Bible Study Genesis 1-11 City Presbyterian Church

Transcription

1 Bible Study Genesis 1-11 City Presbyterian Church citypresokc.com

2 This leader s guide is to help you as you do this study. We studied a lot for this and want to provide for you the product of that study. The questions from the study derive from this, and much of the information is already in the bible study itself. What you find included here will be more of the same, as well as perhaps some helpful illustrations or ideas as to where to go for application. These were from sermons at City Pres in January and February in Obviously they are different from what you will learn and study on your own. We hope they will give you a backdrop and idea about where we think the passages go, but you will need to allow your study to go where it will. Nothing can replace your own study of these passages, and your own personalized stories A Product of the ministry of City Presbyterian Church in Oklahoma City by Doug Serven and Bobby Griffith. Not much of this material is original or unique since we are striving to present historic Christianity to the 21 st Century world. Therefore, we are building on the shoulders of those who have gone before us. Please feel free to use this material in discussions with others and even in other Bible studies. Feel free to adapt and modify for your own purposes. All Scriptures come from the English Standard Version, Crossway. Used by permission. City Presbyterian Church is a missional community that seeks to worship Christ and serve Oklahoma City. Our goal is to Love God, Love People and Love the City. You can learn more about us at citypresokc.com. Sources for this study include: sermons by Rev. Tim Keller and Rev. Fred Harrell

3 Leading Small Groups 1 Small group values Spiritual transformation Jesus Christ, as Head of the church, intends for people to become like him. Small groups help people: Grow in grace (the saving work of Christ) Group (in connecting others with significant relationships) Gifts (serving the body of Christ with specific giftedness and passion) Good stewardship (honoring God with our resources). Small group community A small group provides a great environment for the life change Jesus Christ intends for every believer. People get connected to each other, to the church, and to God s plans for them in small group. We want to become a community where no one stands alone. Strategic leaders Small group leaders are strategic in the life of the church. They can understand, disciple, care for, pray for and help the people in their small groups in profound ways. Span of care Small groups must expand and multiply so that more and more believers can be connected to others. A small group does not exist for itself and Christians resist selfishness. Seek and Celebrate Effective ministry happens in an atmosphere of prayer and celebration. Create a climate for discussion People care about people caring Pray for the Holy Spirit to create a strong bong among group members Ask the Lord to give you love for every member of your group, especially those you don t naturally click with. Be the first to arrive at the meeting site and greet people as they enter. Be sure you or someone in your group calls or s people when they miss. Send handwritten notes (or facebook of course) to encourage participants. Laughter Use humor; it makes people loosen up. Poke fun at yourself, not at others. Be sure to be sensitive and not force things. Intercession Because God answers prayer, what can we pray for you? What has the Holy Spirit exposed during this study? How can we pray about those needs? Link prayer to the lesson you just completed. Try to make the connection in prayer. Model the level of personal disclosure you want group members to reach. Distribute the group members addresses and make prayer and prayer requests a regular part of your interaction throughout the week. Methodology People like to know what to expect. AND they like change now and then. Try to have a regular pattern, and mix it up every so often. Think about how you are doing the study and if your methods will facilitate open discussion. You may have to set the stage first if a passage is complicated. Think about how your location and room affects the group discussion. Think about what activities will help open people up to discussion. Feeling Welcome and Joining the Group Do we make people feel like they want to come back? How do we do this? Transparency and Leader Sharing What improves relationships? When leaders shares what they do in their off times. When they share personal experiences. When they share about their problems in daily living for God. Will my stories help the discussion? Will my self-revelation encourage others to share needs and prayer requests? Will my sharing meet my own need for emotional support and prayer? 1 From Now That s a Good Question, by Terry Powell; Standard Publishing and Leading Life Changing Small Groups, by Bill Donahoe, Zondervan

