Creekside Church, Sunday, November 7, 2021
Where Heaven and Earth are United
Locations & Times
Creekside Church
660 Conservation Dr, Waterloo, ON N2J 3Z4, Canada
Sunday 9:00 AM
Sunday 10:30 AM
Many cultures use origin stories as a foundation for how to explain life.
In the Ancient Near East many origin stories. One is known as the Enuma Elish. In this story, violence reigns, the gods are in charge and humans are an afterthought who exist to serve the gods.
For more on the Enuma Elish and Genesis 1: https://biologos.org/articles/genesis-1-and-a-babylonian-creation-story/
In the Ancient Near East temples were places where:
- god’s were et apart from people
- the gap between human and divine was bridged
- usually built on high places like mountains – place where heaven and earth meet
- in your limited access you would hope to influence them, to act on your behalf
- Temples were mini creations – kept in pristine, beautiful order to keep the Gods pleased with you
- Statue placed as an icon in the temple
For more on Ancient Near Eastern Temples: https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195393361/obo-9780195393361-0243.xml
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The Genesis creation narratives found in Genesis 1 & 2 put forth a very different origin story.
In these narratives:
- God is not battling anyone. He's fully in charge and he creates simply by speaking.
- Creation is good.
- Humans are pinnacle of creation
- Creation is a temple
- God desires to be with humans
For more on Creation as a Temple: https://reformedforum.org/summarizing-biblical-theological-case-eden-temple-garden/
For more on the idea that Creation is the temple where God rests:
https://biologos.org/series/reflections-on-the-lost-world-of-genesis-1-by-john-walton/articles/creation-is-the-temple-where-god-rests
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Genesis 3:8
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
"First, the temple later in the OT was the unique place of God’s presence, where Israel had to go to experience that presence. Israel’s temple was the place where the priest experienced God’s unique presence, and Eden was the place where Adam walked and talked with God. The same Hebrew verbal form (hithpael) used for God’s “walking back and forth” in the Garden (Gen 3:8), also describes God’s presence in the tabernacle (Lev 26:12; Deut 23:14 [15]; 2 Sam 7:6-7; Ezek 28:14)." - G.K. Beale
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"Genesis 2:15 says God placed Adam in the Garden “to cul- tivate it and to keep it.” The two Hebrew words for “cultivate and keep” (respectively, ʿāḇaḏ and šāmar) are usually translated “serve and guard.” When these two words occur together later in the OT without exception they have this meaning and refer either to Israelites “serving and guarding/ obeying” God’s word (about 10 times) or, more often to priests who “serve” God in the temple and “guard” the temple from unclean things entering it (Num 3:7-8; 8:25-26; 18:5-6; 1 Chron 23:32; Ezek 44:14)." G.K. Beale
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Genesis 1:28
God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
Genesis 2:10-15
10 A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.) 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Ashur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
***4 often signifies 4 corners of the earth, referring to covering the whole earth. That seems to be the image here.
“The intention seems to be that Adam was to widen the boundaries of the Garden in ever increasing circles by extending the order of the garden sanctuary into the inhospitable outer spaces.” - Bible Project
---
God's dream from the beginning has been to walk with us. To be with us.
Spend some time this week day dreaming about what a life with God could have looked like in the beginning and ask yourself if it's something you long for today.
In the Ancient Near East many origin stories. One is known as the Enuma Elish. In this story, violence reigns, the gods are in charge and humans are an afterthought who exist to serve the gods.
For more on the Enuma Elish and Genesis 1: https://biologos.org/articles/genesis-1-and-a-babylonian-creation-story/
In the Ancient Near East temples were places where:
- god’s were et apart from people
- the gap between human and divine was bridged
- usually built on high places like mountains – place where heaven and earth meet
- in your limited access you would hope to influence them, to act on your behalf
- Temples were mini creations – kept in pristine, beautiful order to keep the Gods pleased with you
- Statue placed as an icon in the temple
For more on Ancient Near Eastern Temples: https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195393361/obo-9780195393361-0243.xml
---
The Genesis creation narratives found in Genesis 1 & 2 put forth a very different origin story.
In these narratives:
- God is not battling anyone. He's fully in charge and he creates simply by speaking.
- Creation is good.
- Humans are pinnacle of creation
- Creation is a temple
- God desires to be with humans
For more on Creation as a Temple: https://reformedforum.org/summarizing-biblical-theological-case-eden-temple-garden/
For more on the idea that Creation is the temple where God rests:
https://biologos.org/series/reflections-on-the-lost-world-of-genesis-1-by-john-walton/articles/creation-is-the-temple-where-god-rests
---
Genesis 3:8
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
"First, the temple later in the OT was the unique place of God’s presence, where Israel had to go to experience that presence. Israel’s temple was the place where the priest experienced God’s unique presence, and Eden was the place where Adam walked and talked with God. The same Hebrew verbal form (hithpael) used for God’s “walking back and forth” in the Garden (Gen 3:8), also describes God’s presence in the tabernacle (Lev 26:12; Deut 23:14 [15]; 2 Sam 7:6-7; Ezek 28:14)." - G.K. Beale
---
"Genesis 2:15 says God placed Adam in the Garden “to cul- tivate it and to keep it.” The two Hebrew words for “cultivate and keep” (respectively, ʿāḇaḏ and šāmar) are usually translated “serve and guard.” When these two words occur together later in the OT without exception they have this meaning and refer either to Israelites “serving and guarding/ obeying” God’s word (about 10 times) or, more often to priests who “serve” God in the temple and “guard” the temple from unclean things entering it (Num 3:7-8; 8:25-26; 18:5-6; 1 Chron 23:32; Ezek 44:14)." G.K. Beale
---
Genesis 1:28
God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
Genesis 2:10-15
10 A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.) 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Ashur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
***4 often signifies 4 corners of the earth, referring to covering the whole earth. That seems to be the image here.
“The intention seems to be that Adam was to widen the boundaries of the Garden in ever increasing circles by extending the order of the garden sanctuary into the inhospitable outer spaces.” - Bible Project
---
God's dream from the beginning has been to walk with us. To be with us.
Spend some time this week day dreaming about what a life with God could have looked like in the beginning and ask yourself if it's something you long for today.