Battle For The Truth (Part 12)
Notes
Transcript
4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, 5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. 6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. 7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Introduction
An anonymous author once wrote regarding Truth Will Win the Struggle, “Persons often speak of defending truth. Well and good, but truth is not so weak that it cannot defend itself. What is needed most is to declare the truth in love. If let loose in the arena of ideas, truth will defend itself. Truth is of God; falsehood is of Satan.[1]”
[1] Hobbs, H. H. (1990). My favorite illustrations (p. 261). Nashville, TN: Broadman Press.
In civil societies like the USA, we have laws concerning truth. Such as, the Truth in Lending Act; Truth in Advertising; Truth in Labeling, and more. Without these laws our nation would crumble into anarchy, distrust, and a failing economy. Thus, truth is imperative to the stability and thriving of not only a civil society but also the human relationships that operate within it.
For the last 11 messages in this Battle For The Truth series, I have been sharing what the Bible teaches about how the world, nay life began and who, not what, caused it to be. Clearly, the Bible unapologetically declares in its opening chapter and verse (Genesis 1:1) that God [Elohim] created the heavens and the earth. The Bible tells us in Genesis 1:1-31, that God is the reason that universe and everything contained therein exists including mankind.
God revealed that the way He created all things was through His word. He spoke them into existence, with one exception—man [Adam]. When it came to man, God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…” Now, by way of disclaimer, the word Trinity is never mentioned anywhere in Scripture; nevertheless, this text introduces us to the concept of the holy Trinity and Triune nature of God—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
The Trinity is actually present in Genesis 1, but I do not have time to develop it, therefore, for now, you will just have to trust me on that. Furthermore, Genesis 1:26 provides a general description of how God created mankind—male and female.
Moreover, into Genesis 2, we are continuously reminded by the phrases, “God ended His work, which He had made,” “all His work, which He had made,” and, “all His work which God created and made,” that God indeed is the focus. To all of this, my refrain has been, “This is either true or not true.”
When the Bible repeats itself as we see in Genesis 1 and the beginning of Chapter 2, it is for emphasis. In other words, I believe God is asking, “Do I have your attention?” “Are you listening?” “Are you getting this?” We ought not miss the significance of this repetition for it underscores the criticality of the message—the Bible is trustworthy and tells the truth.
It tells the truth in every area of life that it addresses. Whether history, science, geography, astronomy, humanity, angels, demons, love, sin, redemption, salvation, sanctification, heaven or hell, the Bible tells the truth. Amen somebody. As the Apostle said in Romans 3:4, “let God be true, but every man a liar…” And as the Lord Jesus prayed to His Father on our behalf in John 17:17, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”
Vv. 2:4-6, “These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, (5) And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. (6) But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.”
Here in vv. 4-6, where the text reads, “these are the generations…”, we should understand it to mean that what follows is an “account” (NASB) of how the heavens and the earth were created. The stress points to the fact that the universe and all that it contains was created and not just came into being on its own. Again, I believe God really wants our attention to this critical truth that He is laboring so hard to convey. The truth is that God really exist. God is not a hoax, a myth, a legend or created in the image of man.
Also, notice that God is revealing a more personal aspect of His character as He moves toward more detail of His creative work and its purpose. For the first time, we are introduced to the more personal name for God which is YHWH (YAWEH) or LORD (all caps) God or Elohim. It is only in the Bible where we find this personal name for God. This is the name by which he made himself known to His covenant people.
Here we find a bit more detail regarding the function of the firmament mentioned in 1:6-8. Notice that we are reminded that there was no man present “to till the ground.”
Vv. 2:7, “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”
Buckle-up your seat-belt because we are entering rarefied space. As God instructed Moses when He encountered him on Mt. Horeb, “… put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.” God is about to give us further details on what occurred on Day 6.
Like the Master Craftsman that He is, God is about fill us in on still a high-level view of His greatest handiwork—man. The text says that YAWEH Elohim formed, fashioned, or molded man of or from “the dust of the ground.” Stop right there.