4 Will my illustration portray family members or friends in an unhealthy way? Have I received permission to tell this story by people who might be embarrassed by it? What personal application or carry-over ideas has the Lord shown you from this study? What personal need or issue has the Holy Spirit exposed to me from this study? Who can illustrate one of our lesson s truths from their own personal experience? What has God brought to your mind that you ve never thought of before? What people come to mind that show characteristics from this study? What unresolved questions on this subject matter still are with you? Environment The nature of your surrounding affects the learning climate. If you re doing your study over the dinner hour, can you trade off making dinner first? Will you put out snacks, drinks or cookies? People like food. It makes them feel at home. Is the room arranged for seeing everyone? Should you change locations now and then to make a point (ex: you could do a lesson in a graveyard when you talk about death)? Is the location clean? Is the temperature correct? Team Building Ask a question or two every meeting. It can be connected to the study or random. Use a book of questions. Come up with a project to do together. See each other outside of your study time. Go on a road trip together camping, a conference, etc. Come up with a name for your group. Questions Don t ask run-together questions. Be clear. Ask one question at a time. Don t ask long-winded questions. Don t ask questions that are really statements. Don t ask yes/no questions. Be willing to let there be silence for awhile. Ask someone a specific question, especially those more reluctant to talk. Be sensitive about this. Be wary of speculative and/or irrelevant questions. Bible study isn t Trivial Pursuit. Don t unrealistic questions. Can someone summarize the Old Testament? Who can tell everyone what we discussed four meetings ago? Who is willing to explain the hypostatic union? Be careful about too-obvious questions. You have to create a culture where people are willing to answer obvious questions. Leading the Discussion Exhibit enthusiasm Think about how you respond when someone makes a comment. Are you encouraging? Are you giving bad non-verbals? We want people to share, but not to hijack the group with too many tangents. Celebrate what people say. Make a hero out of anyone who contributes. Howard Hendricks Show sincerity. Excellent answer, Valerie. I like the way you referred to Jesus words to support you conclusions. That is a provocative question, Joseph. Thanks for bringing it up. Bryan, you did a great job of putting Paul s remark into context. Beth, that is good thinking. Can you repeat your answer so we can think about it more? It s evident you don t see eye to eye on this issue, but I appreciate how you expressed your viewpoints tactfully and listened to each other. I m impressed with the way you connected this verse to last week s lesson. Wait after you ask a question. Don t answer it yourself. Ever. Notice the non-verbals of the people in your group. 55% of communication comes from non-verbals. Eye contact, slumped shoulders, others talking and interrupting the speaker. Smiling at people, maintaining eye contact. Follow up their feedback. Why do you say that? Can you be more specific? What else did you notice? Do you mean? Could you rephrase your question? How does that apply to? How does your answer relate to what we said earlier? How did you come up with your answer? Don t worry about correcting every error every time. Be glad error is coming out and being discussed in the group. Make time to talk about that topic one on one. You don t have the be the Bible Answer Person. You can say, I don t know. I ll get back to you on that. For now, let s move on. What you re really wanting is people to talk to each other. That is different than everyone talking to you. Getting into God s Word Observation We simply want to know what the text actually says. The answers are sometimes so obvious that you may feel like it s a trick question, but it s not. In observing the text, we want to ask, What does the text say?

5 We look at the Context what is around the text? Where does this passage fit into the Scriptures near by and in the Bible as a whole? We Analyze the text. We look at the words and the sentences and how they fit together. Are there any key words or figures of speech? Are there contrasts or repetitions? Is there a cause and effect relationship? Are there any commands to follow? Where do we see grace and Jesus in this text? We see Problems. What stands out as odd or unusual? What do we need to look up (ex: how much is a talent?) We look for Themes. What does this text remind you of in the Bible? What Bible stories or figures does this connect to? (These are often call cross-references). Interpretation This admittedly is the toughest part of studying the Scriptures. Usually, we ll be comparing Scripture with Scripture. We are interested in how the Scripture speaks to us, not in what we may want it to mean. Here, we are asking, What does the text mean? Once we have observed the text, we want to interpret it. Try summarizing it into your own words, or seeing if you can make an illustration that captures the meaning. In the group ask, Who can illustrate this point from a situation in your own life? How has this played out for you? Would anyone be willing to share a time when you felt this way? In what ways should show in our lives? How can we do this without making it a cliché? Ask rhetorical questions if the question might be too exposing What temptation plagues you the most? Application This is where the rubber meets the road. Sometimes in observing the text and understanding its meaning, the application flows naturally. Sometimes, we will need to do some discussing to work it into our lives. Having understood and accurately interpreted the text, we now ask, So what? How does this affect my beliefs, my words, my actions, my community? What is your response to what you ve studied? What are you encouraged about or convicted about? What do you need to change? How did you see God and Jesus more clearly? What do you need to repent about, asking Christ to forgive you? How can your community help you change? Most of our studies do a lot of this work for you. You can follow along with the study. But you need to do the work on your own too, and you need to read your group as to how much they are willing to follow the study guide. When you lead the study in your group, don t just read through the study, answering every question along the way. Think about where your group is, and what parts of the study may be the most important for them to discuss. Spend some time on the other parts, but highlight the one or two questions you think are most needed. Allow the others to ask about things they didn t understand and to bring out things you didn t consider as the most needed, but try to keep on track and keep going unless you need to stop because something important is happening. May the Lord bless your Bible study and show himself to you in the group.

