28-02 In Den Beginne - 2

The One who created me part 2 Genesis 2 We are continuing our search for answers in the book of Genesis. Chapter 2:4 introduces a phrase that is repeated 10 times in Genesis and indicates the end of a section. It perhaps also functions as a source for the information. Chapter 2 reveals details about the creation and care of man and sets the stage for chapter 3 - the fall of man. The questions needs to asked again: what questions does this chapter answer… it does not answer every question. This chapter answers the Who? and Why? Questions. We’re going to follow the outline of 1:27 and look for details in chapter 2. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God created man Everything in chapter 2 speaks of loving, tender, intimate, compassionate care. Man is created personally by God. This is something you also ought to notice as a change in the narrative. Genesis chapter 1 featured Elohim… the highest God to be feared. Chapter 2 features Yahweh Elohim - starting in verse 4 this name is mentioned 11 times. More than in the rest of the Bible! Mozes is making a point. Yahweh is the personal name of God; the Name he used to introduce Himself to His covenant people. It speaks of His unchangeable character: the eternal faithful one. So, yes He is to be feared as the highest of all and creator, but He is intimate, compassionate and longs to relate to mankind - His highest creation. In His own image There are a lot of explanations for what it means that man is created in God’s image: some say it speaks of personhood (intelligence, emotion and will) and that nothing else in creation is created like Him in this way. That could be true, but I don’t think that is the whole picture. Some say it speaks of our dominion - ruling over the earth and subdueing it. Managing requires choices and we are commanded to fill the earth as God filled in chapter 1. This probably has something to do with it, but again, it’s not the whole of it. Some say it is God’s breath in us - we are the only creature to receive the breath of God in our nostrils - thus becoming a living soul. I agree that is a big part of what it means to bear the image of God, but it’s still not the whole of it. I would suggest that all of the above is true and correct and that because of those true things, which God uniquely accomplished in man we are able to reflect God’s moral character as no other created being is able to. Even in our fallen state man is able to bear the image of God to a lesser degree. John helps us understand this when he states that we love, because He first loved us. God’s love is perfect and our love is a reflection of His love. This is true of God’s righteousness, holiness, wisdom, goodness and faithfulness. We have all those attributes, to a lesser degree. He created us in His image. Male and female The passage in chapter 2 describes how God took from Adam’s side and made a woman. Rib is insufficient of a translation. God takes from man’s side - flesh, bone and blood. He heals Adam’s wound and fashions a woman from the flesh. He brings her to Adam - as if to say: “Adam, there is one more creature for you to name!” Much can be said about the creation of woman. But one question that begs answer is why did God not create them simultaneously? The point of the passage is not to indicate inequality - that is settled in chapter 1 (male and female in the image of God). Man and woman are created equal image-bearers before God. What chapter 2 teaches us is the difference in role. Adam is the responsible one. It’s the reason he is addressed first in chapter 3, after they have sinned. Even though Eve was the one deceived. Adam is given the authority to rule and subdue the earth - which is why His work on the earth is cursed. The woman is created to be a fitted helper. And without companionship, God calls man’s situation “not good.” The design communicated in Genesis chapter 2 is God’s ideal for man. And it is under attack from all sides today. Genesis 2 teaches us much about what God desires and designed for mankind. Human sexuality, gender equality and responsibility, human identity - all very modern hot topics are addressed in this fundamental chapter. And yet this is completely under attack: I refuse to listen to God’s design. I’ll determine my own sexuality - with whomever and whenever I want. I’ll determine my own role - and I want the role that God assigned to someone else. I’ll determine my own identity -God made me male, but I’ve decided that I will be female. Society has rebelled against this second chapter of Genesis and we are paying the consequences… the nuclear family is being redefined today, because it’s old-fashioned, but we are worse off because of it. Now 22% of children in Holland grow up in a single-parent household. God gave us a design for life, and we ought to follow the the manufacturer’s instructions.