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[0:00] Thanks very much, Joel. And it would be worth, as always, keeping your Bible open there at that chapter, at those verses as we look through it.

[0:10] Here we are in Genesis chapter 2. We've been taking our time, really, in these opening chapters of Genesis just because what we see here is so foundational in the unfolding of the rest of the Bible and is so fundamental to our understanding of God and the universe and our place in that universe.

[0:30] It's good that while we are here, while we're looking through Genesis, that we're able to give it the time that it deserves. And even having given it that time, we're noticing there's still so much more that we could talk about.

[0:43] So if there is anything that we've mentioned or not mentioned over the last few weeks, if there is anything else, and you have questions that you'd like to ask about that we don't cover this morning, please do come and find me and I'd love to chat more about any of those things.

[0:55] But we mentioned last week that verse 4 of chapter 2, where Jill began our reading just this morning with those words, these are the generations of, that actually that's a phrase we see repeated throughout Genesis and it means that we're into a new section of the book.

[1:11] There is a change in focus. And a good way of thinking about that here in Genesis chapter 2 is that we've kind of zoomed in from that cosmic perspective of chapter 1, the creation of the stars, the sun, every type of plant, fish, bird, animal, God's speaking creation into being.

[1:32] Well, here we kind of zoom in and we have a much more local, a much more intimate setting in these chapters 2 through to 4, really, this section runs.

[1:44] Theologically, we would say that Genesis chapter 1 emphasizes God's transcendence, that God is bigger, that God is separate, that God is over his creation.

[1:56] Here in these chapters, we see what we would call God's imminence, that he is intimately involved in, that he is concerned with his creation.

[2:07] And the incredible thing then here is that the God of all the universe is a God who has relationship with his people. And the story of that relationship really is that story of the Bible that we were speaking about earlier.

[2:21] And it's that relationship, which is the big idea, which is the key at holding together this chapter. Genesis chapter 2 and the Garden of Eden is a picture of perfection, of paradise, we might often say.

[2:35] We use the word Eden in that way, doesn't it? Like a Garden of Eden, just an incredible thing. But above everything else, we'll see it's actually, it's the fact that man and God are together, which is the heart of that perfection in Eden.

[2:48] So we're going to look at four aspects of that relationship here as it is laid out in the beginning. The relationship that we were designed for, and again, the incredible thing we'll see, the relationship, the perfection, the paradise that can still be ours through what God has done in Christ.

[3:07] So let's have a look. The first thing we see about this relationship is this, that it's a relationship established by the creator God. A relationship established by the creator God.

[3:20] This chapter is just shot through with language to emphasize the relationship, the connection of God and man. Let me show you a few of those. Probably the most significant is this.

[3:30] It is the very word that is used for God. I do have a look at your Bible. Every time God is mentioned in this chapter, he is called the Lord God. Verse four, verse five, verse seven, verse eight, verse nine, plenty more times.

[3:44] Twenty times, in fact, in chapters two and three, only one time in the rest of the whole Old Testament is the Lord God, those two names put together.

[3:57] So obviously, that's something pretty significant in this chapter. What does it mean? Well, it's two words. Lord, in capitals there, is a translation of the Hebrew name for God, Yahweh.

[4:08] Yahweh. It's a name for God that emphasizes his relational nature. It's a name that speaks about his covenant commitment to his people. It's the name used a lot for God in the book of Exodus.

[4:21] And all of these five, first five books of the Bible, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, kind of fit together as a whole. It's the name used a lot through Exodus as God saves his people from slavery in Egypt so that they can be his people, so that they can have that relationship with him as he reveals himself as that relational God.

[4:41] He reveals himself as that name of Yahweh. And so that's the first part, the Lord. And then the second part of that title, God, the Lord God, is translating a different Hebrew word which is Elohim.

[4:53] That is the word that has been used each and every time describing God in Genesis chapter one. That is the emphasis on God as creator, a God of power, a God of authority, the God over his creation.

[5:10] And so why is this name the Lord God used here in chapter two? Well, this chapter is making the point to its readers that the God you can have a relationship with, Yahweh, is the same God who created all these things, Elohim.

[5:25] The God who created all things is the same God who desires to have a relationship with his people. And actually, that is the order.

[5:35] The relationship begins with God. It's God who establishes it. And again, that's shown to us here in this chapter. Here God, in his creation of mankind, is literally getting his hands dirty.

[5:48] Verse seven, God forms the man from the dust. And then the man becomes a living creature as God breathes into his nostrils the breath of life.

[6:00] The idea here that this is a tender, this is a careful, this is an intimate, this is a relational picture. God crafting and caring for humanity right from the very start.

