“…that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.” 2 Cor. 5:19
-we started in Gen. 1 last week in which I wanted you to be impacted with at least one truth…God’s creation is very good… and that includes you! Gen. 1:31
-that God’s original design for this world and humanity and all of our relationships was perfect and harmonious and life-giving…
…and while that remains true, our current experience of God and relationships is far from perfect…because of sin and its destructive work…but that’s why God is at work to reconcile us back to Himself and His image and restore us to Himself through the gospel of Jesus Christ…
-I want you to become more convinced than ever that the gospel is first of all good news…that it’s our only hope for a restored life and an eternal life…
-today I want us to see some more good news as we take a deeper look at God’s original design for the people He created by focusing on Gen. 2…a passage in which we discover God’s original design for perfect human existence…we are going to see what God has designed you for…the kind of God-given existence we were created to have…
-turn…Prayer…
Ch. 2 is not a second creation story…it is a re-telling of the story in ch. 1 with a different perspective… while ch. 1 is more of a panoramic view of creation… ch. 2 is a close-up view of creation with a focus on the role and purpose of mankind…the kind of perfect human existence God designed us to have…
…read 2:4-9 with comments…
God has designed you…
-in the rest of the chapter we find at least five things that God has designed you and I for…which show us more fully how the gospel is good news, and how important the message of reconciliation is… today we’ll only look at the first three of these things…
I for a place vv. 8, 15
-read v.15…(also v. 8)…God put Adam in the Garden…Adam was specifically placed in the Garden of Eden where he was provided for, cared for, protected, nurtured…he was placed exactly where God wanted Him to live, thrive, work, grow…
Now you may think that is so obvious and simplistic…because where else did Adam have to go?
…but it is actually so profound for us today, for this reason:
-many of us today are looking for a better place here on earth…many people are restless and discontent and always looking for something better…a new city in which to live…a new house…a better life…a new job…a new opportunity…
…and sometimes that is what we need and God sends us out to a new place…BUT, in many cases (most?), God wants us to learn to be content where He has placed us…
…and how do we do that? by being convinced that it is God that has placed us where we are… and we are not there by chance or mistake…by some random turn of events…
…but that a good, sovereign and loving God has put us where we are for His purposes…
Here’s the good news: God has designed you for a place…He has fashioned you to be planted in a location, a setting that, whether it is easy or hard, whether you would have chosen it or not…dare I say, whether you like it or not…that is His place for you…
…and He has you there for a good purpose…for you to grow, thrive, contribute, to bless, serve, help out, care for it, pray for it, make it a better place…
-and He has promised to provide for your needs in that place, to protect you, to watch over you…just like He did with Adam and Eve…
-leaving is not the answer…don’t have the mindset that you’re waiting for your life to start one day when you find the right place…your life is happening right now…God wants you to embrace it and not resent it…to bloom where you are planted…until He gives clear indication that you are to move on…
That’s the good news. God has designed you for a place…and you’re there right now…
God has designed you…
II to honor God with our work v.15
-re-read v.15…
God placed Adam in the Garden of Eden and gave him something important and meaningful to do…to take care of the garden, to manage it, tend it, to work the ground…
And Adam honored God by doing the work God gave him to do…By accepting God’s specific work assignment, Adam did what God designed him to do…
This passage teaches us that work is part of God’s original plan and design for all of us. Work is not a result of the fall/curse…
…the toil and sweat and struggle that we feel in our work, that’s part of the curse (3:17-19).
But even in the perfect Garden of Eden, Adam was given a job to do. Work is part of God’s original perfect design for humanity…Work is good news.
Now I know some of you can’t work…for a number of legitimate reasons…some of you are retired and don’t have to work…lucky you!
And others of you would love to be working but can’t find a job or have been laid off…our hearts go out to you…you have our compassion and not our judgment…
This is not meant to make anyone feel condemned or guilty…this is meant to be good news. And the good news is that God has specific work for you to do, whether it’s your career or your ministry, whether it’s your 9 to 5 job or in a volunteer capacity…whether you’re paid for it or not…whether it’s being in school or at home with kids…whether you’re retired or not…God has designed you for a specific work assignment…
Eph. 2:10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Work is a gift from God and it’s meant to be done for the honor and glory of God…
-the mistake many of us make regarding our work, especially our jobs, is that we think that work is first and foremost for us…that it’s meant to provide a pay cheque and a sense of accomplishment, make us happy, provide us with an identity…
And if it does that’s great…
But, according to God’s word, work is actually not about us first and foremost, but it is rather about God first and foremost. In other words, how and why we do our job is far more important than the actual job we do…
Eph. 6:5-7 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people.
If you hate your job, try this experiment. Try talking to God about it throughout the day and ask Him to show you how you would do things if He were your boss, supervisor…if you were working for him and not that nasty supervisor…if you were serving the Lord and not people…
…ask Him how to do a particular task in order to please Him…how to do that school assignment if you were doing it for the Lord and not just to pass the course…how God would want you to handle your kids in the daily grind…and see if that starts to make any kind of difference…
God has designed you for a specific work assignment.
And how is this good news? when we learn to work in a way that honors God, then we are on our way to the kind of life that is blessed and fulfilled, that moves us toward God’s original design and plan for us… and stands out far above the masses of miserable workers…a life that other people respect and want… and will ask how you’ve found it…
God has designed you…
III with freedom of choice vv.16-17
-read vv.16-17…
-there’s lots in those verses, but one of the main things is that humans have been given the power to choose, the freedom of choice, we have all been given free will.
