God's home and our exile

Good morning, everyone.

Will you please pray with me as we come to God's Word?

Lord God, as we've just sung, my prayer is you would show each one of us how holy you

are, how set apart, set apart from creation and set apart in your goodness.

That you alone are good.

Help us to see your goodness as we look at your Word now.

In Jesus' name I pray.

Amen.

Well, I was sitting in the dentist's waiting room and an ad came on the TV.

There's this bright light followed by the swirling stars and then this gloomy earth with a volcano

erupting and a brutish man walking around and then a child blowing out a birthday cake and

a rocket launching to the moon and then out of the mouth of a man came one word, wow.

And he's standing in Audi looking at the specials.

Wow.

Stephen J. Gould, he's an evolutionary biologist, he says this,

We are here simply because one odd group of fish had a peculiar anatomy that just happened to be able to

transform itself into legs for terrestrial creatures.

Now, he goes on and explains the story a bit more.

We yearn for a higher answer, but none exists.

This explanation, though superficially troubling, if not terrifying, is ultimately liberating.

We have to construct, therefore, any meaning ourselves.

Okay, that's one story.

I can't stop you.

If you want to construct your meaning buying specials, I can't stop you doing that.

Or will you let Genesis speak directly into those yearnings Stephen is talking about that we've all got?

Now, I think as Christians, some of us, we've reacted against our modern,

story, explanation of everything.

And there's been huge debate over seven literal day creation or not.

And that's been a very important debate,

especially for apologetics to show that belief in Scripture is rational.

These chapters, they prompt so many questions.

I found that in our Bible study group.

They were just prompting question after question for us.

But we don't always get the answers we're searching for.

And so I want to ask you this morning, before we dive in,

like any part of Scripture, we've got probably more than these two options,

but let me boil them down to these two.

We can sit in judgment over the text and force our questions onto it.

Or we can sit under the text and let God give us the better questions we should be asking

and the ones he's giving us answers to.

Now, that's true of all of Scripture.

So what posture are you coming to Genesis with?

I want to give you a multiple choice question of a scenario.

And if you're not sure, don't choose B, okay?

You can't do that this time.

All right.

You see, walking down the street, a man just in severe poverty.

He looks miserable.

He smells miserable.

And he's begging.

Now, what do you do?

Here's your options.

Now, there's probably way more than these options, but here's a few.

A, do you feel disgust at him?

Because obviously he did something in his past life to deserve that karma.

Do you feel disgust?

B, do you tell him to meditate how illusionary his suffering is to reach nirvana, remove all desire?

C, do you feel pity towards him and give part of your 2.5% of your income according to the five pillars of Islam?

Do you, D, feel nothing towards him?

It's not your problem.

Let him construct his own meaning in life.

It's not your problem.

Or, if you would find it fulfilling, you could help him.

E, do you tell him or tell his family, go appease your ancestors, the spirits of your ancestors, so that you get better blessing?

F, do you see his value as royalty in the image of God, though he smells?

Do you see yourself like him, bankrupt spiritually?

I just wanted to give a taste.

The questions that Genesis answers dramatically affect how we live our life.

They answer the big questions of life.

Who made everything?

Who made the universe?

Who governs it at all?

Who am I?

Who are people?

What's the goal?

What's the point?

How should we relate?

What went wrong?

Why is there such a thing as poverty and misery?

Here's the big questions that Genesis gives us.

These ones answer the yearnings of our heart.

And these questions, if we listen to Genesis, they create the yearnings we should be having as well.

So, as Sam said, we're going to be covering a large section.

The reason being is that we covered these chapters last year, and so I'm guessing there's a fair chunk of people who heard those.

So, go back for a refresher, or if you weren't here for those, they're online if you want to slow down and go through these chapters in more detail.

So, we're just going to be helicopter flyover today.

So, let's get into these big questions of life.

Who?

Who?

Genesis 1, before anything was, God was.

God's not part of his creation.

Creation isn't the extension of God.

He is above it, but always involved in it.

He's before it, and therefore has authority over it.

He created everything out of nothing.

Ex nihilo.

Sean, you can tell me later if I pronounce that right.

No return trip to Bunnings.

Because he forgot something.

Like, no blueprint.

No angel engineer to get counsel from or project manage.

It's all out of his self-sufficiency.

It's out of his wisdom.

It's his power.

It's his goodness.

The heavens and the earth.

Everything in them.

Everything in between.

