The Life God Intended
Genesis 2
Dr. Roger W. Thomas, Preaching Minister
First Christian Church, Vandalia, MO
Introduction: One of my favorite parts of Boy Scouting was orienteering. I was a scout for about a year before I dropped out in favor of sports. During that year, I learned the knots, hiked in the woods, slept in a tent, and spent a week at scout camp. That’s where I learned about orienteering.
Orienteering involved learning to follow a course with a map and a compass. The instructions might say go fifty yards due north. Turn twenty degrees to the east and walk another twenty-five yards. If followed correctly, the instructions would take you to a predetermined destination and a prize.
Success depended on two things. First, you had to follow instructions. That was the big test. But even more importantly, you had to read a compass and know one direction from another. Done right, you would always know where you were and what direction you were headed. If you went off course, you were supposed to be able to reorient yourself and find your way back.
That’s orienteering. That’s also life. The same two principles apply. Ignore the instructions at your own peril. Life is not a game. You are not going to get out of this world alive so you better pay attention. This requires knowing your directions and keeping yourself oriented.
This brings us to Genesis 1-3. We are studying our way through the first three chapters of the Bible in preparation for our 40 Days of Purpose beginning in February. These chapters provide more than a preface to the Bible. They offer an orientation to life. If we pay attention, the lessons of these chapters can guide us through a whole maze of confusing issues in our world.
Today’s sermon comes in two parts. In Part I, I will walk through the chapter, section by section. We will call this our analysis. Like a tour guide, I will note various points of interest along the way. The second step will involve application. I will briefly highlight a handful of contemporary topics to which this chapter speaks.
Part I: Analysis. The chapter naturally divides into five parts. Verses 1-3 might better be read with chapter 1. Here God rests on the seventh day after the six days of creation. The first part of verse 4 provides an introduction to what follows. “This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created.” Think of this like a chapter title. This kind of statement occurs ten times in Genesis. Each marks the start of a new discussion (cf. 5:1; 6:9; 10:1; 11:10, 27; 25:12, 19; 36:1, 9; 37:2).
The rest of the chapter divides into three big chunks. The second half of verse 4 through verse 7 explains the manner of man’s creation. Verses 8-17 describe the purpose for his creation. Verses 18-25 picture the completion of his creation.
Genesis 1 already told of the creation of mankind, male and female. That was an overview of what is now described in detail here in chapter two. Think of it like a movie that begins with a wide-angle shot of a city from high above. The next scene quickly zooms in on one block and then one house and finally one person in one room in that house. Genesis 1 is the big picture. Genesis 2 zooms in on one piece of Day Six. Note how verse 4 refers to the LORD God with LORD in all capitals. This is the first use of the Bible’s special name for God, Jehovah or Yahweh. That’s what LORD in all caps always means in our translations. Jehovah is the name for God as the one who makes covenants and enters into personal relationships with humans. He is not a distant Creator. He is the God who wishes to get up close and personal with his creation.
Before man was made, earth was not yet a very hospitable place to live. God made the first man and then made for him a perfect home. Verse 7 repeats what we learned from Genesis 1. God made man in a different way than anything else. He is made of the same stuff as everything else on earth. Hebrew scholars believe the name Adam meant “from the red earth.” But humans are more than just physical elements. “The LORD God formed the man,” it says. This uses the language of the potter. It describes a very intimate and personal activity.
Verses 8-17 describe life in the garden God prepared for the first man. According to this description, the Eden was both real and delightful. The emphasis, however, is upon Adam’s purpose rather than his place. He had two purposes: work and worship. He cared for the Garden. Such work wasn’t a punishment but a privilege. God granted him the honor of serving as a steward or care taker of the creation. But Adam was the manager, not the owner. To help make that point, God placed two special trees in the garden. Both were gifts of God.
The Tree of Life guaranteed existence without death. But that was contingent on the other tree. The second tree, named the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, was no less a gift. Adam could eat of any tree in the garden except this second one. This was God’s gift of freedom to Adam. There is no freedom without an alternative. Adam could choose to honor or not honor God. Only a free moral agent who can decide to obey or not obey is truly free to love. God loved Adam enough to allow him to love him back.
Verses 18-25 introduce a second human into the creation. So far Genesis 2 has told us that man is a physical creature, fashioned from the earth. He is a spiritual creature, made by and for God. Here we learn that he is a social creature. He was not meant to be alone. This is the first time God says something wasn’t good. Adam learns for himself what God already knew. As he surveyed and oversaw all the various animals of creation, he found “no suitable helper.” That’s an important term. Older translations sometimes rendered it “help mate.” Some readers concluded that this means “assistant” or even “servant.” Both terms “suitable helper” and “help mate” can be misleading. “Helper” meant one who provided strength or power. “Suitable,” sometimes rendered companion, referred to a part that fit or corresponded. That was what the old English word “mate” once meant. Eve wasn’t Adam’s assistant as much as she was the strength that was missing from his life. Without her, he was incomplete. With her, he was stronger. Adam knew something was missing. He would recognize what he needed when he found it.
The English translations say Eve was made from Adam’s rib. Technically, the Hebrew doesn’t say rib, but simply a part of his side. Rib may be a reasonable inference. The point was not what part. The important thing was that she was part of him, not something separate or distinct. She wasn’t just another creature. She was human, just as human as Adam.
