Well Hello everyone. We continue with our study of the book of Genesis today with the creation of the first man and woman.
Now, in our first study, on days one through six, God created the planets, the sun, moon and stars, the land and sea, all the plant life on the earth, the fish and birds, and the land animals.
Today is the day we answer the question, “Where did I come from?” and “And do I have any worth?” and “What is God’s design for relationships?” And the answer is different than the ones in many world philosophies. In particular, evolutionary theory teaches that mankind descended from an original pile of microorganisms.
Scripture tells us that you are descended from two original perfectly created individuals.
Evolutionary theory teaches that your worth comes from your contribution to the whole. Scripture teaches that your value comes from being created in the image and likeness of God. In evolution you are an advanced animal, in Scripture you are created an eternal spirit.
The creation of man is the high point of creation. It is more important than the creation of the animals and the solar system, or even the earth itself.
And the reason the creation of mankind is most important is because we were created as spiritual beings meant for eternal fellowship with God.
And that is a hint for the answer to the question, “What is God’s design for relationships?” But we’ll get to that a little later.
So let’s dive into the text at verse 26 of chapter 1.
26 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.
Now let’s note a couple of things here. First notice that it says, “Let us make man in our image.” I noted last time that the word for God, Elohim, is in the plural. It is sometimes translated gods in other contexts. And we talked about how God is revealed in Scripture as a trinity, three in one. God is Father, Son, and Spirit.
So when it says here, “Let us make man” it is God conversing within the trinity. The Father, Son, and Spirit, deliberating about the height of creation.
The second note concerns what it means to be created in the image and likeness of God. If I say that a child is the “spitting image” of their parent, it can mean a couple of things. It might mean that the child bears a strong physical resemblance to the parent. Or it might mean that they resemble each other in personality. So what does it mean that the first man and woman were created in God’s image. Does this refer to some kind of physical resemblance? Put it this way, the question is not, “Do we somehow look like God?” But rather, does God, in His appearance, does He look like a man?” And the answer is “No.” How can I say that? Because Jesus said,
God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
And John said in his first epistle
This is the message which we have heard from him and announce to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
So God is revealed in Scripture as Spirit and light. He is not bounded by a physical body. He is eternal and present in all places at once, so He doesn’t have a body like a man. Now, He has chosen to come to us in a body, that’s Jesus. But by nature, He is Spirit.
And that is the answer to the question, How are we created in the image of God? Well we are spirits, just as God is Spirit. We are created for eternity, just as God is eternal. To put it frankly, the rest of creation is temporary. The rest of it is dying and going to die. Now I know this upsets some people, but animals don’t go to heaven, people do.
So we are in God’s image as spiritual beings, and in other ways as well. God is creative, so is mankind. God is relational, mankind is made for relationships with others. God is intelligent, so is man. God is love, and mankind is built with the capacity to love.
And God is Sovereign, and He gave humankind dominion over creation. He is the steward in charge of managing creation.
Now some environmentalists take issue with two things here—they take issue with man being the crowning creation of God---the only creature made in God’s image, and they take issue with man being given rule over the animals. They picture Christians as riding a train across the prairies and slaughtering buffalo just for sport. Or wiping out species just because we can—and justifying it by quoting this scripture. That’s not what ruling and subduing animals was all about---Adam and Eve didn’t even eat meat, this is management and care of animal and plant life. And now that we do eat meat—it means raising and harvesting those animals in a humane and responsible manner.
Just like God, man is creativity, man is moral, spiritual, eternal, he is self-reflective, he has free-will—not driven solely by instinct.
Verse 27 goes on
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
So notice “man is created in man’s image; Male and female He created them. They were made male and female—and in the image of God. It’s not that the man was made in God’s image—and that woman was an afterthought---both were made in God’s image---Both are spiritual, creative etc.
28 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.
29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.
Notice that at the start, all of God’s creatures were vegetarian. And the Bible says that at Jesus’ return and 1000 year reign on earth, animals will return to that.
Isaiah 11:6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.
Isaiah 65:25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord.
31 And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
Moving on to chapter 2
2 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
Why does God need to rest? I mean, the Scripture says that God is “Almighty God.”
