LESSON AIM

1. We will be able to explain how man is unique to GOD’S CREATION

2. We will also be able to articulate the significance of human companionship, even in the Garden of Eden.

KEEP IN MIND

“And the LORD GOD formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7).

This first lesson focuses on the creation of Adam and Eve. GOD created them with a purpose. He gave them responsibilities, including tending the Garden of Eden and naming the birds and animals. GOD also gave them a boundary: They were not to eat of the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. This first couple, Adam and Eve, were created to fellowship with GOD and with each other.

By way of background, origins are important, whether of products or people. Each item we buy is identified by its country of origin and its manufacturer. People likewise trace their family tree in order to establish their roots. Genesis is the book of ultimate origins. Appropriately it stands first in the Bible because it explains the origin of all that the other sixty-five books develop. It is the seed-plot of Scripture, the foundation on which the whole Bible is built.

The title of the book, Genesis, comes to us from the Septuagint, a translation of the Old Testament from the Hebrew into Greek completed about 150 years before CHRIST. Genesis means “Beginning.” The Hebrew title, Bereshith, follows the Jewish custom of using the first word of a book as a title. It means “in the beginning.”

GOD created the heavens and the earth, and then HE rested. The crowning achievement of HIS creative work was bringing into existence the first man and woman. The author of this portion of the Genesis narrative takes great care to detail how GOD created Adam and Eve. The writer also describes the creation of their place of habitation and the creation of the bird and animal life that shared their home.

There remains today a great debate among scholars as to the exact location of the Garden of Eden. Suggested sites for the Garden include Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. Two of the Edenic rivers, the Pishon and the Gihon, flow through Africa. We may never know where on earth this garden of GOD was located, but we do know from the Scripture that it was a paradise. Within this paradise, GOD placed the first man and woman, along with birds, animals, and trees with pleasant fruit to eat. This garden was also the home to the Tree of Life, from which humans were encouraged to partake before the fall of mankind.

GOD is cast in the light of a deliberate and intentional craftsman who brings into existence that which has never been. Not content just to fashion the objects of this creation from the essence of the earth, GOD imparts HIS IMAGE INTO HIS HIGHEST CREATION. GOD then begins to teach HIS NEWLY CREATED (Luke 3:37) SON about his own uniqueness. This educational act culminates in GOD drawing a companion from the essence of man and delivering her as a helper.

1. GOD CREATES A NEW BEING (Genesis 2:4b-7)

Verse 4 says the same things twice in reverse order: “the heavens and…the earth were created” and “made the earth and the heavens.” The term “generation” (Heb. Toledah, to-led-aw’), which can be translated literally as “what comes after” or “what emerges from,” describes something that is generated from something else. Thus, it does not describe the origin of the universe, but what immediately follows or arises from the heavens and earth. Therefore, in Genesis 2:4—4:26, we have a more detailed description of what GOD did on the sixth day of creation (1:24-31).

The heavens and earth were complete, and GOD had rested. Now it was time to bring into existence something brand new. It was time to create man. Before fashioning man, however, GOD prepared plants and herbs that eventually would make up the garden in which man live and work. Finally, when the earth and plant life were prepared, GOD scooped a handful of dust from the earth and formed Adam. When GOD breathed into Adam’s nostrils the breath of life, he became a living being.

Man consists of two elements: a physical, material side (“formed man of the dust”), showing that he has something in common with the physical environment, and an inner personality (“breathed into his nostrils the breath of life”), showing that he has something in common wit GOD. The body of man consists entirely of basic substances similar to those found in the earth—“dust”, or lumps of earth. GOD gave to man the “breath” of life in a special way that indicates that man exists on a much higher level than all other forms of life (cf. Genesis 1:26-27). Man is related to the physical world by virtue of his formation from the substance of the earth. At the same time, he is related to the nonphysical world because he was created in the image and likeness of GOD

2. GOD PREPARES MAN FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS (vv.15-17)

GOD made man to be a companion and friend. HIS great love for man was demonstrated by the care HE took in planting the Garden of Eden for him. GOD and man would share fellowship in this garden paradise.

