Debrecen Messages #8 -Genesis 1–2 and the One New Man: God’s Purpose for a New Humanity

And we’ll stop here. And tomorrow we’ll go into Genesis 2. And may you hold these things in your heart and hold them sacred and make it burn in you like fire did in the bones of Jeremiah. And for those of you sitting out there on your sofas, probably in the town of Debrecen, probably located on the street called Ballet, I’ll just say Ballet, Ballet something. And it’s in a house that’s number three something, and so if you ever want to find it, you’re getting close.

We have here today this morning a lot of new faces, including Jonathan’s wife, Dina. And we think maybe that means Diane, we’re not really sure. Our American brothers will be leaving us after today, but that’s good because we need the bed space in this house really bad. We’ll miss you, brothers, we really will, and we won’t really tell you how much you’ve meant, especially that $200, $250 a month you put into the food bill, that really helped. I really appreciate that. So, after you leave, there are just going to be two Americans here. These people…who knows what they will do with only two Americans left.

All right. We have finally, after 12 meetings, we have come to the end of Genesis 1, and we’re now in Genesis 2. Genesis 2, I’m going to make my little speech again. Genesis 1 and 2 did not happen during the fall. We live in an era of emphasis on evangelism, when evangelism to win people to Christ is everything. It is seen as the job to do. Evangelism is, in fact, in our day, the way we’re going at it, is a distraction from the gospel. I’ll repeat that so you will know that I did not make a mistake. Evangelism as it is practiced today is a distraction to the proclamation of the gospel and is of great hindrance and damage to the church. We have a philosophy that this is all God wants us to do, is to win souls. And therefore, we have created a New Testament without a church. And we have a religion, we have a faith that has no purpose to it other than saving men from hell. That’s all.

We have lost God’s eternal, an eternal intention, that which he created for. Therefore, it is good that we return to two chapters that have no fall and no sin, and learn what it is God was thinking when he created us.

So, we have started before creation and we saw things that are not secrets, all of God’s purpose is open to us before creation, those things which happened before the foundation of the world, but when Genesis 1 starts, everything becomes a mystery, and the mystery is not revealed until you and I come along down there in Asia Manor and in Syria. And over, was it Joppa or Haifa? Joppa? When the Holy Spirit descended on the Gentiles. Come, come. Joppa. I think it’s Joppa. Cornelius and Joppa.

Okay. Now we have looked through Genesis 1 to look again at God’s purpose, And the last thing we saw was the introduction of man. And when man came into being, then we began to see clearly what he intended, at least for man.

Now, we come to Genesis 2. Genesis 1 starts off with one verse about heaven, and then it

comes down and concentrates everything on earth. Chapter 2 will come down and

concentrate everything on man. And then, before the chapter is over, it will come and

concentrate on the man and the woman. It’s a big chapter.

How shall I begin? Those first four verses are really strange, aren’t they? Those four verses don’t belong here. I would like to have a talk with Moses and say, Moses, the day you wrote this, you weren’t thinking too clearly. Moses should have inserted this passage in the record of the sixth day just before man was created. That’s where this belongs, but what he did is he left it out of the sixth day, right before Adam was created. And he puts it here in what we call Genesis 2 in order to reintroduce man.

He’s introduced man this much in Genesis 1. Now he’s going to reintroduce him and give lots of details about him in Genesis 2. So he reintroduces him by telling us about the mist and about the ground not being tilled, and that, earth needs a man.