Genesis 2

Study Guide 2: Genesis 2 IN THE IMAGE OF GOD Overview Genesis 2:1-25 answers a basic question. What is the origin and nature of human beings? The answer is that we human beings are the special creation of God, made in His image and likeness. Our special creation gives each human being individual worth and value. Because God made us, and made us like Himself, you and I are precious beings. Genesis 2:1-25, then, lays the foundation for our understanding of ourselves and for our view of others. If human beings are special to God, we must learn to love others, and can love ourselves as well. The rest of the Bible demonstrates how important human beings truly are to God. Despite man’ s fall into sin, God continues to love. The Bible is the history of redemption, of God reaching out to humankind to rescue and to save. IMAGE AND LIKENESS. When found together, as in Genesis 1:26; Genesis 5:1, Genesis 5:3, selem and demut make a theological statement about human nature, affirming that we bear a “ likeness-image” to God. Like God we are persons, with an emotional, moral, and intellectual resemblance to our Creator. RULE. The Hebrew word in Genesis 1:28 is found 25 times in the Old Testament and is used of the rule of human beings rather than of God. It does suggest authority, but also implies responsibility. We are to care for God’ s earth, which He entrusted to humankind.

Commentary Some time ago a book entitled The Naked Ape (Desmond Morris, Random House) received considerable attention. It was an attempt to explain human actions by comparing similarities between man and simian, and the author suggested that modern man’ s ills come from culture, the rejection of primitive reaction for socially programmed response. This was quickly followed by a book by a feminist who resented the ape transition in anthropology because it made man the hunter and woman the servant. She solved that problem by arguing that humanity evolved from a dolphinlike progenitor; in the setting of the seas, male and female roles would have been the same! These books introduced nothing new in the long history of speculation about man’ s origins. The Greek philosopher Thales, who lived centuries before Christ, had already propounded the dolphin theory. He suggested that man had evolved from these intelligent mammals of the sea. And the supposed descent from simian ancestors has provided psychologists with a rich field for speculation. Particularly this supposed heritage was viewed as the source of a “ vast, subconscious will, that acts out of a monstrous irrationality — an irrationality that has made it evolve its own enemy, rational consciousness” (Colin Wilson, New Pathways in Psychology, Taplinger, p. 95). This picture of the untamed animal in man lurking beneath the thin and weak veneer of civilization is a desperate one, but one accepted by evolutionists. It seems to them to explain the tragic ways in which human beings so often behave. The hatred, the brutality, the crime, the strange selfishness and propensity to hurt even those we love, make sense to those who find the identity of man in some distant, mindless brute.

What About Good? It’ s fascinating to realize that man’ s search for origins is organized around probing the reason for human evil. Few seem compelled to explain the good! Yet the good is far more difficult to explain. If the roots of our behavior are imbedded deeply in some “ great invisible octopus writhing in the depths of the mind” then what is the source of love? The source of appreciation for truth and beauty? Of a sense of responsibility for others? Of altruism, and willingness to sacrifice? Where is the source of man’ s curiosity and creativity? Where is the spring of thought and reason, of the ability and the desire to value? And how do we explain that universal awareness that there is something beyond, an awareness that expresses itself even in the most isolated cultures in some kind of worship? How do we explain serving — or placating — the supernatural? It’ s strange that the believer has been cast as hung up on sin. In fact, it is the man who rejects God whose every attempt to understand himself seems to draw him inexorably to struggle with the awesome gap between what man feels he ought to be — and what he is. Scripture is different. Yes, it recognizes the fact of sin. But the Bible insists that you and I see our origin and explain our essential nature as springing from an earlier source. In fact, the Bible insists that you and I begin our search for identity by affirming, with God, that we bear the image of the Lord and not the image of the ape. This teaching, which we meet first in Genesis 1:1-31 and Genesis 2:1-25, is not isolated to these passages. After the Fall, God instituted capital punishment for murder as the ultimate crime. For murder is the taking of the life of a person made in God’ s image (Genesis 9:5-6). James pointed out the inconsistency involved in blessing God and, with the same voice, cursing men “ who have been made in the likeness of God” (James 3:9). Even more striking is the meditation of David in Psalms 8:1-9: When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars which You have set in place; what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of Your hands; You put everything under his feet. Psalms 8:3-6Heb_2:1-18 comments on this psalm: “ In putting everything under him [man], God left nothing that is not subject to him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him” (Hebrews 2:8). What we do see, Hebrews goes on to say, is Jesus. Jesus, who died, who is now crowned with glory and honor. Through His death Jesus has succeeded in “ bringing many sons to glory” (Hebrews 2:10). In this great New Testament passage God recognizes the gap between man’ s intended destiny and his experience, and God affirms man’ s value. Even as sinners you and I are still so important to God that He sent His Son to share our humanity (see Hebrews 2:14). You and I are still so important that Jesus died to free us from slavery and to restore the glory and the dominion our heritage demands. As J.B. Phillips paraphrases it, “ It is plain that for this purpose He [Christ] did not become an angel; He became a man” (Hebrews 2:16). Man was, at the Creation, special. And each human being remains just as special today. LINK TO LIFE: CHILDREN Even young children can grasp the concept of “ image and likeness.” Show a picture of parents and their children. How is the picture like, and how different from, the real people? How are the children like, and different from, their moms and dads? In each case the pictures, the children, are like the real person in some ways, not like in others. Human beings too are like God in some ways, not like Him in others. Help the children sense the wonder of this likeness. Show pictures of boys and girls playing, studying, making something, hugging another person, etc. Ask: “ What are the boys and girls doing here that God does too?” Afterward thank God for giving us minds to think with, emotions so we can feel love, and a will to make right choices.