GOD also created Adam in a state of innocence, but not righteousness. Adam was to accomplish righteousness by fulfilling the terms of the Creation Covenant. In other words, he was to deliberately choose to remain loyal to GOD and to not sin. Since the whole human race was in Adam, we were all involved in his choices. Yet GOD continues to show HIS LOVE for us even though HE knows that we will eventually disobey HIM.

GOD desires that man seek righteousness. It is for that reason that once Adam was placed in the garden, GOD gave him several tasks: (1) to submit to GOD in all things; (2) to rule the creation according to GOD’S WILL; (3) to experience oneness through marriage; (4) to fill the earth with GOD’S people; (5) to care for, guard, and expand the garden; and (6) to partake of the Tree of Life.

Adam was to pass the test of loyalty by not eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Obedience to these tasks would guide man into righteousness and guarantee eternal life and fellowship with GOD.

3. GOD’S VIEW OF MAN’S LONELINESS (vv.18-20)

After the repeated statements in Genesis 1 that “it was good,” it comes as a surprise to read “it is not good.” Man was not created to be a solitary being. He is a social creature. He is made to enjoy other people. He needs a helper corresponding to him or alongside him. The Hebrew term for “help” (ezer, ay-zer) means to surround in the sense of protecting, helping, or supporting.

One can feel lonely even though he shares an intimate fellowship with GOD and lives within a specifically prepared paradise. GOD knew that HIS son (Adam) would be lonely. HE wanted Adam to understand that he as created differently from the rest of creation. Adam occupied a special relationship with the CREATOR, and he would need someone like himself with whom to share his life and home.

After Adam was settled in the Garden of Eden, GOD caused the birds and animals of the earth to pass before man. Whatever Adam called them became their name. In the ancient world, the act of naming is to give the description of the true nature. The names Adam gave to the animals expressed their true nature.

Adam named the various animals. It was as if he was looking to see whether any animal could be an adequate companion for him. But there was no helper that corresponded to him. It was not good for man to be alone, and animal companionship was not enough to meet the need. The verb translated as “meet” usually, means to suffice, reach, or to be adequate. Thus, at the end of this experience, Adam realized that none of the living creatures he had just named was like him. He was unique to GOD’S CREATION, and in a very real sense, he was alone.

4. GOD’S RESPONSE TO MAN’S LONELINESS (vv.21-24)

GOD allowed Adam to experience loneliness so that he would understand his own special place in the created order. Sharing GOD’S image and HIS breath, Adam was created above the rest of the life on earth. Once Adam had learned this, GOD, in an act of deep love and compassion, caused Adam to sleep and then took a portion of man and shaped it into a living companion. This sleep is clearly different from ordinary sleep. GOD took away one of the ribs of Adam and filled the empty place with flesh. The term “rib” (Heb. Tsela, tsay-law) literally means, “side” (see Genesis 2:12-22). To express close resemblance or kinship, the Hebrew language uses expressions like “the image” (Genesis 1:26) or “my bone and my flesh” (Genesis 29:1-4).

GOD took the rib from man and made a woman. This creation of woman from man shows the complete and inherent unity of man and woman. She was formed for an inseparable unity and fellowship of life with man. She was brought to man wholly and exclusively by GOD. In the woman, Adam discovered kinship. It was a cause of great, joyous astonishment to Adam. He describes his relationship to the woman as “bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh.” He called her “woman.”

Thus, when Adam woke up, GOD PRESENTED THE WOMAN TO HIM. Adam recognized that she was of the same essence as he. Though they were different physically, they were one and the same. In their union, neither would be lonely in GOD’S PARADISE. “And Adam called his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all living” (Genesis 3:20).

In today’s lesson, we see the deliberateness and care with which GOD created the first man, the first woman, and the world they were to inhabit. GOD acted very intentionally so that we would learn that our presence on the earth was not a mistake. No matter what befalls us during our time on the earth, the way in which we were created always reminds us of how special we are to GOD.

We have also come to understand that man was created in the image of GOD and entrusted by HIM with power and authority over the earth. By creating man in HIS image and giving him delegated sovereignty over the earth, GOD is seeking to teach us how a proper relationship and the proper exercise of power can enrich each of our lives.

THINK ABOUT IT!!!!

Spiritually Yours,

Rev. Chris Lowe, Sr. DD

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