God the Great Provider: Genesis 2:4-25

God the Great Provider

Genesis 2 is like a magnifying glass on chapter 1. Chapter 1 covered the whole cosmos, and chapter 2 zooms in on what God did with man. I asked the church to notice the phrase in verse 4, “these are the generations of the heavens and the earth.” It appears throughout Genesis, followed by names, from Adam in chapter 5 to Jacob and Joseph. Genesis is not a collection of stories. It is tracking generations, and it is going somewhere, all the way to Matthew 1 and Jesus Christ.

I also asked them to notice the name of God. In chapter 1 it is Elohim, his majesty and power. In chapter 2 it is the Lord God, Jehovah Elohim, his covenant and personal name, eleven times. The Lord God is active in this chapter, and he is the great provider. I see five provisions.

God Provides Life

Verse 7 says the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. God took dust, formed it deliberately like a sculptor, and breathed into it, and the man became a living creature. If you are alive today, it is because God breathed. Your body will return to dust, but you will have a soul that lives forever. What is your relationship with the Lord like this morning?

God Provides a Home

In verse 8 the Lord God planted a garden in Eden and put the man there. “The Garden of Eden was a real place we’re not just reading a fairy story it’s not something mystical or mythical.” No one knows where it is now, since there has been a flood and the rivers have changed. It was a place with every tree that was pleasant to the sight and good for food, water, and gold, and there was nothing lacking for Adam. John 14 says Jesus goes to prepare a place for us. Since sin entered in Genesis 3, God has had a plan to reconcile man to himself so we will be with him in a place like this. There were two trees. Adam and Eve focused on the one that God prohibited.

God Provides Work

Verse 15 says the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden to work it and keep it. Work is not a consequence of sin; it came before the fall. Some people dream of heaven as a hammock and singing Kumbaya all day, but work is not bad. “Man was not created to be lazy nor to be a workaholic.” The word keep means to guard, anticipating chapter 3, and it is the same pair of words used of the priests. “Your work is also a sacred task that God has given you.” When I started a leadership luncheon in 2013, people kept telling me they were not pastors, as if second class. Martin Luther said the work of a farmer or a maidservant can be more acceptable to God than that of monks or priests, since all works are measured by faith. He also said, “your work is a very sacred matter God Delights in it and through it he wants to bestow his Blessing on you.” We want to say with Jesus in John 17:4, “I have glorified thee on the Earth and I have finished the work which thou gave me to do.”

God Provides Limits

In verses 16 and 17 God says you may surely eat of every tree, except one. I believe it was God’s goodness to warn Adam of the consequences. You can pick from A to Y; just don’t choose Z. And that is exactly what we want. Satan would have us focus on the one thing we cannot do. Imagine a goldfish who jumps out of his tank to be free. “God’s not made us all robots just to Echo back that we love him.” Love is a choice, and Adam and Eve were given one.

God Provides Marriage

Verse 18 says it is not good that man should be alone. Most people, but not all, are designed for marriage. Matthew 19 speaks of a gift of singleness, and we should not make single believers feel unwanted. God brought every animal to Adam, and none was a fit helper. The word helper is used 19 times in the Old Testament, 16 of them of God, so it is not lowly. A woman is like the other half of the moon. God caused a deep sleep, took a rib, and built a woman. Matthew Henry said, “the woman was taken from Adam’s side not from his head to rule over him not from his feet to be trampled on but from his side to be equal with him.” Verse 24 gives the principles: leaving father and mother, cleaving, being united like glue, and becoming one flesh. Verse 25 says they were naked and not ashamed. There was no sin.

The world is confused about this. The Defense of Marriage Act was signed in 1996, and in the years since not only has the world changed but churches have too. The motto of the day is love is love. I told the church that God designed marriage and we do not get to redefine it. I have family members who are gay, and people in our church have grandkids dealing with this. “We must not capitulate about what the Bible says but we must be loving well we must be kind we must be gracious.” Marriage is a binding, loving, permanent commitment for companionship, between one man and one woman. You may be mocked, and Jesus said in Matthew 5:11 that you are blessed when others revile you for his sake. For those who are married, model it. The best nine words of a healthy marriage are “I am sorry I was wrong please forgive me.” After 36 years, “my wife is a great forgiver.”