Embracing Our Dignity: The Sanctity of Creation
Devotional
Sermon Summary
Sermon Clips
"Well, a more beautiful portrait of our creation could not be painted than that portrait which is painted for us in Genesis chapter 2. I want to look at Genesis chapter 2 verses 5 to 9 with you. These verses are absolutely foundational to who we are and they also show us foundationally who God is. As we discuss ethics over these next three days, this is the beginning of ethics, these opening pages of Genesis. So, I invite you to turn with me to Genesis chapter 2. We will look at verses 5 to 9 and consider them together." [00:00:32]
"We see in this text this beautiful, almost mystical, scene of this mist arising from this creation that has just been spoken into existence, and as Genesis 2 recalls for us, has yet to be formed. And then God comes into the scene and causes all of this vegetation to rise, causes all of these animals to be put on the land mass, causes all of the fish to be put into the sea, all of the birds to be put in the air. But this passage pauses for a moment to talk about that special creation of Adam." [00:02:23]
"This is the first picture we have of our identity as human beings. We are of dust, feeble, frail, finite. Calvin uses this to remind us that this points fundamentally to humility. And then, so unlike everything else in creation, where God simply speaks into existence all the magnificent creatures and beasts and flora and fauna, so unlike that, and in anthropomorphic expression, God, as it were, reaches down and grabs this hand full of dust and He forms it like a skilled potter would form clay." [00:03:33]
"Once we see that man is created, we see that God has a place for man, a place as a garden. If you have a garden, a garden is somewhat of a sanctuary, isn't it, somewhat of a break from the hustle and bustle, somewhat of a break from all of the macadam and the concrete that surrounds us. A sanctuary is a garden. We know this particular garden. This garden, very curiously, in this text we are told it is a garden in Eden." [00:05:34]
"We have man, we have a place, and we have a purpose. We are put into this creation to work. We see it here, but we see it later in chapter 2 where we are told to work and to keep it. And this is pre-fall, this commission to work, but above all in this text we have God. I don't know if you notice this, but I want to point out two things that we learn about God in just these verses. One is that God is the singular sole sovereign actor." [00:07:21]
"This emphasizes the sole sovereign agent of creation is God, but then notice the name of God. In chapter 1 it is God. Here four times we have the compound name, "the Lord God," and "Lord" is Jehovah and "God" is Elohim, and Jehovah means "pre-existent," "self-existent." If Dr. Sproul were here, he would want us to talk about the aseity of God, but he would pronounce it "as-ee-ity" of God because he is from Pittsburgh and that is why he did that." [00:08:59]
"And so, God the perfect being is the source of all being. So, He is Jehovah, the pre-existent One, the self-existent One. And then we have Elohim, "Mighty in battle." It speaks of a king. To say the Lord God is to say, "The Creator King." And it is a very quick implication, isn't it, what do we creatures owe to the Creator King? Obedience and worship; and therein is the basis and the foundation of all ethics and of all laws." [00:10:12]
"We can plumb a little bit deeper here as we look at this passage. We see, of course, the sanctity of life. Let's think through this idea of sanctity. The opposite is profanity or vulgar, which has come to mean negative or dirty language. In its purest etymological form it simply means "common." And so, the vulgar or the profane is the common, and so the holy or that which is sanctity is the uncommon, the extraordinary." [00:11:43]
"And then there is the sanctity of work. Work is not a result of the fall. Thorns and sweat and frustration and conflict and toil; that is a result of the fall, but work is not a result of the fall. There is a sanctity to work. That is what God made us to do. Adam and Eve enjoyed the fruits of their labor. And as we see the codification of what is the universal law in the Ten Commandments, as we see the codification of what has been present from the very beginning of creation of the universal order of things, even personal or private property, has sanctity; the fruits of one's work." [00:15:01]
"And what does the secularist do? It exchanges the crown of glory and honor to be of or related to the lower animals, but at the base of all of this is the profaning of the creator-creature relationship. And so, we have it: gratitude, obedience, worship; and in secularism, ingratitude. We have done all this ourselves. We have made all this ourselves. We have accomplished all of this ourselves. Man is the measure of all things. And that leads to disobedience, and that leads to idolatry." [00:27:58]
"Follow Genesis 1 to 2, not culture. Follow Genesis 1 to 2, not culture. We actually watched this movie before. It was in 1880 to 1920. And those who knew better, they are the cultural elites. Those who knew better said there is a different account than that found in Genesis 1 to 2 of the creation of all things and of man, and they proposed a radically different alternative. And then they said, "What are you going to do? Put your head in the sand like some ostrich? Are you going to go be some medieval person or are you going to get with the times and recognize that an ancient book has been superseded by the collective wisdom of autonomous man?" And we call it modernism." [00:33:40]
"Our ultimate hope is in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our ultimate calling is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now, here is something that is full of hope and joy and wonder. If you go back to Genesis 1:27, it is very clear we are created in the image of God and then we transgress the law and that image of God remains in us. Go to James, "With one side of your mouth you bless God, with the other side of your mouth you curse man who is made in the image of God." That is a post-fall New Testament text carrying the image of God forward for all of humanity." [00:38:32]
