Most Favored of Creation Genesis 2

Sermon Nuggets week of March 12, 2012 -Most Favored of Creation

(some of the thoughts also came from various sources I read for study)

Verse- Gen 2

Sermon Nuggets Mon March 12 – Most Favored of Creation

Verses Gen 2:    But for Adam no suitable helper was found. ²¹ 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. ²² Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

             ²³ 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.”

Most Favored of Creation      

We began the series on Genesis a couple of weeks ago looking at how God introduces himself and his character through the creation story. Last week we looked at how the creation was presented as a matter of fulfillment and a matter of filling. “The earth was without form and void and darkness covered the face of the deep.” After God spoke we see the first three days God giving the creation form and the last three days how he took the void and filled it. Light from darkness day one was filled with sun, moon and stars day four. Seas from the firmament or heavens were later filled with fish, birds and insects; When the land was divided from the seas and vegetation appeared, God then filled it with all kinds of animals and lastly man.

            Not only was creation was a matter of forming and a matter of filling. Creation was a matter of fulfillment. God saw all that he created and it was very good and he rested. He completed his task. After man was created the work of the first creation was finished.

God called the seventh day a day of rest, a day holy unto God. The heart of the meaning of Sabbath is rest. When we have been working hard and are weary and tired we need rest in order to restore our strength. But He had done all he intended to do.

As we mentioned previously to understand that Jewish Sabbath is to see it as a shadow, a picture of that rest. All the Old Testament shadows pointed to Christ. When the Lord came, and his work was ended at the cross He made possible the true fulfillment of God's intention in the Sabbath. The weekly Sabbath ended at the cross.

Paul write. In  Col 2:16, “Because of the work on the cross let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.”

  The Sabbath was observed when Moses initiated it in the law as a remembrance of the completed works of God.  That is what the true Sabbath is, to cease from your own labors, your own efforts, your own activity; to cease from your own works and depend on the work of God. For just as the creation has God forming and filling so in our lives he formed us and now by his grace fills us with his Holy Spirit and we are then living in his rest and fulfillment for all eternity.

God Himself is the divine provision to produce fruitfulness and abundance of victory in a Christian's life. Jesus did God’ work He was being crucified for your sins and mine, only then He was absolutely certain that His work of redemption was complete did he say these word in the hearing of all who were at the foot of the cross, “It is finished.”

             As we continue with Chapter 2 we look not so much at the panorama of creation, but focus on the details about his most favorite of creation- mankind and how he blesses us.

              Why do we delight so in babies? Why do our hearts go out to those little ones born into our homes? They are in our image. They are part of us.

            In all of creation the special creation of mankind was displayed because God decided to create something in His own image. We have been the attention of the love of God ever since.

            But even after creation was completed and life on earth was in harmony with nature and God, there was still one more thing to do. It was to find a helper fit for man. God provided a most unusual birth. A man gave birth to a wife. She came formed from his rib. Bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. There is no  stronger relationship mankind has on earth than husband and wife and from this union comes baby “creations”.

Children are in the image of their parents in more ways than physically. The offspring of God continues and His favor rests on humankind who reflect the image of the most High. We are the most favored of creation.

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Tues March 13 Worship

Verses-Gen 1:  ²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

 ²⁷ So God created mankind in his own image,
   in the image of God he created them;
   male and female he created them.

Gen 2:7 . ⁷ 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.

The  Blessing of Worship

            Perhaps the area where the evolutionary theories fall most short of the facts is when attention is given to mankind. The gap between the most advanced and developed animals and mammals is so vastly different than mankind a person has to remain purposely blind to miss it. It is a rare situation indeed with hours of training by humans to make a gorilla learn some simple sign language, or an animal to play an instrument. It takes weeks and months and years for man to train and teach animals some tricks for our entertainment and our appreciation. But each new animal must be taught by man. Whatever the animals learn they do not pass it on except in the simplest of ways to offspring, if it was not part of their natural instincts.  Only man does that.

