The Garden of God
Jason Martin
From the Beginning... / Genesis 2:4–25
Genesis 2 mainly zooms in on the events of day 6.
God gives mankind life, a place, a purpose, relationship
The Divine and the dust
Read Genesis 2:4-7
1. The LORD God
a. YHWH Elohim is the Creator
b. Adam - adamah
i. Made from the ground (adamah), but not yet alive
2. Why does Genesis emphasize both dust and God’s breath?
a. Without it, we’re just dust. (Breath / Spirit theme)
Job 33:4 ESV
4 The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
Psalm 104:29–30 ESV
29 When you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. 30 When you send forth your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.
3. At some point, we will cover;
a. The valley of dry bones in Ezekiel 37:1-14 where YHWH’s Breath/Spirit bring life out of death
b. John 20:21-22 where Jesus breathes on the disciples and tells the “Receive the Holy Spirit”
Even breathing is a reminder that our existence is completely dependent on God.
The Garden of God
Read Genesis 2:8-14.
1. Just like from the zoomed out view of creation in Genesis 1, we see the LORD preparing, populating, and providing abundantly.
a. Water
b. Eden
c. Tree of Life
d. Tree of the knowledge of good and evil
1. Why is Scripture constantly connecting water (theme) with life and God’s Presence?
2. Eden was a Cosmic and literal mountain (theme) providing life-giving waters
Ezekiel 28:13–14 ESV
13 You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle; and crafted in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created they were prepared. 14 You were an anointed guardian cherub. I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire you walked.
3. Tree of Life
a. Temple / garden sanctuary / Divine Presence theme
4. Tree of the knowledge of good and evil
a. Who’s in charge to decide right and wrong / rebellion theme
• God provides abundantly before giving mankind its prohibition
Intended for Work
Read Genesis 2:15-17
1. Work it and keep it
2. 2nd commandment (be fruitful)
3. spiritual death
1. work existed before the fall - even for spiritual beings
a. work is not the curse but the curse is what makes it sometimes feel unenjoyable
Genesis 3:17–19 ESV
17 And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
b. image if everything you did went good and was blessed
c. same command given to the priests regarding the Tabernacle and Temple
d. work was part of God’s ‘good’ design. Frustration was not
2. The first two commands given to mankind are to:
a. Genesis 1 -
i. be fruitful and multiply
ii. fill the Earth
iii. subdue it
iv. exercise dominion over the creatures of the land, sea, and air
b. Genesis 2 - you may eat of every tree of the Garden except one. This introduces;
i. Authority
ii. Obedience
iii. Trust
iv. Moral Responsibility
v. Death
3. Death vs. life mindset
a. “look what God won’t let you have”
b. “look at everything God gives you. Trust Him about the thing He has forbidden”
A Helper
Read Genesis 2:18-25
1. The first thing that’s not good
2. A Helper
3. Marriage theme starts
1. Man being alone
a. before there was any sin, there was something that was not good - loneliness
i. We were created for relationship. First with God, then with each other and the rest of creation
2. A Helper
a. Named Creation & Eve
b. Some people incorrectly think of “helper” as inferior
i. The word for ‘helper’ is “ezer” and is also used to describe God in places like Psalm 121:2 & Psalm 33:20.
ii. A helper provides what another lacks.
3. Marriage
a. Bride came from a wound in Adam’s side
i. Reminds us of Christ on the cross
b. Marriage is established before sin
i. It is a covenant meant to mirror the self-giving love relationship God has with us
ii. Jesus quotes Genesis 1:24 in Matthew 19:5 & Mark 10:7-8 when being asked about divorce
iii. The Spirit, through Paul interprets this in Ephesians 5:31-32
Ephesians 5:31–32 ESV
31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.
iv. Paul went on to say then that it represents us becoming one Spirit with the LORD in 1 Corinthians 6:16-17.
v. “one Spirit” and “one flesh” is unity
1. Unity requires similarities and differences
2. since mankind is made in God’s image, relationship isn’t an accidental feature. God is relational in His own being
Exported from Logos Bible Study, 11:00 AM August 14, 2026.