Rest For All Seasons
2:1 Thus the heavens and the
earth, and all the host of them, were finished.
2 And on the seventh day God ended His work
which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He
had done.
3 Then God blessed the seventh day and
sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created
and made.
The opening
verses of Genesis 2 seem to be a footnote to the story of creation.
A)The rest of God is a wonderful thing/ that God ever grows tired!
B) In fact The more we
understand the nature of the physical universe, the more we see that the
material universe is merely an expression of the boundless energy of God.
C) Each material object in the
universe is composed of atoms, bundles of pure energy—energy passing into
motion, motion passing into phenomena.
D) Do you think that the God
who can create more universes than man can count, and who can lock up within a
tiny atom enough energy to obliterate an island, can possibly grow tired.
The rest of God tells us that the creation was
complete (2:1). "Thus the heavens
and the earth were finished and all the host of them."
A) It was the Lord saying "It is finished!"
B) There is a great
satisfaction in surveying a finished work. God stood back, as it were, to cast
an admiring, contented eye over His
finished work!
1)
The rest of God tells us that the creator was content
That on the seventh day God
ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His
work which He had done.
C) As I consider the picture
that is presented here of God declaring His work complete / and the Lord
resting in His finished work
1) I am reminded of what Jesus
declared on Calvary - when He cried out IT
IS FINISHED !
D) This is one of the greatest
spiritual truths there is ! The work of redemption is complete & the Father
was content w/ the sacrifice of His Son
This is one of
the greatest spiritual truths there is. The Book of Heb. tells us that as
believers we enter into "rest" / that is, we enter into His Sabbath
A)we enter into His
perfect redemption. He died on the Cross 1900 yrs ago
for you
and me, and He offers us a redemption that we can enter into.
B) Rest is
one of the most sought after commodities in life today People purchase vehicles, toys, take
trips trying to achieve it
C) Special places are built and designed called
"resorts" - where people pay top dollar try and experience rest - hectic lives
D) Advertisers really appeal to need and desire -
men have for rest
1.) Nestea
plunge: (ultimate in rest and refreshment)
2.) Beds; recliners (massages - help us rest)
E) Go to
therapist - pay huge amounts - rest
1.) Even
as last resort - attend a church
Nothing
compares to rest we have in Christ !
A) In Christ we
find the Ultimate in experiencing the rest, refreshment, fulfillment -
people longing for. Doesn't cost a thing;
B) don't have
to go anywhere to find it You can experience it every day
C) The writer of Heb. In ch. 4
says that this rest isn’t in a special day / or in a special place / but in a
person ! JC
10 For he who has entered His rest has himself
also ceased from his works as God did from His. 11 Let us therefore be
diligent to enter that rest,
Now in that
passage the writer of Hebrews is speaking of the rest of God in the Garden as a
picture of the rest we have in Christ
A) But God’s rest isn’t just a picture but there is also a principle in it
for us / you see Jesus said in Mark 8 "The
Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.
B) Our Father knowing our frame
and our make up knew full well that it was not good for us to work 7 days
1) Established this principle
not as a law to burden us but as a principle to bless us & to keep us
Healthy
4 This is the history of the heavens and the
earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and
the heavens,
5 before any plant of the field was in the
earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the LORD God had not
caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground;
6 but a mist went up from the earth and
watered the whole face of the ground.
7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of
the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a
living being. 8 The LORD God planted a
garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. 9
And out of the ground the LORD God made every tree grow that is pleasant
to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the
garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Now what we see in Ch. 2 is a review or a recap of
creation / in which the Lord sheds some more detail in some specific areas /
Look at a few
In v. 4 Moses
writes this is the history of the heavens & the earth / word history could
actually be translated Generations = "family history."
A) It underlines one of the
basic movements of the book from generation, to degeneration, to regeneration.
B) In Genesis we have the
family histories of Adam, Noah, the sons of Noah, Terah, Ishmael, Isaac, Esau,
the sons of Esau and Jacob.
C) But first, we have the
"family history" of the heavens and the earth.