The ability to communicate not just survival skills, but ideas, and philosophy, theory and culture is unique to mankind. To create music, art, literature, drama, language of various sorts is unique to mankind. To apply and learn and grow from those who go before us to advance in science, in physics, in invention and creativity is indeed remarkable. Take any culture, even the most primitive ignorant group, and there are values, faith, and the worship of some god or gods. This is unique only to mankind. The examples go on and on.

            Why? Because there was something different about the creation of mankind than any other creature. We have been given the breath of life and man became a living soul. We have been created in the image of God. All of creation displays God’s glory, but none can respond with heart and soul as mankind. We have been blessed because we have been given the ability to reflect our creator in his image and worship Him.

A group of scientists got together and decided that man no longer needed God. They have come to the point of cloning people and reproducing life. God said “Okay let’s have a contest and start from scratch.” The scientists agreed and got a bunch of dirt, and God said, “Oh no. You have to come up with your own dirt.”

            When God created us he also formed us and filled us. He took the dust from which the earth was created and provided form and then gave us the divine kiss. Man is a combination of spirit from God and dust from the earth. In us, something spiritual, immaterial and immortal from heaven is joined together in unity with something physical, material and mortal from the earth. There is no other hybrid creature in the universe like man! God, angels and demons are all purely spiritual. Rocks, plants and animals are all purely physical. Think of it: you are both a hunk of clay from earth and an immortal spirit from heaven. You are the genealogical offspring of heaven and earth.

If you knew Hebrew you would also notice also in verse 4, a new name for our Creator has been added. Previously, only the word "God" (Elohim) was used. Now, a new name, "LORD" (Yahweh) is also used. A study of these words throughout the Old Testament reveals that each name emphasizes a different aspect of God's character. The name God, or Elohim, is used to describe a universal, far off majestic, powerful Creator. God is introducing Himself as powerful in relationship to the universe. The name LORD, or YHWH (Yahweh), is used to describe a personal, close, caring, covenant-keeping Redeemer. This describes the relationship that our personal Lord enjoys with His masterpiece of creation, which is mankind. We are blessed because we  have the  ability to worship personal God who loves us and wants us to declare for all eternity His glory.

God used dirt and dust, physical elements and chemical substances from the earth to form our body. That used to sound foolish, but scientists tell us that the body of man is indeed composed of sixteen of the same identical chemicals and elements that are found in the dust of the earth. 1 Cor.  15:47 confirms this truth when he says that "the first man was of the dust of the earth." That scientific fact stands as an amazing confirmation that God's Word is true. How did Moses and Paul know that? God told them. God called us man, Adam, earthy, in order to help keep us humble. There is a physical dimension of man.

Now, at this point, man is not yet alive. His body is formed, but it's not moving. Adam is merely a hunk of meat with internal organs and a nervous system, but he is not yet energized. So after shaping his body from the earth, God "breathed into his nostrils the breath of life." In Hebrew, the word for "breath" is the same as the word for "spirit."  God imparted a heavenly, immortal spirit into man. Since life can only come from life, and since God was the only living being and the only source of life, we are not truly alive unless we have the spirit of God in us. Since the fall our spirits are dead until conversion.

But man is also a soul. Once God added a human spirit to a human body, man became transformed into a living, functioning soul. It is not just that his breathing apparatus was activated and his heart started to pump blood and all the metabolic functions kicked in. It is that man became a living being, a self-conscious soul, someone who can think, feel and choose. It is this combination of body and spirit which makes the soul or the living personality able to function in this world. That soul thinks, makes reasoned choices, reflects wisdom.

Although there are different thoughts and opinions, my view is that man is, like God, a tri-unity, three-in-one. Our body mediates between our physical environment and our soul. Our soul mediates between our body and spirit. And our spirit serves to mediate between our soul and God. So man is now a living person with all three parts functioning in harmony.

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Weds March 14 World

Verses Gen 2: ⁸ Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. ⁹ 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.

 ¹⁰ A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters.¹¹ The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. ¹² (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin^[d] and onyx are also there.) ¹³ The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush.^[e] 14 The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Ashur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

The Blessing of  the World

            Another important difference between mankind and the rest of creation is the blessing we have been given by God for fellowship and for our existence and sustenance. He not only enlivened us, but provided a world in which we can function. When God created the vegetation in chapter one we discover in this second chapter a more detailed report. Eden, which means "delightful" was the name of this garden.