[6:15] A relationship established by the creator God. And so from the beginning, the Bible is not about man trying to reach up to God. I think maybe when you're at school, or perhaps it's still the same at work or with people that you know, you know, you had the kind of the cool gang, the important people, the people you wanted to be in with those people.

[6:36] Maybe that was you. Maybe not. But you know, you kind of thought if you played your cards right, maybe you could get into that group, be known by those people. Well, right from the beginning, the Bible is telling us that this is not like that.

[6:52] Genesis chapter two is not kind of man saying, wow, that God looks pretty amazing. Maybe if I just kind of sidled up to him and started wearing the same clothes, you know, he'd think that I was cool as well.

[7:03] No, this is God establishing that relationship. It's God making that happen. That's the direction. He's a relational God who made us for relationship. Not a standoffish God that we have to impress.

[7:19] Yes, God is transcendent. He is bigger than we can comprehend. He created all things. He is over all things. But he made us in order to have a relationship with us.

[7:33] And it is making that relationship possible, which is this big story that begins here in Genesis and runs right through the Bible. And the direction always remains the same.

[7:44] It is always God acting first. It is always God to man, God establishing. And the almighty creator God making a way to have a relationship with us, with humanity.

[7:58] And of course, we see that in its fullness, don't we, in Jesus Christ, in the gospel. Because Jesus comes with that full power and majesty of God, the creator.

[8:09] It's demonstrated in his miracles as he does what only God can do. Jesus kind of bends nature to his will as he stops a storm, as he comes to sea.

[8:20] He gives life in bringing back the dead. A small girl, a man called Lazarus, breath restored to them. Ultimately, he defeats sin and death through his own resurrection, the incredible power of the creator God.

[8:40] But also we see the amazing gentleness, kindness, with which Jesus deals with the most vulnerable, with the nobodies, with those suffering. And Jesus was a man who had incredible, meaningful, tender relationships with so many people.

[8:59] And it's so important we see here, that is not Jesus softening God, that is not Jesus kind of sanding off some of God's sharp edges, that is Jesus revealing God and how he was from the very beginning.

[9:13] In the gospel, God continues the pattern set right at the start of the Bible where he makes the first move. He enables, he establishes through the sacrifice of Jesus and the forgiveness he brings, he makes possible that relationship with him that we were designed for.

[9:31] What God established in the beginning and has re-established through Christ, a relationship with the creator God, established by the creator God.

[9:43] Really, that is the kind of incredible headline of Genesis chapter 2. And because that relationship has been restored through Christ, then what was true of that relationship in Genesis 2 can still be true of us today as we look to live out that relationship and learn about that relationship.

[10:02] So let's keep on looking through this chapter, let's keep on looking at the kind of the blueprints really for this relationship. We're not in Eden anymore, but we still learn about that relationship as we look back at it through the lens of the gospel and what Jesus has done to re-establish that.

[10:21] And so the second thing that we see as we unpack these verses, as we see this relationship in its original state, is that this is a relationship in which we are blessed. And we see that in these verses as again, emphasizing that tender care, his involvement in creation.

[10:39] We're told in verse 8 that God plants a garden. Every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. God creates paradise to put this man in.

[10:51] It is watered by this river that flows in. Everything that's good is there. Man is placed in a situation where he can flourish. Again, set up by God for humanity.

[11:04] It's that direction again. And actually, the heart of what is perfect about Eden, the greatest blessing is that God is there with mankind.

[11:17] One of the top Hebrew scholars writing on Genesis points out how this river that runs through the garden is an image that is picked up in a number of different places throughout the Bible.

[11:28] And he writes this, in every case, the river is symbolic of the life-giving presence of God. John Milton describes it poetically in his great work Paradise Lost where Adam describes the beauty of the garden and at the climax of that section he says this, from among the trees appeared presence divine, rejoicing but with awe in adoration at his feet I fell.

[12:00] Being in that relationship with God that Adam had right at the beginning isn't just a blessing because of the stuff we get, it's because it means we get to be with God.

[12:11] And that's what this passage is highlighting to us. Again, that's a closeness, a presence that sin has removed us from, Paradise Lost, about which God has restored through Jesus.

[12:25] And again, the trajectory of the Bible is getting back to that perfect presence, that perfect blessing, the Garden of Eden as the Bible opens, is pointing us toward, is making us long for the new creation as the Bible closes.

[12:42] Where again, we're told what is the greatest thing about that perfection to come is that God and man dwell together again. Really, the fact that we can have a relationship with God, that he's made that possible through Jesus is so fundamental, isn't it, to Christianity.

[13:00] the challenge, I think, for us is that in some ways that can just seem so basic, that can seem like something we kind of know or hear about so much that actually we can start to take that for granted.

[13:14] We struggle to remember it as the greatest news that we could ever have. So often, a temptation in standing up at the front of church to say, well, you know, what can we say that is new?

