Genesis 2: The God Who Doesn’t Need Us, But Wants Us
Genesis 2 begins with finishing.
It opens on the 7th day of Creation. After the first six days, God had finished the work of creation. Throughout the Bible, the number seven stands for completion. We see that here. And we see an important Truth:
God finishes what He begins.
There was nothing for His creation to do but enjoy His work and worship Him. He did it all. And He completed it, which reminds me of one of my favorite verses in the Bible:
“It is finished!”
John 19:30
While Jesus hung on the cross, He finished the work of redemption. He did it all. We can’t add a single thing to His work to earn our salvation. We receive it by God’s grace through faith.
Truth to Remember:
God Finishes What He Begins
God Rested and Made the 7th Day Holy
For those of us who try to stuff too much into each day, we might want to consider that God rested and made that day holy. Resting is holy work, right? But of course, I’m stuffing too much into each day because I can never seem to finish the work I was doing the day before, whereas God always completes His work right on time.
After God completed creation, He rested on the 7th day. This doesn’t mean He took a nap. Creation wasn’t hard work. In fact, nothing is hard for God. Everything is equally easy. I wish I could say the same for me.
When the Bible says God rested, it means He ceased His work. After all, it was finished.
All of creation could simply rest in Him and trust Him to supply all their needs.
God would later give the nation of Israel the command to set the 7th day apart as holy, worship Him, and remember He is the one who meets all their needs. But for now, there was nothing for creation to do but to bow down and worship His holy name.
After God finished creation, He blessed the seventh day, and set it apart as holy. It was holy for the simple reason that God declared it so.
Praise God that He declares those who have trusted in Christ as holy because, in our sinful state, we have no hope of ever being holy apart from Christ. Not even Adam and Eve, who were created sinless and pure, could make themselves or anything holy. Only God can. And He does, in Christ.
Christians find their rest and holiness in Christ. He meets our every need and makes us able to stand before God, holy and blameless with great joy by His righteousness, not our own.
“Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy,” ( Jude 1:24).
Truth to Remember:
We Find Our Rest and Holiness in Christ
God Introduces a Surprising Name for Himself
After looking at the matchless holiness of God, it’s humbling and shocking that at this point God introduces the following name for Himself: Yahweh Elohim
This name is both humbling and shocking because this is the name God uses for Himself to reveal He wants to be in relationship with us. With sinners! Who are we that He would want us?
Forget about us. The real question is who is God that He would do this for us? He’s Yahweh Elohim, that’s who!
He’s not only Elohim, the supreme God who created the heavens and the earth. He’s also Yahweh, the Loving Designer who wants to be in relationship with His creation.
Right before God explains the details of how He personally fashioned Adam with His hands from the dust of the earth, God reveals Himself as Yahweh Elohim: The God who doesn’t need us but wants us.
Truth to Remember:
The LORD God is the Supreme God Who Doesn’t Need Us but Wants Us
God Created Adam
In Genesis 1, we saw God speak and command the mountains to rise from the seas and the stars to shine in the sky. His magnificent works declare His glory. In Genesis 2, we see the LORD God reach into the dust of the earth and lovingly shape it—design it—into the shape of a man.
And then He breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and Adam became a living soul.
Can’t we envision a Potter working with precision and care on His beloved creation as He shaped it into His own image? Unlike any other potter, though, God breathed the breathed life into His creation.
The LORD God placed Adam into the Garden of Eden—into Paradise.
In the midst of the garden stood two life-changing trees—the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. We’ll see more about them in the next chapter and in the last book of the Bible, Revelation.
In Revelation, God pulls back the curtain of His kingdom just a bit and displays amazing sights yet to come. Amazing wonders like a new heaven and a new earth, the throne of God surrounded by a sea of glass, and the Tree of Life.
God uses the Garden of Eden to give us a small glimpse—a pattern—of what’s to come for Christians—all who have trusted in Jesus. In other words, the church.
One day, Christians will live forever free from the schemes of Satan. God will judge him guilty of all his horrendous evil—the worst being his rebellion against God—and toss him into the lake of fire.
God will also set us free from the torment of sin. It will never touch us again.
Until then, we can rest in our loving and wise Designer to care for us in this world while we wait for His eternal kingdom to come in that world.
Truth to Remember:
The LORD God is our Almighty Creator and Loving Designer.
God Built a Bride for Adam
The LORD God placed Adam in the Garden of Eden to care for it, guard it, and rule it.
The LORD God brought the animals to Adam to see what He would name them. It was part of his job as chief gardener and caretaker of Creation.
Of every creature that paraded past Adam, none found like him. No suitable mate even sauntered nearby. And God said it wasn’t good for man to be alone. He had his perfect relationship with God, but he was made to be in relationship with one like him.
