A Reality of Perfection

Genesis 2:4-17

It was a game to be remembered. There had not been a single walk, hit or base runner for any reason for the opponents this night. The rituals and superstitions of the baseball player were abounding. The excitement of the game leads some of the teammates of the winning team to set cleats on fire in the dugout. Tonight was a night to be remembered. It was the ninth inning and three more outs were needed to win the game. The pitch came with fury towards the catcher’s glove. The ball was spinning and dancing through the air in hopes of reaching the big padded glove of the catcher. The batter swings and his bat cracks as the ball flies through the air toward the gap in the outfield. The outfielder jumps to a start at the sound of the hit. His eyes glued to the ball hurling through the air. He comes nearer and nearer to meet the ball before it hits the ground. He realizes he won’t make it in time and makes a daring leap forward. With his glove stretched as far as it will go he flies through the air and barely grasps the ball before it hits the ground. After completing three outs that inning the Texas Rangers look at the scoreboard in amazement. The opposition has recorded zeros across the board. No runs. No hits. In fact the scorer’s book shows that the opposition had no base runners all night long. Kenny Rogers one of the great pitchers of the 90s for the Rangers completed a feat that few will, a perfect game. Most pitchers do not regularly pitch for an entire game, yet alone pitch a no hitter. Yet Kenny Rogers pitched a perfect game. Perfection is desired and sought after. A sign of domination in any sport is to shutout the opposition. Kenny Rogers next start went far into the game as another perfect game until one fateful hit that set the opposition rolling to a victory. Sometimes we get it sometimes we don’t. Yet we all desire it.

Genesis 2 is a retelling of the creation account. The complete and utter focus of this account is man. The first account gives us the details of what was created on which day, but here we see that the point is man. In our text today we see three truths concerning the reality of perfection.

The first truth we see is man is the crown of God’s creation. The account here gives us very little detail about anything except the creation of man. In fact if you were to just take this account without consideration of the first account nothing is created until after man was created. Why would the author leave so much information out? Why would he leave it to appear that nothing was created until after man was created? Well it could be that there was more than one author, and their views were competing and so they added both and you are to decide which is right. Or it could be that there is one author and he knows that there is a fuller and more detailed account already provided and so he wants you to take this second account as a supplement to the first. Which makes sense, since the Bible does not contradict itself. This account is intended to give you a more clear idea of the fact that man is important above all the rest of creation. God breathed life into Adam through his nostrils. We are made from the dust of the ground. I have heard one atheist say, “You Christians tell us evolutionists that we believe some crazy stuff. You think it is crazy and preposterous to believe that man evolved along with the rest of the world from a tiny microbe in some really hot water. That man today is the product of thousands of tiny mutations over time through various stages of monkey and man. Well, you guys are crazy, we were created from dirt?” Well, that is what the Bible says, and does God not call himself the potter? He formed us into being. It is through the work of God with dust and breath that gives us life. The Lord planted a garden for this man. When we look at genesis 1 and then look here we see that creation is for man. God made it then made us in order that our needs be met immediately. Not only does the garden provide for our needs of nourishment but we see in verse 15 that the garden met our needs for work. A need that God himself put in us. The garden met many of the needs of man. Yet the only need we truly had was for God and in him man was created with a perfect fellowship.

Perhaps you've heard the story of Johnny Lingo, a man who lived in the South Pacific. The islanders all spoke highly of him. He was strong, good-looking, and very intelligent. But when it came time for him to find a wife, people shook their heads in disbelief. The woman Johnny chose was plain, skinny, and walked with her shoulders hunched and her head down. She was very hesitant and shy. She was also a bit older than the other married women in the village, which did nothing for her value.
But this man loved her. What surprised everyone most was Johnny's offer. In order to obtain a wife, you paid for her by giving her father cows. Four to six cows was considered a high price. The other villagers thought he might pay two or even three cows at the most. But he gave eight cows for her!!
Everyone chuckled about it, since they believed his father-in-law put one over on him. Some thought it was a mistake.
Several months after the wedding, a visitor from the United States came to the Islands to trade, and heard the story of Johnny Lingo and his eight-cow wife. Upon meeting Johnny and his wife the visitor was totally taken aback, since this wasn't a shy, plain, and hesitant woman, but one who was beautiful, poised, and confident.

The visitor asked about this transformation, and Johnny Lingo's response was very simple. "I wanted an eight-cow woman, and when I paid that for her and treated her in that fashion, she began to believe that she was an eight-cow woman. She discovered she was worth more than any other woman in the islands. And what matters most is what a woman thinks of herself."

Psalm 8:3-8 gives us a clear picture of what our attitude should be toward God and his concern for us. Think through your life and what even very small sins you committed. Think about how many of those little ones that you committed. When I think about what all that I had done, I often ask what am I that you care for me? Look what I have done. Do you not remember? Look at how I acted toward this person or that person. Look at how I treated my parents at times. Look at how I thought of others during that time of my life. Look at the fact that I didn’t care about you for so long in my life. What am I that you should care for me? What am I that you should give me the ability to rule over your creation? Who are we that you would care to save us from our sins? Who are we that your Son would die for us? Who are we that God would live the life of His creation? We are the crown of His creation, and it was for us that He died. It was for His creation that He shed His blood. It was for us that He came and accomplished a work that His heavenly Father gave to him.

The second truth we see is man possessed a pure enjoyment of beauty. You might be thinking where are you going with this? Verse 8 tells us that God planted the Garden of Eden and placed man in it. Verse 9 tells us, “Out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every that is pleasing to the sight and good for food.” Now first, just because this is not in the same order as Genesis 1 does not mean that this is the actual order of events. The focus of this passage is man. Therefore when this was written down under the inspiration of the Spirit, the order was not the main focus but the idea of who is man. We are the crown of God’s creation and because of that the garden was planted for us. Thus the need for food was necessary and the story is now being told with man in the center and God in control. In our world today, beauty is supreme. Someone somewhere sits in a huge office all by themselves and determines what is beautiful and what is not. It is their prerogative and not ours. We all have a sense of what is beautiful and what is not. We all have a desire to be beautiful. But in our world for the most part, beauty has become distorted and twisted. Especially when it comes to people, beauty is supreme and if you are not beautiful according to the current chosen standard then you are not of true value to this world. That is sick and twisted. But here in the garden, before sin, man knew what was beautiful. Man enjoyed the sight of trees and found them pleasing to his sight. It was not sin! Some people grow plants, flowers, bushes and all kinds of plants in their backyards. It is a beautiful sight. God has given us the ability to enjoy the beauty of his creation.

"Can I see my baby?" the happy new mother asked. When the bundle was nestled in her arms and she moved the fold of cloth to look upon his tiny face, she gasped.
The doctor turned quickly and looked out the tall hospital window. The baby had been born without ears. Time proved that the baby's hearing was perfect. It was only his appearance that was marred.
When he rushed home from school one day and flung himself into his mother's arms, she sighed, knowing that his life was to be a succession of heartbreaks. He blurted out the tragedy. "A boy, a big boy...called me a freak." He grew up, handsome for his misfortune. A favorite with his fellow students, he might have been class president, but for that. He developed a gift, a talent for literature and music. "But you might mingle with other young people," his mother reproved him, but felt a kindness in her heart.
The boy's father had a session with the family physician. Could nothing be done? "I believe I could graft on a pair of outer ears, if they could be procured" the doctor decided.
Whereupon the search began for a person who would make such a sacrifice for a young man. Two years went by. Then, "You are going to the hospital, son. Mother and I have someone who will donate the ears you need. But it's a secret" said the father.
The operation was a brilliant success, and a new person emerged. His talents blossomed into genius, and school and college became a series of triumphs. Later he married and entered the diplomatic service.
"But I must know!" He urged his father. "Who gave so much for me? I could never do enough for him."
"I do not believe you could," said the father, "but the agreement was that you are not to know...not yet."
The years kept their profound secret, but the day did come...one of the darkest days that ever pass through a son. He stood with his father over his mother's casket. Slowly, tenderly, the father stretched forth a hand and raised the thick, reddish-brown hair to reveal...that the mother had no outer ears.
"Mother said she was glad she never let her hair be cut," he whispered gently, "and nobody ever thought mother less beautiful, did they"?
Real beauty lies not in the physical appearance, but in the heart. Real treasure lies not in what that can be seen, but what that cannot be seen. Real love lies not in what is done and known, but in what that is done but not known.

