Genesis 2
- Read Genesis 2
In Genesis 1 we are told God created the heavens and the earth and everything in them. We know the Father was involved in creation. Genesis 1:1 the first Bible verse we learned together tells us that. We know the Holy Spirit was involved in creation. Genesis 1:2 tells us, “the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.” We know God the Son was involved in creation for John 1:1-3 tells us, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.”God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, the Holy trinity, 3-in-1, labored together in creation.
In Genesis 2 the Lord fills in the blanks a little bit, and gives a little more detail about HOW He created everything in the universe.
In this more detailed account of creation, there are several lessons we learn, which we may have missed if the Lord hadn’t seen fit to give us these additional details. This morning I would like us to look at a few of the items we learn from the second chapter of this book of beginnings.
I. MAN WAS CREATED WITH A PURPOSE
First, I want you to understand that man was created with a purpose.
- Genesis 2:15
God planted a magnificent garden and then placed man in the garden to what, lay in a hammock, sipping pink lemonade and waiting for woman to be created so he’d have someone to refill his glass?
No. God placed man in the garden, and later woman, to tend the garden and to watch over it.
From the very beginning, it was in the plans and mind of God for you and I, for all of mankind to work, to have something productive to do.
There in the Garden of Eden, in a place and at a time many consider to be paradise, God intended for man to work. Work is not a result of the fall. Labor is not a result of the fall. Unproductive labor is a result of the fall. Disappointing labor is a result of the fall. Mind-numbing, body-destroying labor is a result of the fall. Fruitless labor is a result of the fall, but work in and of itself is not a result of the fall. Man was created with a purpose. We were placed in the Garden to tend it and to watch over it.
Now some of you are saying, “Brother Gene, that was in the garden of Eden. Man had an assignment then. That doesn’t apply to now.”
Really? Think of some of the assignments God has given us since the time of Jesus.
1. We are to share the Gospel and to make disciples
> Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
This commandment isn’t given just to preachers, and teachers and such. This assignment is given to all people.
My goodness, there are people you know that I’ll never meet. There are people who will never listen to me because they’ll think to themselves that I am a preacher. It’s my job to tell people about Jesus. But, if they encounter someone like you, a satisfied customer who can tell them how Jesus has worked in your life, they will be much more inclined to listen.
2. We are to pray.
You and I can labor all our lives physically, and never accomplish what God can do in an instant in response to our prayers.
> 1 Thessalonians 5:17 Pray without ceasing.
> Matthew 9:36-38 We read But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.
Someone may ask, “Brother Gene, do you really think of prayer as work?”
You better believe I do. There are times when praying and fellowshipping with the Lord it is nothing more than glory. You’re praying, you’re singing, you’re worshipping, and it is nothing more than glory, enjoying the presence of the Lord. But there are other times, when the Lord can place a burden on you to pray, when there is no joy in that time at all.
Right now, when I think of how Hamas, in an attempt to distract from their failed polices, and their lack of concern for their people have stirred up the people, and are firing thousands of Iranian-produced rockets onto innocent civilians in Israel; when I think of how Israel has had no peace from the time that nation was reestablished in 1948, there’s no joy in those prayers.
When I think of how those same evil people hide their rocket launchers beside schools, and alongside hospitals so that when the Israelies fire back they will kill innocent women and children, it’s heart-breaking prayers. When I think of how the world’s press and many of the teachers in this country, ignore Hamas’ lack of concern for their own children, which they use as human shields, and I think of those children growing up learning nothing but hate, those prayers are work.
When you are praying for the persecuted Christians in North Korea, who can have 3 generations of a family imprisoned because 1 person is found with a Bible, those are prayers with tears and that is work.
When you are praying for Christians in many African countries, Christians who have had their villages attacked time and time again with family members killed simply because they are Christians, those are prayers with tears, and that is work.
3. We are to represent Christ
> Matthew 5:14-16 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
My word, it can be exhausting representing Christ in some of the settings you are called to represent Him.