The Image The Genesis 1:1-31 portrait of man’ s creation and the days before the Fall provides the foundation for our self-understanding. Dominion. There are many things in Genesis 1:26-31 that are exciting. For instance, the interplay in God’ s words about Himself is fascinating. “ Let Us make man in Our image,” God said, and so “ in the image of God . . . He created them.” Here is the first hint of Trinity, the first faint indication that God is One, yet somehow plural in His unity. In these verses too are the roots of the Christian’ s concern for ecology. The earth and all its creatures were given into man’ s keeping. To us then came both the gift and the responsibility. In these verses too is the first affirmation of the essential rightness of sex. Far from supporting the old notion that the original sin was intercourse between Adam and Eve, God before the Fall commanded them to, “ be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28). It was God who created us “ male and female” (Genesis 1:27). It was God who designed human sexuality and, looking at “ all He had made,” pronounced it “ very good” (Genesis 1:31). As significant as these things are, it’ s clear that the Genesis 1:1-31 account of man’ s creation stresses two messages. One of them is this: Man was created to have dominion. God shared His authority with man and, in the sharing, God gave man the privilege of responsibility. This mantle of dominion settles over us as a dynamic reversal of all we have thought ourselves to be. Too often you and I feel a helplessness and impotence that drain us of the will to act. All too commonly we are overwhelmed by the vast impersonality of circumstance, overcome by the feeling that we are unable to struggle upstream against events we cannot control. With modern apostles of despair, we feel like bits of flotsam tossed on surging seas. But the Bible insists that you and I have a different heritage! A heritage in Creation that restores our confidence to meet and master circumstance. Only God is our Master. And in His plan we have been shaped to have dominion over all. Certainly sin has robbed us of the full experience of dominion. Sin enslaves us. But Hebrews 2:1-18 cries out that through Jesus’ death you and I have been freed! (Hebrews 2:15) Freed to taste again, in our personal experience, the meaning of dominion. Freed to live beyond circumstances, we are once again in relationship with God and once again in control. LINK TO LIFE: YOUTH / ADULT Do young people and adults feel in control today? Have your group brainstorm (throw out suggestions without pausing to discuss or to evaluate them): What is most likely to make people like you feel helpless, or that things are beyond your control? When at least a dozen ideas have been suggested, ask: “ Which of these is hardest for you personally? Why do you find it hard?” After the sharing, look at the Genesis passage, and then at Hebrews 2:1-18. God will keep the promise of Creation, and in Christ will give us dominion and victory over all that frustrates us. Imago Dei. The other message of the Creation story, imago dei (God’ s image), explains our dominion. God could give man this gift because God shaped man to be like Him. There is a long history of debate concerning the nature of the “ image of God.” In what respect did God make man like Himself? Some have felt the key to likeness was an original holiness. But even after the Fall, the image persists (Genesis 9:6; James 3:9). And the New Testament makes it plain that the holiness Adam had was lost, and only now is being renewed in us by Christ (Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:9-11). So most commentators have agreed that the uniqueness of man is the key to understanding image. Mankind and mankind alone shares with God all the attributes of personhood. We know from the Bible that God has emotions, values, chooses, appreciates beauty, demonstrates creativity, makes distinctions between right and wrong, loves and even sacrifices Himself for the sake of others. We know from the Bible that God is a Person, with identity and individuality. These attributes constituting personhood mark humanity from the rest of creation. In fact, all those elements of good which are found in man must have their source in likeness to the Divine. How utterly foolish men are to imagine that the root of evil can be seen in a heritage from beasts, and never to realize that the explanation for good must be found in our heritage from God. But this is the message of God’ s Word. Man comes from God. All the things on which we pride ourselves are ours because of this original heritage all human beings share. “ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (Genesis 1:27). As a reflection of the Creator, each person is precious to God. As a bearer of God’ s image, each person is worth even the price of redemption. You and I can never again look at others or ourselves as valueless or base. We bear the image of God. And we are important to Him. LINK TO LIFE: YOUTH / ADULT Many Christians have poor self-images. These may be reflections of parental criticism, or of personal failures and past bad choices. But a poor self-image is not in harmony with the high value God places on each individual. We are special; to grasp the meaning of Genesis 1-2 we need to sense our specialness. You might go around the room and ask each group member: “ What is one thing you really like in yourself?” When all have shared, think together about how the traits shared are expressed in God’ s own character. We are special because of our likeness to Him: we should never dismiss ourselves as without worth or value. Or have members jot down three successes in life, from age three to the present. Share these, and then discuss how each success shows the use of some ability given by God, but found first in Him. When we realize that we are made in God’ s image, we will worship and praise Him, and sense more deeply the reality of His great love.

