Genesis #2: The Beginning - As it was meant to be

We began a new message series last Sunday. over the next several weeks, we will be studying the first 11 chapters in the first book in the bible, Genesis.

Genesis is where it all begins, but you know that already. We all think of the creation story, when God created the heavens and the earth. But there was much more going on in these first pages of God’s word.

Here we find the beginning of life, death, work, sin, shame, marriage, judgement, pride, faithfulness, forgiveness, love, generosity, hope, punishment, I could go on and on. All the realities of being in this world trace their roots to Genesis, in fact these first 11 chapters.

Last week we read how God created all things and declared them good, in fact when he finished, it was very good. Today we are going to look at what was so very good about it and is there any way we can reclaim God’s original design and intent.... That original Goodness.

Because we see that our world is far from goodness right?

I shared with a friend this week that I know the news is bad for my heart.... yet I find myself turning on the news… i tell myself I just want to be informed, to know what’s going on… and before I know it, I get sucked in.

And the news these days is pretty frustrating.

The deceitfulness of politics, the riots, people suffering and getting killed.

Natural Disasters, disease

Innocent people taken advantage of.

Officials failing to fulfil their responsibilities.

But is this how things were supposed to be?

Genesis Chapter 2 describes three facets of life as they were meant to be. We read in chapter one how God created all things. But here in chapter 2 we get some very important additional information. Let’s begin in verse 4 of Genesis 2.

Gen 2:4-7

Genesis 2:4–7 NIV

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

Life as it was meant to be

It’s almost like the whole of chapter 1 is summed up in this short paragraph. Not only does it sum up the whole chapter, but it gives us some important new information.

But first, I know these first pages of the bible cause much difficulty for many. I know because it came up in our small group on Monday, that many of us tend to look for more from these first couple chapters of Genesis than they were recorded to tell us. You see, This isn’t a science book. The Genesis account of creation is not trying to tell us how God created trees, and birds. It’s not trying to explain the dinosaurs. Instead it tells us about the creator, that is WHO created and why.

Because the Bible isn’t a science book, we don’t have a prescription as to how you must believe creation happened, beyond God’s work.

You may be one who reads the bible and says, mine says 6 days, and God rested on the 7th, then it was 6 days. Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed, Thur, Fri… done. If you think that’s how it happened fine.

If you think that somehow God worked over millions of years, that a day is as a thousand, ten thousand, or ten million years… fine. But all along it was God who was working.

We don’t have a required theology of creation other than God is the creator. Now some church’s do. They say that because the bible says 6 days, that’s the way it is. You can’t change what DAY means. But as Wesleyan Methodists, we are ok with disagreeing on the details… especially where the Bible isn’t specific… because no one was there but Jesus and the Bible isn’t trying to explain HOW God did it, but the Bible tells us WHO created and HOW we are related to Him.

So when we look at the first few verses of chapter 2, we see that God spoke things into existence… but not everything was spoken into existence. We see that humanity was uniquely created....formed by God’s hand.

God took dirt and actually shaped him… that’s different from everything else… then God breathed life into him.

You see, humans were uniquely formed and filled… different from all of creation.

The first man from the dust of the ground and the first woman from the rib of the man.

And chapter one tells us that we and only we were created in God’s image.

This applies directly to what’s going on in our world today.

Because we are created “in the image of God,” no one has the right to degrade or destroy human life—neither one’s own life, nor that of another. This principle must be applied in the areas of social justice, race relations, sexual ethics, abortion, euthanasia, and that’s just the start.

Human life was not an accident. We see people who have different opinions, different values, different ways of doing things.... many that irritate you. And in our frustration, we forget they are worthy of our love and protection if only because they are image bearers of God.

They deserve wonder and appreciation… because they bear the image of God. We value life… all life has dignity.

As I saw in a meme on social media this week prolife - from the womb to the tomb… Christians are called to value life because humanity is the pinnacle of God’s creation. We need to protect it, preserve it, because each one bears the image of God like nothing other on earth.

