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Scripture Reading: Gen. 2:4-25
Beginning with this chapter we will consider the procedure that God takes to fulfill His purpose. Although Genesis 2:4-25 is a short portion of the Bible, it is rich in spiritual implications. We need much time to point out the important implications one by one. All Bible readers encounter a problem when reading this portion. They do not understand why the Bible repeats the story of the creation of man beginning in verse 4. The common explanation is that the creation of man in Genesis 1:26-28 is a general outline but that 2:4-25 is a detailed and supplementary description of the creation of man. This understanding may seem logical, but if we look to the Lord, we will realize that these verses have a greater significance.
Genesis 1:1 through 2:3 reveals that God’s desire and purpose are related to image and authority. He wants man to express Him, and He wants man to deal with His enemy. When both aspects of God’s desire are fulfilled, He will be satisfied and have rest. The procedure that God takes to fulfill His desire and purpose is life, because chapter 2 speaks of a tree with a very particular name—the tree of life. After God created man, He placed man in front of the tree of life (vv. 8-9). This means that God wanted man to receive His life, signified by the tree of life, to thereby fulfill His desire and purpose.
God created Adam in chapter 1, but at that time Adam had only the image of God, not the life of God (v. 26). Hence, Adam had no way to express God. A picture may represent a person, but it conveys only his appearance; it does not contain his life. A statue may express an image, but it is merely an outward appearance; it does not convey his inward character, because it does not have his life. Similarly, Adam had the image of God outwardly, but he did not have God’s life inwardly. Adam had only the created human life; he did not have the uncreated life of God. Hence, Adam could express God only in appearance and likeness; he could not express God in nature and character. In order for God to fulfill His purpose in man, He needs to work His life into man. When God’s life enters into man, man can be like God in both appearance and in nature. He can have not only God’s outward appearance but also God’s inward content, which is God’s life. Only the divine life can conform us to the image of God’s Son so that we are like Him (Rom. 8:2, 6, 29). Only the divine life can bring us into the glory of God so that we express Him (v. 30; Col. 3:4).
Without the life of God, man cannot rule for God. Ruling is based on the life of God. In Numbers 17 Aaron’s rod budded, blossomed, and bore ripe almonds. This indicates that man must have the life of God in order to rule for God. A rod represents authority, and a budding rod is a matter of resurrection. The leader of each of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel put a rod in the Tent of Meeting, but only Aaron’s rod budded (vv. 1-8). This means that only Aaron had the life that had passed through death and resurrection. This resurrection life made Aaron acceptable before God and gave Aaron authority among the children of Israel.
Revelation 20:6 says that the resurrected believers are able to reign with the Lord. These believers are full of the resurrection and overcoming life inwardly; hence, they can rule for God outwardly. Chapter 22 reveals that life is related to ruling. The throne of God and of the Lamb is in the New Jerusalem, and the river of water of life proceeds out from this throne. A throne signifies ruling; therefore, life and ruling are inseparable (v. 1).
Man needs the life of God inwardly in order to express God and to rule for God to deal with God’s enemy. Therefore, in God’s further creation in Genesis 1 and 2, life was His goal. He created all kinds of life forms, and He also created man with the highest created life. However, this was not enough: God still wanted man to receive His uncreated life, which is signified by the tree of life in the garden of Eden (vv. 8-9).
The garden of Eden is a very meaningful picture. In the garden there was the tree of life, and next to the tree stood a man made of dust. In the garden there was also a river that divided into four branches. The flowing of this river issued in gold, bdellium, and precious stones (vv. 8-12). Bible readers know that gold always signifies God’s nature (Exo. 25:11) and that dust signifies the human nature (Gen. 2:7; 1 Cor. 15:47). Although created man is the same as God in his outward appearance, his inward content and nature are of dust instead of gold; hence, his being is different from God’s. The picture in Genesis 2 shows that the divine life, as signified by the tree of life, must enter into man to become the flow of life within him in order for a man of dust to become gold. The result of the flowing of life is that the man of dust becomes gold.