6 The Gospel At City Pres, the gospel is our greatest treasure it truly is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes, and that continues all throughout our Christian lives. However, in our day and culture, there is confusion as to just what the gospel is. The following article, adapted from an article written by Pastor Tim Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, clearly defines the gospel. The Third Way of the Gospel The Gospel means good news. It is the basic message that: God made (Christ), who had no sin, to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21). The gospel says that we are so sinful, lost and helpless that only the life and death of the Son of God can save us. But it also says that those who trust in Christ s work instead of their own efforts are now holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation (Colossians 1:22-23). The gospel tells us that our root sin is not just failing in our obedience to God but relying on our obedience to save us. Therefore, the gospel is a third way, neither religion nor irreligion. The religious person may say, I am doing the right things that God commands 2 and the irreligious person may say, I decide what is right and wrong for myself. But both ways reject Jesus as Savior (though they may revere him as Example or Helper). Both ways are strategies of self-salvation both actually keep control of their own lives. So the gospel keeps us from legalism and moralism on the one hand and from hedonism and relativism on the other. The Gospel s Power for Change The gospel is not just the ABC but the A-Z of the Christian life. The gospel is not just the way to enter the kingdom but is the way to address every problem and is the way to grow at every step. If we believe we can find our own worth and meaning through performance, then we will become either proud or disdainful of others (if we reach our goals), or else discouraged and self-loathing (if we fail our goals). But the gospel creates an entirely new self-image. The Gospel tells us that we are more wicked and sinful than we ever dared believe but more loved and accepted in Christ than we ever dared to hope at the same time. In fact, if the gospel is true, the more you see you sin, the more certain you are that you were saved by sheer grace and the more precious and electrifying that grace is to you. So the gospel gives us enormous power to admit our flaws. Then secondly, the knowledge of our acceptance in Christ makes (for the first time) the law of God a beauty instead of a burden. We come to use it to delight the One who has enriched us so mightily, instead of using it to get his attention or win his favor. The first way makes the moral and sacrificial life a joy; the second way makes it a burden. Therefore the gospel changes everything. It brings down racial barriers by melting away facial pride or inferiority. It brings down psychological problems by melting away self-inflation or self-hatred. It brings down personal facades, for we are free to admit who we are. It effects the way we do everything how we motivate people, how we help them work through counseling problems, how we worship, how we take criticism. 2 Our core problem, say St. Augustine, is that the human heart, ignoring God, turns in on itself, tries to lift itself, wants to please itself, and ends up debasing itself. The person who reaches toward God and wants to please God gets, so to speak, stretched by this move, and ennobled by the transcendence of its object. But the person who curves in on himself, who wants God s gifts without God, who wants to satisfy the desires of a divided heart, ends up sagging and contracting like a little wad. He desires are provincial. There is something in humility which, strangely enough, exalts the heart, and something in pride, which debases it. - Cornelius Plantinga, Not the Way It s Supposed to Be, p. 62, (at the end quoting Augustine, The City of God)

7 How to Do This Bible Study With those important preliminaries aside, we re excited that you have decided to join us in exploring some of the foundational truths of the Christian faith. Whether you are investigating Christianity or have been a believer for as long as you can remember, we hope that this study will be fruitful for you. You may come with lots of questions or even with some apprehensiveness. Whatever the case, we earnestly desire this to be a time where you can honestly ask questions and explore the foundations of Christianity. You may have been in a Bible study before, or you may be joining us for the first time. I want to make a note on our method of study. In each of the texts before us, we will use the simple O-I-A method of study: Observation Interpretation Application. Observation We simply want to know what the text actually says. The answers are sometimes so obvious that you may feel like it s a trick question, but its not. In observing the text, we want to ask, What does the text say? Interpretation This admittedly is the toughest part of studying the Scriptures. Usually, we ll be comparing Scripture with Scripture. We are interested in how the Scripture speaks to us, not in what we may want it to mean. Here, we are asking, What does the text mean? Application This is where the rubber meets the road. Sometimes in observing the text and understanding its meaning, the application flows naturally. Sometimes, we will need to do some discussing to work it into our lives. Having understood and accurately interpreted the text, we now ask, So what? How does this affect my beliefs, my words, my actions, my community? Attendance If you are working through this study in a group, please commit to coming each week. Not only will you benefit by this commitment, but the other people in your group will by your presence. It can be really discouraging for each week s study to be only optionally attended. While coming each week is by no means a badge of righteousness for you, it will mean something if you put this as a priority in your week s schedule and make every effort to be there.

8 Genesis 1 The Beginning Read Genesis 1 Underline, highlight, and/or circle anything that stands out to you or that you might have questions about. Opening Questions What is something you created or made that you are proud of? Tell that story and describe what it is, how you made it and how you feel about it thinking back to it. Where do you have chaos in your life right now? Genesis 1 Consult a study bible (like the ESV Study Bible for example). Who would most scholars say wrote the book of Genesis? What was the context of it being written? What do you think of the Bible s opening sentence? How does it strike you? Do you know how old the earth is? Does this question concern you? How can we figure out how old the earth is? Creation Community Why do you think God created the world? There are some clues in this chapter about what Christians call The Trinity. Can you find them? Why might the Trinity matter in the world? How does the Trinity demonstrate community and love? How does community work in your life? Where do you find true and real community? Where do we see this in our culture? Creation Design Where have been the most beautiful and amazing places you ve been? Why do these places capture your heart? Genesis 1 says that God created everything and called it all good. What are the implications of this observation?

