LIFE WITH A PURPOSE

Genesis 2:8-17
Bob Bonner
January 25, 2004

Rick Warren is the best-selling author of The Purpose-Driven Life. At last count, I believe that his book has sold over 10 million copies, since its initial printing in late 2002. Furthermore, that which marks this book as significant is that it is not just a best-seller amongst Christians, but it was deemed the best-seller by the New York Times for several weeks running. So why has this book become so popular? What is the message of this book that has struck such a powerful cord in the hearts of so many?

This book has become so popular because it answers in easy-to-understand words the biggest questions people have sought answers to since the creation of the human race: Questions such as, “Who am I?” “Why am I here?” and “What is the purpose for my life?”

Allow me to quote just a few lines from his work. Rick states, “Without a clear purpose you have no foundation on which you base decisions, allocate your time, and use your resources. You will tend to make choices based on circumstances, pressures and your mood at that moment. People who don’t know their purpose try to do too much—and that causes stress, fatigue, and conflict.” (p.31)

The bottom line is that the people who are finding his book so helpful are people who agree with Rick in that they have awakened sometime in their lives to the reality that they are working harder and enjoying life less. They are seeking to have fun, but find fun less than fulfilling. Suddenly they stop and ask themselves, “Why am I doing this? Why am I married? Why did I choose to become a doctor, plumber, attorney, minister, teacher, etc.?”

Hungry to make sense out of our lives, people try dubious methods like astrology or psychics in hopes that they can get some answers. You see, when life has meaning, when life has a purpose, you can bear almost anything; but without meaning or purpose, nothing is bearable. Having all the money and prestige in the world does not bring internal peace and comfort or make living satisfying in the long run. That empty gnawing feeling still exists in our souls, forcing our spirits to cry out, “Why I am here? What am I doing this for?”

On the other hand, if you know who you are and you know what your general purpose and specific purpose for your life is, then the decisions you begin to make lead to a simpler lifestyle, not a more complex one. When you know who you are and why you are here, you start making decisions based upon your purpose, and life begins to move at the rhythm of a sane schedule, rather than at a pressured chaotic-driven calendar of events.

God knew long before He created human beings that we needed to know who we are and why we are here if we were going to live satisfied and fulfilling lives. That’s why in His opening words found in Genesis 2, He first spells out who we are, and then, why we are here. These are the two most important issues pounding in the hearts of everyone’s life. The foundation of our lives is built upon the bedrock of knowing who we are and why we are here. Without coming to grips with these two things, God knows our lives will be lived without significance and hope. That’s why He made it His first priority to spell out the answers to these two questions in the very beginning of His Word.

Last time we were together we looked at Genesis 2:4-7. As we looked closely at God’s carefully chosen words in those verses, we learned that we were personally made by God and for God. In other words, life, not mere existence, but real life begins with a relationship with the One who created us. Furthermore, our lives are designed to be lived out in relationship to God, not independently, apart from God.

This morning we want to continue our study of Genesis 2:8-17. In these verses, we will see the general purpose for which we all have been created. In verses 8-14, we will read about the place God prepared for man, and then in verses. 15-17, God’s placement of man on earth. Let’s read the passage in its entirety first, then go back and look more closely at each section. You should note that verse 8 is an initial summary statement of this complete section, then verses 9-14 gives us more of the details.

We read: “The Lord God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed. Out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four rivers. The name of the first is Pishon; it flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. The gold of that land is good; the bdellium and the onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is Gihon; it flows around the whole land of Cush. The name of the third river is Tigris; it flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”

Trying to get one’s bearings as to the specific location of this event and where God placed man on earth is rather difficult. Since this record of God preparing a place for man to live is written post the great Flood, the earth it is describing here was not the same as it was at the time Genesis was written. During Moses’ day the earth had radically changed many of its geological features due to the Flood.

Hence, we can’t be sure that even though the Tigris and Euphrates rivers still flow today, that they flow in exactly the same place, manner or direction as they once did when man was first placed upon the earth.

An additional complication to confidently and specifically pointing to the location of the garden in Eden can observed when we read in verse 8 of this place being “east.” East of what? Where is the starting point from which he points to the east?

However, even with the geological changes to the earth, and no cited specific as to the point of reference from which one determines east, there is a very good reason to think that the place that Moses is considering “home base” from which he points east is Jerusalem. The reason for that is that this book of Genesis, which means “Beginnings” was written to explain the beginning from which the Hebrew race began, not just the human race. Moses knew that the home of the father of the Hebrew race, Abraham, the focal point of Abraham’s life, in fact, the very place that Abraham would later go to sacrifice Isaac was on Mt. Moriah. That mount is the same place that the Temple of Solomon was built. It was on that mount that the capital of Israel, the city of Jerusalem would be established. Hence, it would be a good guess to say that “east” meant somewhere east of Jerusalem, the birth place of the Hebrew race.