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"We see in this text this beautiful, almost mystical, scene of this mist arising from this creation that has just been spoken into existence, and as Genesis 2 recalls for us, has yet to be formed. And then God comes into the scene and causes all of this vegetation to rise, causes all of these animals to be put on the land mass, causes all of the fish to be put into the sea, all of the birds to be put in the air. But this passage pauses for a moment to talk about that special creation of Adam." [00:02:23]
"This is the first picture we have of our identity as human beings. We are of dust, feeble, frail, finite. Calvin uses this to remind us that this points fundamentally to humility. And then, so unlike everything else in creation, where God simply speaks into existence all the magnificent creatures and beasts and flora and fauna, so unlike that, and in anthropomorphic expression, God, as it were, reaches down and grabs this hand full of dust and He forms it like a skilled potter would form clay." [00:03:33]
"Once we see that man is created, we see that God has a place for man, a place as a garden. If you have a garden, a garden is somewhat of a sanctuary, isn't it, somewhat of a break from the hustle and bustle, somewhat of a break from all of the macadam and the concrete that surrounds us. A sanctuary is a garden. We know this particular garden. This garden, very curiously, in this text we are told it is a garden in Eden." [00:05:34]
"We have man, we have a place, and we have a purpose. We are put into this creation to work. We see it here, but we see it later in chapter 2 where we are told to work and to keep it. And this is pre-fall, this commission to work, but above all in this text we have God. I don't know if you notice this, but I want to point out two things that we learn about God in just these verses. One is that God is the singular sole sovereign actor." [00:07:21]
"This emphasizes the sole sovereign agent of creation is God, but then notice the name of God. In chapter 1 it is God. Here four times we have the compound name, "the Lord God," and "Lord" is Jehovah and "God" is Elohim, and Jehovah means "pre-existent," "self-existent." If Dr. Sproul were here, he would want us to talk about the aseity of God, but he would pronounce it "as-ee-ity" of God because he is from Pittsburgh and that is why he did that." [00:08:59]
"And so, God the perfect being is the source of all being. So, He is Jehovah, the pre-existent One, the self-existent One. And then we have Elohim, "Mighty in battle." It speaks of a king. To say the Lord God is to say, "The Creator King." And it is a very quick implication, isn't it, what do we creatures owe to the Creator King? Obedience and worship; and therein is the basis and the foundation of all ethics and of all laws." [00:10:12]
"We can plumb a little bit deeper here as we look at this passage. We see, of course, the sanctity of life. Let's think through this idea of sanctity. The opposite is profanity or vulgar, which has come to mean negative or dirty language. In its purest etymological form it simply means "common." And so, the vulgar or the profane is the common, and so the holy or that which is sanctity is the uncommon, the extraordinary." [00:11:43]
"And then there is the sanctity of work. Work is not a result of the fall. Thorns and sweat and frustration and conflict and toil; that is a result of the fall, but work is not a result of the fall. There is a sanctity to work. That is what God made us to do. Adam and Eve enjoyed the fruits of their labor. And as we see the codification of what is the universal law in the Ten Commandments, as we see the codification of what has been present from the very beginning of creation of the universal order of things, even personal or private property, has sanctity; the fruits of one's work." [00:15:01]
"And what does the secularist do? It exchanges the crown of glory and honor to be of or related to the lower animals, but at the base of all of this is the profaning of the creator-creature relationship. And so, we have it: gratitude, obedience, worship; and in secularism, ingratitude. We have done all this ourselves. We have made all this ourselves. We have accomplished all of this ourselves. Man is the measure of all things. And that leads to disobedience, and that leads to idolatry." [00:27:58]
"Follow Genesis 1 to 2, not culture. Follow Genesis 1 to 2, not culture. We actually watched this movie before. It was in 1880 to 1920. And those who knew better, they are the cultural elites. Those who knew better said there is a different account than that found in Genesis 1 to 2 of the creation of all things and of man, and they proposed a radically different alternative. And then they said, "What are you going to do? Put your head in the sand like some ostrich? Are you going to go be some medieval person or are you going to get with the times and recognize that an ancient book has been superseded by the collective wisdom of autonomous man?" And we call it modernism." [00:33:40]
"Our ultimate hope is in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our ultimate calling is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now, here is something that is full of hope and joy and wonder. If you go back to Genesis 1:27, it is very clear we are created in the image of God and then we transgress the law and that image of God remains in us. Go to James, "With one side of your mouth you bless God, with the other side of your mouth you curse man who is made in the image of God." That is a post-fall New Testament text carrying the image of God forward for all of humanity." [00:38:32]
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