According to one commentary tis area called Eden already existed prior to God planting a garden there. Ezekiel 28:13 tells us that this is the same place where Satan lived and reigned before man came on the scene.

This is a glimpse of what type of world God intended us to have. Thorns and thistles and work by the sweat of the brow were not God’s original plan. Here God provided a garden with all kinds of trees producing food and rivers providing the needed water and refreshment. Aroma even was pleasant to smell. Beauty was seek in the rocks and color in the flowers to enjoy. Breeze kept them cool and sun kept them warm.

This describes the carefulness by which God worked to give to us what we needed for life. Oxygen, food, protection, but that would have been enough. God in his love wanted more than providing the necessities of life in this sinless world, he wanted beauty and aroma, and variety, and abundance. God gives and gives again. This world was not only created by God and in some way he left us on our own. No, he sustains and maintains and continues to provide according to our needs and our lessons in a world now less that perfect, but still displaying his grace and goodness.

.Some have seen Truman show, depicting an artificial world created for a person who was living his life for television entertainment, only he didn’t know it. This biosphere allowed the director to create the perfect town and weather at his discretion. But Truman had no freedom. That is unlike the paradise story.

God gave mankind the ability to chose, and not be a puppet. There was the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. There was but on commandment to obey. Do not eat of this one tree. Period. One rule. So innocence abounded with intimate fellowship and with all the provisions of this world at mankind’s disposal. God also saw to it we had freedom and liberty to chose.

Apparently Eden was the source of a vast artesian spring that flowed up from subterranean pools, gushing up like a big river with so much water that it flowed into four large rivers. Together they form the famous fertile crescent known as Mesopotamia, which means the land "between the rivers." Eden was at the center of the earth. It was what archeologists now call "the cradle of civilization." We’ve been blessed with Gods’ provision in this world.

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Thurs March 15 – Work

Verses- Gen 2:15-20

 ¹⁵ The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. ¹⁶And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; ¹⁷ 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.”

 ¹⁸ The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

 ¹⁹ 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. ²⁰ So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.

The Blessing of Work

In Genesis 1:28, we learned that two purposes for our existence are to create and control; to reproduce and rule; to multiply the population and master the planet. Here in verse 15, we see another purpose described by two words. In the NKJV version it says man's purpose to "tend and keep" the garden. In the old KJV it says to "dress and keep" it. The NASB says to "cultivate and keep" it. The NIV says "work it and take care of it."

Please notice: There is work in paradise. The paradise is not a hammock suspended between two coconut trees on a desert island sipping pineapple juice. Work is good. The two words which Moses uses here do not refer only to working the garden, but also to worshipping God.

The literal translation says that God placed man in the garden for serving and for keeping. Moses wants us to see both meanings: God wants man to serve and keep the garden in his work. And God wants man to serve and keep God's commands in his worship.  Both ideas are present, farming and fellowship. The fact that God immediately gives man a command in verse 16 shows that verse 15 refers not just to something physical, but also to something spiritual.

In taking care of the garden that doesn’t mean abuse the responsibility. If someone told you to rule over the field of their farmland would that mean you could drive around with your friends in trucks and leave tracks in the mud? Would you put garbage and refuse out in the field? No, it means cultivate it and take care of His creation. Bring order and allow it to produce. We have this responsibility today and yet many misuse, pollute and contaminate creation.

God knew that man should not just sit around. He created him to be useful and productive and to find meaning in his labor. But Adam also was no robot. He was given certain freedoms. He was able to choose what to eat and to name the animals as he pleased. This is more than just throwing out meaningless sounds like,”You’re a cow, you’re an elephant. You look like a baboon, I’ll name you that.”  Naming animals gave Adam the job of rulership and dominion. Adam was the boss. He was to learn about them and to have authority over them. He had to be a biologists and botanist to survey creation and divide up everything he found into species and sub species and kinds and varieties and so forth. Certainly some have developed since then, but now with every new discovery man is still naming them.  Now there is bringing order out of disorder and to classify and name the animals and species is to begin the understanding of them.