To further support this guess as to where this Garden of Eden may lay, we know that two of the rivers named in these verses still exist a relatively short distance east from the city of Jerusalem.

One other passing comment about the “garden” we are never given the name of the garden. We are only given the land or region in which it could be found, “Eden.” Furthermore, there is no suggestion, as some presume, that the whole earth was a garden. God marked off a certain region of the earth and made it a garden, then placed man in it.

One last comment about “Eden”, the word “Eden” in Hebrew literally translated means “delight.” God intended, and in fact created this place for man that would be a delight to live in, work in and play in. It was truly a good gift from God. It was not a garbage dump or a swamp, or a slave camp, but a delightful place in which there was a garden.

In verse 9 we are introduced to the infamous “tree of knowledge of good and evil.” A more accurate translation of the name of this tree is “the tree of knowing by experience good and evil.” The point being that man could have easily learned from God in a safe fashion what good and evil was all about without ever having to experience evil personally. In fact, God tried to protect man from learning of evil in such a manner that it would destroy him, hence the warning in verses 16-17.

This garden was fed by a primeval water supply system, which began as one river flowing from the region of “delight,” Eden, then broke into four tributaries to quench the thirst of the land. It must have been a large garden. The source of this river, since there had been no rain yet, probably came from some sort of artesian spring that brought water to the surface of the earth from an underground reservoir.

Two of the four named rivers no longer exist, the Pishon and Gihon. The fact that the Tigris and Euphrates do still exist, and surround what geologists tell us has been a lush garden-like land for millennia, and that archeologists realize that Assyria is one, if not the, oldest known civilization in the world, gives solid evidence that this region of Eden and this garden were no myth. It is very possible that the lands known as Iraq, Iran and Turkey made up that garden.

With the rest of our time, I want us to look at verses 15-17, in which we will find the roots of our purpose as established by our Creator.

In verse 15, we read that “the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden...” That verb, “put” comes from the very same Hebrew root word from which we get “God rested” as in Genesis 2:2 in which we are told that God rested on the seventh day. In this case, it literally means “to set to rest”.

Several weeks ago we spent quite a bit of time looking at this concept of what it meant for God to rest and that we are to rest in Him. You may remember that “rest” does not equate with our English idea of “rest” in the sense that it means to sleep nor does it refer to a state of inactivity. But as it concerns us as humans, “rest” meant to actively live, work and play in complete dependence upon God while living in close relationship to God.

Here, the emphasis is that God deliberately put us here on this earth to work in partnership with God in whatever assignment He allows us to share in with Him. Our purpose, therefore, was clearly to serve God and His purposes. We were created to serve and to work with God.

Therefore when we leave God out of our work, and presume that we don’t need Him or that He is not interested or for any reason treat Him as insignificant to our work, pretty soon what we do becomes nothing more than a j-o-b, and all the meaninglessness that goes along with it. But when we realize that God is in that job with us, and that He has a purpose for us to fulfill in that job, that puts a completely different light on what we are doing. That brings value to any and all work we do because God is in it with us. God has a purpose for our work, whether it be repairing shoes, streets or people’s lives.

There are two other significant verbs in verse 15 that underscore the truth that one of our purposes for being created is to serve God. Those verbs are “to cultivate it” and “to keep it.” The verb “cultivate” literally means to “work it” or “serve it.” The verb “keep” means “to care for,” look after, maintain, protect and preserve.

What’s really fascinating about both of these two verbs, “to cultivate” and “to keep” is that when they are used in tandem like this, throughout the first five books of the Bible, they always refer to a spiritual service directed at bringing honor to God, as in “keeping my commandments.” Hence, when Adam and Eve did their thing in the garden with God, how they performed their jobs was a literal act of worship. Likewise, your present assignment of work, whether it be at school, home, at the job site, office or shop, that assignment is part of your purpose and service of worship to God. You are to do your work as though you were working with and for God’s purposes and honor.

This verse, in other words, is the Old Testament counterpart to what we read in the New Testament, in Colossians 3:17, which states, “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus,...” Whatever we do as Christians by way of work, it is to be done in such a way as to bring honor not shame to the purposes and reputation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Many mistakenly believe that worship only takes place here at church on Sunday mornings. They couldn’t be more wrong. Worship of God takes place every day where we work. Our service of worship to Him is to be seen in our honesty, integrity and giving our best to our work. If we try to just get by, cheat, cut corners dishonestly, don’t do a full day’s work, bill more hours than we worked, we are not serving the Lord, we are not worshiping the Lord. Instead, we are dishonoring Him and bringing shame to His name. It saddens me when I hear too often from non-Christian employers how lazy or unmotivated some of their Christian employees are. My only recourse is to believe that they don’t understand that their very work is an offering of worship, or they really don’t know the Lord.

If our first general purpose for being created is to serve the Lord, what’s our second general purpose through which we will find meaning? God gives us that answer in verses 16-17. It is written, “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die.’”