Now, we all know when you go to a country that's not yours, when you go to a house that isn't yours, we all know this.

Their house, their rules, right?

You come into my house.

Do you put your feet on my coffee table?

You watch me.

It's my house.

Do I do it?

If I do it, go for it.

My house, my rules.

Your house, your rules.

We get that.

He's the only creator.

His house, his rules.

All things owe their being to him.

Him alone.

He alone deserves our trust to provide and protect.

He alone deserves our obedience, our allegiance.

His house, his rules.

That's the who.

What about how?

How did God create?

Now, some see violence and darkness and death as essential to our origin story.

And I'm going to put the atheistic evolution in that camp.

Because death is just natural.

The chaos and the violence is part of the process.

So, too, in Moses' day.

So, just listen to a bit of the Babylonian creation beliefs of his day.

The Enuma Elish.

A god named Apsu, sweet water, and his wife Tiamat, salt water.

It's kind of nice so far.

Husband and wife.

Bore children and grandchildren.

But they became so noisy that Apsu decided to murder his sons and grandsons to have silence again.

I don't know how many of you can relate to that.

But one of his sons murdered him first.

Then one of the sons, Marduk, the greatest of all the gods, started fighting his mother, Tiamat.

Tiamat created dragons and beasts.

And Marduk killed her with an arrow, stood on her body, split her skull.

Kids are it.

Sorry.

Sorry for any kids in the room.

Cut her arteries.

He took her body, divided it into two parts.

One part became the sky.

The other became the earth.

And then Marduk created mankind to do all the menial work on the earth to serve the gods.

God said, Mm-hmm.

Okay.

God said, Let there be light.

And there was light.

God said, Let there be, and it was so.

God said, Let there be, and it was so.

God said, Let there be, and it was so.

Great.

the true God he is personal he's totally sovereign there's no rivals

he's rational it's got purpose he's speaking

verse 2 might seem strange at first but it's the key

I think to unlocking this chapter the earth was without form and void empty

and darkness was over the face of the deep and the spirit of God was hovering over the face of the

waters here we see the kind of God that he is he doesn't accept darkness as necessary evil he

doesn't call it good he only calls the light good

he is the kind of God who is above evil he's above the darkness and he brings order out of the chaos

he brings light out of the darkness life into the emptiness and how does he do it he does it by his

word his all-powerful word

the other thing we see here is by his word he forms and he fills which matches verse 2 it's

formless and empty he first forms in day 1 2 3 and then he fills in day 4 5 6

so day 1 2 3 he forms the conditions for life he creates the order

day and night atmosphere and sea land and ocean

life requires separation distinct in its proper place

after the forming is complete we've got day 4 5 6 he fills the emptiness with life

life we've got the sun noon stars filling the heavens we've got conscious life in the atmosphere and oceans day 5 and then day 6 we've got land animals and mankind is the pinnacle

he creates order out of chaos

he forms the conditions for life and then fills it with such diversity

diversity

like you know what a gum tree is we all know what a gum tree is or we should do

there's like 900 species of gum tree

isn't that

someone can correct me later if that's wrong but

google tells me that at least

isn't it it's incredible this world isn't it

the feeling God does

so people are creatures

Genesis says but

much much more

God created man in his own image

in the image of God he created him male and female he created them

not just animals

we shouldn't expect just animal behavior from one another

not slaves to serve the gods because

they don't want to do

the menial tasks

this is a profound

statement about

human

dignity

and value

and purpose

royalty

where royalty

is what this verse is saying

you've never met

an ordinary person

we're made to relate

to God

communicate with him in a way

animals just can't

we're made to represent him

we're image

we're meant to image him

we're meant to

show his character

as we go about life

and rule the world

under him

as a theologian said

Colin Buchanan

birds were made for flying

flip flat

flippity flat

fish were made to swim

splish splash

splishity splash

you and me were made by God to love

and treasure him

we're made in his image

to know him

so creation tells us

he is absolutely sovereign

over heaven and earth

his house

it's his rules

creation tells us the kind of God he is

he is a redeeming God

he brings order out of chaos

he is above

the darkness

and brings light

he's above the emptiness

and brings life

he's a redeeming God

it's his house

it's his rules

he's a God who

rules by his word

his word is life giving

and all powerful

and we know he is personal in nature

because he's made us

persons

in his image

at the heart of the universe

isn't this nebulous force

there's a beating heart

he's personal

okay

I'm going to

abruptly

hand over to James there

to read from Genesis 2

if you want to follow along

1 to 18

thus the heavens

and the earth

were finished

and all the host of them

and on the seventh day

God finished his work

that he had done

and he rested

on the seventh day

from all his work

that he had done

so God blessed

the seventh day

and made it holy

because on it

God rested

from all his work

that he had done

in creation

these are the generations

of the heavens

and the earth

when they were created

in the day of the Lord

that 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 the 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 Havala

