LIFE-STUDY OF GENESIS MESSAGE TEN: GOD'S PROCEDURES TO FULFILL HIS PURPOSE (1)

In the previous messages we have covered the first main point of the book of Genesis—the desire and purpose of God. This was revealed in Genesis 1:1—2:3. God's desire and purpose are to have a corporate man to express Him in His image and to represent Him with His authority. Now we must ask a question: how can man express God in His image and represent Him with His authority? This brings us to the second main point of this book.

 

B. God's Procedures to Fulfill His Purpose—2:4-7

Genesis chapter 2 reveals the way God uses to accomplish His purpose. This is why we have the second record of creation in Genesis 2. When I was a young Christian, I was troubled by these two records of the creation of man. Genesis 1 provided us a record of creation. Why do we need another record in Genesis 2? It was not until the later days of my ministry that God showed me the answer. Although the record of creation in Genesis 1 reveals God's purpose in creating man, it does not show us the way to fulfill this purpose. Therefore, we need the second record to reveal the way, the procedure, God takes to fulfill His purpose. After seeing the purpose in chapter 1, we must come to see the procedure in chapter 2. This procedure is fully revealed in Genesis 2, starting with verse 5 and continuing through the end of the chapter. If we read this portion of the Word in the light of the whole Bible, we will see that this procedure is of three steps. We can only cover one step in this message, leaving the remaining two steps for subsequent messages. However, before we consider the first step, we want to point out that the means by which God fulfills His purpose is life.

 

1. By Life

God is going to accomplish His purpose by means of His own life. How can one person express another if he does not have that person's life? A dog cannot express a cat because a dog does not have a cat's life. A dog has a dog's life, and this life is only suitable for expressing a dog. According to the same principle, a cat can never express a dog. If we think otherwise, we are dreaming. How can we human beings express God? There is no way except by having the life of God. If a dog is to express a cat, there must be a way to inject the cat's life into the dog. Once a dog has received a cat's life, it will be easy for it spontaneously to become the expression of a cat. Man is destined to express God. Are we able to do this? It is impossible for us to do it by our life because it is simply a human life. God is transcendent. Our life is too low to express Him. If we are going to express God, we need the life of God. If we have the life of God, we will express Him spontaneously and unconsciously. Once we have His life, we will express His image. Life is the way to fulfill God's purpose. This life is not our natural life, but the divine and eternal life of God.

Authority is also related to life. Neither a table nor a chair has authority, for authority is always related to a certain life. Look at yourself. The more life you have, the more authority you have. Human beings have authority over the animals because we have more life than the animals. Even in the area of human relationships we find it true that the more life a person has the more authority he has. If I am more mature than you, I have authority over you. If a teenager comes to me, there is no need for me to threaten him. He spontaneously will come under my authority. This authority was not given to me by the President of the United States. It came from my age. If you are 110 years of age and I am 70, I will come under your authority. Your age assigns you the authority. In order to represent God with His authority, we need His life.

If you are to represent a certain person in society, you need to possess a life that is nearly the same as his. Suppose you are invited to represent the President of the United States. You need to have the same amount of life as he. If your life is rather low, you will be unable to represent him. The standard of your life must match the life of the President.

This is the basic and logical principle that we must care for: we can never express God or represent God by our own life. Consider your life. Your life is incapable of expressing God; it is only adequate to express yourself. To a certain extent, a woman is not even qualified in life to represent her husband, because her life is not as high as her husband's. I wonder if the sisters agree with this. At any rate, we all must admit that our natural life disqualifies us from expressing God and representing Him. Not only is our fallen life inadequate for this, but even the created life we had at the beginning was inadequate. As we shall see in the next message, this was the reason God, after creating man, placed him in front of the tree of life, indicating that man needed to possess a higher life than he already had.