When you are at school and all around you are other students whose every sentence is laced with profanity it can be exhausting representing Christ. When you are in construction, or are a mechanic, or many other trades, and the very air around you is polluted with profanity, it can be a labor, holding your tongue and striving to live a life of Christ-mindedness in front of people.
We are to share the Gospel and make disciples. We are to pray. We are to represent Christ.
I don’t care if you are a contractor, a cop, a teacher, a secretary, and salesman, or whatever; those are only the means by which you pay the bills; you are really a missionary, an ambassador of Jesus Christ, and the Lord placed you where He did for a reason.
4, We are to serve the Body
- 1 Corinthians 12:12-18
God gives us spiritual gifts so that we can labor, so that we can work for each other, so that we can help each other.
And, don’t forget, when you and I are laboring we are to labor with several things in mind.
WE LABOR:
1) For the glory of God -
> 1 Corinthians 10:31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.
We work with excellence, we do the best we can, because we are laboring for God’s glory.
You may not be the best block layer in town, but you can be the block-layer with the best attitude, who doesn’t cut corners, because you are doing it for God’s glory.
You may not be the strongest weight lifter at your gym, but you can be the one giving her best because you are doing it for God’s glory.
WE LABOR
2) Trusting the Lord for the results
> Psalm 126:5-6 Those who sow in tears
will reap with shouts of joy. Though one goes along weeping,
carrying the bag of seed, he will surely come back with shouts of joy, carrying his sheaves.
We’re sowing seeds with tears, but we are trusting the Lord for the harvest.
3) With the end in mind
> Matthew 6:19-21 Don’t store up for yourselves treasures[i] on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
We labor differently than the world, because we know that much of our reward will be reserved until later.
My friend, there is nothing wrong with relaxing. There is nothing wrong with a vacation or a day off, but we are not here just marking time until Jesus comes again, or until we go to Him. God has things for us to do.
Man was created with a purpose.
Man was created with intelligence
II. MAN WAS CREATED WITH INTELLIGENCE
- Genesis 2:20
God brought all of the animals before man and had the man name them.
In other words, man did not evolve over time, and begin by grunting and over time develop the ability to communicate. From the very beginning man had the ability to reason, to think, to communicate.
I wonder what Adam thought as God brought the animals before him and had Adam name them. I wonder, as he named them if he asked God any questions?
Ah, Lord, I don’t understand this duck-billed platypus. What did you do, assemble him from parts left over from the other animals?
And Lord, these emus, and ostriches, and penguins, why did You give them feathers if they can’t fly.
Ah Lord, why did you give this walrus, and these otters a mustache like Burt Reynolds? What is that mustache for? I’d like to see evolutionists try to explain why that thing evolved.
I’m not sure I’d like that job, trying to name all of the animals. There’s a whole lot of them out there and I’m not sure I could remember them all when I named them.
But, Genesis 2 fills out the creation account a little for us. It tells us man was created with a purpose, we have things to do. It tells us man was created with intelligence, and it tells us man was created needing partners.
III. MAN WAS CREATED NEEDING PARTNERS
- Read Genesis 2:18
It is not good for man to be alone.
Do you realize that is the first time in the Bible God says something isn’t good?
God created the heavens and the earth and saw that it was good. God separated the light from the darkness and saw that it was good. God separated the waters above the earth from the waters under the earth, and saw that it was good. God saw man standing there alone and said, “It is not good for man to be alone.”
Some wives could amen that today, “It’s not good for me to leave him alone, there’s no telling what he might do. The last time I went out of town and left him alone, I came home to find he hadn’t washed a dish in 2 weeks; or, I came home to find that he had bought a new 52” TV. No, it’s not good for him to be alone.”
It’s not good for him to be left alone, the last time I went out of town, I came home to find all of my plants dead from lack of water, and the cat wasn’t looking too good. I don’t know what happened but the last time I went out of town and left him alone I came home to find potato salad on the ceiling. I have no idea how it got there. The last time I left him alone, I came home to find the trash stacked 3 feet over the top of the can. I don’t think he’d ever dump it if I didn’t remind him. The last time I went out of town, I came home to find mail covering every flat surface in the house. It’s not good for my man to be alone.