2nd
thing to note is in v. 4 we are introduced to a new name for the Lord
A) Notice that in Genesis 1 the
name used for God - Elohim It is a plural word, one that hides within its
depths the fact that God is a triune God
1) It is also the name that linked God w/ creation
B) Here, in V. 4 review of
creation, the name Elohim is connected with the name Jehovah ( LORD ).
1) Jehovah is a name speaks of His covenant relation with those He has created. A name used of the
Lord / connected w/ redemption
3rd
thing to note is in V.5,6 we get some insight into what the earth was like in
the Beginning - ( Baseball Fans )
In V. 5,6 2nd
review Plant life 5 before any plant of the field
was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the LORD God
had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the
ground;6 but a mist went up from the
earth and watered the whole face of the ground
A) Most scientist believe that
the earth was completely covered by a water canopy / which created a uniform
greenhouse temperature,/
1) Tropical environment
B) light was diffused, the
harmful rays of the sun were screened out, energy consumption was less, and the
earth was watered by a dew like mist.
C) Some even believe that the
flood was started by the collapse of that Canopy !
In v. 7 we are
given some further insights into the creation of man
A) Man was made of the dust of
the earth & God breathed into mans nostrils the breath of life
B) The word for
"formed" is used of a potter's shaping clay, and implies that God
became directly involved in the shaping and fashioning of man's physical frame.
C) God continues now to shape
our spiritual frames as a potter !
D) But it is interesting that
the Bible reveals that we were made of the dust .
1) Rather humbling - Magee go
to the store & buy the ingredients to make a man for 2.98 ( Gone up now)
Suppose we were going to make a human body. We would
need fifty-eight pounds of oxygen and fifty quarts of water, two ounces of
salt, three pounds of calcium, twenty-four pounds of carbon, and some chlorine,
phosphorous, fat, iron, sulfur, and glycerin
A) There it is, our
do-it-yourself kit for making a human body. The only problem is with the
instructions.
B) The human body is so complex
an entity that no scientist can comprehend more than a fraction of its
composition and functions.
C) A mere piece of skin the
size of a postage stamp requires three million cells; a yard of blood vessels,
four yards of nerves;
1) one hundred sweat glands,
fifteen oil glands, and twenty-five nerve endings!
D) Yet the evolutionist would
ask us to believe that this all came together by chance
E) The Bible gives us much more Logical explanation the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into
his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
With omniscient genius God took that dust, that
water, those odds and ends of things, and formed and fashioned them into a man.
The body is a masterpiece of exquisite design. Beautifully "engineered," it is
governed by several hundred systems of control -- each interacting with and
affecting the other.
His brain has 10 billion nerve cells to record what
he sees and hears. His skin has more
than 2 million tiny sweat glands -- about 3000 per square inch -- all part of
the intricate system which keeps his body at an even temperature.
A "pump" in his chest makes his blood
travel 168 million miles a day -- equivalent of 6720 times around the
world! The lining of his stomach
contains 35 million glands secreting juices which aid the process of
digestion. And these are but a few of
the involved processes and chemical wonders which operate to sustain his life.
A young student had been impressed with the fact
that most new products have some "bugs" that must be ironed out
before they can operate efficiently. As
he stood gazing at a chart showing the organs, nerves, arteries, and glands in
the human body, he suddenly exclaimed,
"Just think, the first time God put it together, it worked!"
The human body, marvelous and intricate as it is,
eloquently testifies to the wisdom and power of God.
Man's first
home was a garden; his final home will be a city.
A) Heb. 11 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and
maker is God
B) When Adam first opened his
eyes to the light of day he looked out upon a scene of matchless beauty and
tranquility.
C) The fields were emerald
green, the atmosphere laden with the fragrance of flowers, the forests ringing
with joyous song.
D) Strolling through his vast
estates, Adams could pause to see a wolf play tag with a lamb, could stop to
romp with a jungle lion
1) Incredible place
In verses 10-14 we have a list of rivers that were
in Eden / water sources
A) Not going to take the time
to get into tonight
B) And we read in v. 15-17 Then the LORD God took the man
and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.
16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying,
"Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat;17 "but of the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall
surely die."
Here in v. 17 we introduced to the tree of knowledge
of good & evil - Adam could eat freely of all the trees / enjoy the garden but
was to stay away from this one. Why is that ?