where there is gold

and the gold

of that land

is good

delium 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 follows 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

and 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

single God

non-smoker

seeks attractive

creation

with good sense

of humour

now don't get me

in trouble

well I suppose

you can get me

in trouble

I'm quoting someone

but I'm using the quote

it was Michael Reeves

who said that

I just liked it

because it kind of

captured like

why did God

create

was he lonely

like why

what would motivate

God to create

if he's content

in himself

he wasn't lonely

and he didn't

need it

for his identity

as creator

to be realised

so it's not

this weird sense

in which he needs

us for him

to be

himself

creator

he is self-sufficient

he freely

chose to create

as Sam's

already introduced

this morning

it's like

his life

his love

overflowed

it's not that

he was empty

but he

overflowed

so why

why did God

create

the seventh

day

introduces a

huge theme

in scripture

the theme

of rest

rest

now

don't confuse

this

with the

mosaic

law

where

Israel

were to rest

on the

seventh day

don't confuse

it with that

this is God

resting

God rested

on the seventh

day

now chapter

one

I've already

seen

he is hardly

a God

who needs

to catch

his breath

he spoke

and it was so

the emphasis

on the seventh

day is

it is

finished

the heavens

and the earth

were finished

the seventh

day

God finished

his work

creation

is done

then he

rests

it's like

a builder

of a house

what does he

do when he

puts down

his tools

the house

is done

what does

he do

he moves

in

he enjoys

it

with his

family

I think

it's like

the goal

of rest

here

in his

home

with his

people

so I think

chapter one

is a panoramic

view

where

God alone

is ruling

over heaven

and earth

he is above

it all

he is

transcendent

his house

his rule

and then chapter

two

zooms

right in

on one

particular

place

part of

the earth

called

Eden

and it

shows

God dwelling

in it

with his

people

he is

present

so what's

the best

part of

God's

home

of this

rest

do you

think

as you

are hearing

the descriptions

as you

imagine it

in your

mind's

eye

is it

the place

itself

is it

the garden

gold

is

everywhere

I don't

know how

much

gold

you

own

it's

just

overflowing

with

abundance

riches

the food

is pleasant

to the sight

and good

for food

some in

this room

eat to

live

others

live to

eat

is it

the food

is it

the place

itself

is it

the health

and beauty

and dignity

of Adam

and Eve's

body

mentally

and physically

in order

the capacity

to never

die

they've got

access to

the tree

of life

is it

is that

the best

part

imagine

that

Sam's

already

mentioned

this again

is it

the fruitful

work

it's

I know

work is

a hard

slog

but here

it's

there's

purpose

there's

there's

we've got

a significant

role to play

to have

dominion

over God's

place

imagine

every ounce

of effort

you put

into your

work

bears fruit

and not

frustrated

like that

would be

incredible

incredibly

satisfying

is that

the best

thing

is the

best thing

the community

the chapter

ends

just for the

sake of

time

I made

the reading

a bit

shorter

but the

chapter

ends

with

man

and

wife

coming

into

marriage

covenant

love

is

family

the high

point

is that

the best

thing

about

Eden

about

God's

home

well

something

running

through

all this

chapter

which shows

us what

the best

thing is

now that's

all good

it's all

good

God wants

to bless

what is

good

but the

best thing

we see

is that

he's present

he's there

he's like a

good father

very present

and active

in his house

let me just

fly through

pointing out

things

it's the

Lord

who's

causing it

to rain

and yield

the crop

it's just

it's not

this

I think we

need to

remember this

in our

day and age

especially

not living

on a

farm

it's the

Lord who

provides

that

it's the

Lord who

forms the

man's

body

it's a

very up

close

personal

picture

it's like

mouth to

mouth

resuscitation

he breathes

into his

nostril

sharing

something

of

God's

life

his breath

it's the

Lord doing

that

it's the

Lord who

plants

Eden

it's implied

that

he's the

source

that Eden

is the

source

of these

great

rivers

if these

great

rivers

in Moses

day

were known

for creating

abundance

in life

imagine

Eden

the source

of it

all

he's the