9 As we read Genesis 1, there seems to be an order to the creation as its explained. How does a design and an order matter for us in our daily lives? What happens when we use something (like a tool) against it s designer s intentions? Can you think of a way that something gets used against its design in your current world, and how that messes things up? When you see or use something that has been well designed, what does that make you wonder about? Give an example. Does the design and order of the world point back to an ultimate Designer? A Creator? Creation Question How have you gone against God s design for you and your life? We only read about hints of the Trinity in Genesis 1. Consider John 1. What does John 1 say about Jesus and his role in Genesis 1? What happened to Jesus at the end of his life? How was Jesus uncreated? Why was Jesus uncreated? How might this matter for you today? Genesis is about the new creation when God made all things. What could be new for you today? How might Jesus enter the chaos in your life and create order? How might not only the Creator but also the Redeemer enter your life and what would that look like for you today?

10 Genesis 1 I know something about all of you. You have chaos in your life. You have darkness and nothingness. There is a void there. I d guess that most of you realize that, but some of you may not. I hate to break it to you, even the most put together of you, but it s there. I know this because I have it in my life, and because you re a person just like me. Maybe it s a big thing: someone you love just died; you don t know what to do with your life; you were recently laid off; you feel trapped or unsure or abused or unwanted. Maybe it s annoyances: your furnace broke; you have more homework than you want; you sprained your ankle. Or maybe your s are piling up at work. Or you haven t been asked out this month or year. Or you have and now you don t like him any more and wish you d never started. I m not sure what it is, though many of you have told me. There is darkness. There is chaos. You may identify it or you may ignore it. But we all have it. You may be scientific-minded. You may just take things at face value. You may be conservative or liberal. You may be rich or poor. You may be married or unmarried, divorced, never married, or widowed. You may be Presbyterian already or Baptist or you may hate church and maybe Presbyterian and hate church. You have chaos. What do we do with it? I know for sure that it isn t restful to be in chaos. It s tiring. Well, turn to Page One of your Bibles. We re going to take that chaos that we all have do something a little crazy we re going to see if an ancient writing might have something to say to our day, our age, our space, our heart and our chaos. We ll do that today by starting at the very start. Let me take a second and mention a different beginning story - This church. In one sense you are here right now for the what will probably be called the beginning of City Pres. But there are further back beginnings. People have prayed for and planned for this church for decades. The Servens weren t even known to those people. Heritage used to be near 23 rd and Shartel, but they sold their building in 1985 because it was falling apart planning a church plant return at some point in the future. Julie and I moved to Stillwater in 1993 to work with The Navigators. Then we moved to Norman in 2001 to start the RUF campus ministry in Norman. I can remember entering into this City Pres story by having a meeting over by the airport where we got out a map and talked about ideal locations for church plants in Oklahoma City. I never thought I would be one of those. But then things started to change. Bobby and Jennifer moved to Norman, and they started talking about planting a church together in Oklahoma City. I can tell you more of the specifics sometime, but that s what happened, through extraordinary, providential, supernatural circumstances. God called us to move and start this church. We agreed to do that one year ago, on January 1, Since then we ve been working to make logos and websites, meet people and make contacts, raise money, gather leaders and servants. Some of you have been a part of that part of that story. We ve had four preview services, and all along the way we ve been saying we want to Love God, Love People and Love the City. We want to reach out to this city, to all the people who don t have church homes and we long to worship together. So here we are. At the beginning. We have a lot to do. We are starting our first series here at City Pres with an incredibly famous passage. We re going to always talk about the Bible here at City Pres and work through passages together, trying to understand what the Bible says for us in Oklahoma City today here. So these are famous words in Genesis 1. You may have and probably have heard them before. In the beginning It s easy to get sidetracked into the How? question after hearing those words. How did it all work? How long ago was this? Those are valid questions and I m not going to answer them. I m not saying they aren t important or that they don t matter. In fact, they are important, and they do matter. We want to be a thinking church, and we don t want to pit science and faith against each other. I don t want to give you the impression that to come here you have to turn off your brain and just accept whatever we start to say up here. But, that being true, I do think that the age-of-the-earth really does miss the point of this passage. Imagine if the person you re walking next to all of sudden gets down on one knee and pulls out something from his pocket, like maybe a tiny box and hands it to you. It might occur to you in that moment to wonder how he got that ring, or when the got it or how he pulled together the money for it. But really those are side questions. The real question is Why?! And you know the reason why because he loves you and wants to marry you. The How? question can be filled in later, and that is a good story to tell, but really it doesn t matter as much as Why? This ancient text isn t answering the how questions of our 21 st century scientific Western brains of how and when. People have tried to figure that out. A pastor in Ireland named James Ussher in the 1600s calculated that the created on Sunday October 23 in 4004 BC. Then others added that they God started at 9am. So there you have it. Others have have postulated that the earth has to be 9 gajillion years old, give or take a gajillion years Frankly, I don t know how old the earth is. And I actually don t think that Genesis 1 tells or is meant to tell us. This was written for a people, for God s people and for all the people listening in to God s people. They had been enslaved for centuries. They d been surrounded by a culture that worshipped hundreds of gods. And the one and only true God had brought his people out of that. He saved them. You can read about that story in the second book of the Bible, in Exodus, which we ll have to talk about sometime. God wanted to tell them that he created the world. That he was in charge, and that he loved