Some people may ask, "Didn't God create us in His image?" Yes, God did create us in His image. Then these people may say, "Since we already have God's image, why can't we express Him?" We may say that the man created in the image of God resembles the photograph of a person. Suppose you take a photograph of Brother John and show it to others saying that this is Brother John. In a sense, you are correct, for that is Brother John. However, the photograph is not the real Brother John; it is Brother John in a picture. Although the picture reveals the features, style, and the person of Brother John, it does not have the life of Brother John. It can show something of Brother John, but it cannot express him. The only way for the photograph to express Brother John is for it to have his life. Man was created in the image of God, but he was like a photograph showing something of God without having the life of God. Although man was in the image of God, he did not have the life of God. God intended that man should partake of the life indicated by the tree of life. Man failed to do it. Today, by believing in Christ, we have been brought back to share in that life. We all have received eternal life. Thus, there is no other way for us to express God in His image and to represent God with His authority except by sharing His life. This is confirmed by many verses in the Bible.

 

a. Life Conforms the Believers to the Image of God and Brings Them into Glory

The Bible says that it is life which conforms the believers to the image of the Son of God (Rom. 8:2, 6, 29). Only by the way of life can we be conformed to the image of the Son of God. Romans 8:2 speaks of "the Spirit of life," and verse 6 mentions that the mind set on the spirit is life. It is by this life of the Spirit that we can be conformed to the Son of God. This is very clear. Also, it is Christ as life who brings us into God's glory to express God. Colossians 3:4 tells us that Christ our life will bring us into God's glory that we may express God. This confirms the claim that it is by God's life that we express God.

 

b. Resurrection Life Gives Authority

The Bible also shows that it was the budding resurrection life which gave authority to Aaron's rod (Num. 17:8). Twelve rods representing the twelve tribes of Israel were placed in the presence of the Lord for one night. Each rod was a piece of dry, dead wood. During the night, Aaron's rod budded, signifying that resurrection life had authorized his rod to reign over the people. Thus, life gives authority. If you are going to be a leading one in the church, you need a great deal of life. Elders are assigned not only by the outward appointment but by the inward authorization in life. All elders should be matured in life and qualified to rule by this reigning life. This is also true for the deacons, the deaconesses, and the leading ones in the service groups. Only life can assign authority.

Revelation 20:4 says that it is the overcoming resurrection life which brings believers into the reign with Christ during the millennium. Resurrection life brings us into the kingship with Christ because it proceeds out of the throne of God. The throne of God signifies authority. We see a picture of this in Revelation 22:1 where the water of life issues out of the throne of God. Therefore, authority and life are mutually related. The river of life is related to the throne of God. If we have the throne of God as our source, we will be in the water of life. If we are in the water of life, it will bring us to the throne of God, giving us the authority that proceeds from His throne. Life brings authority. We all must see that representing God requires God's life.

 

2. The First Step—Creating Man as a Vessel to Contain God as Life

The first step of God's procedure in fulfilling His purpose was to create man as a vessel to contain Himself as life. I like this word vessel. Do you realize that as a human being you are a vessel? A vessel is like a bottle or a cup. Today, while I was with the Lord, I was rejoicing because I am a vessel. I said to myself, "Man, you are exactly like a bottle. Your mouth resembles the mouth of a bottle. The purpose of a bottle is to contain something, not to contain yourself. You are a vessel designed to contain God."

This is not my concept. It was presented initially in Genesis and then stated emphatically by Paul in Romans 9 when he said, "Who are you, trying to argue with God? Don't you realize that you are clay? The potter has sovereign authority to mold the clay into vessels." Romans 9:21, 23 reveals that God created man as a vessel. We are vessels to contain God as life.

Therefore, after God created man, He put him in front of the tree of life. The tree of life was good for food. In John 6 the Lord Jesus said that He was edible, that He was the bread of life (John 6:35). Therefore, we all can eat Him. Furthermore, we contain whatever we eat because it comes into our being. Our being is simply a vessel to contain everything we eat. Whatever we eat is not only contained in us, but is assimilated into our very element. It even becomes us. Therefore, dietitians say, "You are what you eat." We are not only containing vessels; we are eating vessels, vessels that assimilate what we eat. God is desirous of being eaten by us. If we tell God that we want to eat Him, He will be very happy. We are His eating and assimilating vessels. Eventually, God will become us. Praise the Lord! We were made vessels to contain God as life.