It is a blessing to work. Ask someone who is out of work for a long time. It is more than just bringing home a paycheck. Adam didn’t have to worry about a paycheck. The world provided all his physical needs, but the purpose of man was to display the glory of God and God’s character is work, create, sustain, maintain, bringing filling and bringing fulfillment. That is part of what makes us feel worthwhile.

Psychologists tells us the two greatest needs we have is the need to love and be loved; and the need to feel worthwhile. Self esteem is related to accomplishment. God blessed us with work to do for our own fulfillment.

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Fri March 16 – Wedding.

Verses: Gen 2:20-25

   But for Adam^[f] no suitable helper was found. ²¹ 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^[g] and then closed up the place with flesh. ²² Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib^[h] he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

 ²³ 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.”

 ²⁴ That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

 ²⁵ Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

The Blessing of a Wedding

     According to the dictionary there are  two main definitions to wed. First and more commonly is to marry another person, to become husband and wife. The other definition is to unite or blend together as something is attached physically or by conviction to something. A marriage is also a wedding together to two who become one.

            Even though animals and man both came from the ground animals can never provide for man the kind and the degree of companionship he really requires. So God came up with an idea of a wife to be suitable for him. God first made man from dust and then rather than reshaping woman from dust he had a better idea. He took her from his rib and created someone who was now bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. There was a completeness that was implied as fulfilling one’s longing and desire.

            You have no doubt heard many times the illustration given at marriages of one who said long ago, God did not take a bone from his head that she might be superior to man or from his foot that she might be his servant upon whom he might step, but from his side that they might walk and work together side by side as a team. They might share life together in mutual protection and concern and love and care. The word helpmate, or help meet is appropriate.

            To reflect from chapter one God created male and female to best demonstrate his image. This implies the fellowship and friendship and intimacy the strength and tenderness the wisdom and heart, the security and the direction families need to function at their best.

            Ward and June Cleaver had it right. Not the pearls and vacuuming or doing the dishes, but their name, “ The Cleavers” was right on. We are all called to be cleavers. In the word means to adhere to or join like glue. When Adam woke up he was filled with joy and sang the very first love song  “This is it. Bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh

            In one of the languages of Mesopotamia the word for rib also means life. The woman comes into being out of the very life of man. Life begets life. But this whole sex thing was also Gods great idea. Mankind has perverted it and taken down boundaries and cheapened it to lust not love. God’s plan for marriage is from the beginning that there be one man and one woman the two become one and let not man put it asunder. Animals sex is for procreation but not so for humans. It is not to be taken as a play thing which we see in our day.

            Our sex filled society allowing and promoting pornography under the guise of free speech reaps the consequences of lust unbridled. Victim after victim are taken, raped, abused. Children are sold or bought for a time so adults indulge in drugs, alcohol or other addictions. People see sexual pleasures as ways to gratify desires not as a commitment to love, honor and protect. In Minnesota we will vote on the states definition of marriage in November. Anything other than one man and one women wedded together to form a unit, a family into which children can be brought into the world to also be cared for nurtured and loved will further result in the breakdown of society dedicate to personal pleasures and wants at all cost. God was the one who started the good plan of a husband and wife. Their union brought children who were part of the basic unit of society – a family.

       God’s  plan was the beauty of man and woman in commitment to his will and blessing reflect His image. Sexuality is a means of expression the most intimate, faithful and permanence of love between a man and woman that was designed to be mutually and exclusively devoted to each other for life. It is his means of solidarity and commitment perfectly suited for each other provides security and satisfaction. Outside of marriage sex destroys relationships. Within the bonds of marriage is makes a stronger union. There is hardly a month goes by when in the community or in our churches I’m not made aware and sometimes involved with picking up the pieces of the destruction of another family devastated by the breaking of the vows of fidelity. When you see the long range hurt and damage to so many people it shows the evil Satan has in our society when pleasure is sought by man’s way instead of God’s way. 

There is a longing that God in his design gave to man, and gave to woman. It is a blessing. And God sanctified that relationship then as he does today and says for this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife and they will become one flesh. The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame. This was a blessing of creation.

Pastor Dale