2.0 Adam and Eve in Eden
April 2008
Topics:
God’s Plan for Man in Eden
A Friend of God
Creation Week
References
This story is put together with what is revealed in the Bible and with a little journalistic license. It is important only in that it gives a picture of the relationship God desires with each one of us. This becomes important later as we talk of the place of the Law in the life of the Christian.
Adam and Eve in Eden illustrate the relationship God desires with His people. The story begins with the dawn of Creation recorded in Genesis chapters one, two and three, adding some observations about life that we see today and a scientific observation, this is what we learn:
After receiving the breath of life, Adam awoke to a scene of indescribable beauty. And most breathtaking of all was to see a tall shining Being looking at him with deep love and approval. Jehovah, the Creator God (notes 9.0) saw everything that He had made and it was very good. And this last work of His Creation would not just have life, he was also made in the image of God. He could think, he could do, he could make decisions, he was aware of himself and of God (Genesis 1:26, 27; 2:7).
Creation was perfect, with no taint of sin. There was beauty in every detail. God said it was very good. Is not Jesus Christ, Jehovah, the Creator God a tall shining Being? Does He not show love and approval? God took personal action by forming man, planting a garden, instructing man, bringing all animal life before Adam to be named, and operating on Adam. Fellowship between God and man was further enhanced when God “walked in the garden in the cool of the day” (Genesis 3:8). This was not a one time occurrence. The interaction between God and man was close and personal (Genesis 1:31; Deut. 6:5).
Adam bonded immediately with his Creator, as all creatures do to their first living contact after birth. This pleased the Creator. They began to visit. They made plans. God instructed Adam. He was to till the garden and to name the animals. It was the sixth day of a very eventful week. The next day they would spend in fellowship. The Sabbath was set apart as holy time when Adam would put aside his work, pleasant though it was. He would spend this time getting to know his God better. It was a time to be holy, to honor God (Genesis 2:1-3, 8-9, 15).(8)
During the coming days, Adam gave names to all the creatures that God had made. These creatures were to be his dominion. Adam noted that he was different from all the animals in a very important aspect. They all had mates and he had none. Many of the animals were beautiful and affectionate. But none provided the remedy for a longing he felt in his heart. In one of his daily visits he brought up the subject with God. And God agreed. “None of the beasts, beautiful though they are, will make a companion for you. And I wanted you to know this and to never forget it. I will make a helper who is appropriate for you” (Genesis 2:19-20).
God then put Adam to sleep, took a rib from his side and made the woman, Eve (Genesis 2:21,22). After her creation, Eve, too, first saw God and bonded to Him. After a short very private conversation, she was told that there was “someone” God wanted her to meet. And He “brought her unto the man.”(2,3)
Adam and Eve thrilled at what God had done. Their love and appreciation knew no bounds. As they tended the garden together, they prepared special places where they could visit with God. The garden rang with songs of praise that they had composed. Even the animals crowded around to get in on the action.
Without question, Jehovah, the Creator God was also Father, Brother, and Best Friend. He was everything to them and the focus of their lives. God Himself was very pleased. In their visits, His love and approval would surround them as a warm blanket. They belonged to Him. Seeing Him was always the high point of their day. Read the story from Genesis 1:26 to 3:8.
Of even more importance we learn that man came from the hand of God, perfect and without blemish. In Genesis chapter three we learn that disease and death result from sin. The theory of evolution tries to tell us that violence, disease, and death are natural. Even sin, they say, is a natural part of the picture. They claim that through these same natural processes the world and mankind is improving.
The problem with this is that evolutionists generally refuse to consider the actions of God in creating this earth. Their theory leaves no room for the fall of man and the need for a Redeemer. Thus the Bible becomes irrelevant. Possibly the biggest problem is that this earth is NOT getting better and we see increasing decay, disease, and death on every hand.
Why did God create angels and man? And, why did He give these beings the power of choice?
Knowing His character that God is love, we can safely say that Creation was an expression of that love. God gave the power of choice that man might return to Him intelligent love and praise.
Why, if God is in the business of creating, why did He not fix it so that man could not sin? This is because God had a world full of creatures that would obey and love Him by instinct. But that quickly becomes routine. God did not want to be taken for granted. So He made man as an intelligent, thinking person with freedom of will. Man’s obedience and love were by choice, not automatic.
In giving freedom of choice God was sharing with man a prerogative of Creation. Man could be creative, do new things, think new thoughts, and create new beauty. All of this he would do to bring praise and thanksgiving to that center of his being – God Himself. And since all knowledge, all wisdom, and all science were created by God there was nothing outside of God except self. (4)
In creating man lay imbedded the chance that man would choose wrong. From this would follow the incarnation, suffering, and death of the Son of God. The deep reasons for creation are a mystery, but we believe them to be grounded in God’s love, and in His desire to share with others the life that is His. “Because I live,” said Christ, “ye shall live also” (John 14:19).
It was God’s intent that man should never die. He was given every incentive to remain faithful. Created in His image, God was enthroned in his personality. To obey Him was natural. Everything he had came from God, and everything he did was modeled on what he saw and heard of God. He had freedom to choose, but there was no reason to sin.
“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. . . .
“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth” (Genesis 1:1, 26-28).
The Plan of Salvation given by God is to restore everything that was lost when Adam sinned in Eden. By the power and grace of God, we too may live a life of victory as Jesus did. Through prayer, Bible study, and service to others we too may fellowship with God as Jesus did with the Father, and as Adam and Eve did with God in Eden. According to His “divine power” we may now begin to partake of the divine nature and through Him be restored to the image of God (2 Peter 1:3-8). This is found in the covenant promise, “I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people” (Hebrews 8:10).(6)
The story of Adam and Eve shows the kind of friendship God wants with His people. God did not create this earth, then walk off and leave everything to run itself. No! He was very interested. He continued to work with the flowers and trees, the birds and the bees, and especially with men and women. God even had a covenant with Adam and Eve. We’ll talk about that a little later.(7)
The Creative ability of God is beyond understanding. It doesn’t fit with reality as we experience it. Yet for each of the six days of Creation week the Bible used the expression “and the evening and the morning” to mark each day. This expression shows that each day was a twenty four hour day just as we know it today!
Creation is something that we cannot explain. All the findings of science fail to tell us how it was done. Evolution is an attempt to explain that the earth created itself through eons of time – but this is even more unbelievable that to accept just what the Bible says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). God is not bound by time as we are. So while on this earth six days passed, God was not bound by time for His work of Creation.
Then God set aside the seventh-day for a Sabbath of rest. There is some controversy over whether this was just one day, or was it the beginning of God’s rest from Creation? Several points need to be considered: The record of the six days of Creation had already established what a “day” was. Genesis 2:1-3 simply says that “God blessed the seventh-day ... and rested.”
Did God’s rest then continue throughout history? No! God has continued to be active in the affairs of men all through history. Was the seventh-day Sabbath of Genesis 2:1-3 just for God’s rest? Hardly! God does not get tired? God was setting a pattern for mankind for them to follow. Mark 2:27,28 says that “The Sabbath was made for man.” It was made for man at Creation, and was meant to be a blessing for man all through history.
From the time of Creation onward, we have had the weekly cycle of seven days. All attempts to change the calendar have failed. Corrections have been made, but these did not change the weekly cycle. If ten days are added to Tuesday, July 4, the next day is Wednesday, July 14. This kind of change has been done several times. When Jesus was on earth, He had no question as to when the Sabbath was; and we have had good records since then.(8)
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