Why given a choice
A) God gave man a choice
because w/out one man would have been a puppet
a robot
who only did what he was supposed to
1) So God who seeking
relationship gave man a choice
B) He continues to today -
accept Him or reject Him !
C) God desires a love
relationship w/ us / that means choice
1) Dolls - pull the string I
love You - does nothing for me
D) Gun to my wives head - Love
me marry me or else? Not very comforting
buy a
dog to test taste the food .
E) But it is not that way - she
made a choice almost 11 yrs ago now to spend the rest of her life w/ me ! She loves me - by choice!
1) That is such a blessing
Now in the
remaindered of the Chapter we have the account of the creation of woman / Note
a few things here ( especially if single )
A) 1st Adam’s desire was foreseen by God!
18 And the
LORD God said, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a
helper comparable to him."
B) Before Adam was aware of his
incompleteness without a wife, God anticipated his need and planned to create a
partner for Adam,
1) one exactly suited to him.
C) Thus Adam’s wife was in the
mind of God long before she was ever in the arms of Adam.
D) Same holds true for those of
you who are single now God knows your aloneness - created for companionship
1) And if you have a desire to
be married I believe God has that person in store that He is fashioning just
for you/ you for him or her
E) Marriage is ordained of God.
The whole idea originated with Him. He knows the hearts & needs of every
one of His children.
1) He plans to meet those
needs.
So God was
fully aware of Adam’s need / before Adam even was / and the Lord is fully aware
of your need -
A) Notice what the Lord does to
make Adam aware of His need
19 Out of
the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the
air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam
called each living creature, that was its name.
20 So Adam
gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the
field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.
B) Adam goes out 2 cows / Lion & Lioness / Mr. & Mrs. Giraffe /
But there is no Mrs. Adam.
C) The Awakened Adams sense of
his need / God fostered Adam’s hunger for companionship .
And next we
see that Adam’s desire was fulfilled by God
So we read in v. 21 21 And the
LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of
his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22 Then the rib which the
LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the
man.
23 And Adam
said: "This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be
called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man."
Now I want you who are single to notice what Adam
was doing when the Lord brought Eve to him - He was sleeping / He was at rest
A) Adam wasn’t out searching
through the garden / nor was he out sulking under a tree ! He was at rest
B) Great Picture for us of
where the Lord wants us to be in any situation
C) Marriage is a wonderful gift of God - Picture of
Christ relationship to
His
church - ( Big Part of Marriage - Big
Picture - draw closer to Christ
D) Guys if you are single now
you should be seeking to get ready for the greatest gift God will ever give you
besides salvation
E) Take care of that gift -
So Adam &
Eve were brought together - and we read in v. 24,25 24 Therefore a man shall leave
his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one
flesh.
25 And they were both naked, the man and his
wife, and were not ashamed.
Now in closing I want to speak to those who are
married or are considering getting married /
A) 4 things mentioned here that will be are part of every healthy marriage
1st Severance
" for this cause a man shall leave his .....
A) There must be a leaving: to
leave father & mother means to break the parent child bond!
B) To cut those strings that connect us to our families / it could mean
changing the way you do things / attitudes / approaches to life
C) "My family always did it this
way - my family always went here
Ok/ but what does God want for
you & your Bride ?
1) What is His Plan for you?/ What is great about this is it
causes
you to be dependent on the Lord! / not
others
D) It
causes you to be seeking the Lord & not be relying on past
traditions
/ methods ( Parents wisdom)
E) There needs to be a severance/ not in
relationships but in the area of dependence & in the emotional bond!
2nd
distinctive Permanence Cleave to His wife -
A) Word cleave = to glue together / it speaks
of a binding
that cannot be broken !
B) Too many enter into marriage
w/ an idea that maybe it might not workout
1) Guy was talking to his
friend a few days before his wedding expressing that he was nervous because
such a big commitment
C) Friend responded - Yea 5 to
10 yrs is a really long time !
D) That is the mentality of the World !
1) Marriage
should be like going into a room, locking the door
behind you &
throwing away the key!
3rd
Distinctive is Unity They shall become one flesh.
