Series: Old Testament Encounters with Christ
Part 2: Christ Our Creator
Genesis 2:7-22
Sermon by Rick Crandall
Grayson Baptist Church - November 30, 2011
*A couple of weeks ago we started exploring Christ in the Old Testament. Vs. 7 here tells us that “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 being.”
*But how do we know this was the pre-incarnate Christ?
-How do we know that it wasn’t God the Father?
-How do we know it was Jesus?
*We know because of the evidence we find in the New Testament. And last time we took a good look at that evidence. For example, in John 1:18 the Apostle John said something that people often miss: “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.”
*In other words: “No one has seen GOD THE FATHER at any time.”
-Until the crucifixion, resurrection and return of Jesus Christ back to Heaven, no one had seen God the Father at any time.
*So, whenever the Old Testament talks about someone seeing God, they are meeting with the pre-incarnate Christ.
-Jesus affirmed this truth in John 6:44-46, where He said:
44. “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.
45. It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.
46. Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father.”
*Here in Genesis 2, it is the pre-incarnate Christ we see. And we start here tonight, looking for same blessings the early disciples received when Christ opened their understanding about His presence in the Old Testament.
1. Christ was right there in Genesis 2. He was there to create.
*As we see in vs. 7: “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 being.”
*There Christ is, giving us life, giving us our very existence!
*Jesus Christ is our Creator God! He certainly had a key role in creation.
-The Apostle John confirmed this for us in the opening words of his Gospel.
-Calling Jesus “The Word,” John 1:1-4 says:
1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2. He was in the beginning with God.
3. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
4. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
*Paul echoed this great truth in Col 1:15-16, where he said that Jesus:
15. “is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
16. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.”
*Christ is our creator! That great truth should bless your soul, because it means that you are a priceless creation of God!
*Zig Ziglar once compared us to the priceless masterpieces painted by DaVinci or Michelangelo. And Zig said, “I am roughly familiar with the price of the canvass and the paints. In and of themselves, they are not worth much at all. No -- The value of the painting comes from the touch of the Master’s Hand.” (1)
*And you are priceless, because you were created by the greatest Master of all.
-The Lord was there to create us! Aren’t you glad?
*And I am so glad that He did not create us to be alone.
-In vs. 18, the Lord God said: “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.”
*This is the very first time in God’s Word where the Lord says something is not good. So, the Lord made someone just right for Adam. And God puts people in our lives too. Of course, this includes our mates, if we are married. And we ought to thank God for them. But it also includes other family members and friends, not to mention our brothers and sisters in Christ.
*Aren’t you glad that God created Adam AND Eve?
-I would hate to be the only person in the world. Wouldn’t you?
-But Christ was there to create us! Every single one of us can be traced back to these first people here in Genesis 2.
*Christ was there to create.
2. And He was there to be close.
*This is something else we can see in vs. 7: “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 being.”
*The Lord God “formed” man from the dust of the ground. This reflects a close, personal touch from the Lord. We are formed clay. The word picture in the original language is a potter at his wheel forming a vessel. And this is a beautiful picture of creation.
*But this is not what makes man unique, because the same thing is said of the animals in vs. 19: “Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air. . .”
*The thing that makes man unique is something we find in the last part of vs. 7: “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 being.”
*The pre-incarnate Christ came close enough to Adam to breathe into his nostrils. The breath of God becoming the breath of life for us, making us living souls created in the image of God.
*God came close in a special way to create mankind.
-We see this again in vs. 21-22, when God created Eve:
21. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place.
22. Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.
*I like that personal touch of God performing surgery on Adam. The Lord reached in to take Adam’s rib, and used it to create Eve. Then the Lord personally brought her to Adam.
*That was the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ. And He didn’t have to do any of that.
-I am sure that He could have spoken man into existence just like He did the rest of His universe.
-But the Lord wanted that close, personal touch.
-And He wants to be close to us today.
*In Matt 15:8, Jesus was speaking about the selfish, hypocritical, self-righteous scribes and Pharisees.
-And the Lord quoted Isaiah saying: “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.”
*We don’t want to be like those people! -- And we don’t have to be like them.
-The wonderful good news is that we can be as close to God as we want to be.
-James 4:8 tells us to “draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”
*Don’t you know He will!
-The Lord was there at creation to be close to Adam & Eve.
-Now He wants to be close to you.
*Christ was there to be close.
3. But He was also there to care.
[1] In vs. 8&9, we can see God’s care first in the place He gave:
8. The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed.
9. And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
*The pre-incarnate Christ planted that garden for them. And we may not live in the Garden of Eden, but our world is a place of great beauty. As He says in vs. 9, the trees were “pleasant to the sight.”
*So, our world is a place of great beauty. And it’s a place of great benefit. In vs. 9, the trees were “good for food.”
*Yes, terrible things happen in this fallen world.
-Untold millions suffer in poverty, ignorance and disease.
-Many more suffer under brutal dictators.
-In just the last few years, many thousands of people have been killed by earthquakes and tsunamis.
*But let us never doubt that God cares for all people. God cares for us.
[2] We see His care in the place He gave.
-But in vs. 15, we also see God’s care in the purpose He gave: “Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and keep it.”
*The pre-incarnate Jesus Christ gave them that purpose.
-And God has given us a purpose for living too.
*Now our purpose may seem unimportant to the world, but it is highly important to God. And it is important to God, because He cares for us.
