Genesis 2:5-25
What does it mean to be human?
By Gary DeLashmutt
This Bible Study is also available on Audio
Tape
Introduction
Briefly review chapter 1’s emphasis that humans are different from
the rest of the created order (“in the image of God”). What
does this mean? Chapter 2 focuses on the first humans and unpacks this
theme.
We will study this from more than one perspective:
THEOLOGICAL: Since humans are created in God’s image, we can learn
something about what God is like from this passage.
ANTHROPOLOGICAL: Since this is a description of what it means to be
human, it provides insight on who we are, how we were designed, and
what needs to characterize our lives if we want to be fulfilled.
ESCHATOLOGICAL: Since God will one day restore humanity to their original
design, this passage yields certain insights in to the nature of the
afterlife/eternal life.
This also has apologetical value. One of the tests of any world-view
is its “fit”—does it really describe reality (including
the phenomenon of human beings)?
After describing the creation of the first man and the location of his
original habitation (2:5-14, contra MYTH), Moses starts to unpack
what the “image of God” means . . .
Work
Read 2:15. So Adam wasn’t put in the garden to just lay around while
peaches dropped into his mouth! He didn’t have to get a job as a
punishment for disobeying God. He was created to work, to be productive,
to accomplish something so that the garden was different and better because
of his presence in it.
THEOLOGICAL: This shouldn’t surprise us, because we’ve already
read that the true God is not some static Being, but rather a workin’
kind of God.
He worked for six “days” creating our world, and we’re
still discovering and marveling at his productivity.
He loves working (“ . . . and God that it
was good . . . “).
When it says in 2:2 that God “rested,” it doesn’t mean
that he ceased from all activity (see Jn. 5:17). Rather, it means
that he entered into the enjoyment of his work.
ANTHROPOLOGICAL: So this is part of what it means to be human—to
work, to be productive, to accomplish, to enjoy what we have accomplished.
Yes, there is now a negative aspect to our work since the Fall—we’ll
discuss that in a couple of weeks. But this image of God remains with
us.
Yes, we need some rest, too—but if your picture of the ideal life
omits cultivating an enjoyment of active and productive labor (BEACH
& COUCH POTATO), you’re going to be disappointed because you’re
confused about who you are.
This is one big reason why we should pursue excellence in our jobs
(“professional” or “home-making”)—not just
to make money, not just “work to live,” but even more so
because God designed me to work and do it before him, affirming his
design (Col. 3:23).
This is why working hobbies are good and therapeutic (GARDENING;
WOOD-SPLITTING) . . .
This is why people who retire often die so quickly unless they remain
active and productive.
And of course, those of us who know Christ can get involved in his
work of sharing God’s love and truth with others in what we call
“ministry” (see Jn. 4:34), which we can all be involved
in regardless of our age, health, etc.
ESCHATOLOGICAL: Did you know the Bible says that eternal life will involve
work? No, it won’t be floating on a cloud, strumming a harp, wearing
a diaper. Neither will be it be some static state of suspended animation.
God’s kingdom will involve activity, goals, accomplishment, etc.
(read Lk. 19:17). I for one was glad to hear this, because I feared
boredom in heaven. Heaven won’t be all work, as we’ll see, but
this will be one important feature of it.
Free Choice
Read 2:16,17. We’ll discuss the significance of the names of these
two trees next week. Right now, we need to notice that the opportunity
to revolt against God’s will (along with the consequences for doing
so) was a feature of the good world. If God didn’t want humans
to revolt against him, why did he put the second tree in the garden? Because
right at the heart of what it means to be human is to have the freedom
to choose.
THEOLOGICAL: After all, we are made in God’s image—and the
God of the Bible is a God who chooses. He is not like Zeus, who was subject
to the Fates. When we ask “why” God did something, we may be
asking what God is really like (i.e., Jn. 3:16 – God sent his
Son because he loves us), but not in the sense that anything or anyone
external to himself made him do anything. There is nothing behind or beyond
God that “causes” him to do what he does. He is “bound”
only by his own character (which is to say he is free), and he makes free
choices that have real impact on the world he created.
ANTHROPOLOGICAL: Therefore, to be made in God’s image means that
we are not machines, nor are we “bags of chemicals” (PSYCH.
101 PROF), chemically and/or environmentally determined. Yes, we have
machine features (cells; organs), we can’t do whatever we want (fly,
be God, etc.), we can be conditioned to a certain extent (discipline and
reward in learning), and heredity and environment play a big role. But
this is not all that we are. We are made in the image of the freely choosing
God, and we can make real, unprogrammed, significant choices. Realizing
this and its implications is crucial if you want to live a fulfilling
life.
All forms of determinism are therefore dehumanizing, and open the terrifying
possibility of manipulation and control.
SKINNER: “What is being abolished is autonomous man - the inner
man . . . The man defended by the literatures of freedom and dignity.
His abolition has been long overdue . . . To man as (freely choosing)
man we say good riddance . . . Only then can we turn from the inferred
to the observed, from the miraculous to the natural, from the inaccessible
to the manipulatable.”
RORTY: “Metaphysics—in the sense of a search for theories
which will get at real essence-tries to make sense of the claim that
human beings are something more than centerless webs of beliefs and
desires . . . Metaphysicians tell us that unless
there is some sort of common ur-vocabulary, we have no ‘reason’
not to be cruel to those whose final vocabularies are very unlike
our own. A universalistic ethics seems incompatible with ironism (postmodernism),
simply because it is hard to imagine stating such an ethic without
some doctrine about the nature of man. Such an appeal to real essence
is the very antithesis of ironism.”
Since we choose freely, we are fully responsible for the choices we
make (not God, other people, or our circumstances), and we may not decide
the consequences of our choices. We try to teach our children this from
a very early age because their lives will be set on fire if they don’t
learn this. Yet many in our culture are miserable because they prefer
the short-term relief of denying their responsibility to the long-term
sanity that comes from affirming it.
Our range of freedom has been further restricted by the Fall, especially
in the moral area. This is why you can know something is wrong and decide
not to do it, yet find yourself dragged back to it and even enslaved
(Jn. 8:34). But the Bible teaches that in one crucial area, God
has restored your freedom—the ability to choose to return to him
(Jn. 12:31; 16:8). And if you choose to return to him and follow
him, he begins to increase the range of your moral freedom (Jn. 8:31,32).
Intellectual Activity
Read 2:18-20. God is doing at least two things at once here. God didn’t
name the animals for Adam—he had Adam name them. His naming of the
animals was not simply making baby sounds or grunts at them. It probably
involved careful observation and then selecting a name that described
this animal and differentiated it from others. It was, therefore, the
first instance of scientific inquiry. Through this exercise, God introduced
Adam to the joy of discovering the complexity of the universe, understanding
how it works and is inter-related, and forming categories in his own mind
that corresponded to external reality. In other words, he introduced Adam
to his intellect and challenged him into intellectual activity.
THEOLOGICAL: God is very intelligent! We see this by exploring the world
he made and grasping something of its incredible order and complexity.
We can also see this by studying his plan of redemption through Christ’s
coming and death, which was predicted by an incredibly complex set of
symbolic rituals and inter-related prophecies which seem impossible and
even contradictory before, but then all turn out to come together and
fit together at once. Read Rom. 11:33.
ANTHROPOLOGICAL: Because we are finite, we can never have exhaustive
knowledge. And now because of the Fall, we tend to use our minds in unproductive
ways (2 WEEKS). But despite these limitations, the image of God remains
in our marvelous ability to learn. This is why we should cultivate enjoyment
of learning instead of letting our brains rot (Prov. 10:23).
This is why scientific investigation is good, and why it grew out of
the biblical world-view rather than from pantheistic cultures (EXPLAIN).
This is why learning God’s Word is good and important.
This is why all anti-intellectual forms of spirituality are false and
sub-human (“I don’t want to learn the Bible; I just want to
know God.” “I don’t want to know about God; I want to
experience God.” “Don’t bother answering people’s
questions about Christianity—just call on them to have faith.”).
ESCHATOLOGICAL: We will never come to the end of God—he will keep
blowing our minds with new aspects of his being to discover.
Unity & Diversity in Relationship
But there was another reason why God had Adam examine and name the animals.
Remember, this exercise began with God’s verdict that “it is
not good for the man to be alone” (2:18). Alone in what sense? Alone
in the sense that he did not have another helper (friend, partner—emphasis
in on equality) who was like he was—he did not have another
human being to relate to. This is what God wanted Adam to become aware
of as he named the animals. Read 2:21,22. And this is why Adam broke out
in song and poetry when he met Eve (read 2:23-25). Here (especially 2:24b)
is something very deep—unity and diversity in relationship.
Adam and Eve are diverse in that they are separate persons—yet they
are a unity in that they can have a relationship in which they know and
are known in a deeply intimate way. They discover their true humanness
not in isolation (“alone”), but in community.
THEOLOGICAL: What does this tell us about God? How can this be like God,
if there is only one God? Is not the essence of God that he is a solitary
individual?
Not according to 1:26a (read). As we noted last week, this is probably
the first hint of what the rest of the Bible reveals—that God is
unity and diversity in relationship (explain grammar). God is a community
of love relationships. This is why Jesus could say Jn. 17:24.
This is why God can be truly personal without being dependent on
other creatures to relate to (“God created humans because he
needed someone else to love.”). This is what makes Christianity
different not only from pantheism (God is not a Person), but also
from the other monotheisms.
This is what 1:27 means. Not that God has gender, but that especially
in the marriage relationship we see a picture of who God is—unity
and diversity in relationship.
ANTHROPOLOGICAL: If you don’t understand this and affirm it, you’re
going to really screw yourself up! Much of the pain of human existence
is rooted in loneliness—isolation from or neglect of or perversion
of personal relationships with other humans.
No amount of money or physical pleasure or fame (or work or intellectual
activity) will ever make up for personal relationships. If you can’t
succeed in cultivating close relationships, you are a failure as a human
being! But God can teach you how to build good, close relationships.
When human sexuality is ripped out of its proper context (permanent,
heterosexual monogamy in an intimate personal love relationship), there
is incredible pain and damage. But God can heal you of this damage . . .
ESCHATOLOGICAL: The eternal state is not merging into the Absolute (DROP
INTO OCEAN). We will retain our individuality forever, and we will be
in perfect community with other individuals.
In Relationship with God
Of course, the thread running through all of this, that integrates who
we are as human beings is to be in relationship with God. This is the
axis around which all the rest was to revolve. Adam was created more than
just physical, but with a spirit (ruach) that made him able to
relate to God who is Spirit (2:7). This ability to relate to God involves
two key aspects:
The ability to understand God’s Word (2:17,18). God held Adam
(and Eve) responsible to obey his word, so they Adam must have been
able to understand it and communicate it to Eve! Postmodernism says
we can never really understand what another person says—we only
project some meaning inside our heads onto the message. But the Bible
says that God speaks, and that because we are made in God’s image
we can understand what he says. Not exhaustively, not with complete
accuracy—but sufficiently to trust and obey him.
The ability to commune personally with God (3:8). As we understand
God’s Word, and respond by trusting and obeying his Word, the result
is personal communion with God. This is what Adam and Eve lost when
they turned from God, but this is what can restored if we respond to
the word about Christ . . .
Conclusion
SUMMARIZE: These things ring true! This is one of the evidences that
the Bible is the revealed Word of God.
Of course, this is only half the picture about humanity. This portrait
remains, but it is now horribly distorted. NEXT WEEK we’ll learn
what went wrong, in 2 WEEKS we’ll learn this wrong turn has affected
us, and in 3 WEEKS we’ll learn how God had a rescue plan ready.
Footnotes
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