Genesis 17:1 I am almighty God
Omnipotence—one of God’s characteristics---all-powerful
Isaiah 40:28 King James Version (KJV)
28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
Well, to understand what it means for God to rest, you must understand the word “rest” in this passage. The Hebrew word used here is translated in other places, “to cease.” Let me give you an example. In
Joshua 5:12 when the people of Israel left the wilderness and crossed into the promised land, it says that the manna “ceased.” The daily provision of bread from heaven “ceased.” It just means that it stopped.
It simply means that God stopped His creation on the 7th day. It wasn’t that He was tired, or out of ideas. In fact, He could have continued to create new things every day into eternity future.
3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified (set it apart) it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
We’ll come back later to the 7th day.
4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,
5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth,
God had not caused it to rain on the earth. Some have purported—myself included, that his verse indicates that there had been no rain on the earth up to this point, the 6th day, and that there was no rain on the earth until the flood. And so we had to come up with an explanation about how the plants were watered before the flood---there was an old creationist theory about a water canopy. But I just read, from “Answers in Genesis” Ken Ham’s website—that you don’t necessarily have to read this as though there was no rain on the earth until the flood, but that there wasn’t rain on the earth until after the 6th day. In other words, While the creation week progressed, it didn’t rain---which makes sense to me---because God didn’t create the Sun until the 4th day, and the Sun is integral to the hydrologic cycle. So, that would mean that this verse is simply saying that there were plants that God had created, on the 3rd day, but he hadn’t made it rain yet.
It also says that
and there was not a man to till the ground.
So nobody was tending the plants, and it hadn’t rained yet. Oh no, how are the plants growing, how are they getting watered?
6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.
So all it’s doing is providing an explanation for the care of the plants. Plants are created before the Sun and rain---“that’s scientifically impossible”
—my friends—I believe God created the world. I believe there is scientific evidence that bears that out. And since I believe that, I believe that God can keep the plants alive for a few days without a sun, or rain.
Now the question somebody might ask is, if you think there was rain before the flood, do you believe that there was a rainbow, before the end of the flood? Well, you’re gonna have to wait on that answer until genesis 9.
7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, (This is why we say “dust to dust, ashes to ashes” in a funeral service) and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. (a living being)
8 And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden (The name “Eden” means “pleasure, delight.” God planted a garden of delight and pleasure); and there he put the man whom he had formed.
It always fascinated me the care that God took of Adam and Eve. He has just created a perfect world---everything is new, and beautiful---now let’s bring mankind in---where shall we put him. Oh, anywhere will do. And it would—the whole earth was paradise—but no, God said, no, we need an extra extra special place for man. We need a paradise in paradise. We need a place of pleasure in this place of pleasure. And so he planted a garden---all the fruit trees together, a huge vegetable area, wheat and corn, beans, all at his fingertips. And God provided for a water source right there in the garden.
10 And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.
11 The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;
12 And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone.
13 And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.
14 And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.
He created an abundant water supply, and those rivers were a source of gold and jewels. And He provided for humankind, a job to do. (Mankind had a job to do—God created jobs before sin and the curse. One of the curses was working by the sweat of the brow---work becomes miserable—before the curse—work was a blessing from God.)
15 And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
Ain’t God good? He gave them all of this. Now we need to go back to verse nine to pay special attention to two trees that God caused to grow.
9 And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
Trees, trees, trees. Here we have regular trees—apple, pear, etc, two special trees; the tree of life, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
First the tree of life
What is the tree of life? We don’t get a notion of the nature of this tree until after Adam and Eve sin by eating from the other tree.
22 And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever:
So this means that there was a tree in the garden, that if eaten, would impart immortality.
And get this, God only told them not to eat of “one” tree; the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He never said that they couldn’t eat of the tree of life.
That means that mankind could have chosen to eat of the tree of life and live forever. But mankind chose knowledge over immortality, and more importantly, chose disobedience over life. That’s just more evidence of the great care God took to provide for the first man and woman. You are of great value to God. He provided all of this world for your sustenance and enjoyment.
16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. Now, did they die on the very day that they ate of the tree? We’ll address that later.
