Series Introduction: 

This morning we are continuing a sermon series in the book of Genesis titled “Beginning and Blessing.” Last week we began by focusing on the entirety of Genesis one and the first few verses from the beginning of Genesis 2. We touched on several foundational truths, including God’s eternal nature and goodness, how God created the universe with order and purpose in mind, and the unique role that human beings play as image bearers of God. Today we will focus on Genesis 2, which recounts the creation of man and woman in greater detail and sets the stage for next week’s sermon on how sin entered the world. Just as we saw with Genesis 1 last week, Genesis 2 provides foundational truths that continue to shape our lives today. 

Scripture Reading: 

Genesis 2:7-9, 15-25 (ESV): Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. Out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil… 

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden, 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 die.”

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.” So out of the ground the Lord God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air and brought them to the man to see what he would call them, and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all cattle and to the birds of the air and to every animal of the field, but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said,

“This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, for out of Man this one was taken.”

Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

Opening Prayer: 

Father God, We come before you today with grateful hearts, thankful for the privilege of studying your Word. As we turn our attention to the second chapter of Genesis, we ask that you open our minds and hearts to receive the message that you have for us today. We give you all the glory and honor, and we ask these things in the precious name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Introduction:

Many pressing social issues dominate headlines these days. Issues of race, gender, and human sexuality have taken the forefront in the last few years, even though the questions they bring up are not new. What does it mean to be a man or a woman? Is gender a social construct or something hardwired within us? What is marriage, and what does it mean to be a family? Do all these seemingly different races and ethnicities share a common humanity? While the way we talk about these questions may differ, they are not new questions. They all boil down to a fundamental question of “Who are we?” or, better yet, “Who did God create us to be?”

Now I will not be able to tackle all of these issues in this message. Still, the foundational truths that can be uncovered from a careful study of Genesis 1, 2, and 3 provide many answers to the questions our culture is wrestling with. I would go so far as to say that it is because our culture has largely either forgotten or rejected the truth about our origins that we are still wrestling with these questions and may continue to wrestle with them in some shape or form until the Lord returns. 

God Created Man: 

Our account begins this morning with God forming man from the dust of the ground. As we mentioned last week, God took special care in creating man. God spoke the rest of creation into existence, but God formed man from the dirt. In a meaningful way, we are of the earth, and the earth is under our care. God created us from the earth, given the task of caring for and cultivating the land, and after sin and death enter the story, part of our punishment is that we will die and return to the earth. 

If you are a fan of classic rock, you might be familiar with the band Kansas and their famous song "Dust in the Wind." The song's chorus goes, "Dust in the wind, all we are is dust in the wind." While that is a great song, it is not entirely correct. 

"The Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature." - Genesis 2:7, ESV

God did not just form physical bodies for us to dwell in but also breathed life into those bodies. The word for "breath" in this passage is a word that is occasionally translated as "spirit" because the two are very closely related. God himself gave us life and spirit to become "living creatures." In the biblical hierarchy of life on earth, some creatures live but are not mindful. These would include plants and fungi. Then some creatures are alive and mindful but not spiritual. These would consist of the animals of the land, sea, and air. Still above all earthly creatures is humanity, which lives mindfully and spiritually. We alone are made in God's image (Genesis 1:26-28), and we are alone among the earth's creatures in our ability to choose to love and worship God. 

We are more than a collection of cells and chemical processes. We are more than our bodies and our brains. We have an immortal spirit and soul that find their origin in God. In a sense, every human life is part heaven and part earth. The precious spirit within each of us is one of many reasons why human life is so precious and why it is dreadful to harm or destroy those made in the image of God. This is why Jesus tells us on the last day: 

Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.' - Matthew 25:34-40, ESV

When we love, serve, and honor our fellow man, we show love and honor to the God who made them through our service. 

The Garden of Eden: 

We then read, 

"And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed." - Genesis 2:8, ESV 

God made a perfect world, and within that ideal world, God created a special place just for us. The word translated as "garden" describes an area protected and set aside for cultivation. "Eden," on the other hand, is a Hebrew homonym for "pleasure" or "delight." It was a garden of pleasure, planted by God and entrusted to Adam for care and cultivation.  

