“Our Family Tree–Through the Bible in 2021"

Hope Chapel Sunday Service Notes
​Teaching Series - “Our Family Tree–Through the Bible in 2021"
Weekly Topic - “Perfect People – Adam & Eve”
Text - Genesis 1+2
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​Today, we are going to begin a yearlong trip through the Bible to examine our spiritual family tree…and where better to begin than at the very beginning?  Now I know that we did an examination some months ago of Genesis 1-3, but today, I want to approach our subject from a slightly different angle.
 
God had just spent five ‘yom’—which as you may remember is the Hebrew word that can be translated ‘day’ or ‘period of time’—creating light, sky, land, plants, sun and moon, birds and fish.  On ‘yom’ six He turned His attention to animals.  An ‘adam’ is created (‘man’), but God determines that the adam should not be alone and so creates a woman from a rib taken from his side and God declares them one human flesh.  Then the most astounding thing happens: God puts His vast Creation into the care of this new human creation—a world God has declared ‘very good.’          
 
In hindsight, we may be tempted to shake our heads and ask, “What was God thinking?” 
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CREATED IN GOD’S IMAGE
God created us to stand apart from all others creatures.  Physically, we may share commonalities with other mammals, but we are unique in that we have been made in God’s image.
 
Genesis 1:26-27 “Then God said, ‘Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.’ So God created human beings in his own image.  In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”
 
Positionally, we have been given a place at the pinnacle of creation.  God placed the rule and care of planet earth into the care of the first humans and all those who would come after.
 
As God’s image bearers, humans are able to enjoy relationship with God - The Bible does not explicitly say that God created humanity for relationship, however, we find strong inferences to this fact throughout Scripture.  He walked with the man and woman in the garden (Genesis 3:8); met with Moses face to face (Exodus 33:11); and His Son died to allow us to once again enjoy a relationship with Him (Ephesians 3:12).  He did not create us out of a need He had.  He is entirely complete in and of Himself.    However, in His creation of us in ‘His image’ it is clear that His ultimate intent was to create humanity as His children with Himself as Father to live in a relationship of love with Him. 
 
Genesis 2:7 “Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.”
 
God gave the first adam an eternal spirit and every other human being that has been formed since.  It is another aspect that sets us apart from other creatures.
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CREATED FOR A PURPOSE
Just as our design was intentional, so was God’s reason for creating us.
 
Genesis 2:15 “The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it.”
 
God had a job for Adam to do - Adam was given a garden to tend, prior to his disobedience to God; therefore, work is not a result of the fall, but something we were created for.  God never intended for humans to live a life of complete leisure.  The first man was a gardener and free-range zoo keeper.
 
 
Genesis 1:26 “They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”
Genesis 1:28b “Fill the earth and govern it.”
 
God started Adam off small and gave him a garden to tend, but He had much bigger plans for them.  They were to govern all living creatures and populate the earth to extend their ability to take care of and govern the whole of the planet, not just the garden.
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GOD’S GIFTS TO HUMANITY AT CREATION
In addition to creating us unique from all other creatures—in His own image—God blessed the first humans and their offspring with many incredible gifts.
 
Genesis 1:31 “Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good!” -
The gift of a ‘very good’ creation – the current state of the earth is not a true reflection of the original planet gifted to humans by God
 
Genesis 1:29 “Then God said, ‘Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food.’” - The gift of provision 
 
Genesis 2:1-3 “So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. 2 On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.” - The gift of rest from work
 
Genesis 2:8 “Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man he had made.” - The gift of a home
 
Genesis 2:18, 21-23 “Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him…So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the Lord God took out one of the man’s ribs and closed up the opening. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man.
23 ‘At last!’ the man exclaimed.  ‘This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh!  She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken from ‘man.’” - The gift of an equal partner and  fellowship with other human beings
 