Genesis 2:1-25It’ s popular in some circles to think of Genesis 2:1-25 as a second, somewhat contradictory account of human creation. In fact, Genesis 2:1-25 employs a common literary device. Background is sketched first, and then one feature is highlighted with additional details. A chorus sings, then one singer steps forward into the spotlight. A guide exposes the panorama of a giant mural and then leads his tour closer to examine the detail. There is every indication that this is what we have in Genesis 2:1-25. The phrase in Genesis 2:4, “ This is the account of,” sets off the introduction of each new section in Genesis (Genesis 5:1; Genesis 6:9; Genesis 10:1; Genesis 11:10, Genesis 11:27; Genesis 25:12, Genesis 25:19; Genesis 36:1, Genesis 36:9; Genesis 37:2). The Creation scenery is set in place in Genesis 1:1-31; now the writer invites us to take our seats and observe the play. Special. Looking closely at Genesis 2:1-25, we see many evidences that man truly is special to God. These are found primarily in the record of how God planned Eden to meet the various needs of Adam’ s personality. Remember that God’ s own personality was mirrored in Adam. With God, Adam shared a capacity to appreciate. So the plantings of Eden included all trees “ that were pleasing to the eye” (Genesis 2:9). God knew that man would be dissatisfied without work, so in the Garden God let Adam “ work it and take care of it” (Genesis 2:15). God knew man’ s need for opportunity to use his intellectual capacities, so God brought all the animals to the man “ to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name” (Genesis 2:19). God knew man’ s need for freedom to choose, so He placed a forbidden tree in the Garden and commanded man not to eat fruit from it. This action once for all set man apart from programmed robots and demanded that he use his capacity to value and to choose. God knew man’ s need for intimacy with others of his kind, so God gave Adam and Eve to each other. And, finally, God knew man’ s need for fellowship with Him. So God gave Adam and Eve His own presence as evenings fell (Genesis 3:8). Each of these actions shows how deeply concerned God was that man’ s needs be met, and how special man, this being who was “ in His own image” (Genesis 1:27), was to Him. In the design of Eden, God continued to reveal the fact that His own nature is one of love. LINK TO LIFE: YOUTH / ADULT Share the point made above: the design of Eden reveals many ways that human beings reflect God’ s image. Have your group engage in direct Bible study, to examine Genesis 2:4-25 for insights into God’ s nature as well as evidence of His love expressed in planning Eden to meet our human needs. There are many ways in which we might respond to this witness to the special place man has in God’ s heart. For one, we might worship, echoing the wonder of the psalmist, “ What is man, that You are mindful of him?” (Psalms 8:4) For another, we might take comfort. The God whose care we see exhibited here still cares for you and me today. “ In all things God works for the good of those who love Him” (Romans 8:28). God still designs experiences as loving gifts to those whom He holds dear. For another response, we might take heart. “ If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31, KJV) When God has affirmed us as His own concern, no circumstance can overcome us. Dominion, still a gift from Him, is ours. New life. The Genesis account makes it plain that man is a special creation, not a being whose flesh was formed from brutes, with the spark of likeness added as an afterthought. The picture in Genesis 2:1-25 shows God kneeling in tenderness to mold fresh clay. Then God breathed His own breath into that shape, and “ man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7). Both the material and immaterial dimensions of the human personality come from God, combined in a unique blend. And that blend will persist through all eternity, as ultimately you and I share both the shape and the character of Christ, who unites God with man in His own Person. Eden. What is important about Eden is the care God took in its design and what this tells us about ourselves and about Him. What we usually ask about Eden is, “ Where was it?” Two of the rivers mentioned in the biblical text are well known, so this has led scholars to suggest the narrowing above Babylon, or further south near the Persian Gulf, as likely sites. While archeologists have agreed that the Fertile Crescent area is the focus of the most ancient and advanced civilizations on earth, there is no way today to pinpoint the location of Eden. Woman. When we turn again to Scripture, the focus remains on Genesis 2:1-25 and its messages. One of the most important messages has to do with the identity of women. This is something we are all concerned about these days, and with good reason. In church and society, women’ s identity has been clouded with a variety of myths. Popular notions often project girls as more suggestible than boys, as having less self-esteem, as lacking motivation to achieve, as less aggressive, and certainly as less analytic. Tragic misunderstandings of Scripture have led some to affirm an actual inferiority of women on supposed religious grounds. Not only does this violate the spirit of Ephesians 5:1-33, in which man’ s headship is associated not with the right to command but with the responsibility to love as Jesus loved, but it totally misses the implications of the Genesis Creation account. What do we see in Genesis? We see first a deep need for woman as someone designed to fit the emptiness in a man’ s life (“ a helper suitable for him,” Genesis 2:18). To fill the need, God did not turn again to clay. If He had, man might later have imagined that woman, as a second creation, was somehow inferior to him. No, God put Adam to sleep and, while he rested, took a rib from him. Working His great wonders, from that rib God shaped Eve. When God brought Eve to Adam, the man recognized her, and the words of Genesis 2:23 stand as a witness to the essential identity of woman with man: This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called “ woman,” for she was taken out of man. Genesis 2:23When God sought fellowship, He created man in His own image. But when this person God had made knew a similar need for intimacy, God gave an even greater gift. Woman, taken from the living flesh of man, is far more than a reflection of man’ s image. Woman, taken from the living flesh of man, shares fully in man’ s identity. In a testimony echoed by the New Testament, the Word of God lifts man and woman and places them, side by side, at the pinnacle of God’ s creation. There, together, each shares fully as a fellow heir of the dominion God proclaims, each of us a choice and precious object of His love.

