The Glorious Beginning of Man (Genesis 2:4-25)
The Glorious Beginning of Man
Genesis 2:4-25
November 17, 2013
Well we’ve began a study of the book of Genesis.
And we spent the last two weeks looking at “The God of Creation”
After seeing that “God created the heavens and the earth”
There is no reason to ever worship or fear any other god.
Israel’s God is God.
And that is a fitting opening to Scripture.
But as I told you this is more than just a historical lesson.
Moses has a theological point to make.
We called this – THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MOSES
And it is actually the gospel message that begins here.
The key to this section of Scripture can be found stated in verse 4
“This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created,”
Again, some of have read this and taken issue saying,
“Well God just created everything in chapter 1, why are we talking about creation again?”
This isn’t a second creation.
This is a whole new point Moses is making.
Chapters 2-11 actually begin a new section in the book of Genesis.
It would be titled “What Became of God’s Creation?”
Obviously we ended last week seeing that everything was good.
Genesis 1:31 “God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.”
In fact, everything was so good
That God saw that nothing else needed to be done and He rested.
It was finished.
No tweaking was needed.
But Moses is preaching to a congregation
Who just survived 400 years of slavery in Egypt.
And now they were wondering in the wilderness.
The story Moses told in chapter 1 must have seemed a little far-fetched
The children of Israel could open their eyes and look around
And see that creation was anything but good.
• How many times did they grumble due to lack of water?
• How many times did they grumble due to lack of food?
• Now they deal with the sun and its burning heat…
• Now they deal with snakes biting them from the sand…
The obvious question after reading chapter 1 is, “What happened?”
Hebrews 2:8 “YOU HAVE PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET.” For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him.”
Obviously something happened between Genesis 1 and Exodus 12
Moses sets to reveal that truth exactly.
Here we begin the account of what became of God’s perfect creation.
Now I certainly don’t want to kill the suspense,
But you and I already know what happened.
We call it “The Fall”
Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned”
Romans 8:20a “For the creation was subjected to futility…”
We know the story that is recorded in chapter 3
We’ll look at it closer next week
• But we know about the serpent and how he deceived Eve, and how Adam
chose to transgress the command of God.
• We know how when sin entered, their eyes were opened, and spiritual death
was a reality.
• We know how the consequences of that sin was the curse upon the earth.
But before we get to that story
It is very important that Moses make a point.
The point that Moses makes in chapter 2 is this:
WHEN MAN FELL INTO SIN,
IT WAS NOT GOD’S FAULT, IT WAS MAN’S.
By the time we end chapter 3 Adam and Eve will be covered in skins, sunken in shame, walking out of the garden of Eden.
When we get to chapter 4 we have murder, adultery, and despair.
When we get to chapter 5 we get death
When we get to chapter 6 we get sin so out of control that God makes a decision to flood the entire earth
Things are going south in a hurry.
But it is important for you to know who bears the blame for this.
The fall of man and the entrance of sin was no one’s fault but man.
James 1:14 “But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.”
Matthew 15:19 “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.”
Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?”
It is the wicked heart of man that lusts and is enticed and that fell into sin.
The fall of man was NOT:
• Due to difficult circumstances
• Due to extreme expectations
• Due to genetic deficiency
• Due to ignorance of danger
• Due to lack of help
Now when man did fall he tried several excuses
And attempted to pass the blame, but it was totally unwarranted.
I’ve always like what Paul said in Romans 7
As he explained the issue of bad decisions in his own life.
Romans 7:20 “But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.”
When Paul looked at the failures in his life
He could only blame one person, himself.
Today people love to blame their sin on everyone else.
• Poor circumstances led to irrational behavior…
• Unreasonable expectations just couldn’t be met…
• My parents raised me wrong, or contributed genetically to may flaws…
• No one told me otherwise
And Moses knew the same was true in his day.
The children of Israel would be all too eager
To blame their sin on someone else.
SO MOSES’ OPENING POINT IS THAT A MAN’S SIN
IS NO ONE’S FAULT BUT HIS OWN.
And in order to prove that point
Moses sets out to show you the tremendously advantageous position that Adam found himself in here.
It all starts here in chapter 2 looking at man’s glorious beginning.
There are three things I want you to see in this chapter
As we see all God did to give man every advantage he could have asked for.
#1 THE EARTH GETS A KEEPER
Genesis 2:4-15
As I told you at the outset, “This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made earth and heaven.”
Moses is here telling you what became of God’s creation.
And you will notice that Moses takes us back to day 3 of creation.
Genesis 1:9-13 “Then God said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them”; and it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning, a third day.”
So obviously here in verses 5 & 6 we are somewhere in the middle of day 3.
“Now no shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground. But a mist used to rise from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground.”
