Main Scripture: Genesis 2:4-17
- This account takes us from the cosmos to the setting of man in the Garden of Eden and everything in these verses happens there.
- Verse 4 acts as a summary of the passage which follows, while verses 5-6, give us a broad-brush picture of what the land was like when God created man from the dust of the ground.
1. Made to be Humble
- God forming man from the dust is a picture of a very personal creation – God taking specific time and attention with man.
- In our greatest achievements and athletic feats, we must remember our humble origins and give all the credit to our Creator.
- And although we share the same way of breathing and living as animals, man was the only one that God breathed His life into personally – the kind of life that is in the image of God.
- In Ezekial 27, the prophet sees a scene of dry bones and the Lord God says to the breath, to breathe into the dry bones – and they come alive and stand on their feet
- This is a picture that was fulfilled fully, in the giving of the Holy Spirit by Jesus in John 20:22, when it says, "And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.'"
- The fact that we are dust is meant to remind us to be humble – apart from God giving us life, we are nothing!
Romans 9:20-21 20 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, "Why have you made me like this?" 21 Has the potter no right over the clay…
- We didn't choose where we were put or placed. Just like now, we don't choose where we are born – we are entirely dependent creatures.
- A humble perspective of our origin, should free us up to have faith in God for any pursuit He calls us to. Once we're free from having to be great on our own, we can pursue great things through God's enabling.
- These verses are intended to set the context or the scene for the creation of man and then show man's nature, man's position in relation to the earth and man's responsibility to God as His creator.
- The first responsibility that God gave man to do after He put him in the garden was work.
- Work was not a curse for Adam – work was a part of his noble calling from God
- Adam was placed in paradise and then Adam was given a commission to work it and keep it.
- From the first two chapters of Genesis, we can see that man has been made for work and that the work of the caretaker is meant to be a part of us and seen in how we take care of what God has given to us.
- We are to work faithfully and see increase in our work.
- We are to keep and be good stewards of what we have and the resources at our disposal.
- We are to be fruitful and multiply in every good thing we are called to do for the glory of God
- We are to rule and subdue the earth
- And there is a noble glory that we are called to – we are called to work and not just for money or subsistence – our work itself is its own reward because our work itself is what we are called to do and we are to do it in a fruitful, God-glorifying manner.
- God made man and put him in paradise. We were meant to enjoy and appreciate the beauty of all that God has made.
- God gave mankind gold and minerals and precious gemstones to enjoy – this wasn't written so that we could try to locate the garden or find riches – it was to show that God wanted to and wants to bless His children – God is a kind and generous God – it isn't meant to induce a love of gold – it is meant to induce a love of God – as the giver of every good gift.
- He was given a commandment to obey, because God wanted Adam to enjoy all of the freedoms of the garden yet also acknowledge that he was constrained by God for his good and that he needed to trust God and depend upon God.
- God was not being restrictive – He created many good things for man to enjoy – all that he needed in fact and more.
- God placed the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden as a test to see if man would trust God and look to God as his Creator or look outside of God for knowledge.
- Would man live according to the Word of God and trust God as far as God had revealed His word to Adam, even if Adam didn't fully understand or know why God commanded him?
- Or would man seek to be autonomous and live independent of God's Word, not trusting that God had man's best interests at heart?
Judges 21:25 "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes."
- We are called to enjoy and benefit from all of the good things that God has provided for our enjoyment and His glory – but we are to do so within the constraints of His Word.
- Just like Adam needed to live a life that was dependent on God's Word, we need to live our lives relying on what God says, even though we may not get it, we may not see it fully, we might not understand it completely, we might not see the true repercussions f it. But, we must trust God's goodness and obey His Word.
- Not only did Adam fail, time after time, man has failed to live by the Words of God.
- However, Jesus proved throughout His whole life that God's commandments were good and where all of mankind had failed every time, Jesus perfectly obeyed and earned the right to be called righteous.
- Jesus was tempted in every way as we are, yet He never sinned; He never failed.
- Jesus resisted Satan and showed He lived by God's Word when He said,
- Because of Jesus, we can have hope and we can choose to trust God, because He has proven Himself faithful – he has proven Himself trustworthy –He has proven Himself good He has proven Himself merciful and gracious, slow to anger and rich in love. The Lord God has proven Himself to be compassionate. The Lord God has demonstrated throughout all of His dealings with His people that He never fails and that we can trust what he says without ever doubting.
- If you partake of Jesus – who is the bread of life – you will never die.
Revelation 22:17 The Spirit and the Bride say, "Come." And let the one who hears say, "Come." And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.
Potential Application Questions:
- How does remembering that we were but dust help us to walk in humility before God and man?
- How does a godly humility help us be free to live for God by faith?
- How does knowing that we, as men, were commissioned to work prior to the fall affect our attitudes and how we approach work each day?
- Men, where do we need to repent from a non-Biblical view and pursuit of work? (Slothfulness, complaining, not being diligent/faithful, seeing work as "just a job", waiting for something better, etc.)
- How can we seek to glorify God and find enjoyment in our work no matter what we do?
- Where is our level of enjoyment of the things God has for us currently? (scale of 1-10, with 10 at the top). What is the reason for it?
- How is humility and our trust in God related to our enjoyment (or lack thereof) specifically?
- How can we personally (not hypothetically) grow in our own enjoyment of God?
- How are we doing living by the Words of God and trusting Him in our lives? Where is our faith & trust in Him?
- How is God calling you to respond? How can you personally cultivate trust in God and His Word?
