25-1019p - Detailed Summary

The preacher, Scott, greets the congregation good evening and announces that they are continuing in Genesis chapter 2 as part of their journey through the first 11 chapters of Genesis, focusing on the foundations of faith and the beginning of God’s narrative with humanity. He states that this evening’s sermon will pick up from where they left off that morning, starting with Genesis chapter 2 verse 15.

The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to work it and keep it, as described in Genesis 2:15, which appears in the creation narrative before the fall into sin in Genesis chapter 3. This placement was intentional, not for mere rest or leisure, but for a purposeful assignment to cultivate and guard the garden. The Hebrew terms for "work" or "serve" and "keep" or "watch over" imply meaningful labor involving stewardship, creativity, and responsibility, reflecting humanity’s role as image bearers of God from Genesis 1:26-28. God Himself had just completed the work of creation and declared it very good, showing that work is something God enjoys.

In this pre-fall state, work was an integral part of paradise, a divine gift allowing humans to participate in God’s ongoing care for the world, find fulfillment, and exercise dominion in a harmonious environment free from hardship. Work is not a consequence of sin but predates it, designed to be enjoyable, productive, and reflective of God’s character, enabling humans to flourish in relationship with Him and creation. The curse in Genesis 3:17-19 alters the nature of work but does not eliminate its inherent goodness; it introduces frustration, thorny opposition, sweat-inducing toil, and the futility of death, as God curses the ground because Adam listened to his wife and ate from the forbidden tree, leading to painful labor for sustenance until returning to dust.

Despite the curse, the mandate to work persists, remaining a core aspect of human purpose, redeemable through faith and seen in Christian theology as a way to glorify God in a fallen world. Jesus in John 15:8 states that bearing much fruit glorifies the Father and proves discipleship. The book of Proverbs repeatedly extols the virtues of diligent work while warning against slothfulness, laziness, or idleness, presenting work as a pathway to provision, wisdom, and stability, contrasting it with the self-destructive outcomes of laziness.

Key examples from Proverbs in the ESV include Proverbs 10:4-5, where a slack hand causes poverty but the diligent hand makes rich, and gathering in summer is prudent while sleeping in harvest brings shame, showing diligence leads to wealth and honor while laziness results in poverty and disgrace. Proverbs 12:24 states the diligent will rule while the slothful face forced labor, so hard work brings authority and freedom, but slothfulness leads to subjugation and drudgery. Proverbs 13:4 notes the sluggard’s soul craves but gets nothing, while the diligent is richly supplied, meaning laziness leaves desires unfulfilled but diligence provides abundance. Proverbs 18:9 equates slackness in work to being a brother to a destroyer.

Proverbs 21:25 warns that the sluggard’s desire kills him because his hands refuse to labor, implying slothfulness leads to ruin and death-like consequences, while work sustains life. Proverbs 24:30-34 describes passing by the field of a sluggard and vineyard of a senseless man, overgrown with thorns, covered in nettles, and with a broken stone wall; upon observation, it teaches that a little sleep, slumber, or folding of hands to rest brings poverty like a robber and want like an armed man. Thus, laziness invites chaos and sudden poverty, and observing this instructs on the value of proactive work.

These Proverbs use vivid imagery, such as the ant as a model of self-motivated diligence in Proverbs 6:6-11, or the sluggard making absurd excuses like claiming a lion in the street in Proverbs 22:13, to emphasize that work fosters prosperity, security, and wisdom while slothfulness erodes them. Overall, the biblical view encourages seeing work as a blessing to embrace even amid post-fall difficulties, aligning with the original intent in Eden.

The sermon then transitions to Genesis 2:16-17 to explore the origins of ethics and morals. The passage reads: And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, you may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die. This provides a solid foundation for exploring the biblical introduction to ethics, morals, free will, and the consequences of choice.

This passage marks a pivotal moment in the creation narrative where God establishes a clear moral boundary in an otherwise perfect world. The sermon will expand on the theological implications, drawing in additional scriptural connections for depth, refining the contrast between biblical and naturalistic worldviews, and emphasizing the interplay between divine authority, human responsibility, and the universality of God’s ethical framework. It also sets the stage for the broader story of redemption.