Teaching Guide Prepare Read and meditate on Psalms 8:1-9, letting Psalms 8:9 be your concluding word of praise.

Explore

1. Have your group share “ one thing I really like about myself” (“ link-to-life” above). After sharing, ask: “ Is it all right for us to like the good things in ourselves? Why?” Then explore imago dei in the Old Testament text.
2. Or, make a T/F quiz with which to begin your group time that touches on concepts covered in Genesis 2:1-25. For instance, “ Man’ s true identity is found in Creation rather than the Fall.” Or, “ It makes little practical difference if a person holds a creationist or evolutionist view of human origins.”

Expand

1. Define “ image and likeness” and “ dominion” for your group (see overview.) Give a minilecture on the origin of good in mankind. Discuss: “ How does the Bible answer questions that the evolutionist has no answer for? How does this Bible truth help believers accept and value themselves as well as other people?”
2. Or, pose two questions and have your group work in fours to find Bible answers in Genesis 1:12-2:22. (1) How did God’ s design of Eden show ways that humans are like Him? (see Special and “ link-to-life” above) (2) How does Genesis 2:20-23 affect a Christian view of women? When done, have teams report to the whole group.

Apply

1. Review explore 1. It is all right for us to recognize the good in ourselves, for we realize its source is God. Ask each group member to share something else he or she likes about himself. Then conclude with sentence prayers, asking each to thank God for the gift of His image, which is the source of the good in humankind and gives each human being worth and value.
2. Or review three ways the author suggests Christians might respond to the Genesis teaching on imago dei. Describe each, then ask group members to share how they feel when they realize God has shared His own image-likeness with them, and that they are special to the Lord. After sharing, close in prayer, letting each who wishes respond to the Lord with praise.