God had created the plants and the trees,
But even in this God could see a lack of completion.
All He had done was good, but even He knew that it was not yet finished.
• We have ground with no plants
• We have land with no rain
• And worst of all we have the potential for crops, but no one to cultivate them.
And this reality is what pushes us toward the creation of man.
And just in that very truth a reality begins to sit in.
Man wasn’t made for creation, creation was made for man.
Creation without man was pointless and useless.
It was here for man.
What good are plants and fruit trees with no one to eat them?
So we fast forward to day 6
(7) “Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.”
So God made man.
• We already learned that he was made in God’s image.
• Here we find that he became “a living being (soul)”
Of all of God’s creatures,
Only man had the capacity to fellowship with God.
Only man could commune with Him.
It is worth pointing out that man lost that right at the fall.
Man died spiritually, and now that fellowship is only restored through Christ
And the spiritual life supplied by the Holy Spirit
But God created man to rule His creation.
And what we notice next is that God gave man a glorious place to dwell.
(8-9) “The LORD God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed. Out of the ground the LORD God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”
Man wasn’t put in some dump
Where he would be forced to scratch out a living
And tempted at every turn to go after something better.
Man was placed in paradise.
He had every imaginable comfort.
Yes Adam was the keeper of garden, but one could hardly call it labor.
That garden was wonderful.
It grew fruit like my yard grows weeds.
It was natural, it was prosperous, it was wonderful.
You’ll even notice that God not only provided for day to day sustenance, but also never ending life.
For God placed there “the tree of life also in the midst of the garden,”
If you want a picture of the blessing of this land look at verses 10-14
(10-14) “Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four rivers. The name of the first is Pishon; it flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. The gold of that land is good; the bdellium and the onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is Gihon; it flows around the whole land of Cush. The name of the third river is Tigris; it flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.”
Each of these rivers were rivers that the children of Israel
Would have known full well about.
• They were major rivers
• They were vitally important to the ecosystem of their world
• Life flowed from these rivers
And yet you will notice that every one of these rivers
Had its headwaters in the garden of Eden.
THIS WAS AN EASY PLACE TO LIVE
The Earth gets a Keeper
#2 THE GARDEN GETS SOME ORDER
Genesis 2:16-17
Here we find two very interesting verses.
Adam was in a truly wonderful place.
Everything Adam saw was his for the taking, save one thing.
(16-17) “The LORD God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”
From the very outset of creation God has given man a choice to make.
Look, I enjoy studying the sovereignty of God as much as the next guy.
I love the truths of foreknowledge and election and predestination.
But anyone who takes those truths so far as to deny that man has a choice to make is simply not reading their Bible.
God gave man a choice before the 6th day of creation was over.
Woman hasn’t even been created yet, and already man has a choice.
Now, let’s be fair about this.
God gave him a choice
But also was very clear on what he should choose.
Adam can’t claim ignorance
Here in a few days when he eats from that tree.
God told him as clearly and specifically as it could be done.
“from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”
God didn’t take the tree away,
But he did specifically tell him what to do with it.
Adam was in a very advantageous spot,
But Adam still had a moral responsibility.
Adam still had to choose to love God
And to display that love through obedience.
Now this is a tremendous lesson for Israel right from the start.
Their entire life would be about making the right choice.
In fact in the last book Moses wrote to them he said:
Deuteronomy 30:19-20 “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”
This truth in Genesis is a very real and valid reminder for us all.
God has given us all clear commands that we are to obey.
He doesn’t do that to harm us, He does it to protect us.
And if we choose to disobey the consequences are always severe.
Can’t you see Israel walking away from the Promised Land, having refused to obey the Lord, remembering again this sermon about Adam making the wrong choice?
We are reminded of that often revealed truth that
Obedience brings blessing and disobedience brings a curse.
Adam had the blessed life, all he had to do was choose to obey God and his life would always be that way.
God is giving Adam the choice.
He gives you that choice as well.
You have to choose whether or not you are going to obey God or not.
You have to choose whether or not you are going to trust God’s commands.
That decision has been here since the beginning.
The Earth gets a Keeper, The Garden gets some Order
#3 MAN GETS A HELPER
Genesis 2:18-25
We could make the case that man was in paradise
And had absolutely everything he ever needed.
But that just wasn’t true.
Man had a wonderful garden, but man was alone.
(18) “Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.”
See man has everything he needs, but he has no helper.
He still might claim that the battle against sin
Was too difficult to fight by yourself.
God is removing every possible excuse.
And God creates a helper.
(19) “Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.”
We call this “helper tryouts”
And again we see man as the pinnacle in God’s creation.
• Man has dominion
• Man is at the top
• He is even given naming rights to all the animals
And Adam spoke with authority.
“whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name”
It was a done deal.
Adam is in charge.
(20) “The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.”
So man names them all
They are all in subjection to him
Adam is ruling creation
But none of them are a suitable helper
And incidentally, don’t take the word “helper” here as a derogatory term.
I know the women’s liberation movement of our day would take extreme offense to calling the woman a “helper” to man.
But Scripture does not use that term in a derogative sense.
Scripture actually uses that term to describe God.
Psalms 33:20 “Our soul waits for the LORD; He is our help and our shield.”
Psalms 46:1 “God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.”
Psalms 70:5 “But I am afflicted and needy; Hasten to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer; O LORD, do not delay.”
Psalms 115:9 “O Israel, trust in the LORD; He is their help and their shield.”
If you will remember, Jesus was our helper, and when He had to leave, what did He say?
John 14:16 “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;”
So don’t look at the search for a helper as minor or minimal thing.
This was a big deal.
This was a necessary thing.
And since no animal was a suitable helper to Adam…
(21-23) “So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and 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, Because she was taken out of Man.”
So out of a rib from Adam’s side came his help mate.
The woman Eve was created.
• She was not his servant
• She was not his hired hand
• She was “bone of [his] bones, and flesh of [his] flesh”
And with this woman,
Adam would form the deepest possible human relationship there was.
For her he would forsake every other earthly relationship.
She would be one flesh with him.
And this is precisely the point Moses makes.
You may notice that Moses takes the opportunity
To use verse 24 as a little mini sermon.
(24) “For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.”
Obviously as it pertains to the story of creation
That verse is a little out of place since Adam had no father or mother to leave, and they had no children yet that this would have referred to.
This was Moses directly applying this reality to the lives of Israel.
Moses was pointing out that from the beginning
God made them male and female and that God intended
For that relationship to be the pinnacle human relationship.
• A man would “leave his father and his mother”, but he was never to leave his wife.
• He was to “become one flesh” with her.
• She is his helper
• She is his suitable mate
• She is the one whom God intended for Adam to walk side by side through this life with.
She would be the one who should help him in his toil
She would be the one who should help him in his decisions
With Eve, Adam now had everything he could possible need or want.
And if you want to see the perfection of the relationship
We look at verse 25.
(25) “And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.”
They had total intimacy
They had total trust
They had total comfort with one another
There was no fear of abuse
There was no fear of exploitation
• It was not until sin entered the world that Adam would become a
chauvinist and have to be commanded to love his wife.
• It was not until sin entered the world that Even would become a
feminist and have to be commanded to submit to her husband.
Sin messed up the relationship, but in the beginning it was perfect.
And that is the point to chapter 2.
• Adam has been given everything he could possibly need or want.
• There was nothing more that God needed to do.
• All that was left was for Adam to trust and obey.
And when the fall happens in chapter 3,
There is no possible way to blame it on God
For not giving Adam every possible chance to succeed.
What more could he have wanted?
• Every need met…
• Every desire satisfied…
• Perfect comfort…
God had set Adam up to succeed.
It reminds me of that tragic story of the vineyard in Isaiah 5.
TURN TO: ISAIAH 5:1-7
And verse 4 there is the same question
We would ask of God here in Genesis chapter 2.
“What more was there to do for My vineyard that I have not done in it?”
Could God have done any more for the garden
To have made it a place where Adam could succeed?
Absolutely not, God did it all.
SO WHEN YOU SEE THE FALL IN CHAPTER 3,
KNOW THAT SIN IS NOT AN ISSUE OF GOD’S FAILURE,
OR OF POOR CIRCUMSTANCES.
Man sins because he is sinful.
Man chooses evil because his heart is corrupt.
Every single sin you’ve ever committed was your fault.
Not your circumstances…
Not your parents…
It was simply your fault.
However it was God who even though you were a wilful sinner, chose to redeem you.
Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
2 Corinthians 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
That is the work of God.
Remember, He redeems what is broken and waste and futile.
God is in the business of saving sinners, not pushing them into it.
He gave Adam every chance to succeed.
And let me say He has done the same for you.
• No, you are not in the garden of Eden
• No, you may not live in paradise
However, God specifically created you and placed you where He did so that you would see Him, and come to know Him.
Remember a couple of weeks ago when we heard what Paul said about the Creator God in Athens?
Acts 17:26-27 “and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;”
That is God at work.
He created you and purposely placed you when and where He did.
Just as He put Adam in the garden,
So He put you in this day and in this place.
It is not accidental.
God is also giving you every opportunity to choose Him.
But He won’t force the decision.
You have to choose.
• That was the message to Adam
• That was Moses’ message to the children of Israel
• And that is the message to each of us today
We have to choose whether or not
We will trust and obey this God who has given us life.
