There Is No Place Like Him. Series

Intro:

1. How can we forget some of the final lines in The Wizard of Oz when Dorothy keeps saying, "There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home."

2. There is no place like the Home that God originally created for Humanity. It was literally a paradise.

3. A Home for Humanity.

Trans: Gen. 2:4-25

In the first chapter we took a Chronological look at Creation; now we have a Topical look at the same thing.

I. FIRST, THERE WAS NOBODY HOME. 4-6

A. The Heading.

4 This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens - this is a typical introduction used throughout the book: 5:1; 6:9; 10:1; 11:10, 27; 25:12,19; 36:1; 37:1.

B. The Hindering.

5 before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; 6 but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground - God created plant life on the 3rd day, but hindered it from growing until both moisture and man was there to care for them.

Trans:There was a time when nobody was home on planet earth. It’s like going to Church hours before anybody gets there! This building is a lonely, almost scary place when nobody is here!

II. FURTHERMORE, WE HAVE HOME ALONE. 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 being - we have already looked at this in chapter 1.

A. Our Significance.

It gives us significance that we come from God, today man tries to eliminate God as His source and as a result lives a meaningless life.

Sproul, "If human beings are considered alone, apart from God, then they remain alone and insignificant. If we are not creatures related to God, we are a comic accident. If we emerged from the slime by accident, and finally disintegrate into a void or abyss of nothingness."

B. Our Substance.

1. Body. "of the dust of the ground"

"Dust" in the Bible:

Sometimes dust is used metaphorically, such as, "The clouds are the dust of His feet" (Nahum 1:3); sometimes "dust" expresses an act of humility—Josh. 7:6; and often it denotes the actual dust of the ground.

1. Creation. "The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground" (Gen. 2:7). Man’s lowly origin and frailty.

2. Confession. "Lord, what am I but dust and ashes?" (Gen. 18:27). To take a low place before God is to find a high place in Him.

3. Conversion. "He raiseth up out of the dust" (1 Sam. 2:8). From the dust of sin, and shame, and self, the Lord raises to the realm of His salvation, love, and grace.

4. Compassion. "He remembereth we are dust" (Psa. 103:14). In His love He remembers we are of lowly origin, and helps us in our weakness.

5. Consecration. "Shake thyself from the dust" (Isa. 52:2). Dusty garments are a disgrace, but the beautiful clothing of His grace beautifies us.

6. Consideration. "I exalted thee out of the dust" (1 Kings 16:2). What the Lord has done for us is worthy of our grateful consideration.

7. Conquest. "His enemies shall lick the dust" (Psa. 72:9). When Christ reigns all shall submit to Him.

[1000 Bible Study Outlines: Study Helps and Sermon Outlines]

The word for "formed" is used of a potter’s shaping clay, and implies that God became directly involved in the shaping and fashioning of man’s physical frame. From beginning to end in the creation story, everything is ascribed to direct acts of God no less than forty-six times. In that footnote the creation of the human body is especially stated to be the product of God’s direct activity. John Phillips Commentary Series

The clay cannot shape itself. If you are to reach your highest potential, you need God to shape your life. It requires an admission of powerlessness to come to the experience of His power. Isn’t this the real meaning of humility? Jesus said that being "poor in spirit" was the first step to entering the kingdom of God (see Matt. 5:3)." [Preaching Through the Year]

Calvin remarks here: "The body of Adam is formed of clay and destitute of sense; to the end that no one should exult beyond measure in his flesh. He must be excessively stupid who does not here learn humility."

"1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying: 2 "Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause you to hear My words." 3 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something at the wheel. 4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make. 5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: 6 "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?" says the LORD. "Look, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel!" Jeremiah 18:1-6 (NKJV)