How does it all begin?  It begins with a light and then over the course of six days He speaks the world into existence – sometimes forming creatures out of the ground and sometimes simply speaking them into existence.  But however He does it, the world is almost complete – but not quite.

Genesis 1:
26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” 27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

But read a little further:
2:4  This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. 5 Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, 6 but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7 Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. 8 Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

There are a couple of things I want us to notice in these chapters.

First, everything is created before man.  Normally, we read that to mean we were created as the pinnacle of creation.  I’ve heard it said that God worked His way up to creating man and that everything is there for us.  He created all that he created as a gift to us because the creation of man is the crowning achievement of creation.  I’m not so sure about that when I read the text.

“Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, 6 but streams[b] came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7 Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”

It is as if God created the world but then needed someone to work it.  So, out of the dust of the earth He created him.  In a sense, it was the same way He created the beasts of the field and the birds of the air – out of dust.  Not very glorious or special – except for one thing.  It says He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.  God covered his face with His mouth and breathed into him.  Man has a special kind of life apart from the beasts and the birds.  He is made from dust but his destination is glory.  He is both, isn’t he?  How does God describe it to Jacob?  Your descendants will be as the dust of the earth.  How does He describe it to Abraham?  Your descendants will be as the stars of the heaven.  We are both.  We are dust and stars.

Still, God’s world was not so much created for man to enjoy as man was created to work and care for the creation.  God created a beautiful world but then needed a creature unlike any of the others to manage it and make the most of it.  In return, he could enjoy the fruits of the creation but it was not his to own.  He was created not as the pinnacle of creation but as the one to steward creation.  Yes, he was created a little lower than the angels but he was created to serve.  He was created to take responsibility.

Some of you have someone come in and help you with your yard.  We do.  What came first – the yard or the man caring for the yard?  Yes, the yard.  What if that man said to me, “I can see that I am the pinnacle of creation and this yard exists for me to do with as I please. After all, you created the yard before you created this job for me.  Therefore, I must be more important than the yard. You must have been working your way up to me.”  I might say any number of things but I would want him to be clear that there are some are some advantages to working my yard but I created a job for him and I did not create the yard for him.

Read on:
8 Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge.”

First, The Lord planted a garden and then he placed the man in it.  He did not plant a garden around the man.  The Lord took the man and put him in the garden to work it and take care of it.  The job came with benefits, didn’t it?  He was free to eat anything he wanted but he was placed in God’s garden to be responsible for it.

And “responsible for” is what those words “dominion and rule” in 1:26 really mean.  They do not mean we have been put here to have our own way or to shove the rest of creation around.  It means we have been picked up and placed to fulfill a role in creation.  We did not decide what we wanted to do or where we wanted to be.  God placed Adam where He wanted him. It does not mean God has given us free rein over the rest of His creation.  It means we have been created to be God’s employees, his servants, his yard men.  We don’t like that, do we?  It doesn’t quite fit with the way we would prefer to read the creation story.  God created the world for us to enjoy.  Yes, we can enjoy it in the same way my yard man enjoys my yard – but he cannot do whatever he pleases.  He is not the leader of the yard.  He is the employee of the one who owns the yard.  There are some benefits like free meals – but we were created last because God wanted caretakers – not kings.

All of Scripture follows this pattern.  I like the way someone put it.  “The way up is down.”  We become first by being last.  We rule by serving.  We were created from the beginning to be servants and to be responsible for what God created.  To be answerable to Him.

But from almost the beginning Man had other plans and other interpretations of the order of creation.  “I was created last not to serve but to be like God himself.  I am special.  I am not merely a caretaker. I want to be a managing partner and not an employee. Greatness – not serving – is my destiny.”

Let’s read another account of God’s servants desiring to be great.

Luke 22:24-30:
24 A dispute also arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. 25 Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. 26 But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. 27 For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. 28 You are those who have stood by me in my trials. 29 And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, 30 so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

What is the path to ruling?  It is serving.  It is not a course in leadership but a lifetime of serving.  It is not being chosen as one of the best and brightest but of serving.  It is not choosing a place to rule but being placed to serve.

What is the result of serving?  It is coming to wisdom in order to do something very special.  Not to be a king but to be a judge.  The purpose of serving is to gain wisdom – not power.  The only way to wisdom is serving.  The only path to a throne is humility.  The result of accepting responsibility is not privilege but even more responsibility.

Let’s read another passage about being a faithful servant.