11 them. They d seen and experienced amazing, incredible things, and they wondered what to attribute those acts to. God tells them that it was all designed by him and attributed to him, and for his glory alone. When I say that, you might hear me say that because it s not scientifically specific that it s not true. That it s mythical. I don t think that at all, not in the least. This is a true story. It s ancient but it s true. God is telling his people who they are and who he is. It s a poetical history, not a scientific document. That doesn t mean it isn t true. We re going to continue as if it is, and we here at City Pres believe it is. If you don t then that s okay. We re glad you re here, but I want you to consider where you get your information about the way the world was made and where it came from what are your sources? What do you believe in? Where do you put your faith? I m saying this matters for us today because we too are a people who have not know our God. We too are a people surrounded with gods all around us. We too wonder where we come from. We want to know how we fit into our world. And some of us distract ourselves with the how question so much that we never ever do come to know the why of it all. Let s look at what this true creation story tells us and show us for us today. Creation Community So we have this famous passage. And we re trying not to focus as much on the how but on the why? Why did God create this world? Was he just lonely? Was he bored? Some have asked what God was doing before he created the world. And the best answer I ve heard to that is the quip, He was creating hell for people who asked that question. Not helpful, I know. We know a few things about this creation, and that helps us a little bit with the why. Ultimately the answer is that it is for his glory. But along the way we can notice some other things. Christianity s bold, dramatic and absolutely unique claim is that God is one God in three persons. That means that God is not a singleness he is a Trinity. Three in One. We are talking about this when we say God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. This is a great mystery of course, and I cannot fully explain it all, but we see that there is a pluralness in the creation story itself. Here are three places in this chapter that point to this Trinity. - The Spirit hovers over the water. - God creates by the word of his power there is an agency to his words. - God says, Let us make man in our image. He s not talking about the angels. But he s using the plural pronoun. So why? Because at the heart of Christianity is community, is love. God was not lonely. He already had a community. Many religions that press the monotheism of God do not have this aspect of community at the root of the universe. But Christianity says that inherent in the very godhead is community, is love, is communication, is working together, is joy. Why does that matter? The Trinity is so important to our faith. Genesis 2 tells us that we are made in his image, in the image of God, which means among other things we are made for community with God and with others. Certainly that is not always very easy. Because of Genesis 3, which we ll get to in two weeks, community is tough, really tough. But it s a part of who we are. It s a part of who God is. It s in the fabric of the universe. Is it fun to go to an amusement park by yourself? Maybe for a little bit but that gets really old really fast. There were some times recently when we were at an amusement park that I did need to get away from the crowds. I m not talking about the throngs of people. I m talking about someone to share the experience with. Even if you get away for awhile, you need someone to share it with. You need someone to tell. You want people to read your blog, to retweet and share your comments. You deeply desire that moment when you can turn to someone else and say, Did you see that?! I m not talking about extroverted people. Yes, some people have a higher tolerance for community or being around people. I m not saying we re all extroverted. I m saying that built into the essence of our universe is the idea of community. Is the idea of love. Creation Design So there is a creation community. That s the first thing we notice when we think about the why of this passage. We also notice something else. There is a design. I want to point out three features about this design. Beauty/Majesty First of all there is a beauty and majesty to the design. Nature is pretty amazing, isn t it? I m sure almost all of us except the most dedicated nontraveling city dwellers have experienced the thrill of nature. - On top of the mountains - In the middle of the dense forest - In the bottom of the Grand Canyon - At the ocean. Anywhere around water Table Rock Lake, floating the river, Lake Thunderbird - Maybe it s just on the top of Mt Scott near Lawton or in the red canyons. Or maybe a starry night out in the middle of the plains. Where have been the most beautiful places you ve been? Why do those places stir your soul? Do you really think these are just the random assortment of atoms and molecules in our universe? I think you think they are amazing and beautiful because they were designed by God to stir your soul, to take your breath away, to be truly mysterious as they tug at your heart. That s why there is that awesomely strange 30 minutes right in the middle of the Tree of Life movie to show and talk about how majestic, beautiful and mysterious God s creation is. But there s something else too.