[13:27] You know, what is the clever bit of this passage that no one will have ever heard of or thought of before? You know, or what is the kind of the silver bullet that I can say that is suddenly going to make everyone say, okay, great, well, now we get it.

[13:39] You know, now we've cracked the Christian life. And of course, we do want to keep on growing in our knowledge and our understanding and digging deeper. But actually, we never want to move beyond this.

[13:53] In Christ, God has established a relationship with us and that is a relationship in which we are blessed. And that is the best thing ever because it means God's presence with us.

[14:06] A presence which we can experience now as God dwells with us through his Holy Spirit. As Jesus promises, he will be with us always and never leave us. And a presence which is secured for all eternity.

[14:20] Now, one of the great kind of historic statements of the Christian faith, the Heidelberg Catechism puts it like this, God created man in his own image so that he might truly know God, his creator, love him with all his heart and live with God in eternal happiness for his praise and glory.

[14:41] Our prayer is that we would recognize that although life doesn't always go as we expected or hoped, but actually that through Jesus, we have that perfect relationship with God restored to really have him with us here and now and to look forward to that perfection in a new Eden, the new creation, seeing God face to face, to remember that we are truly blessed in that.

[15:10] we need to pray and we need to fight to really remember and experience that in a world that tells us that to be blessed is money or relationships or comfort or any number of other things.

[15:27] We're putting a church together because we need to encourage one another with that, to share Jesus with one another. As a church, we want to be a genuine community. That doesn't mean that we can solve everyone's problems, but it does mean that we can remind each other time and time again, remind each other when we are finding it hard to remember that we are blessed in Christ because we are in the presence of God.

[15:53] And this morning, if those words sound hollow when you think of them yourself or when others try and speak that truth to you, do pray that God would bring them home.

[16:05] Do ask that others would pray that for you, that we would all grasp that more and more, that this is a relationship where we are blessed and that blessing of God with us.

[16:16] And we want to share then that blessing with the world around us as well. God has designed us for a relationship with him. He's established that relationship. He's re-established it again through Jesus. And that relationship is the greatest blessing possible of knowing the presence of God.

[16:35] Well, let's carry on. And really that leads us to our next point which is the third thing that we see here that this is a relationship that gives us a purpose. That in this relationship God gives us work to do.

[16:47] Verse 15, the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. Mankind has this role to carry out.

[16:58] Amazingly, God having created this perfect garden, everything just as it should be, he passes on responsibility of that to humanity.

[17:10] The idea being that Eden shows God's goodness, his beauty, and that other people, that the generations still to come, really as well as the whole of the cosmos as it looks on, are able to continue to witness God's goodness as man continues to work and preserve and extend even the garden where God has placed it.

[17:33] Actually, those words there in verse 15, work and keep, are words which later on in the Bible describe the work of the priests that God establishes to look after the tabernacle, his temple.

[17:47] They're to keep holy what God has made holy. They're to keep out what has no place there. That word keep can also mean to God so that this paradise reflecting God remains unspoiled.

[18:02] So that the place where God is, where God dwells, the place where people can see God is given that reverence that it deserves. So that this blessing that we've spoken about can in turn flow out and bless others.

[18:19] That's the idea, I think, of these rivers highlighted in the passage. You read it there, the one river that runs in and kind of blesses Eden that then divides and goes to the four corners of the globe in turn to be a blessing, bring that blessing there, symbolizing, as we saw earlier, God's life-giving presence.

[18:40] I remember once being out walking in the hills and a friend stopping to have a drink out of a nice cool stream and then we carried on about 20 meters further upstream and we just found this dead sheep lying in the water.

[18:52] He didn't feel quite as refreshed after that. That's what Adam's work is to prevent. He's to work, he's to keep, he's to guard this garden so this blessing flowing in can then flow out to others as well.

[19:09] Through that, others can recognize God's goodness. Again, as we look at this work through the lens of the gospel, we see, as we mentioned earlier, Adam failed in his role and yet through the work of Jesus, that relationship we have with God still remains a relationship that gives us a purpose.

[19:34] We're still given work by God to do and that work follows that same shape of the work here in Genesis 2 of protecting what is good so that God's blessings can be passed on.

[19:47] The blessing we've received from God can in turn be experienced by others. Jesus himself will say that his followers are to be salt and light, that to be like a city on a hill demonstrating what God is like to the world around us, passing on that blessing that we've received.

[20:08] Part of our relationship with God is that he gives us work to carry out, he gives us this incredible purpose that his blessing would be passed on through us, that the Christian life gives that purpose and a purpose that we're all to play a part in.

[20:26] And so this morning, whatever stage of life you're at, you might be retired, you might be at school, you might be anywhere in between. That might mean working hard in an office, it might mean working from home, it might mean raising children, it might mean struggling to find employment at the moment or unsure of what is happening in the next phase of life.

