August 28, 2022
Genesis 2:15-22, Ecclesiastes 4:7-12
“By Design”
Service Overview: When God created the world, he declared the creation to be good, however, there was something God said wasn’t good; that the man he created was alone. Throughout God’s Word we see this theme over and over, that, by design, people were made for community.
Memory Verse for the Week:
“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2 (NIV)
Background Information:
- Everything thus far in Genesis that has been scrutinized by God has been given a positive assessment. Every situation has come through as either good or very good. For the first time we encounter something that is not good: man’s lack of a corresponding companion. (Victor P. Hamilton, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament: Genesis, 181)
- The six joyous refrains (“And God saw that it was good”), capped by the satisfied perfection of the seventh refrain (“and it was very good”), leaves the first time reader unprepared for the “not good” of this section: “Then the LORD God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone’” (v. 18a). This startles us. Professor Cassuto points out that “not good” here is strong language. It indicates not only the absence of something good but a substantial deficiency. (R. Kent Hughes, Preaching the Word: Genesis, 58)
- God begins, indeed, at the first step of human society, yet designs to include others, each in its proper place. The commencement, therefore, involves a general principle, that man was formed to be a social animal. (John Calvin, Commentary on Genesis – Volume 1, 73)
- The observation and declaration of Adam’s need is all God’s. God did not consult Adam. Indeed, Adam may not have had any idea that it was “not good” for him to be alone. He may not even have known that he was alone! Remember, he was in Eden with every bountiful provision his heart could desire, including a whole zoo of pets that adored him as their ruler. God was not responding to a complaint by Adam. “Not good” was God’s sovereign, unilateral assessment. Perhaps since God is a plurality and Adam was created in his image, the image demanded plurality (cf. 1:27). (R. Kent Hughes, Preaching the Word: Genesis, 58)
- Every Christian is a necessary part of the community. Every Christian needs the help of every other Christian. Respect is to be shown to the less gifted as well as the highly gifted. And every Christian is involved in the success or failure of his fellow members. (Oscar F. Reed, Beacon Bible Expositions: Corinthians, 139)
- A Christian church is a caring community in which we consider what happens to someone else to be every bit as important as what happens to ourselves. (Phillip Graham Ryken, City on a Hill, 86)
The question to answer…
What is it that makes it not good for people to be alone?
Answer…
Anything which fails to fulfill a designer’s design, is by nature, not good.
What does Scripture communicate about God’s design when it comes to being in Christian community?
- It’s essential for life and growth as a follower of Jesus.
(Prov. 27:17; Is. 58:6-9; Mat. 18:20; Rom. 13:8; Gal. 5:13; 6:2; Heb. 10:24-25)
What is true for the human body is true for the body of Christ: The various parts cannot exist on their own, but they depend on the life of the whole body. To put it very simply, we need each other. (Phillip Graham Ryken, City on a Hill, 84)
Family is the one human institution we have no choice over. We get in simply by being born, and as a result we are involuntarily thrown together with a menagerie of strange and unlike people. Church calls for another step: to voluntarily choose to band together with a strange menagerie because of a common bond in Jesus Christ. I have found that such a community more resembles a family than any other human institution. (Philip Yancey, Church: Why Bother?, 64-65)
- It’s powerful and effective for nurturing a fruitful and purposeful life.
(Ps 133:1-3; Ecc 4:9-12; 2 Cor 13:11; Phil 2:1-8; 1 Thes 5:11; 1 John 4:6-8, 12)
God reproduces and lives out His image in millions of ordinary people like us. It is a supreme mystery. We are called to bear that image as a Body because any one of us taken individually would present an incomplete image, one partly false and always distorted, like a single glass chip hacked from a mirror. But collectively, in all our diversity, we can come together as a community of believers to restore the image of God in the world. (Philip Yancey, In His Image, 52-53)
- It’s actions should result in the advancement of Christ’s agenda and kingdom.
(Mat. 5:13-16; Acts 2:42-47; 1 Cor. 14:26; Eph. 4:2; 4:11-16; Heb. 13:1-2; Ja. 5:16)
Abundance isn’t God’s provision for me to live in luxury. It’s His provision for me to help others live. God entrusts me with His money not to build my kingdom on earth, but to build His kingdom in heaven. (Randy Alcorn, Managing God’s Money, 133)
Where these marks are present—the preaching of the Word, the administration of the sacraments, the exercise of discipline, and the practice of community—the Church will inevitably transform the culture around it. (Charles Colson, The Faith: What Christians Believe, Why They Believe It, and Why It Matters, 155-156)
Conclusion… How is it we can live into our design when it comes to Christian community?