18 And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
Help meet; a helper. This is a description of the creation of woman on the 6th day. Some people, who want to cast doubt on the truth of Scripture, have made a big deal out of the fact that chapters 1 and 2 both describe the creation of woman. They say that these are two different, contradictory accounts of creation that were hodge-podged together, centuries later, when the Old Testament was being written down. But they are not contradictory accounts. All chapter 2 does, is return to the 6th day, and give more detail about how God created man and woman.
19 And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
So, this is evidence that Adam is no intellectual slouch. Adam is no primitive man. Adam was created perfect, physically, emotionally, intellectually. He had no environmental, or genetic defects that impacted his brain capacity. He didn’t have the generations of sin and disease clouding his higher thinking. He came up with all the names for all the animals. Now this brings us to a question---what language did Adam speak? In my opinion, and that’s all it is, take it for what it’s worth, I think Adam and Eve spoke an early Semitic, or Hebrew language. I think they spoke an early form of the same language that Abraham, David, and Jesus spoke—why? You’ll have to wait until we talk about the tower of Babel. But God brings him each animal—they are all, docile, tame, herbivores—and he names them.
20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.
Hold it. Do you mean to tell me that God and Adam were looking for a help meet, a helper, a companion for Adam, among the animals? Yes. Why? Didn’t God know that nothing would suffice? Yes. By the way, Some of you are animal lovers. Some of you have chosen to have pets over mates. But God showed from the beginning that animals cannot fill the place of human interaction. God made us for human discourse—it is a rare person who can live apart from society and human interaction, no matter how many pets you may have.
21 And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs (side), and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
By the way, ladies, I heard something from a preacher about this passage that you may think helps explain men. You see the verse says that God put Man into a deep sleep, but notice—it never says that He woke man up. And so now when wives tell their husbands something, all the men kind of wake up out of a slumber and say huh?
Just a joke guys, just a joke
22 And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
God made a woman for the first man. Now those of you who know me, know what I am about to say. And even if you don’t know me, you can probably guess. You see one of the questions that I said is answered in this passage is, “What is God’s design for intimate relationships.
It’s been said, “God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve.” This is God’s perfect created order. He made one man and one woman, not 2 men or 2 women, or 2 women and one man, or vice versa, he didn’t leave man with just animals, God does what He does for a reason, and whether we understand it or not—this is how he did it. And later he makes his will even more clear by condemning any intimate relationship outside of a monogamous, one man, one woman relationship. Now, when sin comes into the world, men and women will desire all kinds of different intimate relationships; but that desire doesn’t make them God’s will. Desire does not make them anything more than disobedience or sin. A married man can desire a woman that is not his wife, but that doesn’t make it any less a sin if he acts on that desire.
Now these last words really show the height of God’s glorious creation. Not just creating mankind in all his intellectual prowess and ingenuity, but in his capacity for a deep life-long love relationship.
And I think you can see the glory of God’s creation best in the marriages of Christian people, not all of them—frankly, I’ve seen my share of failed Christian marriages---but when you see a man and woman, who have stayed together through thick and thin. Who fail each other, then forgive each other. Who make each other better. Who love God and Jesus Christ first. Who sacrifice. Who grow old together. You are seeing the crown of God’s creation. 1 Cor. 13 describes it well.
4 Love is patient and is kind. Love doesn’t envy. Love doesn’t brag, is not proud, 5 doesn’t behave itself inappropriately, doesn’t seek its own way, is not provoked, takes no account of evil; 6 doesn’t rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will be done away with. Where there are various languages, they will cease. Where there is knowledge, it will be done away with. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part; 10 but when that which is complete has come, then that which is partial will be done away with. 11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child. Now that I have become a man, I have put away childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, even as I was also fully known. 13 But now faith, hope, and love remain—these three. The greatest of these is love.
And I think this little passage is just as beautiful
23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
She is me, and I am her. We complete each other’s sentences
24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother,
This is no longer Adam speaking—but God. Adam had no human father and mother. But God is saying that this marriage relationship between a man and wife is so beautiful—the height of his creation—that the loyalty that a man has to his wife will even break the loyalty a man has to his parents, and he will cleave to his wife—hold on to her. Not give up on her. This is not a passive, relationship of convenience. That’s why it has always bothered me when a couple doesn’t get married.
