2.1 Adam and Eve
April 2008
References and Notes:
Creation of Eve
What is DNA
Free Will
Law in Eden
Covenant Relationship
Creation Sustained by God
Creation Week
Were there two creations, or were these two accounts of the same creation? Chapter one describes a very orderly process carefully measured by the passage of six days. Chapter two goes back and gives more detail, some regarding the first six days, and other reaching forward to after the original six day Creation.
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them” (Genesis 1:27).
“And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man” (Genesis 2:22).
Was Eve created on the sixth day of creation (Gen. 1:27)? Or was she created some time later, after Adam had named all the animals (Gen. 2:22)? The Bible record was not always strictly chronological. Gen. 1:27 states that “male and female created he them.” Gen. 2:22 records God taking a rib from Adam to create Eve. Since this came after Adam had named all the animals, it would be very difficult to put this event on the sixth day of creation. Nor is it necessary to do so. We do not know the make-up of Adam, but we can suggest that he possessed chromosomes for both male and female. Thus the “female” was created in the DNA of Adam right from the first.
DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is the hereditary material in humans and almost all other organisms. Nearly every cell in a person’s body has the same DNA. Most DNA is located in the cell nucleus (where it is called nuclear DNA), but a small amount of DNA can also be found in the mitochondria (where it is called mitochondrial DNA or mtDNA).
The information in DNA is stored as a code made up of four chemical bases: adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C), and thymine (T). Human DNA consists of about 3 billion bases, and more than 99 percent of those bases are the same in all people. The order, or sequence, of these bases determines the information available for building and maintaining an organism, similar to the way in which letters of the alphabet appear in a certain order to form words and sentences.
DNA bases pair up with each other, A with T and C with G, to form units called base pairs. Each base is also attached to a sugar molecule and a phosphate molecule. Together, a base, sugar, and phosphate are called a nucleotide. Nucleotides are arranged in two long strands that form a spiral called a double helix. The structure of the double helix is somewhat like a ladder, with the base pairs forming the ladder’s rungs and the sugar and phosphate molecules forming the vertical sidepieces of the ladder.
An important property of DNA is that it can replicate, or make copies of itself. Each strand of DNA in the double helix can serve as a pattern for duplicating the sequence of bases. This is critical when cells divide because each new cell needs to have an exact copy of the DNA present in the old cell.
http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/handbook/basics/dna
It is the “Y” chromosome that determines whether a child is a boy or a girl. A “Y” chromosome from the father will always cause the child to be male. Lack of the “Y” chromosome or an “XX” chromosome leads to a female child being born.
archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/Dutch-Colonies/2005-07/1122688980
“God placed man under
law, as an indispensable
condition of his very
existence. He was a subject
of the divine government,
and there can be no
government without law. God
might have created man
without the power to
transgress His law; He might
have withheld the hand of
Adam from touching the
forbidden fruit; but in that
case man would have been,
not a free moral agent, but
a mere automaton. Without
freedom of choice, his
obedience would not have
been voluntary, but forced.
There could have been no
development of character.
Such a course would have
been contrary to God’s plan
in dealing with the
inhabitants of other worlds.
It would have been unworthy
of man as an intelligent
being, and would have
sustained Satan’s charge of
God’s arbitrary rule.” White
EG: Patriarchs and Prophets,
49
The “law” in Eden.
Dominion
over all of creation on the
earth.
Be
fruitful and multiply. Have
families and raise children.
A
diet of fruit, nuts, and
grains. No flesh food in
Eden (Genesis 1:26-29).
Seventh-day
set aside for rest and
worship of God (Genesis
2:1-3).
Take
care of the Garden (Genesis
2:8, 15).
Mine
the gold and precious stones
(Genesis 2:11,12).
Avoid
the tree of knowledge of
good and evil (Genesis
2:16,17).
Name
(and take care of) all the
animals (Genesis 2:19,20).
