Life As God Intended It To Be Series

Introduction

One day a group of scientists got together and decided that man had come a long way and no longer needed God. So they picked one scientist to go and tell God that they were finished with him. The scientist walked up and said, “God, we’ve decided that we no longer need you. We’re to the point that we can clone people and do many miraculous things, so why don’t you just get lost?”

God listened very patiently and kindly. They He replied, “Very well, let’s have a man-making contest.”

The scientist replied, “OK, great!”

But God added, “Now we’re going to do this just like I did with Adam.”

The scientist said, “Sure, no problem.” Then he bent down and grabbed a handful of dirt.

God said, “No, no, no. Go get your own dirt!”

Who needs the instruction manual? Some time ago, I purchased a DIY computer table. It was a cash and carry purchase. The moment I reached home, I quickly opened it up and started assembling. I had not bothered to read the manufacturer’s instructions thinking that IQ and common sense should do the job. However, before long, I got stuck because the sequence was not right, resulting in not being able to attach the other parts to the whole. It took quite a while and a lot of humility to realise that I needed to read the manufacturer’s instructions in order to assemble the DIY Computer Table the way it had been designed to be. So, humbly I picked up the instructions that I had crumpled and thrown aside. If you had been there you could hear saying, “Aiyah, so simple, how could I overlooked this step and that small part.”

Yes, it was a very simple DIY Computer and though I failed to assemble it, I could simply disassemble the able and do it again and again. But, life is not like a DIY Computer Table where you can simply do it by trial and error. You cannot assemble, disassemble and then reassemble in life all the time. Some mistakes are costly and fatal. The most sensible and yet the most neglected step in assembling the DIY Computer Table was to read the manufacturer’s instructions. After all, they were the one who designed and manufactured the table. Similarly, for life, the Bible is God the Creator’s instruction manual for us so that we may live our lives the way it was intended it to be, according to Designer. When we do so, we are at peace with Him, with ourselves and others.

Genesis 2 is not a repeat of Genesis 1, as some people supposed; it contains a more detail account of the creation of humanity and their original habitat. Perhaps, an analogy may help: Genesis 1 is the BIG PICTURE and Genesis 2 is the ZOOMING IN of God’s creation, particularly humans.

I have entitled this morning sermon “Life as God Intended It To Be” because I believe in this chapter of the beginnings of humanity, male and female, it forces us to ask some hard questions about how are we living our lives in the light of God’s purpose and design for humanity – to display and declare God’s genius and glory!

Completing Creation

• Completing the Work of Creating (2:1–2).

The work of creation has been completed but it does not mean therefore it is able to run on its own without God, depending on its built-in mechanisms. The whole of creation cannot exist for a single moment without God’s sustaining power. In the 17th and 18th Century, there were philosophies that promote the idea that God is either dead or disinterested in the world and its inhabitants.

Paul tells us in Colossians 1:16–17, “For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

Interestingly, just as the world was brought into existence by the creative power of God’s word, is thrives on the sustaining power of God’s word. The author to the book of Hebrews asserts: “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.” (Hebrews 1:3).

A grandfather was trying to impress upon his grandson the truth that the world cannot survive for a single moment without God’s sustaining power of causing the earth to rotate on its axis and revolves around the Sun. The Earth’s rotational and revolving movements ensure that the Sun rises and sets at good time during the day, so is the moon by night, meticulously ensuring the arrival of times and seasons throughout the year. As the old favourite hymn “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” testifies when it says: