Genesis 2.4b-9, 15-end; Luke 8.22-25
Genesis is the first book in the Bible, and it lays the foundation for all that follows. It is a book of beginnings, the beginning of creation, the beginning of languages, the beginning of a special relationship between God and his chosen nation Israel. It is also a book of relationships, relationships between God and the people within it, and relationships between individuals for example Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Abraham and Lot, Sarah and Hagar, Jacob and Esau, Joseph and his brothers. Individuals are named and their story told - laid bare for all to see - the good bits and the embarrassing parts as well. There is integrity within the honesty displayed.
It is also a book that displays the sovereignty and the supremacy of God. God is there before everything is created. He is outside of time, and in his benevolence, in his delight, he creates all that we know. The stars, the Earth, all that it contains including us and in the second creation story we heard this morning, the focus is upon the first human beings. Man is formed from the dust of the earth and God breathes the breath of life into him. The Hebrew word translated as breath implies a puff, and has a sense of a vital breath. Without that puff, the man is not alive. He is filled with the breath of God and this sets him apart from all the other animals. Nothing else in all of creation has the breath of God within them. We are unique in that, every human being is special and with that comes a responsibility, a responsibility to respond to God, to allow the part of God in us to blossom. This breath of life picks up being made in God’s image from the first creation story and points to Pentecost when the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, came upon the disciples and is now available to us. The breath of life, God’s Holy Spirit making us fully alive. With it comes the ability to be creative in the arts, music, drama and so on and this reflects the creativity of God and brings joy to God’s heart.
But having God’s breath of life in us also says that we should not put each other on pedestals. Everyone is made with a part of God within them, no one is exempt, and raising up a celebrity runs the risk of making them more important to us than God. Likewise worshipping animals or images of animals decries God’s breath in us and belittles it. Similarly our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit and are to be treated with respect and honour, so do not abuse your body whether with drugs or some other means. Be wise in what you read, what you fill your mind with, especially in your choice of newsfeed. There is a lot of misreporting and disinformation that fogs the reader to truth. Do not undervalue your status as being made in God’s image. It is precious.
What I find delightful about this creation story is the sense of an easy relaxed relationship between God and the first human. We are made to be in relationship with God, this relationship is central to our well being and is reflected by the tree of life, that same life that made the first man alive, is in the garden. God’s presence permanently there. God then gave the man a task. He entrusts the first man and through him, us, with responsibility for this world. We are to care for it. Pray about that, climate change is real but there are many people who through their selfish ambitions refuse to believe this and are making the situation worse, are destroying this world.
The advent of a second person, a helper, points to the reality that God made us to be in community. We are to be in relationship with God and with other people. God did not just make one man an hermaphrodite, with the ability to procreate being found in one person, he made two distinct sexes, and through the wonder of intercourse he shares with us his creativeness. We his creatures bring to birth further creatures. It is a beautiful sense of his trust in us. Of his sharing of his creation with us, the pinnacle of his creation. Maybe that is why marriage and long term commitment of one man to a woman is under so much attack. Satan knows the importance of stable, committed relationships between us and God and between husband and wife, the one flesh.
We stopped the reading before we got to the fall. I love the last line we read. The man and his wife were both naked and they were not ashamed. There is an innocence between them, an openness and vulnerability that speaks of trust and interdependency, qualities that should be in every marriage, but often sadly are not. God intended that and asking for his help to reach that goal is important. Children start life with that same innocence, and it is our duty to protect that. Sadly though it is too easily abused and driven out of them. That is why our society is insistent on safeguarding training and DBS checks for those working with the vulnerable. You may think it is a pain to do these things but it is a sad reflection of our society that it is necessary, in order to protect those who cannot protect themselves, to remember that all human beings are special and unique, made in God’s image.
So do you feel special and unique? Do you sense the breath of life, God’s breath within you? God’s Holy Spirit? Many of us have had experiences of God, special memories of God being very real. These help us in our faith. But sometime life becomes stressful and we forget those high spiritual moments. Then it is time to go back to basics, to remind ourselves that we are made in the image of God, that God made us because he delights in us and wishes to have a relationship with us. That he entrusts the care of the world to us. That he made us to be in community with each other and that he often endows us with special close relationships. Relationships that nurture us, allow us to be vulnerable and real, relationships that allow our true selves to be expressed. Thank God for those relationships with each other and with God and value them. They are precious just as you are precious.
Amen