This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Genesis 1-4” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, April 26, 1992.

We are reading this evening from Genesis, Chapter 2, beginning at verse 4. This is Genesis, Chapter 2, verse 4. These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created in the day that the Lord God made in earth and heaven. No shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground.

But a mist used to rise from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground. Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being. And the Lord God planted a garden toward the east in Eden. And there he placed the man whom he had formed, and 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 Pyshon. It flows around the whole land of Kavala, where there is gold, and the gold of that land is good. The Bedellium and the Onyx Stone are there. The name of the second river is Gion. It flows around the whole land of Kush. The name of the third river is Tigris. It flows east of Assyria. 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. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, From any tree of the garden you may eat freedom, 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.

Then the Lord God said, it is not good for the man to be alone, I will make him a helper suitable for him. And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called the living creature, that was its name. And the man gave names to all the cattle and to the birds of the sky and to every beast of the field. but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept.

Then he took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which he had taken from the man and brought her to the man, and the man said, This is now bone of my bone. flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man. For this cause a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall cleave to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.”

Help us with your word, Lord, that we might understand, yes, those things that are on the surface and obvious to us, but also those deep things. Father, encourage us to plumb the depths, that we might be profited all the more, not just personally, but for the sake of the body.

And Lord, with respect to the body, may your word have its wonderful impact and effect here. So may the word be proclaimed with integrity. Be a blessing, Father, to those who rule that they may survey the word, in order that that word may be proclaimed rightly. And may we have encouragement in those who serve that they may be an example to us, so may they serve with diligence and honor the Lord Jesus Christ, the great servant. We pray these things, our God, so that we might be a people that pleases you. And Father, open our eyes that we may see opportunities in which we then, Lord, can be of service in your name. Encourage us where we live, bless us as a congregation in this community, that the power of your word may be known. We ask it for Christ’s sake. Amen. Now we move tonight, we move on to a new section in the book of Genesis.

We know this is a new section not just because the account of creation, at least that initial account, has been completed with the recounting of the seventh day as we find it there at the opening of chapter two, that we know as well that this is a new section, we are moving into new material because of that distinctive organizing phrase that appears at the beginning of the fourth verse in that second chapter.

Now that distinctive and organizing phrase is this, these are the generations. You might not have known it, but here is that item that organizes for you the entirety of the book of Genesis. It is a formula phrase. and it appears ten times in this book, dividing the book. Let me give you the divisions.

We have first of all what we would call the prologue to the book of Genesis. Prologue is what we have just looked at in our series of messages. Genesis 1 verse 1 through the second chapter of the third verse. That’s the prologue, that’s the introduction.

Then we have the first occurrence of this formula phrase, these are the generations in verse 4 of chapter 2. This then sets off the first major section of the book of Genesis. and we can call this section The Generations of the Heavens and the Earth. It runs from Genesis 2 verse 4 through chapter 4, the last verse that is, verse 26. You will note then in chapter 5, once more we have this formula phrase. Here, this is the book of the generations of Adam. This can be then described as the generations of Adam’s section of the book of Genesis, running from the 5th chapter, the 1st verse, through the 6th chapter, the 8th verse. Section 2. Section 3 is chapter 6, verse 9, through chapter 9, verse 29. These are the generations of Noah. Then section 4, chapter 10, verse 1 through chapter 11, verse 9, these are the generations of Noah’s sons. Section 5, beginning in the 10th verse of the 11th chapter and running through the 11th chapter of the 26th verse, the generations of Shem.

Then the major section from the book of Genesis, chapter 11, verse 27, through chapter 25, verse 11, the generations of Terah. Of course, we know the importance of Terah, he having been the father of Abram. A major portion then, or at least the longest portion in The book of Genesis is dedicated to the story of Abram, son of Terah. Seventhly, we come to chapter 25, verse 12, running through the 18th verse of that 25th chapter, The Generations of Ishmael.

The eighth section, chapter 25, verse 19, through chapter 35, verse 29, The Generations of Isaac. The ninth section begins with the beginning of the thirty-sixth chapter, runs through the thirty-seventh chapter, the first verse, this is the generations of Esau. Finally, number ten, beginning in the second verse of that thirty-seventh chapter, to the conclusion of the book, the generations of Jacob. for the book of Genesis.

And keeping that outline in view will be very helpful in understanding the sections as you go through them. For you will want to understand them as integral parts, blended together, woven together as a piece. We are now concerned with the first major section after the prologue, the first major section of the book of Genesis, beginning with that fourth verse of the second chapter.

This section is set off by its own distinctive features. It is set off by its own distinctive features. It is distinguished at the very outset by God’s act of creation. These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heaven. They are set off with respect to that distinctive act of God, but we also notice that they are set off that it is set off in other ways.