Cleave
to his wife, Eve ( see
fruitful above) (Genesis
2:23,24)
These are very practical
instructions. Was there a
moral law, like the ten
commandments? The moral law
is a description of the
character of God. Adam and
Eve patterned their lives
after what they saw in God,
and naturally kept the moral
law. We have no record that
they were given ten
commandments. The only test
of their obedience was to
avoid eating the forbidden
fruit.
Some have described this
command as “obey and live,
disobey and die.” However,
it was not a burdensome
command. As sinless beings
they were well able to keep
it. In this test they were
to show their trust in God
and their willingness to do
His will in all things.
Human kind were created for
fellowship with God. God
would be first in their
lives, and everything they
did was to show love,
praise, and obedience to
Him. This is how things
began in Eden. God intended
for this to continue for
eternity. After sin, man was
given the Everlasting
Covenant with its promise of
restoration.
We have some examples:
Abraham frequently talked
with God. The covenant was
given to him in detail at
least six times. God even
came to him in human form,
it seems, just to visit.
Abraham was called the
“friend of God.” Moses
talked with God. Priests and
prophets through the ages
have communed with God.
Now, as Christians, what
does God want of men? If we
make Him first in our lives,
will we not spend time with
Him? If we understand that
God came to this earth,
lived among men, and died
for our sins, will we not
love Him? Can we not, too,
become “friends of God?” It
may be that we start by
keeping the commandments,
but God wants us to go far
beyond that. He wants us to
restore the commitment and
fellowship that Adam and Eve
had in Eden. He has Himself
covenanted to make that
possible through grace.
Creation sustained by the
power of God
The Bible tells us that God
Created this earth and all
living things. Did God
create this earth to run on
its own power and direction?
No! This earth was created
because God is a God of
love. God supports and
guides His Creation to make
happiness and beauty for all
His creatures. He looks for
their praise and love in
return. Creation could not
have happened without God
and could not continue
without God. The following
paragraphs explain this in
beautiful language:
“The seed has in itself a
germinating principle, a
principle that God Himself
has implanted; yet if left
to itself the seed would
have no power to spring up.
Man has his part to act in
promoting the growth of the
grain. . . “There is life in
the seed, there is power in
the soil; but unless an
infinite power is exercised
day and night, the seed will
yield no returns. . .
“Without the life of God,
nature would die. His
creative works are dependent
on Him. He bestows
life-giving properties on
all that nature produces. We
are to regard the trees
laden with fruit as the gift
of God, just as much as
though He placed the fruit
in our hands.
“In the production of
earth’s harvests, God is
working a miracle every day.
Through natural agencies the
same work is accomplished
that was wrought in the
feeding of the multitude.
Men prepare the soil and sow
the seed, but it is the life
from God that causes the
seed to germinate.
“God’s handiwork in nature
is not God Himself in
nature. The things of nature
are an expression of God’s
character; by them we may
understand His love, His
power, and His glory; but we
are not to regard nature as
God.” White EG: Medical
Ministry, p. 7-11.
The weekly cycle established
by the Word of God. The year
is governed by the rotation
of the earth around the sun.
The day is marked off each
twenty four hours by the
rotation of the earth. The
months are shown in the
rotation of the moon around
the earth. But what about
the week?
There are no natural
phenomena to mark off the
succession of weeks. It is
only by the Word of God and
the story of Creation that
we have the weekly cycle.
Numerous attempts have been
made to change the weekly
cycle. All have failed.
There have been adjustments
to the calendar. Days have
been added at times. For
instance, if ten days is
added to Wednesday July 4,
the next day is Thursday
July 14. The weekly cycle is
unchanged.
This earth is thousands of
years old. During those
first thousands of years,
people did not keep written
records. Maybe a day has
been lost here and there?
Historically, one of the
first of the sciences has
been astronomy. And the
early astronomers were
amazingly accurate – though
limited because of lack of
telescopes. In this setting
the passage of time would
also be accurately noted.
When Jesus was on this
earth, he had no problem
knowing when the Sabbath
was. And since that time we
do have written records and
calendars.
Man was given some definite
instructions as to how to
live: