Paradise Lost- Genesis 3

Sermon Nuggets Mon March 19-

Verses Gen 3

Paradise Lost

     In 1667 John Milton wrote a classic called Paradise Lost. It has been called the greatest piece of literature in the English language. It is a 12 book series. Ultimately it is an epic poem reflecting on the story of Adam and Eve. He introduced the subject of the civil war in heaven and how it is played out on earth. It is the story of mankind who had paradise and lost it due to sin. It is also the story of the conflict between good and evil and how paradise is reclaimed through the sacrifice of our Savior.

     This civil war is carried out within the hearts of each one of us. It is a spiritual battle that has not ended in Genesis. It did not even end at the resurrection. I thought when I became a believer in Jesus Christ and received the Holy Spirit this battle against sin was over. Not so. The penalty of sin was paid. I am free from that. But the process of dealing with temptation, deceit, suffering, illness, jealousy, pride, and lust plagues us in our world which lost paradise.

        I had gotten an e-mail from Carroll and Bernice VanAnda who took a trip from Japan to the Philippines, where they served before. They brought their friends gifts and left clothing for so many are in poverty. They gave the workers at the guesthouse a $12 tip. They acted like was a million dollars. They gave another friend some clothes for his wife and children, and it was his 4 year old daughter's birthday. He took a dress and tooth brush for her to use as a birthday gift and was thrilled to death. The gardener at the guest house brought home some soap and shampoo. His wife was so happy she cried Bernice asks, “Do we Americans take a lot for granted?”

            As we concluded Chapter 2 of Genesis we see that Adam and Eve had everything they needed. That is what it was paradise. But as we read the 3rd chapter we see that even though they had all they needed they didn’t have it all. They wanted the one thing they couldn’t have.

        I’m afraid American advertisers play into the plan of the devil to convince us that we need it all, the latest gadget, shampoo, car, appliance, the house, etc The sad part about all this is that when we are kept from having it all we concentrate on what is denied. We stop enjoying what we have. We ponder what we are forbidden. What is forbidden or denied becomes the focus or our lives.

        After God created the perfect world and provided the protective garden, sin is introduced. In this chapter Satan is introduced. Death is witnessed. Relationships spiritually and emotionally are broken. Evil has not only entered into our world, but into our hearts.

       This is a sad chapter, but it is not without hope.

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Tues March 20-

Verses- Gen 3:1-6 ¹ Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

 ² The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, ³ but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

 ⁴ “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. ⁵ “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

 ⁶ When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. ⁷ Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

Sin begins with Temptation

            Not many people decide they are going to willfully do something wrong. Mostly, we are lead into it by temptation. The temptation that came in Eden was through the serpent described as the most crafty. Apparently he had intelligence. There must have been some communication ability, like Dr. Doolittle, with the animals, at this point. But there was no question the serpent was the incarnate Devil, Satan himself who is identified in other portions of the Bible. Rev 20:2 identifies that ancient serpent the devil, or Satan. This is the introduction of Satan into man’s history.

          Satan does not come with horns and hoofs and pitchforks, he comes as a good friend. He comes like one who has our best interests in mind. Satan wanted Eve to question whether God was holding out on them by not giving what was rightfully theirs. He wanted them to believe that the serpent had their best interests at heart. That is never true. When you are tempted it always comes from Satan and it is not for our best interests, never. It is only for our fall and our hurt and our destruction. He has no love, only hate. His hatred toward God is so intense he will take as many people to hell with him as he can. If it is deception, or ignorance, or confusion, or lying, or hurt, or pain, or pleasure, or apathy Satan will do what he can to hide the truth, distort the truth, confront the truth,  or ignore the truth. He is the Father of lies.

            First he calls to question God’s authority by asking if this really what God said. He causes doubt to the word of God. Eve’s answer shows she clearly understood God’s commandment. Then she quoted what God said. That is the best way to withstand temptation.

            However Satan does not give up. His statement then contradicts the word. He bluntly tells them that God is not telling them the truth. He knows our desires, and so he pushes Eve by telling her words that appeals to her desires. “You will not die. In fact the reason God his keeping you from that tree is that you will be like gods.” His statement was also partial truth, for Adam and Eve did discover good and evil. But they were not more like God, they became more like Satan.