The picture at the end of Revelation is similar to the picture in Genesis 2. However, the New Jerusalem is a city of gold, not a man of dust (Rev. 21:18). In the New Jerusalem man will have the appearance of God. God will be his content, and he will have the nature of God. Man will be the same as God in life and in nature, and man will be able to express the glory of God and to rule for God. Then God’s purpose in man will be fully accomplished. Therefore, life is the procedure that God takes to fulfill His purpose. In order to fulfill His purpose, God must dispense His life into man. If His life does not enter into man, man cannot be like God in order to express Him, nor can man rule for God in order to deal with His enemy. God’s purpose cannot be fulfilled by human effort. The fulfillment of God’s purpose requires God’s life to enter into man.
This is the truth of the Bible. This truth is different from the teachings of the Chinese sages. The sages taught man to improve his behavior, to activate his own goodness, and to develop his “bright virtue,” that is, to magnify his human virtues. However, according to the truth of the Bible, man does not have the ability to improve himself, to activate his own goodness, or to cultivate himself in order to be like God. The human nature is dust, whereas the nature of God is gold. It is impossible to change dust into gold apart from the divine life. We thank the Lord that His saving way is to dispense His life and nature of gold into man in order to transform man. This is the way that we can receive the nature of God to express His image and to rule for God to deal with His enemy, Satan.
We need to consider step by step the procedure that God takes to fulfill His purpose according to the account in Genesis 2. Verses 4 through 25 speak of this procedure. These verses can be divided into three sections. The first section is from verse 4 through verse 7, the second section is from verse 8 through verse 17, and the third section is from verse 18 through verse 25. These three sections speak of the three steps of the procedure that God takes to fulfill His purpose.
The first step that God took in fulfilling His purpose was to create man. Genesis 2:4-7 says, “These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created. When Jehovah God made earth and heaven, and no plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up—for Jehovah God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no man to work the ground, but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground—Jehovah God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.” Why does this portion begin by saying that nothing had sprung up from the earth because Jehovah God had not caused it to rain upon the earth? Why does it say that there was no man to work the ground but that a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground? Why are these things mentioned before God’s creation of man? This portion provides the background of God’s creation of man.
We need to maintain a principle when reading Genesis 2. This chapter can be compared to a detailed painting. Therefore, we should not consider merely the literal meaning of the words in this chapter; rather, we should ponder the implied meaning in order to understand this chapter.
Verse 5 says that before God created man “no plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up.” However, according to chapter 1, the plant life, such as grass and herbs, were already growing (vv. 11-12). Why does chapter 2 say, “No herb of the field had yet sprung up”? We must understand the implied meaning in this portion. The spiritual implication of this portion is that before man was created, the life of God could not grow out of the earth. In order for the life of God to grow out of the earth, the creation of man was needed. Hence, God created man so that His life could grow out of the earth.
Verse 5 also says, “Jehovah God had not caused it to rain upon the earth.” Rain here also has an implied meaning. Joel 2:23 says that Jehovah gives the children of Israel the early rain and makes rain to come down for them. Then verse 28 says that God will pour out His Spirit upon all flesh. These verses show that rain in the Bible signifies the Spirit poured out from God. The Spirit of God descends from heaven, just as rain descends from heaven. The rain that descends from heaven to earth has two issues. On the one hand, it mingles with the dust of the earth; on the other hand, life grows out of this mingling. Both issues have a spiritual meaning.
Before man was created, rain did not come down from heaven. This means that before there was a man on the earth, the Spirit of God did not come to mingle with anything on the earth. Before man was created, there was nothing on the earth with which the rain from heaven could be mingled. This situation changed after God created man, because there was a living creature on the earth—the man formed of dust—with whom the Spirit of God, the rain descending from heaven, could be mingled. From that point on, the life of God could grow out from such a mingling.
Genesis 2:5 also says, “There was no man to work the ground.” This means that not only had the Spirit of God not yet descended but also that there was no man to cooperate and work together with God in order for the life of God to grow out of the earth.
Verse 6 says, “A mist went up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground.” This means that before God created man, nothing on the earth was mingled with something that descended from heaven. Everything on the earth was out of the earth. These three points—no rain upon the earth, no man working the ground, and a mist going up from the earth—are the background of God’s creation of man.
With this background God created man. After man was created, God was afforded an opportunity to send something from heaven to mingle with the things on the earth. Therefore, verse 7 subsequently says, “Jehovah God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.” The breath of life can be considered as the first drop of rain that descended from heaven to the earth in order to mingle with the dust of the earth and produce life. This life was like God and was in His image. According to the spiritual implication, we may say that at this point the life of God began to grow out of the earth. We must try our best to understand these matters.