That’s how we see life as it was meant to be.

This leads me to second facet of humanity described as it should be in Genesis 2

Gen 2:8-20

Genesis 2:8–20 NIV

Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.) The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. 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 Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals. But for Adam no suitable helper was found.

Here we see God gave man a territory. You see, from the very beginning, we had a tendency to wander if we were allowed to. God said I’m going to surround you with rivers so you don’t wander away from what I’m giving you. A well defined territory.

God also gave us a well defined purpose, the purpose we were meant to have.

Purpose we were meant to have

To steward and care in cooperation with God

Dominion

Distinction

Duty

God had a purpose for creation… for Adam... He wasn’t left to figure out what life was all about, God actually took the time to show him. Adam’s purpose was to work in cooperation with God, to have dominion over creation. That’s right, God’s purpose for us is to work… in cooperation with God.

In these creation accounts, we hear again and again, Adam’s work was to work the ground and care for the animals. Managing creation. From the beginning work has been the way things were meant to be.

I’ve taken kids on mission trips all over the country and usually it involves hard, sweaty, heavy, difficult work. And every time we came away feeling blessed. Blessed because we were engaged in our purpose driven work.

But that’s not the only way we experience our purpose as God meant for us to. From the very beginning God gave man moral ability to do as God instructed. Adam had freedom, but his freedom found purpose in the boundaries that God established for life as it was meant to be.

This leads me to the third dimension of humanity which God gave us in creation, Marriage.

Gen 2:21-25

Genesis 2:21–25 NIV

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

Simply put, we were created to need a helper, a help mate as I’ve heard a spouse called.

Now before I get into this I want to speak to the single people for a moment. Singleness, or marriage, isn’t your identity, it’s your status. It doesn’t change the fact that you were created to need a partner. The fact is you are insufficient for life as God designed it.

Now is it possible to have a great life as a single person, obviously yes. In fact in the NT, Paul refers to it as a gift of singleness that enabled him to be as invested in the Lords work without having to deal with the responsibilities of a family. It took great faith and dependence on the Spirit as his Helper.

But marriage was given to us in creation and there was a particular design to that marriage we were meant to share

Marriage we were meant to share

You see it right away, a man and a woman. In our world today that’s not politically correct to say, but just like the Bible isn’t a science book, it’s not trying to be politically correct either.

But it is clear. God created man and woman with a clear purpose and design, to complement each other sexually, so they could be fruitful and multiply, but also emotionally and physically… to be in an partnership with one another and with God.

In intimate partnership with another

I say in partnership, because they became one. In marriage, they become one flesh… God sees them as one flesh. Each complementing the other, while remaining distinctly their own.

Opening Up Genesis Up Close and Personal

Matthew Henry, the Puritan Bible commentator, said it best: “The woman was made of a rib out of the side of Adam; not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected by him, and near his heart to be beloved.”

In fact in marriage as it were meant to be, the intimate partnership goes beyond the two of them. In fact as they live in relationship with each other they are to live in relationship with God.

I use a triangle to explain this all the time to couples.

If one corner of the triangle represented the Woman, one the Man and the other God. You can see that as the man and woman get closer to God, what happens… they actually get closer to each other.

You might say they get closer to marriage as it were meant to be.

I say intimate because it says right in the text that they were naked and felt no shame.

They felt no shame, they hid nothing from one another. They shared everything. No manipulation, no sarcasm, no abuse, no mistrust.

I’m imagining what some of you are thinking right now.

Yea but pastor, That’s not my marriage. There is shame in my marriage because I've not treated life as it was meant to be… I’ve not lived in obedience as I was purposed to live … My marriage isn’t how it was intended to be… This isn’t the Garden of Eden.

In fact, my whole life is filled with problems and mistakes. You don’t know my in-laws… you don’t know my boss… you don’t know the things I’ve done.... or the things they did to me.

You are right

I don’t know.

