The Gifts of God Give Us Eternal Life :: Genesis 2:7-17
Then YHWH Elohim formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his face the breath of life, and the man became a living being. And YHWH Elohim planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the earth, YHWH Elohim made to spring up every tree that is to be desired 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 from Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. The name of the first is the Pishon. It went around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and onyx stones [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 around Assyria. And the fourth river is the [Euphrates]. Then YHWH Elohim took the man and brought him to rest in the garden of Eden to serve it and keep it. And YHWH Elohim commanded the man, saying, from every tree of the garden, you may surely eat. But from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, you will not eat from it because, in the day that you eat from it, you will surely die (vv 7-17).
1. [Prayer]
Father, You have made us your very own. In Christ Jesus, you have given us rest. Continue to give us your Holy Spirit, that being made holy through our baptism into Christ, we may present ourselves as servants of righteousness so that one day you can bring us back to paradise. In Jesus’ name.
2. [Catechesis]
Please open your Lutheran Service Book to page 322 and join me in confessing our faithful doctrine on the First Article of the Apostles’ Creed. As the head of the family should teach it in a simple way to his household ... What is the First Article? ... What does this mean?
3. [Summary]
There are two things that jump out at me from our text this morning in Genesis 2[:7-17]. First, we were made by God from the earth to serve and keep the earth. Second, we then receive the gifts of God from the earth. Therefore ...
THE GIFTS OF GOD GIVE US LIFE IN PARADISE
Our text opens by noting that Adam is made from the dust of the ground, from the earth, or as we say in Hebrew ... from the Adamah. Adam is made from Adamah. YHWH Elohim ... the Lord God, if you prefer ... after he formed the man, breathed into [Adam’s] face the breath of life, and the man ... the Adam in Hebrew ... became a living being (v 7).
God didn’t do this with the rest of creation. God spoke, and it was done, and it was good. He spoke into creation light, and the heavens, and the waters, and the land, and the plants and trees, and evening and morning, and the fish, and the birds, and the beasts of the field. But with man, YHWH Elohim specifically formed Adam from the Adamah and gave him the breath of life.
In describing the creation of man and God’s garden, YHWH Elohim is telling us that he created man differently than the rest of creation. He created man with purpose and character ... to serve the garden and to keep it, or maybe we should say, to treasure it and look out for it (v 15). He created man to know God and to love God, which is good ... to remember God and to honor God, which is good ... just as we learned last week in our reading from Exodus 20.
YHWH Elohim created man to receive eternal life. God watered his carefully planted garden to sustain us and nourish us here with four rivers that were increasing, bursting forth, rapidly, in fruitfulness. That is what the names of the four rivers ... the Pishon, Gihon, Tigris, and Euphrates ... mean ... increasing, gushing forth, rapidly, [in] fruitfulness. YHWH Elohim caused the man to rest in his well-watered vineyard. He gave us the best bread and wine here. And it was very good. And in the middle of it all ... the Tree of Life, with every good, in Eden’s holy orchard stood / And of its fruit, so pure and sweet, God let the man and woman eat (LSB 561.1).
Oh, what it must have been like to know such perfection!
Here, we would have perpetual youth. Here, we would never tire from work. Here, we would never have felt the ache of old age. Here, our brow never would’ve broken into sweat. Our hands and knees never would’ve felt pain. Here, there was no death. YHWH Elohim created Adam in such a way that we never would’ve any reason to worry ... to be anxious ... from where our daily bread would come. Through the Tree of Life Adam and Eve enjoyed perfection. And they would have been intoxicated with jubilation toward God all the time. They would delight in all that God had made ... until that moment they trusted only themselves.
4.
When God forbid eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, he was not speaking against learning in general. Adam was already a brilliant student. He knew nature, and was unhindered by the limitations of sin. He was lord over everything he surveyed. Being made in the image of God meant that man was able to refrain from sinning when he was tempted.
But having the opportunity to show his thankful, loving obedience wasn’t good enough for man. Despite the very good purpose of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, man discovered a most wretched result ... death.
God did not create death, or the sin that led us to death. Nor God did not create evil. All that God created was very good (1:31). It was holy and blessed, and it provided rest (2:2-3).
To know evil is not to know God. To know evil is to know sin, iniquity, and transgression ... that is, imperfection, immorality, and rebellion. To know evil is to have a lack of justice ... to put yourself and your feelings first.
When we do this, we begin calling good evil and evil good. We then find disunity and disorder. We come to know that which is ugly. We begin to think that we don’t need the good gifts that God provides. We then start despising the gifts of Word and sacraments that proclaim the Gospel. In sin, we then tell ourselves that we can nurture ourselves ... that we can provide our own rest in our own time in our own way on our own day.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, God and his gifts do not provide disorder and disunity. It is your sin and your sin alone that causes that. Your sin gives you disunity and disharmony. Your sin steals your peace. Therefore, in the name of Jesus, repent everyone of you ... that is, mourn the paradise you separate yourself from and return to the rest that God has created for you.
5.
You ... the Baptized of Christ ... can do this. YHWH Elohim ... the Lord God, if you prefer ... provides the gifts that restore forgiveness and unity, love and harmony. God created you to serve and treasure his paradise of rest that increases, bursts forth, in rapid movement, and fruitfulness. These rivers of life made Adam’s service much better and easier. And they do the same for you.
This is fully realized in Christ, who came to serve and NOT be served. Jesus is the new Adam. He has returned to the garden to serve and keep it. He was born without sin and lived without sin, unlike the first Adam, who fell in sin. Whereas Adam died in his sin, Jesus died for your sin ... crucified on a cross ... a new tree of life, which John says was erected in a garden of all places (Jn 9:41).
For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive (1 Cor 15:22).
Behold, Jesus he sweated blood for you in his garden, and he continues to serve you. After he rested in the garden grave, just as God intended for the man, he was raised to new life ... the resurrected life ... so that we may enjoy all the fruits of the garden.
This is why he has called, gathered, and enlightened you here today. As Mark tells us, seeing the crowd, Jesus turned to his disciples and said, I have compassion upon the crowd. ... And so he announced to the crowd to recline upon the earth, and having received the seven loaves, having given thanks, he broke [bread] and gave it to his disciples in order that they would set it before [people], and they set it. ... And [the people] ate. And they were satisfied, and there was an abundance of seven baskets, and there were about four thousand people, and he dismissed them (Mk 8:2, 6, 8-9).
6.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, we are still receiving the gifts of God. Jesus is still calling us to feast with him, to take rest with him, in his paradise. His yoke is easy and his burden is light. So take and eat and drink. Enjoy the fruits of his life ... serving one another and treasuring all of God’s gifts. Do the work he has called you to do.
Faith receives these gifts of God until that day when we will see the river of the water of life ... flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb ... and alongside the Tree of Life making twelve fruits, each according to its month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. ... For we will be in the midst of the throne of God and the Lamb ... and his servants will serve him (Rev 22:1-3) ... in Jesus’ name.