source

of life

of the

rivers

he gives

mankind

his purpose

to work

and keep

it

this is a

high calling

as we've

seen

he's in the

image of

God

he's royalty

having

dominion

it's the

Lord

speaking

imagine

that

he's

speaking

to us

he's

giving

permissions

go

eat

you may

surely

eat

go

and he's

giving

boundaries

don't

eat

there

he's

speaking

to

us

he's

not

some

distant

God

he's

there

and then

when we

come to

Eve

it's the

Lord

who

fathers

Eve

he

creates

Eve

and

I think

it's

like

we're

picturing

God

with

Eve

in his

arm

walking

down

the

aisle

bringing

her

to

Adam

I

think

the

high

point

of

marriage

here

is

that

man

and

woman

family

community

displays

what God

is like

he is

covenant

love

in nature

which is

why

the name

in this

chapter

is

Lord

God

the

covenant

name

of God

chapter

one

was just

God

he rules

here

it's

Lord

God

so

together

in

community

as we

relate

to one

another

that's

how we

image

him

best

all

this

I think

shows

he's

present

he's

present

in it

all

he

is the

best

thing

about

this

place

him

dwelling

in his

house

with his

people

that's

rest

Tim

Keller

I think

draws

out

the

implication

for us

today

he says

the

fulfillment

we've been

looking for

in work

in

building

skyscrapers

in having

wonderful

spouses

in having

lots of

children

and making

money

the blessing

we've been

looking for

is actually

in the face

of God

his

presence

is what

made

Eden

heaven

on earth

the

Lord's

goal

of

creation

is

rest

not

just

a

home

a

playground

for

us

but a

home

for

him

to

live

with

us

and

we

with

him

and

she

gave

some

to

her

husband

who

was

with

her

and

he

ate

then the

eyes of

both

were opened

and they knew

that they were

naked

and they

sewed fig leaves

together and made

themselves loincloths

and they heard

the sound of the

Lord God

walking in the

garden in the

cool of the

day and the

man and his

wife hid

themselves from

the presence of

the Lord God

among the

trees of the

garden

but the

Lord God

called to the

man and

said to him

where are

you

well

we aren't

home

we're in

exile

God

is

righteous

he only

blesses

what is

good

our

daily

reality

we

receive a

lot of

good

gifts

I was

a bit

staggered

walking in

the

walls

and shops

the other

day

I don't

know

it's just

people

enjoying

donuts

and coffee

and exchanging

money

and I

don't

know

I was

staggered

by it

for some

reason

we get

so many

good

gifts

but

for all

we have

where we

live now

is constant

daily

toil

is a word

repeated

in this

chapter

struggle

life is

struggle

conflict

pain

death

is where

we live

and it's

a loud

daily

reminder

we're not

home

we're in

exile

everywhere

we look

the universe

has been

thrown

back into

chaos

and darkness

instead of

peace with

God

we feel

guilt

and shame

and hide

in fear

of his

judgment

instead of

this state

of innocence

the constant

battle

in our

choices

and our

motives

for good

and evil

there's this

chaos

within us

we look at

family and

social relationships

and they're

fractured

the woman's

glory

in bringing

image bearers

into the

world

is now

filled with

pain

emotional

and physical

between men

and women

even in

marriage

the harmonious

naked

and not

ashamed

and partnership

in worshipping

God in the

garden

does that

characterise

marriages

now

it's the

battle

of the

sexes

the fight

for control

for dominion

shifting

the blame

and mankind's

rule over

creation is

frustrated

like why do

we have a

housing crisis

in Australia

like we're

an abundant

nation

and yet

still

so many

people

are struggling

our work

is frustrated

by the sweat

of your brow

and we

feel that

we're in

exile

more than

ever

and we

get the

loudest

reminder

whenever

you attend

a funeral

whenever you

go to the

grave site

and you

see that

hole

or the

crematorium

you know

what's behind

that curtain

for you

are dust

and to

dust

you shall

return

we're in

exile

we've got

daily

daily

reminder

what went

wrong

why

what went

wrong

I think

the description

here of

Adam and

Eve's sin

is kind of

like a

teenager

sorry

teenagers in

the room

a rebellious

teenager

not every

teenager

okay

who claims

who puts

their flag

in their

room

they claim

territory

my

possession

they want

they've set

up a

sovereign

independent

state

I'm not

paying taxes