*Pastor James Merritt talked about the Sunday School class he attended as a student at Stetson University. Every single Sunday the teacher would walk up to the blackboard and write down these three questions:
-“Who Am I?”
-“Why Am I Here?”
-“Where Am I Going?”
*Why did the Sunday School teacher do that?
-He was trying to get James and the rest of the class to focus on their purpose.
*God cares so much about us that He gives us purpose in life.
-But what is our purpose as Christians?
*Pastor Merritt outlined 5 major purposes that God has for our lives in His church:
1-We glorify God through worship.
2-We gain strength, encouragement and wisdom through fellowship.
3-We grow through discipleship.
4-We give through ministry.
5-We go through evangelism. (2)
*The Lord gave Adam & Eve a purpose for living.
-And He cares so much for us that He gives us a purpose too.
*Part of that purpose is showing other people that God cares.
-I saw an unusual example of God’s care during a terrible cold-snap we had a couple of winters ago.
*A stranger came into the church office at McClendon needing help.
-She was a Muslim lady originally from Somalia.
-She had been in the United States for 14 years, and lived in Arlington, Texas.
*This lady’s car had broken down the day before, as she was trying to get to Jackson to pick up her son. He was a college student stuck in a shelter over there, due to the terrible water problem they were having. (106 water mains had burst in the freezing weather.)
*Mom made it to Roger Pinton’s only to find out that her alternator was gone and the cost for the repair was $450. She only had $55 and spent the night in her freezing car.
*The church secretaries listened to her story and gave her some hot cocoa. The most we felt we could possibly help was $100. But one of the secretaries got on the phone. Pinton’s dropped the price to $390. Then First West, Fair Park and First Methodist all helped out, and we were able to cover the cost.
*But most important, those two ladies were able to witness to that Muslim lady and explain how God can use a bad situation to bless us.
-I found a Gospel presentation for Muslims online.
-Someone else had a nice Bible we gave her.
-Then the two secretaries took that lady to get some lunch.
*I had a book called “Glad News! God Loves You My Muslim Friend,” but I couldn’t find it in my office. Then I found it at home, when I went for a late lunch. And I got to Roger Pinton’s just as they were finishing with her car.
*When I walked in the door, one of the workers was standing there witnessing to that mom. He goes to who goes to First Baptist Church in Monroe.
*Now I don’t know if that lady ever trusted in the Lord. But I do know that in a dozen ways big and small, God showed her that He cared. And He used His people to help show that care.
*God cares so much for us that He gives us a life of purpose. And James Merritt urges us not to waste it.
*Merritt said: “I want you to understand that fulfilling these purposes in your life is more than just a responsibility. It is a privilege.
-Is there a greater privilege than knowing God?
-Is there a greater pleasure than loving God?
-Is there a greater power than living for God?
*Life is short and life is temporary. Don’t waste it focusing on things that won’t matter in eternity. I don’t believe any of us will be in heaven one moment until we ask, ‘Why did I place so much importance on that which was so transient and that which was so temporary?’” (2)
*Jesus Christ cares so much for us that He gives us a place and a purpose.
-He was there in the Garden to care.
4. And He was there to command.
*In vs. 16-17, we see God giving a command to Adam:
16. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat;
17. but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.’’
*Here we see the Lord, full of wisdom always leading the right way, telling us the right way to live, telling us the only way to live.
[1] God’s command was clear.
-He made is simple enough for a child to understand.
[2] God’s command was also crucial.
-Disobedience meant death, -- not just physical death, but spiritual death, and not just for Adam and Eve, but for all mankind.
*The pre-incarnate Christ gave them this command. And here He reminds us of the importance of obedience. The only thing that could have broken Adam & Eve’s relationship with God was disobedience.
*God gave them this command, because He wanted the very best for them.
-The Lord wanted the best for them and for us.
*That’s also why back in vs. 9 He put the tree of life in the center of the garden.
-And even this tree wasn’t forbidden to us, -- until they disobeyed.
*But unfortunately, they did disobey.
-In the very next chapter, the one tree Adam & Eve couldn’t eat from was the one they chose to eat from, when they were deceived by Satan.
*But Christ was there to command.
5. And He was there ready to go to the cross for us.
*When the Lord gave that command in vs. 17, He knew that Adam & Eve were going to disobey Him. Their disobedience brought death upon them both, and upon all mankind. Their disobedience severed their relationship with God.
*There was nothing they could do by themselves to restore that relationship.
-And there was nothing we could do. But then came the cross of Jesus Christ and His resurrection from the dead. Now we can turn to Jesus Christ and receive Him as Savior and Lord.
*But I want to remind you that God had this planned from the very beginning.
-1 Peter 1:19 talks about believers being redeemed “with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
-But then Peter went on to say that Jesus:
20. indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you
21. who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
*God had it all planned from the beginning.
-And as Christ stood there giving the command to Adam, the Lord knew that He would take the death that Adam deserved.
-Christ was there, prepared to go to the cross for them, and for us.
*Christ was there at the beginning...
-To create...
-To be close...
-To care...
-To command...
-And ready to go to the cross for us.
*Thank God!
1. Original source for Ziglar quote unknown
2. Adapted from ChristianGlobe.com sermon “The Power of Purpose” by James Merritt - Proverbs 16:1-33