Romans 9:21, 23 tells us that we are vessels unto honor, vessels of mercy prepared unto glory. This is our portion. Do not look down on me. I am a vessel unto honor, not dishonor. One day I will be filled with glory and I will be in glory to express the God of glory. We all are vessels of mercy prepared unto glory.

 

a. The Background

Firstly, we need to see the background of God's first step in fulfilling His purpose.

 

1) God Had Not Caused It to Rain upon the Earth

I love the Bible. I have been with the Bible exactly 50 years and I love it today more than ever. As we come to Genesis 2:4-7, I want to say a word to the young people. When I was a young Christian, I was troubled by Genesis 2, thinking that it did not sound very biblical. I felt that the Bible should be classical, but Genesis 2 did not seem very classical to me. For example, in Genesis 2:5 it says, "for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth." I wondered why this was included in the Bible. I did not think it was very important. Then verse 5 continues by saying, "there was not a man to till the ground." What is the meaning of this? It did not sound like a word of the Bible to me. Earlier in verse 5 it mentions "every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew." What is this? I thought it was like the vocabulary of a fourth-grader. Furthermore, we are told in verse 6 that "there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground." It did not sound like the words of the Bible to me. Many of you may say, "Romans 8 is good. It sounds the way a Bible is supposed to sound. But I don't like Genesis 2. There is no spirit there, no mind and no life. It just talks about herbs, plants, and mist." Nevertheless, Genesis 2:5-6 is part of the Bible, and without these verses the Bible is imperfect. The Bible needs these two verses of Genesis chapter 2 in order to perfect it. It is very significant for us to see what is revealed in this passage.

Do not despise any line in the Bible, for the Bible proceeded out of the mouth of God. Every word, phrase, clause, and sentence proceeded out of His mouth. It is a serious matter to read a phrase in the Bible. You may prove this by reading Genesis 2:5-6 again and again with a praying spirit. If you pray and read these verses in such a way, you will be nourished. However, if you do the same thing with some lines from the Los Angeles Times or the Santa Anna Register you will be killed. There is a great difference between secular writings and the Holy Bible. Every word in the Bible is holy; it is something of God.

God had not caused it to rain upon the earth. This signifies that God had not sent down His Spirit to mingle with man who was to be made with the dust of the ground. In Joel 2:23, 28-29 we see that God's Spirit is allegorized as the rain.

Some Christians criticize us for allegorizing the Bible too much. However, we must realize that allegorizing the Bible is proper because much of it, especially Genesis 1 and 2, is written in figurative language. Paul himself allegorized the Old Testament. In 2 Corinthians 4:6 he mentions the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness. This certainly refers to Genesis 1. That the very God who commanded light to shine out of darkness now shines in us means that God's work in Genesis 1 is an allegory of what He is doing within us today. In Galatians 4 Paul allegorized Sarah, Abraham's wife, and Hagar, Abraham's concubine. Paul allegorized these two women as two covenants. Therefore, the best way to understand the Old Testament is to allegorize it.

In the four Gospels the Lord Jesus allegorized almost everything. He allegorized all of the types, shadows, and figures found in the Old Testament. He said that He was Solomon, David, the sabbath, the light, the food, the air, the door, the Shepherd, and the pasture. He was everything. Therefore, we need to allegorize the Bible. I encourage you to do this.

Now we are going to allegorize Genesis 2:5-6 where we are told that God did not cause rain to come on the earth. This signifies that God had not yet sent His heavenly rain, His Spirit, down to earth. When the rain descends to the earth, it soaks into the ground and mingles with it for the purpose of producing life. Now we can see the point: that there was no rain before God created man signifies that the Spirit from heaven had not yet mingled with something of dust to produce life.