A. By subduing whatever fear or pride may prevent us from doing so.
(John 13:34-35; Romans 15:5-7; 1 Corinthians 1:10; 12:25-27; Ephesians 4:2; Phil. 2:1-8)
It is a genuine act of humility to realize that we can learn from others who have gone before us. (Richard Foster, Streams of Living Water, 22)
The cult of aloneness is one form of narcissism. It insists on individual autonomy without interpersonal responsibility, which of course makes authentic community impossible. (Phillip Graham Ryken, City on a Hill, 74)
Is it just a nice cliché to say the Church should be like a family? I mean, it’s a great thought, but our families are our families! Does God really expect us to be this close with people we’re not related to, people we wouldn’t even choose to be friends with? I agree that it’s natural to be close with your family and unnatural to experience this with people who are not like you. But that’s exactly the point! It’s not supposed to be natural—it’s supernatural! (Francis Chan, Letters to the Church, 72)
B. By taking action when it comes to being active in Christ’s body.
(Mat. 18:20; John 13:34-35; Rom. 12:3-16; Gal. 6:2; Col. 3:12-15; Heb. 3:13; 1 Pet. 1:22)
Regardless of what we say, it’s what we do that reveals what we as a church or individual actually believe about God and His will for us. (Henry Blackaby, What the Spirit Is Saying to the Churches, 83)
One of the marks of an individual’s maturity is a growing understanding of, and appreciation for, his own body. There is a parallel in the spiritual life: as we mature in Christ, we gain a better understanding of the church, which is Christ’s body. (Warren Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, 484)
The Christian spiritual journey is a journey we take with others. Each of us must take our own journey, and for each of us that journey will be unique. But none of us is intended to make that journey alone. The myth of the solitary Christian making his or her own way alone flies in the face of everything the Bible teaches about the church as the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12-31). We cannot make the journey apart from spiritual companions and community.” (David G. Benner, Sacred Companions, 40)
Gospel Application…
Jesus didn’t die to merely save persons, but a people; whose purpose is to live and share the fullness of the gospel in the context of community.
(Matthew 18:20; 1 Cor. 12:12-13; Gal. 6:2; Eph. 4:2; 4:15-16, Phil. 2:1-8; Col. 3:12-15; 1 John 1:5-7)
What the next generation needs is what every generation needs: the kind of caring community that can only be found in the church of Jesus Christ. (Phillip Graham Ryken, City on a Hill, 75)
Spiritual Challenge Questions…
Reflect on these questions in your time with the Lord this week, or discuss with a Christian family member or Life Group.
- What are some things that make being in community a challenge at times? How can you faithfully thrive in community and still navigate some of those complexities?
- What value is there in being intimately connected with other Christians?
- How has the faith of others served to help grow yours?
- Who is someone you know that would benefit from having an increased connection with Jesus’ body? How might you help get them connected?
- How has being in community with other believers impacted your faith? How has it helped you in life in general?
Quotes to note…
No matter how great our burdens or how deep our pain, God is able to comfort us. No matter how severe the pressures of daily life, they can’t separate us from the tenderness and compassion of our Heavenly Father. When we allow God to comfort us, His power and grace are magnified. Then God can equip us to comfort others and introduce them to our all-sufficient Father. (Luis Palau, Stop Pretending, 15)
Imagine how difficult it would be to coach a team where each player refuses to follow because he or she has a better plan than the coach. Welcome to the American Church in the twenty-first century. (Francis Chan, Letters to the Church, 25)
The gospel is absurd and the life of Jesus is meaningless unless we believe that He lived, died, and rose again with but one purpose in mind: to make a brand-new creation. Not to make people with better morals but to create a community of prophets and professional lovers, men and women who would surrender to the mystery of the fire of the Spirit that burns within, who would live in ever greater fidelity to the omnipresent Word of God, who would enter into the center of it all, the very heart and mystery of Christ, into the center of the flame that consumes, purifies, and sets everything aglow with peace, joy, boldness, and extravagant, furious love. This, my friend, is what it really means to be a Christian. (Brennan Manning, The Furious Longing of God, 125)
[John] Wesley wasn’t persuaded that someone had made a decision for Christ until that person became involved in a small group. The classes served as an evangelistic tool (most conversions occurred in this context) and as a discipling agent. (Doyle L. Young, New Life for Your Church, 113)
To [John] Wesley, evangelism … took place primarily in the class meetings and in people’s hearts in the hours following the class meetings. (George G. Hunter III, To Spread the Power, 58)
The Bible knows nothing of a solitary religion. The spirit and duties of Christianity are, characteristically, social. Man, in his state of primitive rectitude, was made a social creature; and redeemed and restored man, when he shall reach that holy heaven which is in reserve for him hereafter, will find it to be a state of perfect and most blessed society. It is true, the Christian, in the course of the spiritual life, is required, and finds it to be as profitable as it is delightful, to be often alone with his God. But the object of this retirement is, like that of Moses in ascending the mount, — not that he may remain there; but that he may come down with his face shining; his heart expanding with holy love; and all his graces refined and invigorated, and thus prepared the better to act his part in those interesting relations which he sustains to his fellow men. Accordingly, the visible Church, with which we are all bound to be connected, and which is the means of so many blessings to its members and to the world, is a social body. It is called in our text a “flock,” under the care of the great “Shepherd and Bishop of souls,” and under the immediate superintendence of the under-shepherds, commissioned and sent for this purpose. (Samuel Miller, from the 1832 sermon on “Ecclesiastical Polity” from the Spruce Street Lectures)