            Satan is still using the same "bag of tricks. He takes different approaches but it is always the same goal: trust yourself rather than the promise. He may try to keep us from reading and studying the Word or He may seek to distort the Word. But the goal is the same: trust ourselves or something other than God's Word. Here's some examples you might have heard, “I know God says we should not commit adultery, but how can it be wrong when it feels so good?” “I know God wants me to forgive but you don't know what they did!” “I know God says sex is for one man and one woman in marriage but He gave us these homosexual desires!” “Everyone is doing it”  ”If you want real freedom do what you want.” Then you find yourself trapped. “If you want pleasure you only are young once, enjoy yourself.” And it is pleasant for awhile until the sweetness makes you sick and you are worse off than controlled by your lustful desires.

            The devil did in his encounter with Jesus. The devil tries to get Jesus to give in to His hunger, His vanity, His insecurity. He tries to cast doubt on God's promise but Jesus does not fall for it. Each time . . .every time He stands on the promise of God.

            But there was another inward temptation for Eve. The woman "saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes." The proverbial "forbidden fruit"! We want what we can't have. Eve was tempted; The pattern of sin was simple Eve heard, She thought, she saw, took, ate, and gave.

            This is also reminiscent of the temptation in the book of I John For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the yes and the pride of life is not of the Father but is of the world.”  She gazed on the fruit and saw it pleasing to the eye. She wanted to taste of it, which was the temptation of the flesh and thought she would be wise with leads to the pride of life.

            Now be aware, the Lord does not tempt anyone (James 1:13) God may provide testing which is different.  God uses testing to reveal or strength; Satan uses temptations to cause falling or destruction.  

            Be aware that to be tempted is not sin. It is the attractive door that requires us to open it up that leads to sin. It is a tool of Satan.

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Weds March 21 

Verses- Gen 3:  ⁶ When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. ⁷ Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

Sin is displayed with Disobedience

            Although sin begins with the temptation it is not the sin. It is yielding to the temptation and disobeying God. That is the sin.

            Eve desired to gain wisdom, so she disobeyed God and ate of the forbidden fruit and gave some to husband. Many sins occur with temptations from others. Many will lead others astray.

            With disobedience comes shame. This is implied when they noticed they were naked. They were no longer comfortable with each other. They felt compelled to hide from each other and hide from God.

        The book of Genesis is not saying that the nakedness of the man and woman was inherently bad; it's saying that up until now, it's just been no big deal, because there's been no shame or guilt in the human race. But now, after sin, after rebellion, there is bound to be shame, guilt, awareness of being "fallen"--and the man and the woman can no longer live in openness, before God or before one another. They have to "cover up"; and that's just what they do. They sew together leaves to make crude clothing.

 They have been "laid bare" before God in a very literal sense; we too are "laid bare" before God in a more figurative sense when we sin. The knowledge of what we have done, the awareness of our own guiltiness--we can't stand before God, or before other people, for that matter, with that kind of burden! We have to do something--and the easiest thing to do is to "cover it up."     

            The word naked is also used in the Bible to express the ideas of poverty,  desolation, or moral bankruptcy. So they chose to disobey God. This act of rebellion marked the entrance of sin into the world.

            The Christian has no choice, therefore, but to engage in a kind of spiritual warfare against his own natural tendency to disobey God. He should aim to be as obedient to God's will as Christ was when He "became obedient to the point of death"  (Phil. 2:8).

            When they heard sound of Lord God “walking” in garden in cool of day they hid from Lord among trees “Where are you?”

Adam replied, “I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.”

“Have you eaten from the tree?”

Then comes more sin.  “The woman you put here, whom you gave me.” Adam does what most red bloodied American men do-blame their wives. Then indirectly he blames God. It is as if he is saying, “She made me; but remember God she was your idea to begin with. You were the one who gave her too me. I’m a victim.

            Accepting responsibility is very hard. We want to avoid the pain of wounded pride and shattered ego. We insist that the primary reason for our sinful action lies with others people or circumstances. It is very difficult to admit our sin and confess that, “I am responsible. I was wrong.” All of us should say that. Few do.

