March 17, 2018 – LPM WordPress

Genesis: in the beginning

The last time we looked at how the world began and how many days it took for God to create the world and all that there is in it. Today, we’re going to pick up where we left off, but let’s go back to Genesis 1:26-28 as we look at the first human.

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Scripture in focus: Genesis 1 & 2

GOD, THE FATHER: “Let us make man in our image”

The origin of the human race is recorded in the story of Adam and Eve for they were the first human beings to ever walk the earth. In 1:26 God is speaking to the heavenly court when he said, “Let us make man in our image, after our own likeness”. Humans enjoy a unique and special relationship with God and they represent Him as His ambassadors here on earth. Now, the term “likeness” can sometimes get lost in translation so if we can quickly go to 5:3 we’ll find an example of children being described in the “likeness” and “image” of their parents. Before words such as “resemblance” existed, the mentioned terms (image and likeness) were commonly used in the ancient world to show that the child bore the look and features of the parents.

Therefore, God is the Father of humanity.

CROSS REFERENCE: Deuteronomy 32:6 & Isaiah 64:8

After creating man in His image/likeness, I guess it’s safe to say that God makes beautiful things out of dust.

via Unsplash

MAN & THE GARDEN OF EDEN

The garden of Eden sure sounded like a paradise I wouldn’t have wanted to leave (2:1-14)! God put the first man in the garden of Eden. The first man or father of the human race was to take care of this beautiful paradise and he wouldn’t have wanted for nothing for he had everything. In 2:18, God came to the conclusion that man shouldn’t be alone and decides to make a helper. In 2:19, we finally learned that the first man’s name was Adam and he named every living creature which was his first recorded act (2:19-20), but still, there was no help meet for him, so God creates woman as a helper for Adam.

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Adam was made to deep sleep while God took one of his ribs and made woman. I call this event the first surgery (2:21-22). When God brought the woman to Adam, one can safely say that this was the first marriage hence the comments made in 2:23-24. It was like a vow. A beautiful one, too! I wish I was at that wedding! 😃So God gives Adam his bride (yes, He gives the bride away to the groom. He was the divine witness of the marriage covenant) and it is the man who leaves his parents to join to his wife. God created them as sexual beings for they were meant to populate the earth (1:28).

THE FIRST SABBATH

Now, God did not need to rest. It’s highly unlikely for an all-powerful being to become exhausted after creating the world. But he led by example when he carefully planned and structured the world showing that we must know how to manage time wisely and He led by example when He rested from all His hard work showing that we weren’t created to work 24/7.

Over the years, there have been major arguments over which the day the Lord called the Sabbath and rested upon. In 2:2-3 we can clearly see that God rested on the seventh day from all His work and He sanctified it which means we are to follow after our Father and rest on the seventh day. Also, it is the ONLY commandment in which God tells us to remember in Exodus 20:8.

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The Sabbath is to be observed on the seventh day and it doesn’t matter how many times man has modified the calenders, Saturday stays the same: the 7th day. In French, Samedi which is Saturday also means Sabbath. One can read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, but one would not find any authorization of the Sabbath changing days for no other day has been sanctified as the day of rest. God instituted the Sabbath in the very beginning and His Word is law for we were created to worship Him. Over the years, we’ve been misled and went astray, but Jesus will set everything right once again when He returns to reign as the ultimate King of Kings.

Next, we’ll look at chapters 3 and 4 and if possible, 5.

Additional Notes/Recap

^ The Hebrew word for earth is adama. God formed man from the dust of the earth, therefore, the connection here is strong with the first man. Adam means ‘red’ and it can be a reference to either the red skin or the red earth of Eden.

^ Eve’s name means ‘living’ for she was the mother of all living.

^ God could’ve made Eve from the ground just as he did Adam, but everything He does is symbolic. When He made Eve from Adam’s flesh and bone, God illustrated that through marriage, man and woman symbolically becomes one. This is the unity that God intended for man and woman in marriage.

A couple holds their fists against one another, showing off their wedding bands

^ No one knows exactly where the Garden of Eden was for sure, but it doesn’t stop many from speculating. The Bible mentions a spring in the garden which parted into four major rivers (2:10-14). Today, many researchers and scholars are convinced that southern Iraq was where the prosperous garden once stood. The Bible does not mention where the garden was exactly, but it was most likely destroyed in the Flood.