God looked at the man he had created and said, “It’s not good for man to be alone.
So God caused a deep sleep to come on the man, and he took a rib from the man’s side and from it He formed a woman. King James calls her a helpmeet. Other translations call the woman a helper.
God looked at the man He created and said, “It’s not good for him to be alone, so God made him a helper.”
I thank the Lord for the helper He gave me. The Bible says,
> Proverbs 18:22 He who finds a wife finds a good thing,
And obtains favor from the Lord.
There’s not much better than finding a partner who shares the mission, the passion, the dream the Lord has given you. A person who is strong in the areas where you are weak, and a person whom you can help with your strengths.
Adam said, this is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh, and he was excited that he had someone like himself.
Oh, if only more people would appreciate the gifts that God has given them. And God has a plan for this new entity He has created. He says,
> Ephesians 5:25-29 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her to make her holy, cleansing her with the washing of water by the word. He did this to present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and blameless. In the same way, husbands are to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hates his own flesh but provides and cares for it, just as Christ does for the church,
> Ephesians 5:33 to sum up, each one of you is to love his wife as himself, and the wife is to respect her husband
If those who are married could learn to appreciate what they’ve been given and honor and love each other.
Gladys and I are different in many ways. But the Lord often puts people together with different strengths and weakness so they can complete one another, so they can help one another.
Look at those differences and look at how the Lord has used those to help you build something better than what you would have had alone.
Now notice what the Lord says about this new union.
- Genesis 2:24
Leaves his father and mother and bonds with his wife, or as King James puts it, cleaves to his wife.
2 very important keys to a successful marriage, leaving and cleaving.
When you get married, if you get married, 2 keys, leaving and cleaving. We still love our families. We still honor our parents, we still help them and look after them, but we cleave to our spouse.
When you are married, that spouse takes priority over everything and everyone else, other than the Lord. Your goal is to love, support, and encourage that one you have married. You have promised to do so.
That person takes priority in your life above and beyond everyone and everything else other than the Lord.
Leave and cleave. Protect your home. Protect your family. Honor your spouse.
Now, remember what the Lord said after Adam had named all of the animals? He said, “It’s not good for man to be alone.”
There are going to be times in your life when you are lone. Some people never marry. Others marry late or lose a spouse and are left alone.
My mother grew up in a family with little money. She and one of her sisters shared a bed until my mother married. She went from sleeping with her sister to sleeping with my dad. But, my dad has been gone for nearly 23 years now, and my mom has been alone.
Gladys and I both married later than most folks. Much of our aloneness was at the beginning of our lives, in the early days. We don’t yet know how this thing is going to end, but more than likely, one of us will probably be alone again for a while.
Aloneness can be lonely.
Some of you are familiar with Lottie Moon. Our Christmas offering for foreign missions is named after her.
As a child, Lottie Moon rejected Christianity because she saw Christian arguing about the Bible and couldn’t understand that. Later, in college, she became a Christian.
In those days most mission organizations wouldn’t send single women to the mission field, Finally, in 1873, at the age of 33, Lottie Moon was sent to China where, expect for a few visiting to the States, she spent the rest of her life.
While in China, she taught Chinese girls. She started schools and missions, and shared the gospel in numerous villages. There was such a great need in that country, that Lottie Moon basically starved herself to death, sharing what she had with others.
During all that time though, even doing what she knew she was called to do and serving the Lord so faithfully, she was lonely. One of my seminary professors had a letter from a missionary who later served with Lottie moon. In the letter he said they could hear here crying through the walls of her bedroom at night, from loneliness.
It is not good for man to be alone.
If you are married, honor and protect that marriage.
But, never forget those who are not, those who have never married. Those who are widowed.
It’s not good for man to be alone. Make sure you help, honor and include those who live alone.
Nursing home, many have no visitors.
Call those who are alone. Include, invite, help.
