Adam and Eve | Genesis | Week 2

Adam and EveGenesis • May 21, 2023Teacher: Dave Brown--1. Image bearers2. Made to work3. Helpers1. Image bearersGenesis 1:26-27 NIVThen God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.Gregory of NyssaThis same language was not used for (the creation) of other things.  The command was simple when light was created; God said, “Let there be light.”  Heaven was also made without deliberation…See how worthy you are! Your origins are not in an imperative.  Instead, God deliberated about the best way to being to life a creation worthy of honor. How are we like God? Genesis 5:1b-3 NIVWhen God created mankind, he made them in the likeness of God. He created them male and female and blessed them. And he named them “Mankind” when they were created. When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth. Dietrich BonhoefferTo say that in humankind God creates the image of God on each means that humankind is like the Creator in that it is free…freedom is a relation between two persons.  Being free means “being-free-for-the-other”, because I am bound to the other.  Only being in relation with the other am I free. 2. Made to WorkGenesis 2:3 NIVBy the seventh day God has finished the work he had been doing, so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.Genesis 2:15 NIVThe Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. John GoldingayThe “work” will surely be a joy.  We may have seen men “cultivating the land with such pleasure that it is severe punishment for them to be called away from it to something else,” even now when enjoyment of this work has been marred by humanity’s disobedience.  The audience is invited to think of it as it was designed… Ephesians 2:10 NIVFor we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. 3. HelpersGenesis 1:26-27 NIVThen God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Genesis 2:18 NIVThe Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” John GoldingayThe human being will need appropriate help…usually “help” denotes someone strong and powerful who can help by getting one out of a mess; the term nearly always refers to Yahweh.Deuteronomy 33:7 NIVAnd this he said about Judah: “Hear, Lord, the cry of Judah; bring him to his people. With his own hands he defends his cause. Oh, be his help against his foes!”Psalm 121:1-2 NIVI lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.Psalm 146:5 NIVBlessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their GodEphesians 5:31-32 NIV“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.