And we know that with freedom of choice there comes the potential for great good and great harm…in ch. 3 we will see the great harm Adam and Eve’s freedom of choice brought to themselves and the rest of humanity throughout all of history…
But on the positive side, when you really understand this, giving people free will was one of the greatest things God ever did…why?
-because with it our love for God really means something…with free will we are truly free to choose to love God, or not.
Freedom to obey God or to sin against God creates the opportunity for we humans to love God willingly, from our hearts, instead of being robotically programmed by God to do everything He wants with no choice on our part…
Do you get this? God didn’t create us and force us to love and obey Him; He created us and invited us to love and obey Him…and the only way that invitation means anything, is that we can freely choose it or reject it…
Now I’m sure you’re wondering, what were
The Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (2:9)
Tree of Life
-something of a mystery, but we know this: it was a real tree with real fruit situated in the middle of the garden of Eden…it was beautiful to look at and the fruit tasted good…
It was one of the many trees the Lord gave permission to Adam and Eve to eat from… we also learn from 3:22, that eating its fruit resulted in being able to live forever…
The tree of the knowledge of good and evil
-it was also a real tree, with real fruit; it was also situated in the middle of the garden and it was also beautiful to look at and its fruit tasted good…
But there was one extremely important difference between this tree and the other one: this was the one tree in the garden that the Lord said to Adam and Eve, “you can’t eat from it, because when you do, you will certainly die.” v.17.
That’s enough of a reason right there to not eat from that tree, but God gives another one in 3:22…
3:22… And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil.
In other words eating from that tree resulted in a loss of innocence…by disobeying God and taking the fruit, Adam and Eve entered a realm of knowledge that they were never intended to experience…a knowledge that belonged to God alone…by taking the fruit they made the choice to put themselves in the place of God and center their world around their own wants, desires, demands and so on…
…taking the fruit was essentially saying, “I will decide for myself what is right and wrong, not you God. No one will tell me how to live; I will be the center of my world, my own frame of reference, my own moral guide…in other words, I will be like god…”
Sounds an awful lot like the world we live in today…everyone deciding for themselves what is right and wrong…
Here’s the bottom line with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The fruit itself wasn’t the issue. The choice was the issue. The choice to disobey one of God’s clear commands was what corrupted Adam and Eve. The tree was a test; a test to determine Adam and Eve’s willingness to obey God, or not.
That’s what it means to have freedom of choice. And it’s actually good news, because God has given you the freedom to choose to willingly love and obey Him…which is His original good and perfect plan for you…
Permission vs. Prohibition v. 16-17
-we have to consider the matter of God’s permission vs. His prohibition for a moment…that simply means what God allows us to do and not to do…
Because when Satan comes along in ch.3 and challenges Eve to eat from the prohibited tree, he basically said, “God is holding out on you; He doesn’t want you to have every good thing…poor you, there’s so much you can’t do…your life is so restricted by God…how can a God like that be good and trustworthy?”
That’s the lie, the bad news Satan has convinced many people today to believe…
But the truth is, within the freedom of choice given to people, there is so much permission, just like there was in the Garden…
God said in v. 16, “you are free to eat from any tree in the garden…” that’s a massive amount of permission!
But in v. 17 He says, “there is just one tree you must not eat from…” that’s a tiny amount of prohibition…
It’s like this. Let’s suppose there were 10,000 trees in the garden… and God says, “Adam and Eve, I have given you 9,999 trees to enjoy. You can eat a pear, an apple, an orange or a grapefruit. It’s all yours. Eat from any of the trees. Eat as much as you like whenever you like. It’s all yours.
But remember this. There is one tree you must avoid. If you eat that fruit, you will certainly die.”
That’s not a hard command to understand is it? And it’s certainly not restrictive. It certainly doesn’t make God unfair and confining, does it?
The point is important because sometimes people think that God is a cosmic killjoy, looking for every opportunity to squeeze the joy out of life and impose heavy rules on us. But the truth is, God’s prohibition is a sign of his love.
It’s like a mother saying to her young child, “Sweetheart, don’t drink that poison. If you do, you’ll die.” Is that being unfair or unkind? No, the commandment is given in love. If she loves her child, she will warn him. If she doesn’t warn him of potential danger, she doesn’t really love him. It’s the same way with the Lord. He warns us in order not to curtail our freedom but to set boundaries around our freedom in order to save us from needless suffering and eternal death…
The good news is that we get to choose to have a genuine love relationship with God…we get to choose which tree we’ll eat from…And God is so honored and delighted whenever you and I choose to eat from the tree of life…whenever you and I willingly choose God, make the choice to love, honor and obey Him above ourselves or anything else…
…that’s a love that really means something…and that’s what you were designed for…
Conclusion
So what does all this have to do with the story of reconciliation? This: that God’s story of reconciliation doesn’t only mean getting saved and going to heaven…which is wonderful…it also means finding a restored life here on earth that is good, fulfilling and God-honoring…it means:
…being reconciled to the place God has put you
…being reconciled to the work God has assigned you…
…being reconciled to the freedom of choice God has given you…
When we are being reconciled in these areas we are finding our way back to the way God meant it to be from the beginning…
Do you need reconciling in any of these areas?
Prayer…Worship…