“Leaving and cleaving” here represents an official breaking away from the old, and a commitment to the new. And that official leaving and cleaving has been done differently in different cultures down through time. But it all comes down to a public commitment to this individual for life.
Some people will say, “Well what’s the big deal that the state or the church declare us married?” Well let me ask you, what’s the big deal? If it’s not a big deal, if you will be committed to this person for your whole life, regardless of the official paperwork, then what’s the big deal in doing it? I suspect that most people who don’t want to get married, don’t want to because, they are not committed to this person for life, and they want an easy out, if they decide they don’t like this person someday.
Men and women—you’re supposed to cling to that person, and taking a life-long marriage vow is the greatest clinging you can do—so you do it.
and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
This to speaks of a beautiful thing. In the next chapter, the man and woman sin, and figure out that they are naked, and hide from God and each other. We all live relationship, where once again, in God’s holy union, a man and wife can be naked in this fallen world of sin today—but the one place where we return to Eden, is in marriage where you can be totally open and unashamed with each other.
Now, with the time we have remaining, we are going on into chapter 3.
We haven’t really mentioned an outline for the book of Genesis yet because I like for things to happen naturally as the story of the book unfolds. Genesis has been called the book of beginnings, but that doesn’t really tell us a theme. Besides, it’s not just a compilation of first things; first earth, sun, people, animals, flood, nations, cities, etc. There is a direction to the book. And chapter 3 is the first clue to that direction. Chapter 3 describes for us the first sin of humanity, which will then lead to God’s punishment for sin, and God’s plan of redemption. And that’s the theme, Sin, and God’s plan for dealing with it. But first, another first—the first sin. A very interesting story---sounds mythological---let’s read the whole thing
3 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.
9 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
Sounds like Greek mythology—talking animals, mystical magical trees. And that’s why so many who claim to be Christian, have relegated this story to the ambiguous classification of “myth.” You see, the word “myth”
1.
a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining some natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events.
They don’t say that it’s not true—“but the important thing is the lesson in the myth.” Well let me tell you—both are important—the lesson, and the truth of the story. Because this story is at the start of the whole Bible. It is referred to as true throughout Scripture.
1 Timothy 2:13-15 King James Version (KJV)
13 For Adam was first formed, then Eve.
14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.
Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.
For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
If this story is not true—the Bible is full of lies, and liars, or at best—they are ignorant, primitive and naïve.
Now I’m not saying that there aren’t things which are difficult to comprehend here, but even if I do not fully understand---I take them on faith.
3 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman,
Let’s stop there. We are talking about a talking snake right? Yes. So my immediate question, if I didn’t already know the Bible, would be, did all animals talk to Adam and Eve? Maybe Eve spoke in parseltongue from the harry potter movies---no---animals did not normally speak, and Eve did not have some special ability. So how does this happen? Well, you need to look to the rest of Scripture for your answer. Believe it or not, the serpent here is not the only talking animal in the Bible. In Numbers 22 a donkey speaks. But here’s the key, it says that the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth. In other words, it wasn’t a donkey talking as much as it was God speaking from the mouth of a donkey. The same holds true with the serpent. It’s not so much a serpent talking as it is a supernatural being speaking through the serpent. How do you know that?
Scripture tells us
Revelation 12:9 King James Version (KJV)
9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Well why did Eve talk to the serpent? If I heard a snake talking to me, I’d run, but at least I wouldn’t be taking advise from it. But you have to remember that Adam and Eve are brand new creations. Everything to them is brand new. They are like babies in their naiveté. Imagine any 3 or 4 year old. They will talk to anyone, and if the family dog talked back to them, they’d likely hold a prolonged conversation with it.
So what did Satan, through the serpent say?
Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
Classic example of satanic deception—step one: question God’s Word—hath God said?