it's

it's like

that willfully

forgetting

who their

parents

they owe

their being

to their

parents

willfully

forgetting

all that

their parents

do for them

and have

done for them

just putting

all that

out of

mind

and rebelling

against

their parents

authority

claiming

autonomy

they want

all the

house

and the

comforts

keep

paying

the

bills

I just

don't

want

you

here

in my

room

I think

it's

kind of

like that

when

Adam and

Eve

disobeyed

God

it is

not

just

eating

some

forbidden

chocolate

ice cream

indulgence

here

this is

cosmic

rebellion

this

is

we've

already

covered

God's

house

God's

rule

it's

declaring

autonomy

and

sin

is

rejection

as we've

seen

in chapter

two

the

Lord

wants

to be

present

relating

in his

house

with us

we're

rejecting

that

love

we don't

want you

in our

life

sin

is

rebellion

it's

rejection

and Adam

is the

head of

the family

he's ruined

the whole

family

and we've

inherited

his rebellious

and rejecting

nature

well I think

what we've

read

we can go

one step

further

so sin

is

it's

rebellion

it's

rejection

I think

the dialogue

the focus

here is on

the dialogue

between

Eve

and Adam

who says

he was

with her

and

the serpent

I think

this is the

best case

study

of what

sin is

because you

cannot blame

this on

environment

you can't

blame it

on upbringing

you can't

blame it

on nature

that nature

nurture

argument

irrelevant

this is

this is

the best

case

study

of what

is sin

I think

from verse

one to

verse two

in chapter

three

the name

of God

changes

Lord God

that relational

covenant

name of God

back to just

God

I'm going to

suggest

that Satan

wants

Eve

forget

forget

God's

relational

nature

put that

out of

mind

and then

he invites

her

to

sit in

judgment

over

God's

boundaries

see

God

as

strict

rather

than the

source

of life

rather

than the

best

thing

about

being

home

see

him

as

strict

and

she

adds

to

his

boundary

we

can't

eat

it

and we

can't

touch

it

God

didn't

say

that

she

makes

him

out

to

be

strict

and

then

the

punishment

for sin

is weakened

and put

out of

mind

and

Satan

just

outright

liar

saying

there's

no

punishment

you

won't

be found

out

there's

no such

thing

as

judgment

day

there's

no such

thing

as

hell

just

don't

worry

about

all

that

he

offers

a

different

motive

let

me

read

verse

five

for

God

knows

that

when

you

eat

of

it

your

eyes

will

be

opened

and

you

will

be

like

God

knowing

good

and

evil

in

other

words

God

is

holding

the

best

back

from

you

he's

not

only

strict

he's

withholding

life

from

you

he's

not

good

he's

not

good

God's

boundary

isn't

like a

mum

who

says

don't

play

in the

pool

by

yourself

it's

not

a

good

boundary

like

that

he's

withholding

the

best

from

you

so

at

the

heart

of

this

is

God

isn't

good

his

word

you

shouldn't

trust

it

at

the

root

cause

of

sin

is

how

we

see

God

and

whose

word

we're

going

to

believe

whose

word

do

we

believe

the

Lord

who

is

the

source

of

life

and

wants

to

dwell

in

peace

and

abundance

with

us

in

his

home

his

word

or

Satan's

word

he's

holding

the

best

back

from

you

you

can

do

a

better

job

running

your

life

you

can

bless

yourself

at the

root cause

of sin

is

belief

whose

word

are we

believing

which

means

someone's

lying

someone's

lying

so

sin is

rebellion

against

our

creator

his

house

his

rules

sin

is

rejection

of

his

love

sin

is

not

believing

God's

word

sin

is

not

believing

that

God

is

good

that

he's

strict

he's

holding

back

and

so

our

daily

struggle

is

a

constant

reminder

that

we're

in

exile

we

need

to be

brought

back

home

we

need

things

restored

if

the

best

thing

about

home

about

paradise

is

that

the

Lord

is

there

our

greatest

problem

with

sin

is

that

we're

afraid

of

his

we're

rightly

afraid

of

his

judgment

we

need

him

to

solve

that

problem

we

need

reconciliation

with

him

we

need

him

to

redeem

the

whole

world

including

our

bodies

we

need

to be

brought

back

home

so

God's

word

at

creation

seventh

day

it

is

finished

creation

is

finished

but

from

the

fall

from

this

moment

on

God's

work

of

redemption

began

creation

is

finished

but the

rest

of

scripture

is

God

working

to

redeem

us

and

redeem