The introduction of ethics and morals occurs through a divine command in paradise, serving as the Bible’s first explicit introduction to ethics—the principles of right conduct—and morals—the standards of behavior derived from those principles. God commands Adam that he may eat of every tree except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, or he will surely die. This is not just a rule but the establishment of a moral order in a world declared very good in Genesis 1:31. Up to this point, creation is harmonious without conflict or wrongdoing.

The command introduces obedience as a moral good and disobedience as a moral evil, tied to consequences like death. Genesis chapter 3 amplifies this with Adam and Eve’s disobedience prompted by the serpent, leading to the fall where knowledge of good and evil is gained through experience, resulting in shame, blame, and expulsion as described in Genesis 3:6-24. This narrative is not merely historical but archetypal, patterning God’s laws and methods, explaining why humanity universally grapples with moral dilemmas across all times and places, echoing Romans 7:7-8 where Paul says the law reveals sin, as he would not have known coveting without the command against it.

The origin of right and wrong contrasts biblical and naturalistic perspectives. From a naturalistic lens rooted in evolutionary materialism, there is no satisfactory answer for where right and wrong come from. In a worldview where life emerges from impersonal processes—from molecules to microbes to man—morality would be an emergent property, perhaps a byproduct of social evolution for survival. However, during the transition from inanimate to animate, it is unclear where ethics originate in such a process. This reduces right and wrong to subjective preferences or cultural constructs, raising questions about justifying altruism as good and murder as bad if both could aid survival in different contexts. Philosophers like Nietzsche critique this, arguing that without a transcendent standard—something outside nature—morality is just will to power, essentially might makes right.

Nietzsche argued that without a transcendent standard, morality is merely will to power, embodying the idea that might makes right. Evolutionary explanations describe how behaviors might evolve but fail to explain why they ought to be normative or universal.

Normative means relating to a standard or norm, but in naturalism, whose standard and why should it matter or be listened to? Universal means affecting or done by all, so why force one idea of right and wrong on everyone? As C.S. Lewis argued in Mere Christianity, our innate sense of a moral law points beyond nature to a moral lawgiver. In contrast, the biblical lens grounds morality in God’s character and will; God does not arbitrarily decide right and wrong, but it extends from His holy nature, as in Isaiah 6:3 where angels declare "holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory," and 1 Peter 1:16 commands "you shall be holy, for I am holy."

In Genesis 2:16-17, God justifies the standard as the Creator, so His commands carry inherent authority, woven into creation’s fabric. This divine foundation resolves the is-ought problem coined by David Hume, a Scottish Enlightenment philosopher known for skepticism, empiricism, and naturalism. Naturalism describes what is, like survival instincts, but cannot bridge to what ought to be. The Bible does, because God is good.

Psalm 100:5 states the Lord is good, His loving kindness everlasting and faithfulness to all generations, so we ought to obey His framework. This also explains moral absolutes, like the prohibition against murder in Genesis 9:6: "Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God He made man," referencing Genesis 1:27 where God created man in His own image.

From the study, the spiritual realm was created before the natural realm, with angels witnessing the natural creation. The Bible portrays a spiritual realm, raising the question of whether ethics are universal, applying even there, which would underscore God’s sovereignty over all creation. Angels are depicted as moral agents facing their own tests of obedience.

The sermon discusses the rebellion of some angels, led by Lucifer, who were cast out of heaven as noted in 2 Peter 2:4 and Jude 1:6, an event predating humanity’s fall, suggesting that God’s ethical standards pre-exist and transcend the physical world. Both spiritual and physical realms are bound by these ethics, but with different outcomes. Angels, existing in the realm of sight with full knowledge of God’s glory (Hebrews 1:14), received no offer of redemption, possibly due to their willful rebellion without deception, unlike Eve’s deception in 1 Timothy 2:14. Humans, operating in the realm of faith (Hebrews 11:1), are offered grace through Christ’s atonement (Romans 5:12-21). God’s ethics govern both heaven and earth, as reflected in the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:10, which seeks God’s will to be done on earth as in heaven, emphasizing a cosmic moral order.

