"The Breath of Life"

“Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” (Genesis 2:7 ESV)

Genesis 2 is the definitive chapter on mankind. It defines everything that makes us human. Genesis 2:7 tells us that we were created, not a creature of evolution. Not only that we were created in God’s image. When Christ came in the incarnation, He did not have to become a form of creature He was not. We were created in the image of God not the other way around.

Genesis 2 also tells us we are caretakers of creation. “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” (v.15) Our purpose is to care for creation which we have done poorly. Genesis 2 also tells we are disobedient to God. “And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”(v.16) Eve ate, then Adam and we inherited their disobedient nature.

We know that we have dominion over the animals as Adam named them all. “Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.”(v.19-20) We have dominion yet we also have to be stewards. Many species were hunted to the brink of extinction, yet if we treat our animal resources as a steward of creation, they can thrive and sometimes we can restore the population of a species.

While our pets are companions, they are not a mate. “But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.” We need a human companion and as God selected one for Adam, He selected one for each of us.

Next God gave us the parameters and confines of a marriage. “The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.” A man and a woman were designed to be lifetime companions in a covenant marriage before God. “A man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.”, not a man and a man, a woman and a woman, but a man leaves his family and is joined with his wife and become one flesh. This is the divine resolution to the needs of a companion.

In society today what I have just written will cause me to be called many things, almost all not so nice, and I will be broadly labeled, all because of faith in the Lord and the truth of scripture. Which is fine. Those who defend marriage often run to Deuteronomy and the law, but we have been freed from the law and they do not apply so when speaking in defense of scripture and the heterosexual relationship, the defense is found in Genesis, not Deuteronomy.

Lastly, Genesis 2 defines the gift of sex in the marriage. “And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.” (v. 25)  Nakedness and sexuality are designed to be experienced within the confines of marriage where there is no shame.

Genesis 2 defines who we are, what we are, our stewardship over creation, our dominion over the animals and the confines of a mate, and a covenant marriage. It defines family, and the confines of sex. When one denies the creation model, they are denying everything that elevated them above the animals and makes them human.

God in his perfection also told us in Genesis 3, how He would save us from our sins by revealing Christ in the protoevangelium (3:15) “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring  and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” God made us in His image but He also knew we were imperfect as He gave the ability to make decisions on our own. Having done so, before time He already had a plan of redemption mutually agreed upon within the Trinity.

Christ came in the flesh, testified and preached who He was, the Son of God. He was shunned by His own people and arrested, beaten tried, and scourged before being crucified under Pontius Pilate. He willingly went to the cross to pay with His blood, His life for the sins of the world. Buried for three days, He was resurrected in a gloried body appearing to the apostles, and many more. By His sacrifice you can have the free gift of salvation. If you do not know Christ as your Savior, seek Him today. Heaven comes to those who have faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross.

In Christ alone,

Grace and Peace.