Some more thoughts on Creation…
The stage was set in Genesis Ch. 1 and now in Ch. 2 God focuses our attention on Man (male and female). The spotlight moves from our world at large to a garden, planted by God and located in the east called Eden (Heb. =delight).
- Stuart Briscoe– Man is: A natural being (2:7) A spiritual being (2:7) A practical being (2:15) A moral being (2:16-17) A social being (2:18)
- Natural Being
- Derek Kidner: “Sheltered but not smothered: on all sides discoveries and encounters await him to draw out his powers of discernment and choice, and there is ample nourishment…for his aesthetic, physical and spiritual appetites; further, there is a man’s work before him for body and mind.
- Spiritual being (2:7)
- Franz Delitzsch: “By an act of divine omnipotence man arose from the dust; and in the same moment in which the dust, by virtue of creative omnipotence, shaped itself into a human form, it was pervaded by the divine breath of life, and created a living being, so that we cannot say the body was earlier than the soul…The earth does not bring forth his body, but God Himself puts His hand to the work and forms him; nor does the life already imparted to the world by the Spirit of God individualize itself in him, but God breathes directly into the nostrils of the one man, in the whole fullness of His personality, the breath of life, that in a manner corresponding to the personality of God he may become a living soul.”
Stuart Briscoe: “Man as natural being was able to live in tune with earth but as spiritual being was equipped to live in touch with heaven.”
- Practical being (2:15 compare v. 2)
Gen. 2:8, God planted a garden of beauty, fragrance, fruitfulness, fulfillment, fellowship, and life (both in quality and quantity) but asked for obedience (2:17) and patience (2:20 something missing? – Eve).
2:19, “Naming” and “Calling” there was an awareness of opportunities God uniquely gave him to use his giftedness, abilities, authority, and observation.
- Moral being (2:16-17)
Like the animals, Adam (Heb. Word = ‘adamah’ = ground) was made from the ground but a man has uniquely a keen sense of moral accountability.
- Social being (2:18)
God brought the animals to Adam and He left him to name them (2:20). God was interested as well as involved in Adam’s ministry! Ray Stedman: “Adam could not possibly have given names to the animals without knowing the character of each because a name always reflects a characteristic. In the giving of a name to each of the animals, Adam had to understand, whether by a revelation from God or by searching and examining on his own, something of the character of each animal.” Adam would surely observe that all the animals had paired off but he had no human companion (2:20b: “No suitable helper was found”). Man is lonely, isolated, no ability to have children although commanded in 1:28, to “Be fruitful and increase”. God for the first time said something “is not good” (2:18). No prospect of fruitfulness and increasing in numbers unless God intervened! Note: This was no afterthought with God. (To be continued…) See you on Sunday!
Your friend and Pastor,
Jim