Often times when it comes to beauty we take pride in our personal outward beauty. We fixate on the outward appearance and do not concern ourselves with the inner beauty that the Lord requires. He requires holiness and obedience. 1 Peter 3:3-5 is directed specifically for women, but that is a passage of warning to us all. We are to be concerned with the inner self and not the outer self. We must be concerned with what our hearts and its condition and not the condition of our clothing. The Lord has promised to give as we need for the physical care of ourselves. Men if we are to be the head of our homes, should we not be as our wives and focused on the inner beauty of our spirits? Galatians 5:22-23 tells us the fruits that our lives ought to be producing as children of God. Christ died that our spirits might be made alive not that our bodies would be beautiful in this life.

The third truth we see is the Garden of Eden was a real place. Verses 10-14 detail the location and characteristics of the area of the Garden of Eden. Verse 10 tells us that a river flowed out of Eden to water the Garden. Then from there the river divided and became 4 rivers. The name of the first is Pishon. No one knows where this river is today. There is not substantial documentation to help us locate this river. This river flowed around the whole land of Havilah. Again no one knows where this was or is there substantial documentation to determine a probability of the location. I would venture to guess that there was still some who knew where this was when Genesis was written. The story would have been passed from generation to generation until Moses was inspired to write the words down. But one detail about this land is there is gold. Also in verse 12 it says that the gold is good. Then we are told some of the stones that can be found there. Items of information that would have verified to the people that this was a real land. A real place. The name of the second river is Gihon. Many have taken this to be the Nile River. If that is the case then over the course of time the land has changed because we know that the Nile does not flow anywhere near the Tigris and the Euphrates. Because remember that the text says that a river flowed out of Eden that divided into four rivers. The other two rivers are the Tigris and the Euphrates which we know where they are today. Some would say that these are not the original rivers, but they have been known as this for a long time and most believe that these are the same as we read here. Now we do not know where the Garden of Eden was but we do know where it might likely have been. The point is this: it was real. It had a real location. The Garden of Eden is not an idea to represent the peace that we all desire, but it was a real, physical reality that the original readers of this word would have known about.

In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul tells the Corinthians that if the resurrection is not real then Christ was not raised. If Christ was not raised then our faith is pointless and worthless. If our faith is worthless then we are above all others to be pitied because we hope needlessly. If the Garden of Eden was never real then how do we know to trust the other historical materials written in God’s Word? If the Garden of Eden was not real then how do we know that David was real? If David was not real then how do we know that Jesus was real? If Jesus was not real then our faith is worthless. If the credibility of the historical facts of the Bible are destroyed then how do we know that we can trust any of it? The Bible is not a history book as we would study in school, but in telling the story of God’s work to redeem mankind it is accurate in its historical matter. If the Bible can not accurately give historical material then how can we trust it to provide accurate spiritual material? The Bible has been validated many times over through archaeological discoveries. The greatest evidence points to the fact that the truths portrayed in the Bible are accurate and viable.

Do you understand that you are a part of the crowning of God’s creation? Do you have within you the spiritual ability to discern true beauty in the manner that God intended? Do you have faith to comprehend the spiritual truths of God’s Word? God has entered our sinful, broken and fallen world in order to pay our price for our sin so that we might enter into an ability to worship him. Because Christ died and shed his blood for us, we can now worship him in spirit and truth, but he must first be our Savior by our faith in him.