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Pastor Scott Snowden
In the Beginning…
#1. The first man, Adam.
The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground
and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life,
and the man became a living being.
Genesis 2:7
Human beings are intrinsically worthy and valuable,
by right of our unique place in God’s Creation. We see this dignity on full display in the Creation account of Adam. But now, just like then, this divine dignity is tarnished by our propensity to sin. In every act
of disobedience we fall short of the glory that God had shared with us. How do we find our way back to God’s original, “good” plan?
1. Like Adam, I am created in the image and likeness of God.
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
a. I am like God when I exercise my _INTELLECT_,
and think, imagine and create.
Adah gave birth to Jabal;
he was the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock.
His brother’s name was Jubal;
he was the father of all who play the harp and flute.
Zillah also had a son, Tubal Cain,
who forged all kinds of tools out of bronze and iron.
Genesis 4:20-22
So Jacob served seven years to get (marry) Rachel,
but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.
Genesis 29:20
Then the Lord said to Cain,
“Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast?
If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?
But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door;
it desires to have you, but you must master it.”
Genesis 4:6, 7
But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him;
he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him.
And they wept.
Genesis 33:4
2. Like Adam, I have privileges and responsibilities unique among
God’s Creation.
Then God said,
“Let us make man in our image, in our likeness,
and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air,
over the livestock, over all the earth,
and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
Genesis 1:26
Now the Lord God had planted a Garden in the East, in Eden;
and there He put the man He had formed.
And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground-
trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food.
Genesis 2:8, 9
God blessed them and said to them,
“Be fruitful and increase in number…”
Genesis 1:28
c. God has commissioned me to find the balance between having
_DOMINION_OVER_ and exercising _STEWARDSHIP_OF_ this world.
God blessed them and said to them,
“Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.
Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air
and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
Genesis 1:28
Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground
all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air.
He brought them to the man to see what he would name them;
and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.
So the man gave names to all the livestock,
the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field.
Genesis 2:19, 20
The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden
to work it and take care of it.
Genesis 2:15
3. Like Adam, I have squandered God’s blessing and rejected His
authority.
And the Lord God commanded the man,
“You are free to eat from any tree in the Garden;
but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,
for when you eat of it you will surely die.”
Genesis 2:16, 17
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food
and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom,
she took some and ate it.
She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
Then the eyes of both of them were opened,
and they realized they were naked…
Genesis 3:6, 7
c. I, if I am honest, know that I too have disobeyed God’s
clear commands.
What benefit did you reap at that time
from those things you are now ashamed of?
Those things result in death!
Romans 6:21
4. In Jesus, the second Adam, I am restored to fellowship with my
Creator.
a. God, at the moment of disobedience, set in motion His plan,
_PROMISING_ another man, a son of the woman, who would judge Satan.
So the Lord God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this …
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
between your offspring and hers;
He will crush your head and you will strike His heel.”
Genesis 3:14, 15
b. Jesus, whose humanity is derived from his mother, _FULFILLING_
God’s promise to restore us to our original, “good” relationship with God.
If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being,”
the last Adam a life giving spirit.
The spiritual did not come first, but the natural,
and after that the spiritual.
The first man was of the dust of the earth,
the second Man from Heaven.
As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth;
and as is the Man from Heaven, so also are we who are of Heaven.
And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man,
so shall we bear the likeness of the Man from Heaven.
1st Corinthians 15:44-49
Conclusion: Like Adam, we are all God’s “natural” children
by right of Creation. But it is only by faith in Jesus that we become His eternal children.
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