12 Stuff Matters God created this world, and he called it good. That means that it wasn t an accident. It wasn t a mistake at all. That s not what a purely naturalistic worldview thinks at all. This is all just randomness, the product of chance and time. So why does it matter? For other religions the world is something that is bad. It s a byproduct of gods at war, or it s the prison house of the soul. It s illusionary. It s to be escaped for something better. But Christianity says the Creator God made this world, and he made it good. You hear that refrain over and over again in this story. He called it good. This world matters. He made this world. He made people. He made you. He made me. That means that you matter and I matter. Our bodies matter. It means our city matters. It means justice matters. It s not just an illusion. It s not just the byproduct of chance. It was made by God. Order The last implication of God s design is there is an order. You can see that in the way this historical song/poem is framed. God is telling his people that he didn t create haphazardly or randomly or without order. He doesn t spell out all of how he did it, and that s something for us to discuss and debate and wonder about. But he shares that there is an order to it all. A first day. A second day. And so on. A pattern. A sequence. Again, these aren t scientific details, but they are meant to be true, real and forming for us. We are intended to know the way things are supposed to work. The design and order of something matters or it should. Pastor Tim Keller uses an illustration that goes like this: If you re working on a house project, you don t take out your phone and pound nails with them. That s not how they were made or what they were made for. You actually could do that. And it might work for a few pounds. But of you saw someone doing that you would think they were crazy or desperate to prove a point or just clueless. And you d probably show them that a hammer would work better for nailing and that broken phone would have otherwise been good for calling. It s best to understand the design and use it the way it s supposed to. Have you had that experience? Have you thought, Oh, so that s how it s supposed to work? That s true for our bodies. That s true for sex. That s true for oceans. That s true for technology. When we go against the order and the design, we go against the designer s purposes, and we might be in real trouble real fast. I know you re thinking that you might find out the designer didn t know what he was talking about. Or you might find out that iphones aren t good for pounding nails and now it s not good for making calls either. These things aren t proofs exactly. Keller calls them pointers or clues. They point back to the existence of God, but they don t prove it. When you see something well-designed you appreciate it. It points back to its creator and designer. You ask, Who painted that? Who made that? Who thought of that? When you understand the precision of this universe, of this earth, of these bodies you should marvel. Creation Question So if you re tracking with me, then we see the creation design, and we see the community of God, the creation community. So our last point is really one of application, and I m going to call the question. We were made to worship. To enter into the community. We were made for what the hymn says, Let us love and sing and wonder. But we have a problem. We have a lot of problems, actually. Frankly, we re not all too jazzed about community. We re at war with God. We re at war with each other. We shirk away from responsibilities. We manage what people know about us, and for good reason. We rebel against the Father Son and Holy Spirit. And while we maybe sometimes marvel at creation, our track record for improving this world is pretty abysmal. We waste. We wreck. We go against God s good design constantly. We try to make improvements to things, but we end up making things far worse. So we try to escape it all. Or we go the other way we make this world everything. We use it and use it and use it. We turn the creation itself into our god, making it bear all the weight of everything we have. Or we just grow a little jaded and bored with it all. It s sort of like maybe living right next to Pikes Peak. When you see it every day, you wake up and say, Eh. We do not stop to marvel and wonder at God s creation. We might when you stop to study biology or physiology for a semester. Or you might when you have your first baby, and you sneak in at night to just look at her and say, Wow. But that wears off pretty quickly with the crying and the screaming and the pooping and None of us worship as we should. We can t. We don t want to. We re at war with God, with each other and even with ourselves. We use the creation instead of marvel at it. We misuse it, using things contrary to the way the designer intended. We talk bad about the designer of it. We come up with alternative theories about it and who made it, maybe saying that no one made it. What are we supposed to do? I want to read from one of my favorite books, The Jesus Story Book Bible. This is from the end of the introduction, right before Sally Lloyd-Jones starts into Genesis 1 and 2:

13 The Bible isn t a book of rules, or a book of heroes. The Bible is most of all a Story. It s an adventure story about a young Hero who comes from a far country to win back his lost treasure. It s a love story about a brave Prince who leaves his palace, his throne everything to rescue the one he loves. It s like the most wonderful of fairy tales that has come true in real life! You see, the best thing about this Story is it s true. There are lots of stories in the Bible, but all the stories are telling one Big Story. The Story of how God loves his children and comes to rescue them. It takes the whole Bible to tell this Story. And at the center of the Story, there is a baby. Every Story in the Bible whispers his name. He is like the missing piece in a puzzle the piece that makes all the other pieces fit together, and suddenly you can see a beautiful picture. And this is no ordinary baby. This is the Child upon whom everything would depend. This is the Child who would one day but wait. Our story starts where all good stories start. Right at the very beginning 3 We ve been talking about the beginning. And here on January 15 th we are only a few weeks removed from the Christmas season when we talked about that baby she writes about. Jesus Christ. Matthew 1 and 2 and Luke 1 and 2 recount the story of Jesus and how he was born from a virgin how incredible is that! How miraculous is that? It s a creation story, one that God had to write and enact. There s more. We find out from other places that in fact this Trinity we re talking about, this God of community he actually was The Word. When God was talking and speaking, that agency that was accomplishing his words was a person after all. It was Jesus himself there creating creation. And that Word became flesh John says and dwelled among us. He came. He moved in. He wasn t just up there casting out lightning bolts of power he was love himself, and he gave up everything to come and become one of his people to live among us and minister to us and become the way for us. And then we read something else all the more astounding. We read that God himself, this Word, this Jesus, actually died. He did everything right. He worshiped exactly as he should. He had perfect communion with God, nature and other people. He obeyed. And yet he died. When Jesus was creating, he was the Word and he spoke and the moon, sun and stars were created by his mere breath. But on the cross what happened? He spoke and nothing. God turned his back on Jesus in silence on the cross. He actually became void and formless. He who had been created the heavens was cast to hell and darkness not light descended upon him. Silence. Non action. Darkness. Brokenness. Destruction. Ugliness. Why? Jesus was becoming uncreated and destroyed for us, so we could be recreated and made new. That s the message for us today. So we could enter into the creation song and dance with our creator. We need not only a creator but also a redeemer. We have that in Jesus. He says that if we become his children, if we believe in his name, we become new creations. It s important that we see the beauty and delight, the design and goodness of God and his creation. We need to know where we come from and who made us. Who made you? God. What else did God make? All things. Why did God make you and all things? For his glory. That s right. But here and now, so far removed from October 23, 4004 BC at 9am kidding we need to know not only our Creator but our Redeemer. This Redeemer came for us to make us new. To set us again as heirs. To right our wrongs. To pay our penalty. And to set us back into the correct, accurate, true story with Jesus at its center and not us. That s what he s doing about the chaos. He s speaking into it again. That s good news for all of us. I need it too. I have chaos. He must keep speaking. I can try to ignore it. I can try to manage it. I can just give in to it. Or I can give it to someone else, who became the chaos, the darkness and the void, so I could be loved, cherished, created and good. Now that is rest. That is good. Otherwise we ll keep ignoring or consuming. We ll keep on thinking this world is all there is and never ever be satisfied. Or we ll keep thinking this world doesn t matter so let s use it and others up. So what could be All Things New? You could start by joining in with a new church. You could start with a leap into new relationships you could join a CityGroup. You could take some risks and start to tell your story to others. You could have some new conversations with others your friends, family and coworkers. You could have a new prayer. One of earnest need and pleading on the mercy of God instead of the usual perfunctory one you give. You could have a new posture. You could open your arms instead of cross them in suspicion. You could take the Lord s Supper his body and blood by faith in belief of his grace to you. Jesus tells us that he is the center of the story and that we are loved and cherished because of him and him alone. May we enter into and rest in that story of his sacrificial goodness for us. 3 Written by Sally Lloyd-Jones and magnificently illustrated by Jago.

14 Genesis 2 Made for Marriage? Read Genesis 2 Underline, highlight, and/or circle anything that stands out to you or that you might have questions about. Opening Questions Think of and be ready to tell a few stories about wedding you ve attended or heard about. What is the last wedding you attended? What is the strangest wedding you attended? What marriage is in the news right now? How does that affect your view of and thoughts about marriage? Genesis 2 It s Not About Marriage Remember the context of the original writing of this book of the Bible. Why might this chapter not be about marriage per se? What does this passage say about the dignity and respect due for all people? What does it mean to be created in the image of God? You may need to look up this term in a study bible. Who has been created in the image of God? Why might this matter? What implication might be drawn from this? How does this dignity and respect work in regards to both men and women? What implications might be drawn from this? When in Genesis 2 does God say something isn t good? Why does he say that? What isn t good about it? There seems to be something about needing each other in this passage. There is a deep friendship of diversity here. What do you make of that? Think about how there was something bad in paradise. What does paradise look like for you? What does this chapter say about what cannot be missing from paradise? Reflect on true and good community in your life. Do you have it? Why or why not? In what ways do you promote true and good community? In what ways do you subvert it? It Is About Marriage What does this chapter say about marriage and why does that matter? What is God s design for marriage? Where did you get your view about marriage? What is your current view? Do you know of any healthy marriages among your family and friends?

