Creation of Humanity
Genesis 2:4-24 (ESV)
These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.
When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground— then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is the Gihon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush. And the name of the third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 16And 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, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said,
“This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”
Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
Conflicting Accounts?
- Which came first? Plants and animals, or man?
- Man and woman created __________________?
Is there harmonization?
- ____________________ separates the account of general creation from the specific creation account of mankind.
- There should be __________________ between both accounts.
What kind of plants?
- Plants referred to are plants that require cultivation
- Sadeh suggests open fields where such plants are cultivated
- Most likely plants of the field cultivated by man after the fall
Matter of Translation?
- Some translations suggest animals before man
- ESV translates correctly “had formed” meaning in the past
Together or separately?
- There is no _________________
- Second account is a more detailed creation account of _________________
- They were both created on the sixth day at different times
What do we learn from the creation of mankind?
- In the image of God man is created as a social being
- The two sexes taken together mirror the complete and unified nature of God particularly in the _________________ relationship
The Importance of marriage
- Verse 24 used in New Testament twice
- Jesus uses it to explain divorce is not in God’s plan. (Matt. 19:3-9)
- Paul reveals a greater meaning behind the phrase. (Eph. 5:31)
“Let not man separate”
- Jesus reveals _________________ is not a part of God’s plan.
- “What… God has joined together” refers to God’s specific _________________ for marriage.
- “Let not man separate” means no one has the right to _________________ this sacred union for any reason.
Exception?
- Except for _________________? (Matt. 5:32)
- In the Jewish context one could divorce during _________________ for sexual immorality as Joseph was going to do to Mary.
- We have no _________________ for divorce in our culture today.
The mystery of marriage
- Paul explains that marriage reveals the relationship _________________ has with the _________________.
- God revealed this mystery in the life of _________________ the prophet.
- If God is fully _________________ to the relationship then so should we be.
- Complete unified marriage is a _________________ to the type of unconditional love God has for us.
Marriage is not the _________________ sin. There is healing and restoration.
_________________ Means to turn away from the idea that marriage can be _________________. It is not temporary, but designed to last the life of a couple unified through sexual intimacy.
All Christians need to _________________ the sacredness of marriage not matter if they are married or single.
The call to do so cannot be any stronger than it is today in face of a world, influence by the enemy, attempting to discourage, disrupt and destroy both the marriage relationship and relationship with God.