So the LORD God made him a helper—a bride who would complete and compliment Adam. Who would supply strength to Adam’s weaknesses. Together they’d make the perfect one.
God put Adam into a deep sleep. While God worked, Adam did nothing but snore. The LORD God did it all.
He took a rib from Adam’s side and closed up the wound (the first recorded surgery and healing).
From his rib, God made Adam a bride.
The original word for “made” isn’t the same word God used for when He fashioned the dust of the earth into a man. This is the world for built.
God built Adam a bride and brought her to him.
Adam loved his bride! And he proclaimed these beautiful words:
This at last is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh:
she shall be called Woman
because she was taken out of Man.
Genesis 2:23
The scene reminds me of when Jesus said to Peter, “On this rock I will build my church” (Matthew 16:18).
Christ’s church is all those who’ve repented of their sin and trusted in Him for salvation. They’re Christians. They’re the Bride of Christ.
The Bible often compares God’s people to the Bride of Christ.
“The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete” (John 3:29 ESV).
“Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, ‘Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb’” (Revelation 21:9 ESV).
Truth to Remember:
Jesus Loves His Bride, the Church
A Man Shall Hold Fast to His Wife
I wonder if the next words the Lord God inspired Moses to write have been repeated at weddings every year since Moses penned them:
Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife and they shall become one flesh. – Genesis 2:24
One of my favorite parts of this verse is buried in the middle: “hold fast to his wife.”
This verse doesn’t say the couple will hold fast to each other. No, the LORD God lays the responsibility onto the man to hold fast to his wife.
I love this because of the Truth we learn later in the Bible about Christ: He holds fast to His Bride.
We are united with Jesus by our union with the indwelling Holy Spirit. And He will hold us fast. He loves His Bride, and He will never let her go. We cannot lose our salvation. We are His and He is ours. He will never let us go.
Our salvation isn’t dependent on us holding fast to Him. It’s dependent on Him who holds fast to us. No one can snatch us out of His hands (John 10:28). And we can’t jump out either.
If we truly belong to Him as part of the Bride of Christ, He will hold us fast. He finishes what He begins (Philippians 1:6). We will know we belong to Him because we will be faithful to Him.
We may have Peter moments where we deny even knowing Jesus, but like Peter, it will torment us.
Our forays into sin may seem sweet at first, but they will quickly become rottenness in our bones and we will hate our sin. We’ll be miserable and run back to Christ. Like Peter, we’ll leap out of a boat and swim to shore to get to Him (John 21:7-8).
We won’t be perfect, but we will remain to the end.
Truth to Remember:
Jesus Holds Fast to His Bride
Adam and Eve Were Naked and Unashamed
The last verse of Genesis 2 says, “And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed” (Genesis 2:25).
They were fully known by God and each other and pleased to be fully known. They had nothing to hide because sin and evil were unknown to them thus far. They only knew the joy of a perfect relationship with their LORD God.
Christians have the same joy.
We are fully known by our holy God and have nothing to fear. Christ has paid the full price for all our sin.
When we sin (and we will), we can run to God and confess them to Him without fear that He’ll reject or destroy us. Christ did it all and because of His work, God calls us holy. And He’s already forgiven us.
Truth to Remember:
In Christ, We Can Be Fully Known and Unashamed.
TRANSFORMATION:
If I believe and act on what God has revealed, I will delight in the LORD God and worship my loving Designer for the intricate care He’s shown toward us through His grace.
He’s given His common grace that we all enjoy whether we love or hate Him. Every day we wake to the beauty of His creation. He gives us the sun and the rain. If I believe and act on what God has revealed, I will care for His creation. I won’t worship it or place it above God or man, but I will love and value it.
God has also given those who will believe in Jesus, the gift of saving grace. He saves us from our sin. And I will worship Him with all my being for granting me that amazing grace.
If I believe and act on what God has revealed in Genesis 2, I’ll love and value the blessing of marriage and love and serve my husband with gladness. Even if I were single, I’d still love the institute of marriage and seek to value and uphold it exactly as God specifically designed it and revealed it in His Word.
And I’ll love and value the Bride of Christ, His church. I’ll love the universal church even though she’s not perfect. And I’ll love and serve my local church with my time, talents, and offerings. I will treasure her.
Most of all, I’ll love and serve God, who loved me first. I’ll show my love by spending time in His Word, praying to Him, and doing what pleases Him. I’ll hold fast to His Word and praise Him every day for holding fast to me.
May God be glorified in us today as we seek to believe and act on all He reveals!
Read and Listen to an Overview of Genesis:
Genesis is SO foundational to our understanding of everything in life. I’m so excited you’re walking us through this.
Thanks, Lori. Yes, it truly is. I’m so glad you’re walking with me through this exciting journey!