The First Family
Genesis 2:4b-25
"It's Him again, the Creator of the universe. It's Him again."
Genesis 2:4-25
Genesis 2:18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper corresponding to him.”
Genesis 2:20 The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the sky, and to every wild animal; but for the man no helper was found corresponding to him.
ezer (ayzer)- helper, ally
Psalm 33:20 We wait for the Lord;he is our help and shield.
Psalm 115:9-11
9 Israel, trust in the Lord!He is their help and shield.
10 House of Aaron, trust in the Lord!He is their help and shield.
11 You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord!He is their help and shield.
Psalm 121:1-2
1 I lift my eyes toward the mountains.Where will my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord,the Maker of heaven and earth.
ezer (ayzer)- helper, ally
"someone who drops everything and comes running when a cry of distress goes out."
Genesis 2:22 Then the Lord God made the rib he had taken from the man into a woman and brought her to the man.
Genesis 2:7 Then the Lord God formed the man out of the dust from the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.
This creature is fundamentally like me in a way that nothing else is.
Genesis 2:15-17
15 The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.”
vs. 15- We are given a vocation.
vs. 16- We are given permission.
vs. 17- We are given prohibition/constraint.
Vocation
Freedom
God's Prohibition
Genesis 3:2-5
2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. 3 But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’”
4 “No! You will certainly not die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
How do I live in the balance of vocation, freedom, and God's prohibition?
2 Corinthians 5:18-20
18 Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. 19 That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed the message of reconciliation to us.
20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God.”
Galatians 5:13-14
13 For you were called to be free, brothers and sisters; only don’t use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement: Love your neighbor as yourself.
1 John 4:18-19
18 There is no fear in love; instead, perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. So the one who fears is not complete in love. 19 We love because he first loved us.