15 What do healthy marriages do for people? Are they possible? How do healthy marriages help people to: Grow up Stay together Improve their financial condition Satisfy their sexual identity Raise children Why do you think so many marriages fail? What do you think a marriage is actually designed to do? What do you think you have to have to have a healthy marriage? [You might consider reading Tim Keller s book The Meaning of Marriage.] Marriage Is About Jesus What does this statement mean: Your marriage cannot save you? Read Ephesians 5: What is really surprising about these verses? What does Paul mean when he says he is talking about the church? Read Revelation 19:6-9. What is happening in this passage? So what is marriage about and why? Is that how you ve been taught to think about a relationship with God? What is your normal paradigm or picture of that relationship? What are the implications of a Bridge-Bridegroom relationship and how is this unexpected and unusual? Where are places in your life where that way of relating to Jesus would look different? How would you think different or act different if this were the way the relationship actually was? What is Jesus was your bottom line? What is he competing with for that spot?

16 Genesis 2 72 days. That s the new bar, the new threshold. When I say 72 days, do you know what I m referring to? That s how long Kim Kardashian was married to someone. Some basketball player. Then, I guess they d had enough. So they had to call it quits. When you hear stories like that, it makes it tough to think that marriage is a good thing, doesn t it? Doesn t that make you cynical about marriage? And yet, I ve performed two wedding ceremonies in the last three weeks. At least four of you are set to be married two couples in the next few months. People have called for the death of marriage for decades, but it doesn t seem like it s going away. It s being chipped at for sure, but it s still around. Here at City Pres, we re looking at the book of Genesis and the beginnings of the Bible, trying to see what this ancient text has to say to us in our day and time. Some of us would think this chapter is pretty irrelevant. It sounds so fanciful, so mythical, so make believe. Others of us might be tempted to co-opt this text for another agenda. We want to push the conservative views of marriage and society and use this text for our side. Does this text matter today? Does this text point us toward an agenda? We sit in a time and place and state that unfortunately sees over 50% of marriages end in divorce. Wouldn t people be happier if they just avoided it all together? Why even bother? Some of you are thinking there is no way this can apply to me I m not married! I don t want to be married. Others of you are thinking, I ve been married and no thanks. Or you ve been burned by marriage. Or you re in a bad marriage. Or your parents have a bad marriage. We re so cynical. Or we re so naïve. Some think that marriage will be everything for us. Or we re a mix back and forth, month by month, day by day. I think this chapter does speak to our day and age, and I also think it speaks to our hearts. Perhaps in ways we haven t thought before, so we ll have to look at it to see what it teaches us. It s not about marriage. Let s start out with something right off the bat here I don t think is passage is actually about marriage per se. I mean, it is but it isn t. Remember a few things this is the second chapter of the Bible we re talking about here. God is creating everything. And God is writing this to his people through Moses. These are a people who have been oppressed in actual brutal slavery for a long, long time. I just don t think that on God s mind is the need to make sure that we have marriage amendments and set in stone a certain conservative agenda against homosexuality. Again we can talk about those things, and I realize I may be concerning some people here and that isn t my intention (well, not exactly my intention at least). I m not sure what the Egyptian marriage practices were, but for the most part marriage has been a pretty common part of most every society that I know of. It s doubtful that God s people would have read this and gone, Ohhhhhh! So that s what we re supposed to be doing. I see it now. We d had it all wrong. Got it! That s doubtful because well, just what were they supposed to do here? How was this to be replicated? And let s mention something else here it didn t exactly work so well. Not too many chapters later the Bible starts to get pretty well chock full of polygamous marriages, which seem like a ton of trouble all the way around. So if it s not about marriage, then what is it about? Well first, it s about dignity. God created us as humans, and we are the pinnacle of his creation. One person is of far greater worth than any mountain or gold mine or diamond vein or oil deposit. We haven t thought that way. We don t treat people with dignity and honor, do we? We have thrown out baby after baby, calling them masses of tissues or fetuses. We have been moving more and more as a society in our last 100 years toward more eugenics, where we try to weed out bad genes in one way or another. We ve said we are really just the most sophisticated animal at the top of the food chain, by the grace of chance. But if God created people, and he called them good, then we are good. Broken, yes. Fallen, yes. But still created by him and to received dignity and honor. Not only that, but he created us male and female. That seems pretty significant. Let s admit for a second that the church hasn t done the greatest job through the years in promoting women as equally as dignified and important as men. We d have to say that there have been great black spots on her record. And for that we re embarrassed and sorry. But it s also true that there has never been a religion in which women have had such prominence, status, dignity and worth given to them. Women feature as the prominent character in many of Jesus stories, something that just wouldn t have happened in writing of that day. In fact, much of the credibility of Jesus story of his resurrection is only attested to by women, something that would not have been allowed at all if it weren t true. Jesus interactions with women are somewhat revolutionary. So though the church has often failed, women have fared far better because of it. Far better. This text shows us that God created male and female. He created both as a complement to each other. We need each other. Neither is greater than the other, though we do have different roles. Different is not a hierarchy. Different is good. Different is important. The word Helper there in the text to describe Eve is mainly used of God in the rest of the Bible. You cannot help someone unless you know more about it than the other person. Eve is Adam s tutor in many ways. So what is it about?