Genesis 1:28a, 2:23-24 “Then God blessed them and said, ‘Be fruitful and multiply.’…’At last!’ the man exclaimed.  ‘This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh!  She will be called “woman,” because she was taken from “man.”’  This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.” - The gift of sexual intimacy and the ability to experience physical ‘oneness’
 
Genesis 2:25 “Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame.” - The gift of innocence
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THE RISK—FREEWILL
The final gift God gave to humanity was freewill—the ability to choose to accept their role in God’s creation and enjoy fellowship with their Creator, or reject it and Him.  By doing so, He added an element of risk into His perfect universe.  He knew what the immediate outcome would be—grievous disappointment—followed by the intervention and restoration which He, too, would be required to provide.
 
Genesis 2:8-9 “The Lord God made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground—trees that were beautiful and that produced delicious fruit. In the middle of the garden he placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”
Genesis 2:15-17 “The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. 16 But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden— 17 except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.”
 
The fruit of the trees had been given to the human race for their nourishment…why this one exception?  This new human race could not truly reflect God’s image if they did not possess decision-making power—the ability to choose good over evil, acceptance or rejection of the Creator.  This forbidden tree with its appealing fruit provided the necessary choice and test.


We don’t know how long the first man and woman enjoyed the garden, but we do know that they ultimately failed the test.  Despite the wonderful privileges they enjoyed, responsibilities and gifts they had received from God, all proved insufficient for them to resist the temptation.  All it took was one little seed of doubt from the serpent.
 
We have a way of showing our ingratitude to God continually.  Since the Garden we have continued to be dissatisfied with God’s good gifts to us…always wanting more and misusing the many we have.
 
How does this apply to me and you?  What can we learn from these great greats of our shared human experience?
 
Unfortunately, since the days of the garden, we have found ways to abuse our privileged position and pollute each and every one of God’s good gifts to humanity:
·         A ‘very good’ creation – The problems of this world are the result of our disobedience.   We inherited a world free of suffering and death; it was we who opened the ‘pandora’s box’ of sin on this world and it is to ourselves that we should direct the accusations.  God has and will continue to intervene on our behalf…not because He owes us, but because He loves us!
·         Provision of food and shelter – When God made the world there was plenty to go around…there still is.  “The world’s richest 1% have more than twice as much wealth as 6.9 billion people…almost half of humanity is living on less than $5.50 a day.” (Oxfam.org). 
·         Work and Rest – Some live as though work is beneath them, while others have never experienced the luxury of a day off.  God knew that we needed both, but we are forever working when we should be resting and resting when we should be working.
·         Partnership – God knew that it was not good for the first man to remain alone.  We have been created for fellowship with others and to share one another’s burdens.  The whole of our singular human race was derived from the first man and woman.  There is therefore no room for discrimination on any basis.  Despite our apparent differences, we are all derived from a single strand of DNA!
·         Sexuality – Sexual intimacy was given to the first man and woman as a sacred gift.  The Church has remained mostly silent on the subject of sex and in the void the world has jumped in with its own twisted notions, encouraging many perverted forms of sexual expression—LGBT, extramarital, premarital, polygamous, and unbridled lust.  In the eyes of the world, God’s gift in its sacred form—between one man and one woman for a lifetime—has become archaic and even laughable.  It is nevertheless a gift worth reclaiming.
·         Innocence – The loss of innocence results in shame, and an inability to enjoy the freedom that comes from a clear conscience.
·         Freewill – Just as with the first man and woman, we face daily choices; our freewill remains intact…along with the temptations that go along with it.
 
At the onset, I asked the question, “What was God thinking?”  Never doubt His knowledge of the events that would unfold…even in the days leading up to the Fall, God declared His creation very good.  And it was!  He knew before He began what would happen and the dear price He would have to make…and from His vantage point, decided it was worth the cost!

Next Week: ​Sunday, January 10, 2021- “Our Family Tree - Through the Bible in 2021"- Week #2 “Problem With Pride” (Genesis 3-6)