2 July 2023 AM – Genesis 2:7 – Worldview – Scott Childs
Introduction: What is life? __ Oxford Dictionary, Life is “the condition that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change preceding death.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, states NASA’s operational definition of life as “a self-sustaining chemical system capable of Darwinian evolution”. The National Library of Medicine states, “we can define life as the period from birth to death or as the condition that occurs only in living organisms.”
These definitions may identify that which is alive, but they do not answer the question, “What is life?” So far in our Biblical Worldview study, we have identified a Biblical Worldview of God (proof that He exists), a Biblical Worldview of the Bible’s veracity (it is dependable) and a Biblical Worldview of the Bible’s sufficiency (it has answers to life’s questions). This morning, we are going to focus on life.
Transition: We need to base what we believe and practice about life on God and His dependable, sufficient Word. To help us know how, I want us to answer two important questions. Read Genesis 2:7.
1. What is a Biblical Worldview of Life?
a. What is life?
1) Life is a mystery. Science cannot identify the source of life. Men can create life-like robots, but not life itself.
2) Life is an invisible power that enables cells and creatures to function, grow and reproduce.
b. From where does life come?
1) In our Biblical Worldview of God, we established that all life requires a life-giver. A higher being must exist who is capable of giving life. That higher being must have life.
2) We believe that being to be the one and only living God, Jehovah. Turn with me in your Bible to…
a) Moses said, (Deuteronomy 5:26) “For who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?“
b) Psalmist wrote, (Psalms 42:2) “My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?“
c) (Hebrews 10:31) “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” “Living God” 30x in the Bible.
3) It is our omnipotent, living God who gives life.
a) We read in 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.“
b) The Apostle Paul wrote, (Acts 17:25) “Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;“
c. Does life require physical substance?
1) Living things on earth have physical substance.
2) God, however, is a spirit (John 4:24). He has no body, yet He is life and has life.
3) When Jesus became a man, He was alive in a body.
4) When Jesus resurrected from the dead, He was (and still is) alive, but in an immortal body (Luke 24:23).
5) The Holy Spirit is the “Spirit of the living God” (2Co 3:3). Being the third Person of the living Trinity, He is alive. Paul called Christ, the second Adam and a quickening Spirit (i.e., a life-giving Spirit) (1Co 15:45).
d. What actually has life?
1) Man has life. Read again, Genesis 2:7. God gave humans “the breath of life”.
2) Animals and birds have life. Noah was to take into the Ark animals that had “the breath of life.” (Genesis 7:15) “And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life.” (Genesis 7:23) “And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.” (cf., Gen 1:21, 24, 28).
3) Fish are living creatures, but they do not breathe air, they take oxygen from water to breathe (Genesis 1:28).
4) Do plants have life? They do not have the breath of life as do creatures, but they do have a different form of life.
e. When does life begin?
1) According to the American College of Pediatricians, “The predominance of human biological research confirms that human life begins at conception.” Amen!
2) The Bible agrees that life begins at conception.
3) When God gives life to a human, He, the giver of that life, is the only one who has the right to end that life.
4) However, God has ordained human government to take the life of murderers (Gen 9:6) and serious sinful offenders (Exo 22:18). The Bible never forbids self-defence, and believers are allowed to defend themselves and their families. https://www.gotquestions.org/self-defense.html
f. What distinguishes human life from other life?
1) We find the answer in (Genesis 1:26-27) “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.“
2) God made humans in His own image and likeness. These two terms appear to be synonyms. They may refer to man’s personality, intelligence, and spiritual ability to know and relate to God. Thomas Constable adds, Both indicate personality, moral, and spiritual qualities that God and man share (i.e., self-consciousness, God-consciousness, freedom, responsibility, speech, moral discernment, etc.).
3) Each human has a body, soul and spirit (1Th 5:23). Every human will live somewhere forever. (Daniel 12:2) “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” Nowhere does the Bible say this about animals, birds or fish.
4) These distinctions are why murdering a human is wrong, but killing an animal to eat is not.
2. Why is a Biblical Worldview of Life Important?
a. It provides a solid foundation for origins.
1) Only Life can give life.
2) We will consider more on this in another sermon.
b. It upholds the sanctity of life.
1) Humans are not animals. We possess God’s image.
2) Being created in the image of God, humans are set apart from all other creatures. Humanity is more sacred than the rest of creation. It is wrong to place animals, trees, plants or objects on the sacred level of man.
c. It condemns abortion and euthanasia as murder.
1) Intentionally terminating a conceived life by abortion, for any reason, is murdering that life.
2) Intentionally terminating the life of an aged or sickly human is murdering that life.
3) Suicide is equally wrong.
d. It gives humans a purpose for now and eternity.
1) When God first created humans in His own image, He walked and talked with them in the Garden of Eden and desired for them to live forever (Gen 3:22).
2) Because God made you in His image, you know that He loves you, has a purpose for your life, and wants you to live eternally with Him.
3) When Adam and Eve sinned, their sweet communion with God ended. Every human has inherited their sin nature, and we have all chosen to sin.
4) The rest of the Bible details God’s plan to redeem the human race from their sinful condition and reconcile them back to His fellowship. Jesus died for our sins. He loves you and offers you forgiveness and reconciliation to God by faith. Your part is to repent and trust Him.
Conclusion: If your worldview of life has not been truly biblical, I challenge you to ask God to change your thinking today. Download my notes and study over this thoughtfully. Let God and the Bible be your ultimate and supreme authority on life.
If you have not yet received God’s gift of eternal life, do so today.