Luke 19:11-26:
11 While they were listening to this, he went on to tell them a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once. 12 He said: “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. 13 So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas.[a] ‘Put this money to work,’ he said, ‘until I come back.’ 14 “But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’ 15 “He was made king, however, and returned home. Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, in order to find out what they had gained with it. 16 “The first one came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned ten more.’ 17 “‘Well done, my good servant!’ his master replied. ‘Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.’ 18 “The second came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned five more.’ 19 “His master answered, ‘You take charge of five cities.’ 20 “Then another servant came and said, ‘Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. 21 I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow.’ 22 “His master replied, ‘I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow? 23 Why then didn’t you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?’ 24 “Then he said to those standing by, ‘Take his mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.’ 25 “‘Sir,’ they said, ‘he already has ten!’ 26 “He replied, ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what they have will be taken away. 27 But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and kill them in front of me.’”

We are always in the process of learning to serve in order to accept more responsibility – not more privilege.  That is why the intention of God is not to work us out of serving so that we might put that behind us.  He created us to serve but to become better servants with even more responsibility.

We have talked about Viktor Frankl’s book, Man’s Search For Meaning before.  He says this so well:

“We had to learn ourselves and, furthermore, we had to teach the despairing men, that it did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life–daily and hourly. Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual.”

But the end result will be wisdom and discernment. We will be judges – not kings.  What does Paul say in 1 Corinthians 6? “If any of you has a dispute with another, do you dare to take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the Lord’s people? 2 Or do you not know that the Lord’s people will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? 3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!”

Adam desired to be a king – not merely a judge.  He wanted a different kind of throne and he wanted to get there by a different path.  The disciples wanted the kingdom immediately and they wanted a role they could define.  They wanted to be benefactors – not servants.  They wanted a place of leadership – not suffering.  They wanted to be special – something other than dust.  They wanted titles and position and power.

I think about these things more now.  Even after a lifetime of hearing the way to wisdom is the path of a servant, I still desire to choose my own place and my own definition of serving.  I want to be a volunteer – not an employee.  I want to be special – not a yard man. I want to offer my time and talents – but not have them controlled by someone else.  I want to have less responsibility as a reward for service – not more.  I want less stress and more privileges.  I would rather have fewer cities than more.  That’s not how God prepares us for eternity, is it?  He never stops rewarding us with more.  He never stops preparing us for what is next.  As much as we might like it, there is nothing in Scripture about His giving us responsibility for 60 years and then rest.  The nature of the responsibility changes but it never goes away.

I love the story of Caleb in the book of Joshua 16:
6 Now the people of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal, and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the Lord said to Moses the man of God at Kadesh Barnea about you and me. 7 I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions, 8 but my fellow Israelites who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt in fear. I, however, followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly. 9 So on that day Moses swore to me, ‘The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly.’ 10 “Now then, just as the Lord promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the wilderness. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! 11 I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. 12 Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as he said.”

Some of us are in similar circumstances and we need to think about what life is still expecting of us.  What has God prepared us for now?  Where has God placed us and what responsibilities has He given us at this stage of our life?  We may not be like Caleb and as strong as we were forty-five years ago but we have assets, skills and experience that are even more valuable for the benefit of the place in which we have been planted.  How do we use them?  How do we continue to serve and move toward wisdom?  How do we fulfill the role we have been given by God to “work the plot of ground” we’ve been assigned?

Let me close with this from Proverbs 3:
13 Blessed are those who find wisdom,
   those who gain understanding,
14 for she is more profitable than silver
   and yields better returns than gold.
15 She is more precious than rubies;
   nothing you desire can compare with her.
16 Long life is in her right hand;
   in her left hand are riches and honor.
17 Her ways are pleasant ways,
   and all her paths are peace.
18 She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her;
   those who hold her fast will be blessed.
19 By wisdom the Lord laid the earth’s foundations,
   by understanding he set the heavens in place;
20 by his knowledge the watery depths were divided,
   and the clouds let drop the dew.
21 My son, do not let wisdom and understanding out of your sight,
   preserve sound judgment and discretion;
22 they will be life for you,
   an ornament to grace your neck.
23 Then you will go on your way in safety,
   and your foot will not stumble.
24 When you lie down, you will not be afraid;
when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
25 Have no fear of sudden disaster
or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked,
26 for the Lord will be at your side
and will keep your foot from being snared.

Do not let wisdom and understanding out of your sight this week. Preserve sound judgment and discretion. Do not let yourself fall into the snare of following wicked, foolish and violent men and the ruin that will overtake them. Hold fast to wisdom, the paths of peace, discretion and understanding.

This is the word of the Lord.