Would they live in faithful humble obedience? Or, would they rebel?

2 special trees, right in the middle of the Garden, close together. Eat from the one that he could and he’d see the beautiful fruit on the one he couldn’t.

We don’t know exactly what the fruit was on these trees. And, whatever fruit it was, the consequence was both literal and symbolic.

For instance, the tree of life. The fruit didn’t keep them alive. God did. This was what would prevent their bodies from wearing out, expiring. No fruit can do that.

But, they would be blessed if they lived faithful, humble, and obedient lives.

Blessed for his humble obedience for eating everything in the Garden except from that 1 tree.

If they arrogantly rebelled, crossed the boundary, ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, there’d be consequences w/ God.

The fruit didn’t cause them to die. Remember, the definition of death in the bible is separation from God. God is not in Hell. That’s eternal separation.

Prideful disobedience damages our rel w/ God by creating a distance between us. The most important relationship we can have. And the consequences of our choices keep in close or push God away.

The fruit didn’t kill them. Their pride did. Their poor choice did.

More on all this next week.

For now there’s a boundary. And Adam has a lot to learn. One of the things he needs to learn, beginning this first day of his life, is his need of companionship.

Created in God’s image and in need of close companionship that no pet could provide.

Companionship

Genesis 2:18–20 NIV

The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals. But for Adam no suitable helper was found.

We love our pets. Jack is wonderful company when Sara is traveling. She goes to Tucson to see her dad about every month.

But, as nice as Jack is, he can’t fix me lunch.

Adam was alone, his first day, and he didn’t know yet what was missing from his life.

Adam was thinking the Garden was perfect, things to do, the animals were good company, but something important was missing.

So God brought the animals to him. He didn’t bring all of them. No fish and no creepy crawly things. Just the birds, livestock, and wild animals.

Adam got to name them. His unfallen brain and everything he got when God breathed into him allowed him to accomplish this task before the end of the day.

We don’t know how many animals it was. But we know it was enough to realize there were pairs of all of them but he had no pairing and none of them would do for him what they did for ea other.

Naming them was an act of dominion. When parents name their children it is an act of authority. So Adam is beginning to fulfill his assignment from God. And at the same time learning what was lacking.

God could have taken another clod of dirt and created Eve. That would have made her a completely separate being. He didn’t do that. He took something away from Adam and in that created the situation where they needed each other from then on.

Companionship is very important. But there is a cost.

The Cost

Genesis 2:21–25 NIV

So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

It cost Adam a rib.

It would make a great illustration to say that men have one fewer rib than women. But, that’s not true.

If a person loses a finger or an arm in an accident, then has kids, those kids are born w/ 10 fingers and 2 arms.

But, for Adam it was more than a rib. The rib was both literal and symbolic.

Adam came from the ground. But Eve came from him.

We are linked to one another. Relationships are not as disposable as we treat them.

When Adam gave up what God used to make Eve, would have created problems for him to name all the animals in 1 day by himself.

Not only did Eve bring the reproductive organs, she brought the thought process and personality that he gave up.

When making big decisions input from others is important. Sometimes we have to do it alone. But asking for input is not a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength and wisdom.

Adam didn’t need to prior to Eve. Now, he’s lacking some of what he had before. But, what he gained filled a greater need that had been lacking.

They were naked and unashamed. Adultery was not an issue. Not b/c there were not other ppl around to look at. It wouldn’t have been even if there were. They didn’t have that knowledge, yet.

When they get that knowledge, the problems will compound.

Most of our arguments between husbands and wives are about how we are different.

I am God’s standard for mankind, when you become more like me you’ll finally be mature. In the meantime, just do everything my way and we’ll get along just fine.

The problem is, we all think that way.

We view our differences and liabilities. But, from the Garden, our differences are intended to be assets.

We should invite input for the bigger decisions we make from ppl who don’t think like us. The most important person that could be might be sitting next to you this morning.

From the beginning of this day, God intentionally planned to make the time and take the time to work on his most important relationships.

We should follow that example, especially now.

We have got to work to maintain these relationships b/c we need the companionship and investment in our lives.

The Fall complicated everything and compounded our problems. So we need to work even harder on these things.

We work on our relationship w/ God and work on our relationships w/ ea other by committing a quantity of quality time to make it happen.

Applications

Art

You are a piece of work. Artwork, that is. By God.

Your self-image should not be based on what you think of yourself or what others think of you. It should be based on what God thinks of you.

Do you need to reset what you think when you look in the mirror?

Consider yourself a work of art by the Master sculptor.

Assets

Most of our arguments come when we are being selfish and see our differences as liabilities.

Change your perspective. See the differences in the ppl around you as assets and invite them to use those assets to help you make better decisions.

Time

Your job, money, health, hobbies are all important. But none are more important than the relationships you have w/ God and the ppl closest to you.

Plan, intend for a greater quantity of quality time and work on these relationships.

We are created in God’s image. We need close companionship.

These take time.

Don’t rest. Go to work and do something this afternoon to improve at least one of the important relationships you have.

We have got to work to maintain these relationships b/c we need the companionship and investment in our lives.

The Fall complicated everything and compounded our problems. So we need to work even harder on these things.

Whatever else goes on in your life, your job/career, you health, finances, hobbies, etc. the ppl in your life are the most important.

More stuff is great. But a stronger bond w/ the ppl you love is greater.

The relationships you have with the ppl you love need a quantity of quality time.

We all learn this, sometimes the hard way. We have to have a plan.

Make the time and take the time with the people who are most important to us.