Step two; make God’s commands seem oppressive and extreme---hath God said that you can’t eat of any tree in the garden? He didn’t begin by saying, “Hey, I heard that out of all of the thousands of trees in the garden, there is just one of which you are commanded not to eat. No, that would be speaking the complete truth. Satan majors in holding back parts of the truth, to make it appear that God is overly demanding. He’s holding out on you.
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
She got this right. She correctly stated what God’s Word said. But she overstated the command. It never says in Scripture that Adam and Eve were forbidden in even touching the tree and its fruit. In fact, Scripture tells us that God gave the command to Adam, we are never told that God gave the command to Eve. I think that was the beginning of God relegating spiritual leadership in the home to the husband. God gives the command about the tree to Adam, Adam passes it on to Eve. And I can imagine the conversation between them. Adam says, “Oh Eve, nice to meet you. You’ve met God. This is the Garden of Eden, the home God made for us. He’s provided all these fruits and vegetables for us to eat. Oh, but let me show you, this tree here, we’re not supposed to eat it’s fruit. If you do, you’ll die. So, don’t eat it…in fact, don’t even touch it. It’d be better that way.
So Eve gets the command right, in as far as she knows. Some people fail at this point. And this is the point at which Satan starts. He questions God’s Word, then he tests the water to see if you even know what God’s Word says.
And most people don’t know God’s Word. So Satan has an easy job. People misquote or misinterpret the Word. It’s frustrating. I hear over and over arguments against capital punishment—People will say, the Bible says, “thou shalt not kill”---But they don’t know the word—if they did they’d know that just one chapter after God says “Thou shalt not kill, He says,
14 But if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbour, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die.
15 And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death.
16 And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.
17 And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death.
There are a number of laws whose punishment is death.
And later on God sends Israel out to war, to destroy their enemies—so it’s obvious that what he meant by “kill” in the commandment was better interpreted “murder” and that capital punishment, war, policing, and self-defense are all Biblical exceptions which are not considered murder by God.
But Satan deceives by perverting what little Word a person knows. But Eve passed that test. She knew the Word. So now he directly contradicts God’s Word.
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
God’s lying to you and He’s holding out on you. Satan uses that tactic with us as well. God, or those that represent God, just don’t want you to have fun. And Satan points out the one thing that God forbids. Adam and Eve had a whole garden of every imaginable fruit tree, and only one kind of fruit they couldn’t eat. And suddenly that’s the fruit Eve wants.
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise,
Lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, the pride of life
she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
Now at this point in the story I’ve heard 2 different interpretations about Adam. The question is asked, “Where was Adam while Eve was being tempted? Some say, she went and found him, told him she had taken the fruit, gave him some, and he ate. Others say, no, Adam saw the whole conversation go down, he was right there, all she had to do was hand him the fruit after she took a bite.
We don’t know. It is a curious question, because it goes to motive. Why did he eat it, why would he stand by and say nothing while she ate it? And his motives have been described as everything from loving---well after she found him and he saw she had eaten the fruit, he knew she was going to die—so he decided he’d die with her, to sinister—no, he was right there---he heard the temptation and watched her eat it, he was tempted to, but he watched her eat it, she didn’t fall down dead—so he ate it to.
Which is true? We don’t know. The passage can imply either. I don’t know that we can know his motives---but the Bible holds Adam responsible for sin coming to humanity.
And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.
But the Bible holds Adam responsible, even tho he didn’t initiate the sin. Because she was fooled by Satan, Adam wasn’t fooled, he sinned willfully.
If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom:
Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.
For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
But why does it hold him responsible? Well as I said before, he was the head of the household---she was deceived---he was not.
Well, that leads us to the end of our study for today. Next time we will look at the results of choosing sin. And we have been living with the misery of that choice since that brief moment of bliss in the Garden of.
Let’s pray, Heavenly Father, we know that we are just like Adam and Eve. You have given us so much. You have provided. And your commandments are a small thing compared to the privileges we have as the crown of your creation. But we strain at any small limitation put on us. We are a rebellious people. So we sin. If Adam and Eve hadn’t sinned, Cain and Abel would have. And if they hadn’t, we all would have.
But thank you for the grace of salvation offered to us in Jesus Christ. We thank you for the offer of covering for our sin, even as you offered covering for Adam and Eve’s sin.
We pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.