In verse 16 we find the very first commandment given by God to man. It begins with a blessing for those who obey, and a curse for those who disobey. Either way, we see from this verse, that another of our purposes for being created by God is to obey Him. If we love someone, if we want to truly honor and please them, then we will do that which is good and brings them pleasure. We were created to love God and serve Him in intimate dependence upon Him. If we want to find true fulfillment in our lives, then we must obey Him.

Notice that God wants us to eat freely from the tree of life. He wants us to eat to your heart’s content of life. God never wants you to live a boring, non-purposeful existence. His desire for blessing your life is that every day we would find meaning and purpose and joy to all that we do. However, if we disobey Him, as Adam and Eve eventually did and we do, then we experience the curse of death.

Understand that this curse and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil were not placed before man as a temptation or trick. This command is a loving warning that there were evil forces at work in this world that man needed to stay clear of if we wanted to fully enjoy an intimate walk with God. When we warn our children not to play in the street because it is dangerous, our intent is not to tempt them to do so. Our intent is to bless them and to give them a long, injury-free life. Same with God.

Furthermore, God was so concerned about the danger surrounding that tree and the evil forces, He emphatically stressed the consequences of ignoring His command. The literal Hebrew could not be stronger. It uses repetition to get the point across. Literally translated, God says that the consequence will be that “Dying, you shall surely die!” In other words, you will die in every sense of the word. Your bodies will begin to die even at the moment of conception, your souls and spirits will be born spiritually dead, meaning that God will not indwell them but sin will. As a result, sin, not God’s spirit will begin to control our lives. In turn, when evil indwells us, God can’t, and thus we will be separated from God. That is spiritual death.

In case you don’t understand why sinners must remain separated from God, let me explain it simply. A holy God who is perfect and has no evil in Him cannot be enjoined with someone who is not perfect or has evil as a part of their being. If He were, He, Himself, would be infected by that evil and no longer be perfect. So that which is holy must reject or repel that which is not holy. Therefore, unless someone from the outside of us takes care of our sin problem, our personal problem with evil, we can’t walk with God. Thanks to Jesus, He solved it in such a way that through Him we can now walk with God because Jesus makes us holy in God’s sight.

The second law of thermodynamics did not apply to life on earth until after the Fall. The law of decay and death as we know it today did not exist until after the Fall. But once the Fall came, this world began to age and die. According to Romans 8:18-27, even this physical planet groans and awaits Jesus Christ’s return and healing touch, when He shall reform and give new life to this planet.

There is a third purpose that God intended for our lives, when He created us. It is first hinted at in verse 9, then later in verse 16. God wants us to eat of the tree of life. Not just nibble but to eat freely. He created us so that we would enjoy Him fully, that we would LIVE with God. Not just co-exist with the knowledge of God, but to partner and enjoy a relationship with Him. That’s our purpose. Have a ball with Him and all that He has given to us! He created us so that we would enjoy Him fully, that’s life!

But after the Fall, that opportunity to live with God and enjoy Him with out complication disappeared. When we get to the Fall, in Genesis 3, you will see that when Adam and Eve were ordered out of God’s holy and good garden, they left the tree of life behind in the garden. No human being since has tasted of that tree. Furthermore, no one will fully taste of it again until we are in heaven according to Revelation 21-22. Even then, not everyone who was born and died will have that privilege.

The ones who will ever taste of the tree of life in the future will be those who put their complete trust in One who hung on another “tree of life,” the cross upon which Christ was crucified. Jesus is the only one who can reverse the sin problem in our lives. He is the only one who can reverse the consequences of my rebelling and/or ignoring or stiff arming God. Jesus declared, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but by Me.” He proved that He was the only way through His resurrection. He is the only one who broke the curse of death and came back to life. Therefore He is the only one who can ultimately bring us back to life.

But that is not all that Christ promised. He tells us that we can begin to experience something of life in contrast to existence right here on earth today if we allow Him to be the Lord of our lives. He promised, “I have come that you might have life, and have it abundantly!” We don’t have to wait until heaven to begin to experience deep joy, inner peace, purpose and significance in life right here. We can begin to experience this purpose of life right now as we fulfill His purposes for our lives in serving and obeying Him. Truly, the chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever, beginning today.

Purpose, significance and meaning, true life is found in serving and following the directions given to us by the one who created us.

Rick Warren put it this way: “Without God, life has no purpose, and without purpose, life has no meaning. Without meaning, life has no significance or hope.” (p. 30). But I would rather state the same thing in a positive manner: With God life has purpose; with purpose, life has meaning; with meaning, life has significance and hope!

How’s life with you? Do you sense that your life has real significance? Do you feel like you apart of something bigger and more important than you? Do you know why you are here? Do you have a hope for your future? Or is this all there is?

If you want life, meaning and hope, it begins with Jesus! Those who have entrusted their lives to Him have never regretted it. If you have not yet put your life in the one who rescues lives and who is in the business of resurrecting the dead, than I would urge you to give the reins of your life, your future to Christ.

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