Sermon Tone Analysis

! Introduction:

Above all other verses in the creation account, these verses show why God created man.

Very simply stated, God wants to live with a being who freely chooses to live with Him.

God wants to live with a being who has the ability to choose to live with Him and who /will choose/ to live with Him.

God wants to live with a being who has freedom of choice, a being...

·         who will choose to know God, to know the goodness and grace of God.

·         who will choose to serve God.

·         who will choose to live with God: to love, worship, and fellowship with God.

God does not want to coerce man; God does not want man to be a robot that has been run off an assembly line and programmed to serve and worship God.

God wants man to have freedom of choice, the ability to choose to live either with God or apart from God.

This is clearly seen by looking at the nature of man revealed in the following verses.

·         Man is seen /to be highly intelligent and physically strong/.

He is made responsible for thinking, planning, and cultivating the Garden (Genesis 2:15).

·         Man is seen /to have the ability to communicate/ with others.

God is seen talking and sharing with him (Genesis 2:16-17).

·         Man is seen /to have the ability to will and to choose/.

He possesses freedom of will (Genesis 2:16-17).

·         Man is seen /to have needs and drives/ that have to be met both by his environment and by God.

His environment has to provide work, food, and beauty for him.

God has to provide instructions, directions, love, worship, fellowship, and purpose, meaning, and significance for him (Genesis 2:15-17).

·         Man is seen /to be a spiritual being/ who requires spiritual direction and godly fellowship for his life (Genesis 2:15-17).

·         Man is seen /to be a being who is very capable of responding/ to others, of loving and of expressing appreciation to others.

God is here interacting with him (Genesis 2:15-17).

·         Man is seen /to have been a being of perfection and of immortality/, a being who was morally perfect, physically perfect, and spiritually perfect.

·         Man is seen /to be a being who has desires and urges/ that push him toward that which appeals to the flesh and which looks attractive and beneficial.

The trees in the Garden and the prohibition governing the tree of the knowledge of good and evil show this (Genesis 2:16-17).

·         Man is seen /to be a being of curiosity/—a being who has the drive to know more and more, even if the knowledge leads to evil (Genesis 2:17).

Much is revealed about the nature of man in these three brief verses, and much more could be added to the list above.

God has created man with freedom of choice.

*Again…*

·         God wants to live with people who choose to live with Him.

·         God does not want people with Him who do not want to be with Him.

God wants to share His grace and goodness with those who want to experience His grace and goodness.

·         This is the discussion of this passage of Scripture.

These verses cover “The First Charge or Covenant: Man’s Purpose Upon Earth.”

\\ !! A.                 To know the goodness and grace of God (v.15a).

!!! 1.                  “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden…”  (v.15a).

!!!! a)                  What God did for the first man Adam.

!!!!! (1)                 God made paradise for man.

The garden was the most perfect paradise imaginable! 

!!!!! (2)                 God took Adam and placed him within the boundaries of the Garden, still living in the world that God created but the Lord wanted Adam to live within the boundaries of the Garden.

!!!!! (3)                 God wanted Adam to know and experience paradise, the great gift of God, the goodness and grace of God.

!!!!! (4)                 We all have to live in this world but God does not want us to partake of the world system:

*John puts it this way in his first epistle *"Do not love the world or the things in the world.

If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.

And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever."

(1 John 2:15-17, NKJV)

*Paul urged his brethren to *"present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." (Romans 12:1-2, NKJV)

!!!!! (5)                 God knows what’s best for us, therefore, when He saves us He puts us within some boundaries, telling us of things which we should no longer partake of:

!!!!!! (a)                 *Ephesians 5:1-21* – the Lord tells us what we should not longer be partaking of and then showing us what we should be doing.

!!!! b)                  God’s purpose for man has not been defeated by Adam’s sin.

!!!!! (1)                 Everything that was lost by Adam’s sin has been regained by Christ.

How?

By Christ’s death.

We have partaken of Christ.

*The writer of Hebrews says *"Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, while it is said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”"

(Hebrews 3:12-15, NKJV)

!!!!! (2)                 Remember: God’s purpose for creating man is to show man the riches of His goodness and grace and the summit of God’s goodness and grace is seen in the giving of His Son:

*Paul give a description of our past in Eph.2:1-3, then says *"But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus."

(Ephesians 2:4-7, NKJV)

*Our Lord Jesus Christ *"bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness— by whose stripes you were healed.”

(1 Peter 2:24, NKJV)

 

!!!! c)                  Being called and placed by God.

!!!!! (1)                 Think about this: God put Adam in the Garden.

The greatest thing in the entire world is to be called and placed by God.

No matter where it is, the place God chooses for us is the best place to be.

!!!!! (2)                 /Noah /was called to build an ark…  /Abraham /was called to leave his home for a strange land…  /John /the Baptist called to prepare the way of Christ… apostles/ /were called to follow Christ…

!!!!! (3)                 How about you?

Where has God called you? 

!!!!!! (a)                 *2 Timothy 1:9* – what God has called us to

!!!!!! (b)                *1 Thess.4:7*

– what God has not called us to

 

\\ !! B.                To serve God by working and taking care of the garden (v.15b).

!!! 1.                  “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden… */to tend and keep it/*…”  (v.15a).

!!!! a)                  Man was to look after the garden.

!!!!! (1)                 The word /“tend”/ means to /cultivate, till, work/.

!!!!! (2)                 The word /“keep”/ means to watch over, to guard, to look after, & to take care of.

!!!!! (3)                 So mans responsibility was to keep paradise as paradise.

God had created the Garden, the most perfect, beautiful, and bountiful paradise imaginable; it was up to man to /diligently /keep the Garden perfect, beautiful, and bountiful.

!!!!! (4)                 Today, we have a responsibility to take care of what God has given us (material things.

Etc).

But we know that all these things we own will one day burn up.

!!!!! (5)                 However, there is something of even greater value that we are to diligently keep, God’s Word!

*Speaking about the Word of the Lord, David says *"Moreover by them Your servant is warned, And in keeping them there is great reward.”

(Psalm 19:11, NKJV)

*Psalm 119** which speaks about God’s Word says *"You have commanded us To keep Your precepts diligently…  "Oh, that my ways were directed To keep Your statutes..! "You are my portion, O Lord; I have said that I would keep Your words…" "I made haste, and did not delay To keep Your commandments."

(Psalm 119:4, 5, 57, 60, NKJV)

*The treasure of the good news of salvation revealed in the Scriptures, is also to be guarded and kept,  Paul says to Timothy *"Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.

Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you." (2 Timothy 1:13-14, NASB95)

*The Lord promises us that* "He will give His angels charge concerning you, To guard you in all your ways."

(Psalm 91:11, NASB95)

  

!!!! b)                  Man was to be a responsible person.

!!!!! (1)                 Man was created to be a responsible person and an active, working person.

Not inactive, idle, slothful, complacent, or lazy.

Man was made to work and to work hard.

!!!!!! (a)                 What does the Bible say about laziness & poverty?

*We read in Proverbs 6 *"A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest”— Your poverty will come in like a vagabond And your need like an armed man.”