Genesis 2:7 speaks of how God created man: “Jehovah God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.” This verse shows that there were three steps in God’s creation of man.
The first step is that God formed man from the dust of the ground. This was to create man’s outward body. Today chemists confirm that the elements in a human body are found in the earth. The human body has salt, sulfur, phosphorus, iron, and copper, all of which are found in the earth. Hence, 1 Corinthians 15:47 speaks of Adam, the first man, who is “out of the earth.”
If man has only a body made from the dust of the ground, then man is of no value; he is no different from a sheep or a dog. However, in creating man, God did something unique, something that He did not do when He created other living things. In addition to forming man’s body out of the dust of the earth, God breathed the breath of life into man’s body. This is marvelous! God did not do this when He created the plants, nor did He do this when He created the animals. God did not breathe the breath of life into any living creatures apart from man. Bible readers agree that although the breath of life was not God’s life or His Spirit, it produced life when it entered into man; this life is related to the spirit in man.
Man is different from all the animals because only man has a spirit. The spirit of man makes man higher than all the animals. The human spirit is the breath that God breathed into man. Although it was not God’s life or His Spirit, the breath of life that God breathed into man is something out of God. Therefore, the Bible says that man is of God’s race (Acts 17:28) and that Adam is “the son of God” (Luke 3:38).
When God breathed the breath of life into man, He had a wonderful intention: He created man as a vessel to express Him. He made an organ within man that enables man to love God, be drawn to God, and also contact and receive God. Everything in God’s creation of man is meaningful. For example, because man needs to eat in order to live, God created man with a stomach, giving man the requirement, the desire, and the ability to eat. Likewise, God breathed the breath of life into man and created a spirit in man so that man would have a spiritual “stomach.” The Bible reveals that God is our food, our living water, and our bread of life (John 6:27, 35; 4:14; 1 Cor. 10:3-4). If we did not have a human spirit as our spiritual stomach, we would not desire God or eat Him as the bread of life. The psalmists said that they panted for God as the hart pants after the streams of water (Psa. 42:1). Dogs and cats do not desire God, because they do not have a spiritual stomach.
Some who think that they are clever might say, “We are in the twentieth century. There is no need to believe in God.” However, we have to believe in God. To avoid believing in God is the same as to avoid eating food. We need to eat because we have a stomach for eating physical food, and we need to believe because we have a spirit for receiving God. When man was created, God breathed the breath of life into man. When this breath of life entered into man, it became his human spirit. The human spirit has its preferences, desires, and requirements. The human spirit prefers, desires, and requires God. It is no wonder that regardless of whether people are civilized or barbarian, cultured or uncultured, they have the concept of worshipping God. To worship God is not a matter of being uncivilized or of being civilized; it is a matter of need. Whether people are uncivilized or civilized, they need to eat. In fact, the more civilized people are, the more they desire to eat. Hence, the more civilized people are, the more they need God.
Many prominent figures throughout human history said when they were young that there is no God; however, they began to seek God when they became successful and famous and had entered into their latter years. Despite the fact that they had great accomplishments and enjoyed their life, their spiritual stomach was empty. They eventually looked for something to believe in because they were looking for something to fill their spiritual stomach. The need for God was placed within man when he was created. Hence, man desires God and needs God. Moreover, man is also able to contact God because man has a special organ—the human spirit—within him.
For example, we cannot use a teacup to contact electricity or receive electricity. However, a light bulb with a tungsten filament, even if it is very small, can contact and receive electricity. Every human being has a “tungsten filament” that is able to receive electricity. As long as we contact God as the “electricity,” He will flow through us. We willingly and happily believe in God, because if we did not believe in God, we would be in agony inwardly. When we believe in God, we are at rest. Those who claim that they do not believe in God think that they have their eyes open, but they are actually in agony. We who believe in God are at rest, because we allow God to flow through us like electricity flows through a light bulb. The human spirit is an organ within man that was formed by the breath of life that God breathed into man. God created a human spirit in man so that man might contact and receive Him.
When God breathed into man, the man of dust became alive with a personality, an ego. This personality is man’s soul. The sequence of God’s creation of man is first man’s body, then man’s spirit, and lastly man’s soul. Man is composed of three parts: a body, a soul, and a spirit. These three parts constitute a person. At this point God’s creation of man was complete.