            Look at all the various lawsuits. Observe all the people who are victims many  learn not to take responsibility for their own actions or neglect. I am glad that tobacco companies are being called to task for their lies, for their abuse on mankind through promotion of cigarettes, pipes and cigars not to mention chewing tobacco. They need to be held accountable to entice young people into smoking as well as adding addictive ingredients to make smoking harder to stop. But one must be mystified that the smoker must take responsibility also. As long as I remember there were warnings clear and loud that tobacco was bad for your health. Some of the earliest sermons I remember as a young person were the evils of smoking and drinking .“Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, don’t defile it with such unhealthy and addictive substances.”

            Somewhere down the line someone has to say “It’s me, It’s me, oh Lord, standing in the need of prayer. I am the one who was disobedient. I have sinned. I have disobeyed you.”

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Thurs March 22 

Verses- Gen 3: ¹⁰ He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

 ¹¹ And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

 ¹² The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

 ¹³ Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

   The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

 ¹⁴ So the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,

   “Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly
   and you will eat dust all the days of your life. ¹⁵ And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

 ¹⁶ To the woman he said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”

 ¹⁷ To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life.
¹⁸ It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.
¹⁹ By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground,  since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”

Sin results in Consequences

The consequences of sin are real! Some might think God is not serious about his judgments. The promises of God are kept whether they be blessings or curses. Satan wants us to think, God made the law, but he really isn’t going to enforce it. Lots of people get away with breaking God’s commands. To teach a child to avoid a certain behavior, you have to teach the child that the consequences are real--punishment will be given! It is the knowledge of a reasonable spanking, or lost privileges that prompts obedience, or correction of behavior.

            With every sin there will be payback time. The result was quite different than Adam and Eve expected. Instead of gaining superior knowledge that made them equal with God, they gained awareness or knowledge of their guilt, shame, and condemnation. There are consequences for sin and especially this experience of disobedience caused all of creation to be affected. Life was never the same as God intended because this world is out of step with God’s perfect plan.

            The immediate consequence of the fall was death, symbolized by their loss of fellowship with God. For the first time, Adam and Eve experienced fear in the presence of the Lord God; and they hid when He approached.

            Serpent initiated temptation that led to human sin and his judgment is the most severe. Dust, the symbol of death, would be his food and he would crawl on his belly in abject misery as long as he lived. Snakes are generally unpleasant and frequent enemies of humans; but notice that with every curse there is an element of grace. God allowed him to live. 

            But there would be enmity between you and woman and offspring and hers. Many are not fond of snakes. Most women fall in the category of staying away from them as far as possible. My mother would not even go into a reptile house at the zoo. If there were snakes on the television she would turn the station. Whenever the rational voice would seek to persuade her that she was in no danger, her theology pointed to this passage which ended discussions at our home. The Bible says it. I believe it. No more discussion about snakes.

            A woman’s curse also included an increase of pain in childbearing; Many have said if men had to give birth instead of women each family would stop with one child. Perhaps that is true. But the very means of joy also becomes the most difficult time of pain in a woman’s life.

            God added to Eve, the desire will be for the husband; he will rule over you. The very point at which she receives her greatest sense of fulfillment in life according to OT conventions will also be a point of suffering. But there is grace noted as well, for since it will be through her pain and childbirth that God will provide salvation for the world.

            Eve’s relationship with her husband has been marred as well because of sin. To love and to cherish has degenerated into desire and domination. The passage is not prescriptive, but descriptive. It explains not how it should be, but why it is. It should not be man works by the sweat of his brow. It should not be that women have pain, but that does explain how it happened.

            Then Adam faced his consequence. He listened to Eve instead of God. Not only would their relationship with each other be affected, so would his work be affected. Now the ground was cursed and growing and sowing, planting and harvesting would not be easy jobs. Farming is hard work today and it was hard work after Eden was closed. All of work, though a blessing has with it tough times. There is not such thing as a perfect job.

            All of creation was in disarray. There were no beasts of prey, no blight of insect. Now there would be. No thorns on roses; no drought, floods, and shriveling heat to threaten man’s efforts to grow food. There were no computers to cause grief and tv shows to make our brains mush. There was a blessing to work, but there are elements of difficulty and hardship to make life work and often just subsist.

            Because of their unbelief and rebellion, they were driven from the garden that God had provided as their home. Physical death, with the decay of the body was not the original design. We do not know how long they were in Eden before the fall. There had never been a tired wrinkle in his face or gray hair, or decayed tooth, never a pain or headache.      