 

2) There Was No Man to Till the Ground

"And there was not a man to till the ground." This signifies that there was no man to work with God in coordination by human labor with the divine (cf. 1 Cor. 3:9). Many Christians are too super-spiritual. When they are too "super," they become superficial. They are superficially spiritual, saying, "We should not do anything. The Spirit does everything." This is wrong. If you do nothing, God cannot do anything, for He needs human labor to cooperate with His divine labor. What is the use of the rain coming down if there is no man to till the ground? If, as a man, you have tilled the ground, you have the right to pray, "Lord, I am here. Send the rain." Then God will send rain. However, suppose there is no man upon the earth claiming the rain and some angel says, "O God Jehovah, why don't You send the rain?" God will reply, "If I send My rain, it will be wasted. I am waiting for a man to till the ground. Once the man on the earth has tilled the ground, I will send rain."

In these days the church is concerned about gospel preaching. Suppose, however, there is not one Christian in Anaheim working with God and some angels in the air pray, "O God Almighty, save the people in Anaheim. Send out Your voice and everyone will repent." God would reply, "This is foolish. When there is no one in Anaheim working with Me, how can I save people?" Do you remember the story of Cornelius? Although an angel came to him with a message, the angel could not preach the gospel (Acts 10:1-8). The angel told Cornelius, "You need to send for Peter and ask him to come. I cannot till the ground because I am an angel. I am not qualified. The human beings have been ordained to preach the gospel. They are qualified. Ask Peter to come."

While there was no man on the earth to till the ground, God did not send the rain. There was no man to work with God in coordination by human labor with the divine. We must labor in coordination with God's divine labor. Day and night we must pray for our relatives and our friends. We must work on them. Then the rain will come. If we do not cooperate with God by tilling the ground, the rain will never come. God does not waste His rain. When it comes, it comes to produce life.

 

3) No Life Had Grown Out of the Earth

"And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew." This signifies that there was not yet any life, for life had not grown out of the earth. Since there was no one to till the ground and no rain had fallen, it was impossible to have life.

 

4) A Mist Went Up from the Earth

"But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground" (v. 6). This signifies that there was only something out of the earth to work on the earth; there was nothing from heaven coming down to cause the earth to grow out life.

These four items compose the background of the creation of man. If we approach these verses in an allegorical way, we will find them worthy to be in the Bible. I love Genesis 2:5-6. Now we may understand that we need the rain and that God needs us. God needs our co-labor. Then the rain from heaven will descend to mingle with the dust of the earth to produce life.

 

b. The Way—Genesis 2:7

Now we proceed to consider the way in which God created man. God created man exactly like a bottle with a neck and a mouth. Praise the Lord that I have a mouth! How could I live without one? God made me this way.

 

1) To Form Man's Body with the Dust of the Ground

God formed man's body with the dust of the ground that man may have a body as his outward expression and as an organ to contact material things. God made man with dust, not with gold. Gold cannot produce life. If you sow seed into gold, you will waste the seed. Dust, however, can grow life. If you sow seed into the dust, the seed will grow. We are not a man of gold, but a man of dust. I am happy to be a man of dust. I am an earthen vessel. Hallelujah!

Our body was formed out of dust to be our outward expression. When I have the time, I like to look at myself in the mirror, especially examining my face. The more I look at myself, the more I am convinced that I was made by God. No other person in the whole universe can fashion such a wonderful creature. The style of American cars may be improved and changed every year, but no one can improve the design of a human being. Our ears have been perfectly designed for listening. How awkward it would be if the members of our body were relocated! What would happen if our nose were placed upon our forehead and turned upward? The rain and the dust would come in. God purposely designed the nose to be turned downward that only air may enter in. Although my nose is not very attractive, I am still fond of it. God designed it for me.