The command in Genesis 2:16-17 introduces personal responsibility and free will in a pristine environment. Adam is not a puppet but is given abundance—access to every tree except one—creating a genuine choice between obedience and disobedience. This sets the stage for exploring human responsibility and the freedom to choose within God’s established moral boundaries.

The command presupposes free will, as obedience requires the possibility of disobedience. Genesis 1:29-30 describes a death-free creation with herbivorous harmony and no predation, but the warning of death in Genesis 2:17 introduces high stakes, foreshadowing sin’s entry as described in Romans 5:12, where sin and death entered through one man. This contradicts old-earth evolutionary models that assume billions of years of death and suffering before humans, as fossils interpreted as ancient extinctions would imply death was part of God’s “very good” creation, undermining the biblical sequence where death results from sin (Genesis 3:19; 1 Corinthians 15:26). Young-earth creationists, adhering to a literal reading, see suffering as post-fall, with Christ’s resurrection reversing death’s curse, affirming the biblical narrative.

This framework elevates human dignity, as choices have eternal consequences, and God provides a path back through faith. The sermon transitions to concluding reflections, linking the initial command to the broader theme of redemption.

Genesis 2:16-17 is not merely a prohibition but the genesis of moral awareness, grounding ethics in God’s authority and inviting humanity into a relationship through obedience. It counters naturalistic views that lack a basis for universal standards, affirming choice in a perfect world. The narrative arc moves from the forbidden tree of the knowledge of good and evil to the cross, where Christ bears the curse (Galatians 3:13), transforming ethics into a pathway of grace that restores humanity to God’s image. Practical applications include viewing work as a divine calling and opportunity for fulfillment, reframing jobs as sacred tasks to partner with God in caring for creation. Proverbs’ warnings against laziness encourage diligence, goal-setting, and disciplined effort amidst distractions like social media. Balancing work and rest follows God’s pattern in Genesis 2:2-3, advocating Sabbath-like rest to avoid burnout and reconnect with God. Scott notes that rest, distinct from mere vacation, is often overlooked by Christians, predating the Law of Moses like marriage, and is meant for reflection and recharge, not just leisure.

The sermon emphasizes stewardship as a core responsibility, urging wise management of resources like time, finances, and skills to reflect God’s provision.

In an era of environmental concerns, practical stewardship involves reducing waste, conserving energy, and supporting sustainable practices. Believers are called to manage resources thoughtfully, create budgets, invest in personal growth, and share generously, aligning with God’s expectations of wise stewardship.

In a relativistic culture where morality shifts with trends, the sermon urges anchoring ethical decisions in Scripture. For example, when faced with workplace dilemmas like cutting corners for profit, prioritizing integrity reflects God’s truth.

Genesis 2:16-17 shows that free will carries consequences, as Adam and Eve’s choices led to death. This underscores the responsibility to exercise free will wisely within God’s framework.

Despite setbacks or opposition making work or life feel futile, believers are encouraged to persevere, leaning on God’s promises of redemption. As Del Tackett describes, work post-fall is like swimming upstream—valuable but challenging, yet still meant to be fulfilling.

The sermon calls for recognizing spiritual realities and unseen battles, urging alignment with God’s truth to resist temptation or deception, as Adam was called to obey in Eden. Scott observes that the world’s moral confusion, such as debates over gender and bathrooms, suggests a spiritual battle between good and evil, affirming the existence of Satan and God, as rational explanations for such behaviors otherwise seem illogical.

The sermon briefly notes that current societal issues, like gender debates, reflect a deeper spiritual and moral disarray, emphasizing the need for God’s truth.

Genesis 2:15-17 and Proverbs call believers to view work as a divine gift, embrace stewardship, and ground ethics in God’s unchanging character. Despite challenges, living with purpose through work and choices as acts of worship aligns with God’s redemptive plan through Christ. In a relativistic, futile world, these truths offer a hopeful framework for flourishing in relationship with God, others, and creation. The sermon concludes with an invitation to respond during a hymn.