For instance, there is that progression with respect to the names of God. Now I know that this has caused a great deal of difficulty in the history of biblical interpretation, so much so that in the last century it was suggested that the different names for God that we recognize here are indications that we are dealing with different authors, different traditions that are brought together, sewn together then into a whole in our scriptures. In fact, the documents behind these two sections as we move from the prologue to the first section of Genesis, the distinctions are so marked and remarkable that we can say that they are actually the products of different times. taking us even beyond the time of Moses. Well, even though we don’t fall for any of that, we must take notice of the fact that there is this progression with respect to the names for God. In the prologue, the name for God is simply God. In the Hebrew, Elohim.

Slave for God belongs especially to God in his infinite majesty. His infinite majesty as the creator. We think of all of our God’s might and power, the splendor attended to him. He is the one who has revealed himself. He has made himself known in his creative acts. He makes himself known also as he providentially sustains that which he has made. He is the one who lays claim upon man, specifically as man’s creator. But he lays claim upon man beyond all those things that might suggest themselves as God’s.

He alone is God, he alone has created, he alone sustains. Knowledge of him, he being the only true God, the one who has in fact made all things and made man, the knowledge of him is communicated in man even innately and intuitively. This is Elohim, God in his infinite majesty, splendor, and his creator.

This God is sovereign, and in keeping with the language, the particular language of the prologue now, this God is sovereign over the wide ranging expanses of His creation order. With regard to space, with regard to place, God is sovereign over the entirety of the expanses that are surveyed here in the prologue. But then again, as wide as God’s sovereignty is here, to be appreciated with respect to space and place, so it is also to be appreciated with regard to the specifics, the definite qualities, the definite movement and moments of time. So, in the prologue, God’s sovereignty is spoken of. with respect to indefinite ranges of space and place, but also, his sovereignty is spoken of with respect to the definite limitations, the definite boundaries of time.

Space is without almost definition, it seems. It is so wide and far-ranging. But time, as it is surveyed in the prologue, is very definite and particular. Day one, day two, day three, day four. So it is, then, we notice as this one identified for us as Elohim is presented to us. We have simultaneously presented to us the broad and indefinite range of place and space, the heavens and the earth, the cosmos, the firmament, the expanse, the seas, the sky. The dry land as generally considered, the ground indefinitely put before us, the face of the ground.

Elohim is king over the creation in its most general, widely defined, and far-reaching expanse. And from this we are to understand that this One who is so majestic, so mighty, so magnificent, is everywhere. Everywhere exerting His sovereign rule, that rule as expansive as the wide reaches of the creation itself. But this one Elohim is also king of time, king of moments and days.

Moments and days, the ticks of the clock. This one Elohim is king of history. in its most detailed, most specific, most particular, most definite delineation. Day one, specifically defined. Evening and morning. So then, we have the specificity of the prologue with regard to time. and the lack of specificity with regard to space or place. No markers, no boundaries, no specific locations identified. The section seems to be quite indefinite with regard to space, but quite definite with regard to time.

Identifying then those days successively as God the great King Elohim is drawn within the narrow limits of the time frame here described for fellowship with his creation within that time frame. All of this laid out in front of us as the chapter, as that first chapter of Genesis, as the prologue itself. is laid out before us to the end that man might be understood all the better. God, then, Elohim, as he is revealed for us in the prologue, is opened up for us, is revealed for us for our sake. We who must know then that there is nowhere in the created order where we can be absent from him, the King, Elohim. But not only this, we must also know that we cannot ourselves be everywhere But at the same time, we must know that there is one who is everywhere and is everywhere king.

But this consideration now with regard to the everywhere, with regard to the space or the place, It’s quite the reverse when we come to the issue of time, the succession of the days, and the specificity with regard to those days as we make our way through Genesis 1 and the opening portion of Genesis 2. The Bible portrays the creation as bound to one time, to a singular time. a singular time frame, those successions of days, that succession of days that mankind then will uniformly experience. Though we cannot be everywhere at once, though we can only be one place at a time, the time that exists is that which we uniformly experience. We will everywhere experience the same category of time, the same limitations, the same succession of days. But Elohim, who is King in the wide expanse of creation spaces, is also king in the narrow specified confines of the limitations of days, even to the days that man experiences. Day one, day two, day three.

These considerations are fundamental. It may seem that they are somewhat abstract and even philosophical, but they provide the context for the further development of the story as it unfolds through the pages of scripture, establishing even here the priority of the time factor which is so much emphasized as the prologue is spelled out before us. We cannot abstract ourselves from the specificity with regard to time in the created order.

And our God is not stranger to that, but intimately acquainted with it. For just as we are called upon to live out our days before him, He himself has lived those days before he has called us to live them. He knows what you are going through. He understands even the limitations that you feel because of the constraints of time. He himself is not stranger to those things. In fact, he is king specifically in them for you. The force, the power, the might, then the weight of the prologue as it is spelled out for us here in Genesis is to communicate this to you. That the days that you are now commanded to live have already been lived by God.

But now comes the shift to Genesis 2, verse 4 and following. And interestingly, we do not find here an advance in time, as if now, with these verses that are set before us, we take up where verse 3 of chapter 2 ended. as if we are now going to go on with the events that occurred after that first Sabbath.