I do know this isn’t the Garden of Eden though. I know the world we are living in is a world that is broken.

People lie, cheat, steal, riot, destroy, manipulate, bully. We all know it, if we haven’t experienced it, we can see it on the news every day. But just because the world is that way, doesn’t mean we can’t reclaim God’s intention for life, our purpose, or our marriage.

Reclaiming what was meant to be

I’m a firm believer that the way "things are" isn't the way "things have to be."

Why do I believe such a thing? Because I have seen it happen before.

I’ve seen workaholics become great parents.

I’ve seen broken relationships restored.

I’ve seen exhausted business owners become inspired.

I’ve seen worriers become confident.

I’ve seen negligent parents become invested

Scripture says that all of creation is yearning for things to be made right, and God is working to foster this transformation in our lives.

I can’t promise you a quick fix, that you can say a prayer and God will solve all your problems… but I can promise you that as you begin to cooperate with what God is doing in your life, that you will see real progress as you seek life as it was meant to be.

That as you surrender to what God is doing in you, you will begin to see real transformation in the world around you

I know some of us look around and think, I don’t want it to be perfect, I just wish it were more like hers, or his. I want a job like that, a marriage like that, a life like that.

Let me tell you, no one is perfect. As

Romans 3:23 NIV

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

But God is trying to help you right now, in this moment, reclaim how things were meant to be, and as John wrote in 1 John

1 John 1:9 NLT

But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.

We need this forgiveness because we long for a restart… but more than a second chance, we want a reset… to reset our way, and reclaim HIS Way.

We realize that:

Romans 6:23 NIV

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

That new way of living starts right now.

God wouldn’t call us to something that can’t be a reality in our lives. In fact, with God all things are possible… the things we couldn’t do are possible for us as we rely upon God’s direction and power.

Jesus will show us the way…

John 14:6 NIV

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

We just need to follow him. Open our life to his leadership and follow him in the way we treat others, in the way we see our purpose, follow him in our marriages.

Open your life to him.

John wrote in

Revelation 3:20 NIV

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

Do you want life as it was intended?

It can begin today.

Benediction:

Life is much more than an accident. Where ever you go, believe God needs you there. Where ever you are, trust God has put you there. He has a purpose for you being there; Christ, alive in you, wants to do something through you, no matter where you are Believe this and go in His grace and His love and His power. Amen.

COMMUNION

Father, You created us in Your image to represent Your love here on earth through our relationship with You and for each other. To understand our purpose as you intended, to value life like the gift that it is. But rather than follow you way, we chose our own way. A way of sin that led to death.

But even though our love for you failed, your love for us remained steadfast. You chose to deliver us from bondage to sin and death, You made a covenant to be our God, and You taught us and led us through the voices of Your prophets through even today.

We praise you today Lord.

Holy are You, and blessed is Your Son Jesus Christ. By the baptism of his suffering, death, and resurrection You gave birth to Your church, delivered us from slavery to sin and death, made with us a new covenant by water of our baptism and Your Holy Spirit, giving each of us a new calling, to follow you, to live for you, to serve, to love just how you have shown us in Jesus.

Who on the very night before he died for us, He took bread, gave thanks to You, broke the bread, gave it to his disciples, and said: "Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you. Do this is remembrance of me."

When the supper was over, he took a cup of wine, Gave thanks to You, gave it to his disciples, and said: "Drink from this, all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, as often as you drink it, In remembrance of me."

And so, In remembrance of these Your mighty acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ's offering for us, as we proclaim the mystery of faith.

ALL: Christ has died; Christ is risen; will come again.

Pour out Your Holy Spirit on us gathered here, and on these gifts of bread and wine. Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood.

By Your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world, until Christ comes in final victory and we feast at His heavenly banquet.

We pray all this through Your Son Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, alive in Your holy church, all honor and glory is Yours, almighty Father, now and for ever.

ALL: Amen.

THE LORD'S PRAYER

-----

Related Media

Related Sermons