[20:46] But the point is that all of us, at whatever stage of that spectrum we're on, whatever our day-to-day looks like, all of us, if we have that relationship with God, have this purpose from God, have been given this work by God to live in a way that enables other people to see and share in the blessing of that relationship which we have enjoyed through Christ.

[21:14] And that means in our lives, reflecting God well, living in a way that really demonstrates over all things that he and he alone deserves our worship. That means speaking well of God, speaking the truth about him, being prepared to speak up regarding our love for him, that we are his disciples.

[21:35] That means serving him by loving others and encouraging them in their walk with Jesus. It means inviting people in to see, to hear from Jesus. Again, as we look at the very beginning of God's relationship with man, as we look at these blueprints, as it were, we see that this was not a kind of a special role restricted to a few while the rest just live doing whatever we want.

[22:01] But actually, this is the pattern from the very beginning for all those who have that relationship with God, their creator. that work to do. That's a great responsibility, but also the greatest purpose in life we have, which flows from that relationship which God makes possible of passing on, of reflecting, of communicating that blessing to the world around us.

[22:27] Okay, so a relationship established by the creator God where we are blessed, which gives us a purpose. Finally, we're going to see in these verses that this is a relationship dependent on obedience.

[22:42] A relationship dependent on obedience. Verse 16, and the Lord God commanded the man, again, no doubt about who's in charge here in this relationship. The Lord God commanded the man saying, you may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat.

[23:02] For in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die. And this relationship with God in Eden is paradise and yet it is dependent on obedience.

[23:16] The particular obedience that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil planted there in the middle of the garden. Adam can eat from anything else but not that tree.

[23:28] Now what is it about that tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? It's basically saying who gets to define what is right and wrong, what is good and evil? Is that God's role or is that something kind of man can take for himself apart from God?

[23:43] We'll speak more about that in Genesis chapter 3 but in some ways all we need to know here is pretty simple. God says, don't eat from that tree. Is Adam going to be obedient or not?

[23:55] It's a helpful reminder here that our relationship with God is unlike any other relationship. If in a friendship or a marriage one person said you have to do everything I say, every detail or it's over, we'd rightly think well that doesn't sound like a very healthy situation.

[24:17] Why is this different? Why is Genesis 2 different? Well it's because we're dealing here with a perfect God. We're dealing here with a God whose commands are perfect and so requires perfect obedience so the blessing of Eden and its potential isn't poisoned at the source.

[24:34] That perfection that God created is maintained and passed on. Theologians describe this time before the fall of mankind as a time of probation where there was the very real choice for Adam to trust and obey God or to sin.

[24:49] Obedience means life in perfection with God. Disobedience leading only to death. And yet we know tragically Adam chose the latter with eternal and universal consequences that death comes into the world just as God had warned.

[25:11] And really the fullest expression of death the biggest problem about death is that it is the end it is the severing of this relationship between man and God that Genesis 2 has been holding up in all its beauty.

[25:27] And yet as we've already spoken about this morning knowing the need for this perfect obedience points us again to Jesus and helps us remember and fully appreciate a huge part of his work.

[25:40] How does Jesus save us? I think for lots of us if we've spent a lot of time in the church our first response to that question would be to say well he died so that we can be forgiven and that is totally true that's so important but it's equally true and it's equally important that Jesus lived a perfect life that we fail to live because our relationship with God is still dependent on obedience but the good news of the gospel is that Christ has been perfectly obedient in our place if our trust is in him we stand not just with our sins paid for but with his perfect obedience in its place and again how this relationship begins how this relationship is restored shapes how we live out this relationship going forward that obedience to God remains a key part of that relationship you know we can't say well Jesus has done the obedience bit for us so it doesn't matter anymore we're not brought back into relationships through our obedience but we live out that relationship in obedience and actually it is relationship the loving relationship we can have with our creator God which is the heart of this passage of

[27:02]  Genesis 2 and which flows out through the rest of the Bible it is that relationship which is the primary motivation for that obedience that when we are tempted to sin when we are tempted to make the choice that we know that we shouldn't when we find ourselves going down perhaps familiar paths where we know we shouldn't be it is knowing that it's not just that God is big and powerful but kind of distant and far away but actually he is the God who has established and made possible the relationship with us that he is the God who is truly with us that is the greatest possible blessing we could imagine who gives us work the greatest possible purpose we could imagine that is the motivation for us to live out that relationship in obedience to him that is the motivation for us to give everything to live according to his will that we might live in obedience enjoying that relationship now and forever the relationship we were designed for a God who is over all things but knows and loves each one of us and so through Christ we can be with him now and evermore let's pray together follow thank we the