Man, Knowledge, Eternal life, Death beyond dying, and Marriage - Genesis 2

Gen 2:7  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.

God says human life is special above all creation, because it is the only creature with a living soul.

Gen 2:9  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.

Note two trees in the midst. The Tree of Life is ignored by the unbelieving critic, because all of the controversy is centered on the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. The next time the Tree of Life will be seen is in the book of Revelation. Sadly, all of the interest was in the later tree then, as it is for many today.

Gen 2:16-17  And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 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.

So we have one command here, and man won't waste too much time before breaking it. Note that they could have eaten freely of the Tree of Life, but they didn't.  Note also that "surely die" here in English is something like "moot ha moot" in Hebrew. I'd like to suggest translating it into English as "die the death".  That speaks to me of a death beyond physical death.

Gen 2:23-25  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. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

Marriage is supposed to be a glorious thing, but we've let it become a shameful thing in our modern culture. A solid marriage provides a solid foundation for a family. Too many husbands and wives despise each other. Homes are falling down because, like a house built on sand, the marital relationship is unstable and too much of the attention is directed at the children. Kids are the only thing holding many marriages together.  Houses are divided against themselves.

Is it any wonder that America is divided against itself?

Out of Nothing - Genesis 1:2

Gen 1:2  And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

This verse tells us that God created heaven and earth out of nothing, tohoo va bohoo.  Science always starts with something; primordial matter before the Big Bang, or primordial soup before amino acids. Man starts with something.  God starts with nothing but His Spirit.

Ten Commandments of Creation - Genesis 1:3-30

1. Let there be light

2. Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters

3. Let it separate the waters from the waters and let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear

4. Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth

5. Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years. And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth

6. Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

7. Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.

8. Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind

9. 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.

10. 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.

 

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A couple of things here confuse some people to no end, so lets clear them up.

The light spoken of in the first act of creation is God himself. He is like an artist who signs His work before He begins it. He identifies Himself with His creation. Why? Because, in its undefiled state, it is every bit as good as anything He has ever created. He does all things well!

Separating waters from waters speaks of physical processes. God laid down the physical laws by which His universe operates. So you and I can separate water from ice by heating it. We can separate steam from water by heating it even more. God established order before He created the things that are governed by that order.

This is all very logical friends!

Creation And Redemption - Genesis 1:1

Gen 1:1  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

As a book of books, the Holy Bible opens with God's work of creation. Some have labeled Genesis 1 as the "Ten Commandments of Creation".

This first verse is a thumbnail sketch of creation.  It's true that man is not mentioned, but what is the point of communicating something if there is nobody to receive the message?  God created the heaven and earth, because he had man already in His mind.

If we look at this verse in Hebrew (transliterated), we get the following;

B'reshit bara Elohim et ha shamayim v'et ha aretz

That first word can mean "in the beginning".  It can also be translated as "in the firstfruits". Look up firstfruits in your Bible, friends, and you'll find that it speaks of redemption. It speaks first and foremost of Christ. Although the Church and Israel are referred to as firstfruits, what is the Church without Christ?  What is Israel without the Messiah?

I find that I'm nothing without Jesus Christ. 

In Christ, God created the heaven and the earth!

It is also worth noting that God's redemptive work comes before the Law. God redeemed the children of Israel out of Egypt before he gave them the Law. Jesus came to die for sinners, because keeping the Law hasn't saved anybody.  The only one who could keep the Law was God's son, Jesus.  Redemption comes before obedience. Redeemed people are to be obedient people in response to God's love. God doesn't ask unredeemed sinners to keep his the Law today.  He asks them to accept the one who He sent.