Did it say man was formed from the dirt or clay? No. The text clearly says that man was formed from the “dust of the ground.” Not a stone. Not a lump of clay nor a scoop of dirt. Just dust from the ground. Wow! Now all who know me well know that I make every effort to stay strictly with what the Scriptures say. Not adding anything to or taking anything away from the text. That said, let me simply add a side note:
Side Note:
One of the things that intrigued me as a child growing-up was to take a pillow or anything cloth and hold it up to the right light and hit it. The purpose of doing this was to see how much dust was in or on the object being struck. It was amazing to see the dust particles floating in the air and slowly falling to the floor. I later learned that all kind of particles were floating in the air including dead human cells.
I began to visualize all the things that God did with dust. From the dust God formed man’s…
Skeletal system and all its appendages and teeth and nails
Muscular system with its tendons and ligaments
Circulatory system including his blood, heart, arteries, veins, and capillaries
Nervous system
Immune system
Respiratory system
Sensory perception including sight, hearing, smell, taste, feeling, speech
Brain that controls the entire body, and
Skin and hair to cover the entire body from the crown of his head to the bottom of his feet
Everything we know about the human body, God made it from dust. The elements of the human body taken from the dust of the ground include the following:
[Insert Table here]
Add all these elements together and you would not have enough money to buy a Venti cup of Starbucks coffee. Oh, but in the hands of YAWEH Elohim, man in all his glory was formed from mere dust particles of the ground. Now that is AWSOME. Amen somebody. This is what I call From Dust to Glory!
Finally, we see YAWEH Elohim’s very real personal touch. HE “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” Breathing into someone’s nostrils connotes an act that is up close and personal. God could have said, “Man breathe and live,” but that is not what He did.
Rather, He did what appears to be a tender and loving act—He drew near and do for man what He did not do for any other creature. YAWEH Elohim personally “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” This adds detail to Genesis 1:27, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”
This is parallel to what Jesus did for His disciples recorded in John 20:22, before He ascended back to heaven. It says, “…he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:”
The soul is that part of man that cannot be seen with the human eye or any other instrument. It is the most precious part of human life that inhabits and animates the body. A person’s soul is what he must give an account to God for. The body will perish, but the soul will live on—somewhere. Amen somebody. More to come on that in the next chapter.
Conclusion
When I meditate on what God has done for man, which means that He has done it for me and you. My soul rejoices and cries out with hallelujah and thank you Lord! I understand why David in Psalm 8:4-6, was provoked to ask,
“What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? (5) For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. (6) Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:”
Listen. I do not need any further details on how He did what He did. I agree with David when he wrote in Psalm 139:6, 14-15, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it. (14) I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. (15) My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.”
Notice that David did not say that this knowledge is far. For it was only far, it might be attainable. But David said it was “high,” and he could not attain unto it or reach it. In other words, it is above his pay grade, and he did not have the ability to reach it, and neither do we. Amen somebody.
I know that I cannot speak for you, but I am so glad that I can speak for myself. I do not need more information about how God created the world. I am satisfied with what God has recorded for me in the OT Genesis 1—2 and the NT in John 1:1-4, 10, 14, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (2) The same was in the beginning with God. (3) All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. (4) In him was life; and the life was the light of men. (10) He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. (14) And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”
I say, I am satisfied with Jesus. The man who died for a wretch like me out on Calvary; He was buried and rose on the third day with all power in heaven and earth in His hands. The same Jesus who promised to prepare a place for me in heaven and come back to receive me and all who have put their trust in Him for salvation.
Right now, there is singing in my soul and If the Lord never does anything else for me, He has done enough. Amen somebody. I like the way Bro. Harrison Johnson put in his song when he said:
“Some folks would rather have houses and land, some folks choose silver and gold,
these things they treasure and forget about their souls; I’ve decided to make Jesus my choice.”
Chorus:
“The road is rough, the going gets tough, and the hills are hard to climb.
I started out a long time ago, there’s no doubt in my mind; I have decided to make Jesus my choice.”
Amen somebody. Until next week, may the LORD richly bless you my beloved.