Today some people scoff at the idea of a Garden of Eden, but the Scriptures show it to be a real place that existed in the far distant past. God's Word states that Eden is "in the east." When Moses wrote the book of Genesis (under God's divine inspiration), he was leading the people of Israel through the wilderness of Arabia. Journeying east, we come to the fertile plains of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which archaeologists still call "the fertile crescent" and "the birthplace of civilization." This description also matches the locations and geographical features described in verses 10-14. If you are curious, by following the narrative in Genesis 2, we can reasonably guess that the Garden of Eden was located somewhere in Southern Iraq at one time. Now this does not mean you can get on a plane and visit the Garden of Eden today. Even in Moses' day, any remains of the garden would have been long gone, washed away in the great flood of Noah. The earth has changed significantly since that day, but the point remains that Eden was real, and these events happened just as God's Word reveals that they happened.

We are then told in verse 15;

"The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it." Genesis 2:15, ESV

As I mentioned before, God tasked Adam with cultivating the garden which God had planted for him. This task is an important reminder that work is not a punishment for the fall. God made us for more than just sitting around and admiring God's good creation. God created us to participate and contribute in real and meaningful ways. Before the fall, work was not the purposeless, soul-crushing, or back-breaking work that many people associate with the term "work." Adam's work was good and meaningful, the type of work that fills you with joy, pride, and a sense of purpose and accomplishment. Human beings still need a purpose in life. You can give a man everything he needs to stay alive in an infinite supply, and he will still be miserable if it means nothing in the end. God created us for more than just survival. God designed us both to perform meaningful work and to enjoy the fruits of our labors. Both work and rest are essential parts of being a human being. Those who never work and those who never stop working are missing out on God's good design for our lives.

God Created Woman: 

After God's Word records the creation of man and his placement in the garden in greater detail, the attention shifts to the creation of the first woman. 

The Lord God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him." - Genesis 2:17, ESV

The first time something in creation was deemed "not good" was when God decided that Adam should not be alone. Now Adam was never truly alone. Adam had God and a world teeming with animals that could give him companionship, but he had no one like him in his humanity. This is why God decided to make for Adam "a helper fit for him." 

It would be a mistake to think that the woman was an afterthought. She was as much a part of God's plan for human life as man, and the creation of humankind would not be complete until God had made a woman. We also know that Adam was not long on the earth without Eve. The first chapter of Genesis tells us that Eve was created with Adam on the sixth day, so the creation of woman must have unfolded not long after Adam was made from the dirt and received the breath of life. 

It would also be a mistake to think that God created Eve in any way inferior to Adam. The word "helper" is not a term for a subordinate person but rather a partner who comes alongside as an equal. "A helper fit for him" or "matching him" literally means "like opposite him." Man and woman would be equals and yet opposites. Different, but not lesser or more significant. In fact, their differences would complement each other, and together they would be stronger than either of them would be apart.

When God created Eve, the first woman, he did not speak her into creation like the animals of the land, sea, and sky. Doing so would imply that she was somehow lesser than the man God formed by his own hands. God also did not create Even in the same way he made Adam. God did not take a second mound of dirt and form the woman, breathing the breath of life into her. Had God done this, one could mistakenly believe that man and woman were two independent creations, not one glorious creation. 

When God created Eve, he made her from Adam's body. In doing this, God shows that man and woman have identical natures. Eve stands alongside Adam as his equal counterpart. This is why Paul wrote, 

"Husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church" - Ephesians 5:28-29, ESV

and,

"Woman is the glory of man." - 1 Corinthians 11:7, ESV

Again we belong to each other. The first woman came from the first man, and every human being since has come into existence from the union of a man and a woman. There is even a purpose behind the body part that God used to form the woman. 

"Not made out of his head to top him, not out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved." - Matthew Henry 

When Adam sees Eve for the first time, he declares, 

"This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." - Genesis 2:23, ESV

It is easy to miss this in the English translations we read, but this is poetry. Genesis 2:23 includes parallelism, wordplay, chiasmus, and verbal repetition. These details are all standards of Hebrew poetry. The man's first words are a love poem, which I think is beautiful. 

