St Mary Magdalene's

Sunday, 19 February, 2006

6.00pm

Genesis 2:4-25

What is Genesis chapter 2, which we had as our first lesson all about? That might sound a silly question, but it's one I want to address before I go on to look at some of its content this evening. Having read through chapter one and the first three verses of chapter 2 with its conclusion that God rested from all the work he had done in creation, our immediate reaction is probably two fold

Firstly we think, probably, why another account of creation? Secondly we think: well this is so totally different from chapter one! For now we have man (I'm using the short and simple word 'man' tonight to include both genders) created before the plants and animals. And if I can deal with that one first, I note in my marginal comments in my Bible that in verse 19 where we read 'the Lord God formed every beast' (i.e. After he had made the man), it can equally read 'After the Lord God had formed every beast)

But back to the other point, I would suggest that what we have here is not another creation account. What we have is, rather than an account of the order of creation, but a focus on the priority of man in the created order. Man is placed at the centre, as unique in the Creation, as the one to whom the world is oriented, as the one with that unique relationship with the Creator.

So: what is Genesis chapter two telling us? Quite a lot really, and in a brief period this evening I can but highlight a few main points.

1 We are told quite a bit about man himself, both as what one who shares in the animal order, but then also the one who stands out unique, for the one alone who can relate to his Creator. So, firstly we note verse 7: then the Lord formed the man from the dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living creature. We share in the physical elements of the created physical order. We have a body and a being ideally fitted for life on this earth. Thus we can list mankind's chemical composition. And we must note that man shares so much with the animal kingdom. We have bodies, we need food and water, we need air, we reproduce just as the animal kingdom does. There's no place in Christian thinking to sort of 'over-spiritualise' man. We interact with the animal kingdom and with nature itself.. But, of course, we have already been told in chapter one and verse 27 of Genesis God created man in his own image. So, secondly, there is that which sets us apart If we share with the animal kingdom the 'breath of life', then we are unique in having a spirit. As Isaiah chapter 42 verse 5 tells us God...spread out the earth....and (gives) spirit to those who walk in it. God gives us personhood; we are people who have the ability to relate to him. Indeed, made in God's image, we share in his trinity: the Hebrews recognised that we are body, mind and spirit; a physical body, physical life and that part of us created for eternity, for the life beyond this one- the importance of this was recognised centuries ago when Augustine said; “You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they rest in you”

2. We are created\ moral beings. Verses 8 to 14 tell us about the place where God placed the man he had created; in the Garden of Eden- and let's note in passing that it is given a very definite geographical location; three rivers are named as flowing out of Eden, two of which have names we will still find in our Atlas today- the Tigris and the Euphrates. But, in that garden, we are told God planted, among the many plants he put there for man's requirement the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (and of that tree he said) (of it) you shall not eat, for in the day you eat of it you shall surely die. A definite command was given and a definite penalty to pay if the commandment were broken.(verse 17) The King James' version for that verse has the phrase “dying you shall die” The penalty implied death, and death not only of the physical body but also death of the spirit. There's a very real sense in which chapter 2 is placed there between chapters 1 (where we are told God saw everything he had made and behold it was very good) and chapter 3 where we learn why everything has gone so terribly wrong, and the Bible alone tells us how a good Creation is not in our experience so very good.

3. Man has the need for companionship. Verse 18 says God said 'It is not good that the man should be alone'. Indeed this springs from man being in God's image, and there is relationship within the Trinty. So, God presents the man with all of the other animals he had created, but none was suitable. Yes, “A dog is man's best friend”-or so the saying, and there does seem to be some sort of relationship between man and beast, but at the end of the day not that necessary 'companionship' So, in verse 23 God makes woman- from man, so sharing that spiritual nature, and the woman is the companion the man needs. So at the end of the chapter we have God's ordaining of that special lifelong union between man and woman; the man shall hold fast (and that really has a word implying something like 'Superglue') and they shall become one flesh. Lastly: The man and the woman were both naked and they were not ashamed.

This chapter two of Genesis has a lot to teach us about our place in the created order, and our special place as beings capable of a relationship with our Creator.