Maybe you have heard the other version of Eve’s creation. Adam comes to God and says, “Lord, I’m lonely. I need to have some company.” God responds. “OK, Adam. I am going to make you a perfect woman. She will be intelligent, beautiful and gracious. She will fix your meals, clean the Garden, and raise your kids. She will be flawless in every way. She will never nag you or say an ugly word to you. She will be everything you could ever want.”
“Wow,” says Adam, “That’s sounds great. Almost too good to be true! What’s that gonna cost me?” God answers, “An arm and a leg.” To which Adam replies, “That’s awfully steep. What can I get for a rib?” (Martha G. Verlander, as quoted in The Reader’s Digest, February 1991, 82) Ladies, if your husband laughed at that I give you permission to turn to him and say, “You ARE going to come with me to the marriage enrichment conference in three weeks!”
Martin Luther, and many others since, contended that God didn’t make Eve from Adam’s head lest she conclude that she was over him. He didn’t make Eve from Adam’s foot lest he think he was over her. He made Eve from his side so that she would be his companion and partner in life.
Adam realized this. “This is now” in our translation is probably a bit weak. Some render it “at last” or “finally.” “Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh!” Adam recognizes what God has done for him. She was a part of him. She was taken out of him. She completed him.
Jesus quoted verse 24 to explain God’s design for marriage (Mt 19). Jesus taught that this special creative act of God provides the foundation of marriage for all time. In marriage a man and woman leave their respective families and begin their own as husband and wife. They leave. They cleave (or join together) and become “one flesh.” A marriage is more than two people living under one roof or mingling their finances. They become one new entity.
Verse 25 describes Adam and Eve’s life. The two were naked and they felt no shame. All of that would soon change. It is hard for those of us who have lived all of our lives after the events of Genesis 3 (that’s next week’s study) to fully appreciate what this last little verse is saying. Here were two people, physically, emotionally, and spiritually defenseless, vulnerable, innocent, totally unashamed and guilt free. They had nothing to hide and no reason to hide from anything. That‘s how life began. That’s the life God intended.
Part II: Application. We have worked our way through the five sections Genesis 2. Now let me list five very practical applications of this chapter. This chapter provides a much needed orientation for life. The matters I am going to list are as contemporary as tomorrow’s newspaper. This is where you may think I have turned from preaching to meddling. So be it!
1. God is the author of human freedom. God made mankind on purpose and for a purpose. He gave him dignity and worth. He granted him the freedom to obey or disobey. Freedom is not just a political topic. Freedom is more than something that governments give to their citizens as they please. The idea of freedom goes all the way back to Genesis 2. Our founding fathers knew this. That’s why Thomas Jefferson wrote, “all men are created equal and are endowed by their creator with life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Today is Religious Freedom Day across American. It is a good time to remember where liberty comes from.
2. All men are created equal. We are made of one blood. Tomorrow is Martin Luther King Day. I will be participating in the observances at 2nd Baptist Church this afternoon. I encourage you to attend. This is a good day to remember that anyone who believes what Genesis 2 says has no excuse for treating another human being as anything less than a part of the human race. Racism in all of its forms is a direct repudiation of what Genesis 2 teaches! Period. Sadly, many of us have not always practiced what the Bible preaches. Hopefully we here in this place have learned our lesson once and for all!
3. Humans have value because of who they are and whose they are. Human beings have dignity and should be treated that way regardless of how much they are worth, how much they can produce, how smart they are, or how strong they are. The value of human life comes from the Creator not the courts. Those who believe Genesis 2 can never accept the argument that the old, the sick, the helpless, or the unborn have no value. Every human life has value despite the arguments of those who favor euthanasia, abortion, and selective breeding. If you wonder about my use of the term “selective breeding,” that’s where embryonic stem cell research leads. The conception of life in order to harvest human body parts for medical purposes!
4. Marriage is a divine creation not just a legal convention. Those of you who were here in June heard two sermons about the current debate over the definition of marriage. I won’t retrace those same steps. You can request copies of those messages from the office. Let me simply reaffirm what I taught then. For those who believe Genesis 2 or what Jesus said about it, the nature of marriage is not open for debate. Marriage is God’s idea. He alone has the right to define it. It is between a man and a woman, period!
5. Finally, application #5. Genesis 2 is not about a limited life. It is all about life as God intended it. The creator wanted a close and personal relationship with the first humans. He still desires that today. The God of the garden wants to be the God of your life. He made you to live in a relationship of worship and obedience with him. He loves and values you so much that he won’t force you to stay with him. But without him, you will never know the life he intended for you.
That’s why Jesus Christ came. That’s what he invites you back to when you accept him and daily seek to grow in your relationship with him. It is all about coming back to the life God intended.
***Dr. Roger W. Thomas is the preaching minister at First Christian Church, 205 W. Park St., Vandalia, MO 63382 and an adjunct professor of Bible and Preaching at Central Christian College of the Bible, 911 E. Urbandale, Moberly, MO. He is a graduate of Lincoln Christian College (BA) and Lincoln Christian Seminary (MA, MDiv), and Northern Baptist Theological Seminary (DMin).