            Adam and Eve did not sin simply as private persons, but as the representatives of all members of the human race. Their sin is the sin of all; and all persons receive from them a corrupt nature. It is this nature that stands behind all personal violations of the Lord's commandments. For this reason, the fall of Adam is the fall of the human race.

Pastor Dale    

                       

Sermon Nuggets Fri March 23

Verses- Gen 3: ¹⁵ And I will put enmity 
   between you and the woman, 
   and between your offspring and hers; 
he will crush your head, 
   and you will strike his heel.”

²¹ The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. ²² And the LORD God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” ²³ So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. ²⁴ After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

Conclusions about Sin.  

            Now God had to do something because of sin. In addition to the consequences there is now added work of the Lord. The Lord made garments of skins for Adam and wife and clothed them. I believe this is an act of mercy and grace. Before this time no one killed animals. Surely Adam and Eve were horrified when the animal was killed. The animals were friends of the humans. This must have been like seeing the family pet killed and then being asked to wear their skin. What God was teaching Adam and Eve was the horrible consequence of sin. God stated that when they ate of the fruit they would die. So the animal now dies as a temporary substitute. Even in His mercy God must deal sin. Sin costs. In this case innocent animals were sacrificed to "cover" the first couple for sin.

            The grace of God also was demonstrated in provisions for mankind. He does not leave him without Godly presence. There was separation from the intimacy of God, but there is the involvement of God’s work in the lives of mankind.

            There is pain, but there is the blessing of children. There is labor of work, but there is the blessing of the fruit of one’s labor. There is enmity with the serpent but notice the 15th verse. There is the prophecy of the plan of God to send Jesus Christ to conquer that serpent once and for all.  This called the protevangelism, or the first gospel. Christ came to defeat the works of Satan. Satan did strike Jesus heal at the cross and suffering and death, but by the resurrection Christ presents a striking blow to his head and destroys his power from the believers who trust in Christ.

            Dear friends, in sin there are two options. Continue in sin, consequences, and self which leads to a downward spiral, or turn to Christ and but lifted from the power of Satan. You might be asking, What can I do about sin?

            First confess it. Own up to it. Don’t cover up and hide, but come with your guilt before the God of the Universe and say with honest and humbled heart what each of us have to say. Lord, I have sinned. Do not keep the distance from our Lord, but that is the first step to admit it. Don’t blame your parents, your circumstances, your church, other Christians, or friends. Let the Lord know and come to understand you have been disobedient to the Lord and are in need of forgiveness and fellowship.

            Second, If you've been driven away from God, driven away from his church, driven away from the joy of this fellowship, by something "deep and dark," something embarrassing, you believe--don't be afraid to come out into his light! The light of the Lord Jesus Christ doesn't ridicule, or point fingers, or draw attention to your weaknesses; the light of Christ heals and forgives. This is called repentance. Turn from sin.

            One Christian psychiatrist was telling of a man who came with problems of feeling apart form God and almost losing his faith and not having a desire to pray. The psychiatrist interrupted him by saying” Truthfully, I‘m not very interested in your symptoms” Lets get to the root of your spiritual fears- tell me about your besetting sins” The man was silent and looked blankly at the doctor. “Do you have any pictures of your family in your wallet?” Then he laid them on the desk in front of him. Suddenly, the man covered his face and began to weep. He blurted out the story of infidelity. Having indulged in sins that made him ashamed to face his family and his church and lost fellowship with the Lord. Later, as he confessed his wrongdoing to God and asked his wife to forgive him, his soul was flooded with peace and his nagging fear was relieved.

        Only God can forgive us our sins. He has promised to do so. He desired to reinstate us to his fellowship that the rest of the book tells us how he reveals his love and offers a way that sin can be covered in the Old Testament and then cleansed completely in the new testament. Only God can pick up your sins and cast them away. The bronze serpent raised up by Moses in the wilderness serves as a symbol of the saving power of Christ on the cross (John 3:14). By His crucifixion and resurrection, Christ has bruised the head of the serpent (Gen. 3:15).

            Conclusions: Seek the truth of God’s word above anything else that tells you otherwise. Anything else is a lie. 2. Accept responsibility for your own actions. Stop blaming and own up to your choices, your decisions and your sin. 3.Respond to the One who offers you a way out. The message of the Gospel is simple: "your life is a mess because of sin and there is only one who can fix it: His name is Jesus."

Pastor Dale

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