There are many things to consider about the human body. In Ecclesiastes 12:3 Solomon mentions the grinders, saying that when a man is old the grinders will cease because they are few. The grinding here refers to the grinding activity of our molars. The front teeth, the incisors, are the cutting teeth and the molars are the grinding teeth. When we eat a piece of meat, our front teeth cut it, and the tongue sends it to the molars where it is ground into a digestible substance. According to Ecclesiastes, the grinders cease because an older person usually has fewer teeth. Who designed us this way? Who designed our incisors, our molars, and the saliva that is secreted to liquefy the food? Surely God did this.

Man was created by God. He was designed by the best artist. Do not pay attention to the theory of evolution. Even medical science can confirm that the human body contains all the elements found in dust such as salt, sulfur, copper, and iron. God formed a wonderful human body out of this dust. I have no words to describe it. Look at yourself. Look at your shoulders, arms, and the five fingers on each hand. With the four fingers and a thumb man can do anything. What could we do if we had five thumbs on each hand? We could not even pick up our eating utensils. If you examine your human body, you will find that it is a living bottle. We were truly made by God.

 

2) To Breathe into Man's Nostrils the Breath of Life

God breathed into man's nostrils the breath of life that man may have a spirit as the recipient for him to receive God and as an organ to contact God and the spiritual things (John 4:24; Rom. 1:9). Within a transistor radio, there is a receiver. When this receiver is damaged, the radio waves cannot get through. Likewise, our body is an outward container and within us is a spirit made by God as a receiver to receive God as the heavenly radio waves. By means of this organ we may contact spiritual things. I contact a blackboard with my hand. I contact odors with my nose, colors with my eyes. I substantiate sounds with my ears. All these material things can be substantiated by the senses in our physical body. In the universe there are also spiritual things. There is God in this universe, and God is Spirit. We cannot substantiate Him through our physical senses. It is foolish to deny the existence of God because we cannot substantiate Him in a physical way. To say that something does not exist because we cannot sense it is foolhardy. Although there are many radio waves in the atmosphere, we cannot substantiate them without a receiver. Likewise, we cannot substantiate God without the proper receiver, our human spirit. If our spirit does not function well, we will be unable to sense God. We need to tune our spirit. We need to exercise our spirit to contact God. Within us there is such an organ called by the Bible the spirit of man.

 

a) The Breath of Life and the Spirit of Man

In Hebrew the word breath in Genesis 2:7 is neshamah, which is translated "spirit" in Proverbs 20:27. This means that the breath in Genesis 2:7 is the human spirit, and this spirit is the lamp of the Lord. In ancient times people used oil lamps. The lamp contained oil which was burned to give light. Within us we have a lamp to contain the Spirit of God as the oil. Although we have such a lamp within us, we need the divine oil to come into it, enabling the lamp to burn and shine. Proverbs 20:27 says that the spirit of man searches all the inward parts of our being. When God as oil comes in to ignite our lamp, we will be enlightened and searched. The Bible tells us clearly that the breath of God has become our human spirit and that our spirit is God's lamp to contain God as the oil and to give us light.

 

 

b) The Spirit of Man Was Specifically Formed by God

The spirit of man was specifically formed by God (Zech. 12:1; Job 32:8). Zechariah 12:1 says that God stretched forth the heavens, laid the foundation of the earth, and formed the spirit of man within him. In this universe are three equally important things: the heavens, the earth, and the spirit of man. The heavens are for the earth, the earth is for man, and man has a spirit for God. God created the heavens for the earth. Without the heavens the earth cannot grow anything. The earth is for man, and man has a spirit within him to contain God. Thus, man is the center of the entire universe, and the center of man is his spirit. This is very important. As far as God is concerned, if there were no spirit within man, man would be an empty shell. If there were no man on this earth, the earth would be a void and the heavens useless. We praise the Lord that the heavens serve the earth, the earth serves man, and man has a spirit to receive God. Praise the Lord that "there is a spirit in man"!