To quote N.H. Kleinbaum, 

"Language was invented for one reason, boys—to woo women…"

After this poem, the author interjects; 

"Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh." - Genesis 2:24, ESV

There are many laws in the Bible regarding marriage, but when Jesus was asked a marriage question in Matthew 19, he pointed past the Law (which was only necessary because of sin) back to this verse in the beginning, where God instituted marriage in a beautiful and sinless world. When Jesus taught about marriage, he would point back, not to the Law of Moses, but to the creation where God instituted marriage in a beautiful and sinless world. The marriage union was to become the foundation for the family, and both marriage and family are divine institutions and not man-made inventions. 

Today there is so much confusion about issues relating to gender and biological sex. These topics may be uncomfortable to approach, but part of our calling as Christians today is to wade into this uncomfortable conversation with Biblical truth. On one side, you have people who adamantly deny that men and women are different in any meaningful way. They see gender as a social construct, marriage as a man-made institution that can be redefined at will, and biological sex as something one can change through the miracles of modern medicine. Today some men hold disdain in their hearts for women or only see women as objects to gratify their lustful desires. Some women have a hatred of men, who see half of the human population as responsible for almost all of the world's problems. This confusion and tension is not how God intended for men and women to coexist. I recognize that behind most of these issues are pain, heartache, and sometimes tragedy. I would never want to minimize or deny anyone's pain, but healing does not come from denying or fighting against God's good design. One of the monumental challenges the American Church faces today is navigating how to speak truth with love in this culture of confusion and hatred. I do not like wading through these issues, but our neighbors need us to speak the truth and bring light into darkness. Darkness may hate us for it, but so did they hate Jesus in his day for shining the light of God's truth into the darkness and confusion of that day and age. It is difficult, but no one ever said following Christ would be easy. 

The world we live in is far from the perfect world that our first parents inherited, but I do not wish for you to be discouraged. The way the world is now is not the way it will always be. We close with a beautiful picture of man and woman living in a paradise of God’s design. Guilt and shame are still foreign concepts. They belong to God and they belong to one another, bound together by love. In true poetic fashion, the human story begins and ends with a wedding. Revelation ends with a marriage between Christ and his church and a wedding of heaven and earth. 

Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure"— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, "Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb." And he said to me, "These are the true words of God." - Revelation 19:6-9, ESV

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." - Revelation 21:1-4, ESV

One day, all who are in Christ, will stand in a paradise that causes Eden to pale in comparison. Because of Jesus, we have a full assurance that all that is broken will be restored. Our calling is not just to wait for that day, but to live lives that reflect the truth and beauty of God’s Word so that we can play our small part in restoring all that was lost. 

This morning if you feel the Holy Spirit stirring your heart to make a decision, I pray that you would listen to the Spirit’s guidance. Maybe you feel the need to confess a sin that has rooted its way into your heart, or perhaps God has put someone on your heart that needs to hear the good news of God's love. Maybe today you feel a calling to begin following God in faith, or you realize that your faith has grown cold and you need help to reawaken the zeal you once had for God. Whatever God has placed on your heart, know that I would love to talk with you during our time of response, after the service, or during the week. I just encourage you not to resist or delay doing what God has called you to do. 

Closing Prayer: 

Father God, As we come to the end of this sermon, we are reminded of your incredible power and wisdom in creating the world and all that is in it. We thank You for the beauty and complexity of Your creation, and for the many blessings that You have bestowed upon us. As we go out into the world, help us to see the world with wonder and awe, and to appreciate the many gifts that you have given us. Help us to be good stewards of your creation, and to use our talents and resources to serve you and others. Help us to model biblical love in our marriages and families, and let us hold fast to your truth in an age of confusion. We ask that You bless us, keep us, and guide us with Your wisdom and grace. Help us to walk in your ways, and to seek your will in all that we do. We pray all of these things in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Amen.