A) Paul describes this unity as being very important
for us to understand / Eph. 5 v. 28 -30 So husbands
ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves
himself.29 For no one ever hated his
own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church.
30 For we are members of His body, of His flesh
and of His bones.
B) Up to this pt. in his picture Paul has focused on
the church as being the bride of Christ
1)
Where the husbands love for his wife is to model that of Christ &
his
church.
BB) But here he changes the
picture a bit keying in on the oneness of Christ & his church w/ the
husband & the wife!
1)
He says we are members of his body! / Moves from Bride to body!
C) The bible teaches us that we
are not just the bride of CHRIST but also the
body.
( He is the head)
1) There is a radical unity that is found in our relationship to
Him!
D) It is
this picture that Paul is drawing our
attention to at this Pt.: when he quotes Gen. 2 " the two have become
one flesh!" Oneness
E) Marriage
is much more than a physical union it is a psychological union & a
spiritual union as well!
1) Quote Peter Marshall
Marriage is
not a federation of 2 sovereign states / it is a union / domestic / social /
spiritual/ physical / It is the fusion of 2 hearts the union of 2 lives , which
after being joined in marriage , will flow in the same channel & in the
same direction ..... carrying the same
burdens of responsibility and
obligation!"
Now Paul there
in Eph. Really expands our perception of this oneness by showing your wife
isn't just your bride she is a part of you! You are one!
A) Just like the church is the body of Christ
you need to love & care for her like your own body!
B) Paul
hits on a deep truth here in vs. 29 illustrating his pt.
No one hates his own flesh
C) Psychologist
tell us that one of the leading problems w/ people today is a low self esteem!
They say :
1) People
need to learn to love themselves before they can
effectively love
others / Not what bible says
D) In fact
the Bible suggest that the real problem isn't that we don't love
ourselves
but that we love our selves too much! Self absorbed
1)
Self centered / EX. Group picture / who do you look for 1st
Jesus taught
we were to love others as we love ourselves
A) Some teachers twist what He was saying
& say we need to learn to love ourselves 1st then love others
B) Guys
that is not what Jesus was saying linguistically,
logically or
theologically / doesn't fit / make sense!
1) No Jesus was stating fact : You do love yourself & you
need to love others the
same way!
C) And self-centeredness is a
Major problem in marriages today
1)
To
many couples still look at themselves as individuals / to the point
where
they are thinking about own needs all the time !
D) We need to realize that we
are one
4th
Distinctive we see Intimacy " The 2
were NAKED & not ashamed!
A) The intimacy described here speaks of a mutual love
& respect & commitment to
each other . Results in security &
intimacy!
B) It is
no accident that intimacy is at the end of this description
because
in order to achieve it
1) severance , permanence, & unity need
to be in operation
essential
if a mutual love respect & caring are to be developed!
C) Also note when intimacy was lost / When sin entered into the
garden / into their lives
1) covered up naked ashamed ! Hid themselves !
D) Sin
destroys Intimacy & you can cover up you can try & hide it
but
it is seen your spouse can tell / noticeable in conduct
1)
Know
this: Your sin will find you out ! ( Story of couple)
Perhaps the
intimacy in your marriage has been affected / through busyness
or perhaps
selfishness / or
fallen into routineness what do you do / how get back
A) Turn to Rev 3 - Ephesus - left - not lost - left
- subtle, deceiving, but gone! Activity
- no affection!
B) Pulse
- (alive - unlike Sardis - name alive - dead - In Ephesus - Pulse alive but no passion!
C) Has your relationship become
like Ephesus? Activity - no affection.
Pulse
but no
passion?
1.) Here's the cure! - 3 R's
1st: REMEMBER
where you have fallen! Think back to
what our relationship used to be like
A.) Flowers;
love notes; phone calls; cards - romantic dinners; bike rides; picnics; - remember at best
B.) 2nd: REPENT = change your mind and or direction. Have a
change of mind about where relationship is currently at!
1.) Change your mind about your wife -see her
as your treasure
C.) Change
direction relationship is going - How?
3rd - RETURN - "Do your first works again!
A.) Go
back to basics - back to beginning