 

c) The Spirit of Man Is Where the Spirit of God Works and the Lord Stays

The spirit of man is where the Spirit of God works. Romans 8:16 says that the Spirit of God witnesses with our spirit. Therefore, the Holy Spirit works with the human spirit. Second Timothy 4:22 says, "The Lord be with your spirit." The Lord Jesus is now with our spirit. This is where He dwells.

 

3) To Make Man a Living Soul

God made man a living soul that man may have a soul as his person with his personality and as an organ to contact the psychological realm. In between our outward body and our inward spirit is our soul, our person. By means of the soul we contact psychological things. I have previously mentioned some physical things and some spiritual things; now I want to speak about psychological things. Take the example of joy. Joy is neither material nor spiritual—it is psychological. If you come to me and find that I am unhappy with you, how will you know that I am unhappy? You will know by means of your soul, your psychological part. It is very clear that God has made us in three parts with a spirit, a soul, and a body.

 

4) To Make Man a Tripartite Being— Spirit, Soul, and Body

God made man as a tripartite being. First Thessalonians 5:23 says clearly that we have a spirit and soul and body. Hebrews 4:12 says that our spirit can be divided from our soul. Why did God create us in this way? Simply that we may be a wonderful person. We are wonderful because we are tripartite. Human beings are not simple. Do not consider yourself as simple. Related to the soul we have the mind, the emotions, and the will. Related to the body we have many members. Medical science takes years to study the human body and still cannot do it very well. Within our spirit we have the conscience, the intuition, and the fellowship. God created us in such a wonderful way because He wanted us to be His container. We were not made for any other purpose. Our body exists that we may be a living vessel to contain God. If we are to be such a vessel, we not only need the inward spirit, but also the outward body to enable us to live on this earth, exercising our spirit to contact God, take Him in, contain Him, and even assimilate Him. Praise the Lord that we have been made in a wonderful, tripartite way!

For the sake of the young people I want to use an illustration. Suppose you are a poor man. You endeavor to earn money, primarily to satisfy your physical needs. Eventually you acquire a good house, fine food, excellent clothing, and the best transportation. Once your physical needs have been met, you begin to desire music, sports, and amusements. These gratify the psychological needs of your soul. Although you can afford every amusement, as you sit alone in your home at night you have the sense that deep within you are empty. You still need something. You tell yourself, "You have everything. What more do you want? You have a car, a fine home, a good wife and children, every amusement and entertainment." Nevertheless, deep within you something says, "I still have a need." Deep within you something is demanding, requiring, and even begging. What is this? It is your spirit. This part of your being, your spirit, needs God.

We have three kinds of needs—material needs, psychological needs, and spiritual needs—because we have three parts to our being. In human society, people take care of the first two needs and neglect the third. This is why the church is here, for only the church can help people to satisfy the third need. Although you may have the finest material enjoyment and the best psychological satisfaction, you are still short. You need spiritual enjoyment, you need God. You need to be satisfied deep within. Since I have been satisfied within, I do not care very much about a car or a house. My spirit is satisfied with God, for my spirit was made to contain Him.

For the fulfillment of His purpose God firstly made man as vessels to contain Himself as life. Man was made in such a specific way, not only with a body to exist physically and with a soul to express himself, but also purposely with a spirit as an organ to contact God and as a recipient to receive and retain God. Man's soul is his person with his personality. It is a complete person. However, God's intention in creating man was not that man should express himself with himself. God's intention was that man, as a complete, created being, might take God as life and express Him in all his personality. Therefore, in addition to his soul, man needs a specific organ to contact God—the human spirit.

As we have pointed out formerly, everything in Genesis is a seed that will be developed in the following books of the Bible. The same is true regarding the matters we have been considering in this message—man as vessels to contain God, the human spirit as the organ to contact God, etc. All of these points are sown in Genesis as seeds and will be fully developed in the New Testament as a harvest. We need many verses from the New Testament to give a comprehensive definition of these matters, but for the time being we must stop here.