Instead, we are faced with a recapitulation. There’s a going back, a recounting, a retelling of the creation story. Why in the world is this necessary? Again, hasn’t God created for himself problems? First of all, he gives us a word in which he sort of changes names in the middle of the story, giving opportunity to those who, in their confusion, would actually blaspheme him and discount his word. And now he gives us a retelling of the creation as if there are actually two accounts of creation that conflict with each other. Now, what sense does that make? That makes no sense at all to say. Or does it? Or does it?

Help is given to us in understanding better as if we focus upon the name by which God is known in this section. Now he introduces himself as Lord God. to Lord God, that is Jehovah Elohim. Yahweh Elohim. What is the purpose of the new name? You know, do you not? You’re ahead of me, aren’t you? This new name, Yahweh, is God’s personal name.

It’s the name he reserves for the intimacy of that fellowship enjoyed in covenantal bond. You will know my secret name because you are my special friends. Is that not why, then, when Moses is to introduce God to the Israelites, specifically with regard to that covenant in view that it will be this day that he is to carry? But here, in Genesis chapter 2, in combination now with the name from the prologue, Elohim, this new name Yahweh serves as a reminder that the great King, who is sovereign over the vast reaches of space and the specifics of time, is also the covenant Lord, who for the sake of his covenant manages the vast regions and reaches of time. yet within the confines and specifics of a particular place, a place where he enters into deep and intimate communion with his creature. It will not just then be in time That God, this great God, will enter into intimate fellowship with this creature. It will be in a specific place. One you can name. You can name it.

Genesis 2, verses 4 and following, then must return to an account of the creation of all things. It must, there is an inner necessity, there is a constraint, for the whole story hasn’t been told. The end hasn’t been reached. And in so doing, then, it will reverse the pattern that we found spelled out for us in the prologue, chapter 1, verse 1, through chapter 2, verse 3. Now, then, Genesis 2, verse 4 and following will be direct where that prologue was indirect, and it will become indirect where that former section, the prologue, was direct. Chapter 2, verse 4 and following is non-specific about time. Find some specific reference to time. In chapter 2, verse 4 and following, you will not find it. Indefinite. There is a day, and the day you eat of it, then you will die. Not named, not specific.

Genesis 1, 1 through 2, 3, was very specific about time. Also now, Genesis 2, verse 4, is specific about place toward the east, in Eden, where there’s a tree of life, tree of the knowledge of good and evil, where there is this river that comes forth and divides into four, and all of the four rivers are named, and the countries are named. As Genesis 1, 1 through 2, 3, then that prologue provides that necessary and only proper base for what we read in the sequence. Genesis 2, verses 4 and following. As that prologue provides the necessary and only proper base for what we read following now, Genesis 2 for following provides the necessary and only proper conclusion to what we have just read in the prologue.

Emphasis finally finally has to fall upon fellowship between God and man, upon the intimacy between God and man in covenantal bond, where place—that is, place of communion, place of fellowship—even displaces the specifics, all specifics, with regard to time itself.

Do you understand what I’m saying? I have just described for you eternity. For one must give way to the other. Thus you see the emphasis in the sequel, chapter 2, verse 4 and following. has to fall upon fellowship, intimate communion between God and man, upon the intimacy between God and man in covenant bond, where place—that is, place of communion and fellowship—even displaces the specifics about time. Isn’t that what eternity is?

Conscious of time only in the most general and non-specific sense. The ages of the ages. But simultaneously conscious of the presence of God. His presence with you. Your communion with Him. in that specific place where all of the specifics are named. Would you like to read the last chapters of the book of Revelation in order to confirm this? The city. The various things that can be said about the city. The tree is there and the tree is named. The river is there. The river of life. And communion, fellowship with God, most intimate in that specific place. We have been told that Jesus has gone to prepare that place for us and that he will most certainly return and he will receive us to himself. that where he is, that place in all of its specifics, we might be as well.

So that through him we might enjoy eternal fellowship, communion. intimacy with God. But marvel of marvels, are we not also told that we who believe have already begun to enjoy that place? Truly, Genesis 2 verse 4 will end in 4.26 on a note of tragedy, with man separated from God, and man then having to cry out or call upon the name of the Lord because God is no longer there. But as this section of Genesis ends in tragedy, it is not irrespective of the remedy in view, because thanks be to God, in Jesus Christ our Savior, there is remedy. for the restoration of broken fellowship, the communion lost. It is regained, accessible to you today. Will you not avail yourself of contact with that place? in all of its specifics, in all of its wonder, in all of its beauty, in all of its power.

Let us pray. Our Father, may we learn well the lessons of Genesis’ prologue, but may we also learn the lessons well of the sequel, and be taught about the intimate communion which is in view between God and man. The end to which, in fact, creation moves. The end to which all time conspires.

So that in the fullness of time, you will effect fellowship and communion with you afresh, anew in Christ. that one who is the remedy for the broken fellowship due to our sin, that in fact now, because of him, we might be brought to that place where our fellowship with you will never be broken again, and we will abide with you forever.

The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.