Sermons from Genesis 3-MAN or MONKEY? Genesis 1:26-28 & 2:7 Intro- The subject of life has long been a center for debate. In recent years, the story of Terri Schaivo has sparked major debate. You remember the question was, is it legal to pull the plug on life! The subject of Euthanasia is a topic that is under discussion. Sadly, we are living in a world where human life has become a cheap. The legalizing of Abortion has desensitized life. It has become effortless to throw human life away. And, it is becoming easier to discard those individuals that are seen as worthless and as being a drain on society.
There are two basic answers given for how man came to be. One is the Theory of Evolution. The other is Creation. Did we come from a monkey? Or did God make us?
What do we mean when we talk about the theory of evolution? The World Book Encyclopedia gives this definition: "Evolution is a process of gradual change. . . .the process of evolution most commonly refers to the formation and development of life on the earth. The ideal that living things evolved from non-living matter and changed through the ages is called the theory of organic evolution, or simply the theory of evolution."1
The World Book Encyclopedia goes on to say: "According to this theory, the first single celled organisms appeared about 3 or 4 billion years ago, soon after the earth's crust had formed and cooled. As time passed, more complex organisms gradually developed specialized characteristics that helped them adapt to their environment. This evolutionary process eventually produced all the species that inhabit the earth today."2
Dr. Robert Jastrow, a well-known geologist, astronomer, physicist, who is also an agnostic said: "It happened this way: now and then in the primordial seas of the earth, collisions occurred between neighboring molecules; in some of these collisions, two small molecules stuck together to form a larger one; then another small molecule collided and stuck; and then another. Eventually after countless millions of chance encounters a molecule was formed that had the magical ability to divide into two copies of itself. This was the start of life."3
If this be the case, maybe this explains the Hindus thought on how the earth came to be. The Hindus thought the world rested on the backs of three elephants, which in turn stood on the backs of a giant tortoise, which swam around in a cosmic sea. (John Phillips) Huh? Does this make any Sense? To put it very simply, man has been trying to make a monkey out himself for years. Someone summarized the evolutionary theory with this little poem: Once I was a tadpole beginning to begin, And then I was a frog with my tail tucked in; Then I was a monkey hanging from a free, And now I'm a professor with Phd D.
From the Word of God we see: I. GOD AUTHORS THE CREATION OF LIFE Genesis 1:26a- And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: We did not Evolve- We were Made by GOD. Hasn’t anyone ever looked on the inside of your belly button? It says made by God! When God finished making us he stick His finger in us and said “this one’s done! (just kidding kids…) A. Miraculously Made- Genesis 2:7, "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." The word "formed" is used of a potter shaping clay. God literally took the dust of the earth into His hands and fashioned the man that was in His heart. Once God had formed man from the dust of the earth, He breathed into his nostrils and man became a living soul. Man did not come from non-life material and through a process develop into a living being. Man was formed by God, and in one Divine breath, he became a living soul.
The Human Body is a Miracle itself! Man is made up of about 24 elements; 65%oxygen, 18.5% Carbon, 9.5% Hydrogen, 3.3% Nitrogen, 1.5% Calcium, 1%Phosphorous, 0.35% of potassium, sulfur, sodium, chlorine, and magnesium. There are also traces of iron, iodine, zinc, molybdenum, selenium, cobalt, fluorine, silicon, copper, manganese, boron, aluminum, chromium, and selenium.10
B. Marvelously Made- Psalms 139:14 "I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well." We are not the product of a molecule that collided with another molecule. And then stuck together with other organisms! I’ve seen some people that looked like they collided with the ugly stick- but the Bible says, we are fearfully & wonderfully made. The first time I saw my wife, I said Lord now I understand Psalms 139:14…
II. GOD AUTHORS (ADVOCATES) THE COMMENCEMENT OF LIFE Genesis 2:7- And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; an man became a living soul. A. God Authors the Dawn of Life Genesis 29:31- “And when the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb:” He controls when it happens! The question arises- When does Life begin? At birth or conception? The answer is conception! Leviticus 17:11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood! The moment that sperm joins with that egg- it is carrying the blood of the father! And when that egg has been pregnated- it begins immediately to grow! Why? Because there is life in there. It is alive & growing- therefore it is Murder to kill an unborn baby.
Exodus 21:22 “If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall surley be punished…”
B. God Authors the Design of Life Jeremiah 1:5- Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. GOD has a specific plan for every person born into this world. Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths. Psalms 37:23 The steps of a good man are ORDERED by the Lord.
III. GOD APPOINTS THE CONCLUSION OF LIFE Job said 7:1 Is there not an appointed time to man upon the earth? Solomon said Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die;
- God Appoints The Time Of Man’s Death –
Hebrews 9:27- It is appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgment.
Job 14:1-2 &5 Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not. Verse 5- Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;
- God Alone Appoints The Terms Of Man’s Death –
Not only does God decide when we die; He also determines where we will breathe our last as well. Regardless of how you leave this world, you will leave it exactly when, where and how the Lord has predetermined it will happen. It was God’s will that Moses die alone with God on a mountain, Deut. 34:5-8. It was God’s will that Jacob die surrounded by his children, Gen. 49:33. It was God’s will that Paul die at the hands of Roman executioners.
Conclusion: Sometimes people leave through tragedies. Sometimes people die because of disease. Sometimes they go out of here by way of old age. Sometimes they go suddenly with the bloom of youth still on their cheeks. But, however they leave this world, it is God that determines the when, the where and the how. The Bottom line is- God created man- and we are accountable to GOD. How will you stand before Him on Judgment Day? Guilty or Forgiven? Man or Monkey?
Here’s a story written from a monkey’s point of view. Three monkeys sat in a tree discussing things as they are said to be. One said to the other, now listen you two, there’s a certain rumor that can’t be true. That man descended from our noble race, Why the very idea is a dire disgrace. No monkey ever deserted his wife, Starved his babies & ruined their life. You’ll never know a mother monk, To leave her babies with others to bunk. Shove them around from one to another, Till they scarcely know Who is their mother. Another thing you’ll never see, A monkey build a fence- around a coconut tree. Forbidding other monkeys a taste, And the coconuts go to waste. If I built a fence-around this tree, It would force you to steal from me. Another thing a monkey would not do, Go out at night & get in a stew. Or use a gun or a knife- Just to take some monkeys life. Ye man descended, the ornery cuss, But brothers he never descended from us!