The Creation Week account is one subjected to much analysis, debate, and intrigue. For us as humans, however, the most significant event of this account is the creation of mankind. Many, if not all, of us know the story. But today, we are going to take a brief look at the lives of the father and mother of the human race: Adam and Eve, the first man and the first woman.
26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; 30 and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so. 31 God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. (Genesis 1:26-31 NASB95)
Let’s start by looking at the first man, Adam. Formed from the dust of the earth (Genesis 2:7), he was tasked by God to cultivate and tend to the garden (2:15). All of the fruit was free for his eating, except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (2:16-17). The consequence was assured death. And so, Adam began to work, watching over the beautiful Garden of Eden and naming all the creatures (2:19-20a). However, there was still a missing piece.
God desired for Adam to have a helper (2:18) but was unable to find one suitable among His creations (2:20b). And so, God put Adam to sleep as He completed another miracle of creation, taking Adam’s rib and fashioning it into the first woman (2:22), who would later be called Eve (3:20). And so, the two came together as man and wife, naked and unashamed in their blameless state (2:23-25).
It is at this point when God examines His creation and declares “it was very good.” He thus rested on and sanctified the seventh day (which would later become the Jewish Sabbath). His creation was beautiful and untainted. Man was fulfilling his intended purpose, and woman was the perfect partner and helper to him. Sadly, as we all know, the story does not end there. Evil lurked.
As we move to chapter 3, some unknown amount of time has passed. The woman is walking through the Garden and meets the serpent, who “was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made” (3:1a). Several texts throughout Scripture support that Satan was somehow connected to this serpent, although the exact details are not laid out for us. Instead, the intention of the Word is to make clear that this is a formidable opponent for Eve.
The serpent begins its awful work of temptation with a seemingly simple question: “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden?’” Immediately, there are two concerns. Pastor David Guzik addressed them in this way:
- Satan’s first attack was leveled against the Word of God. If he could make Eve confused about what God said, or to doubt what God said, then his battle was partially won.
- Satan took God’s positive command in Genesis 2:16-17…and rephrased it in a purely negative way: “God won’t let you eat of every tree.”
And so, we see that Satan from the very beginning was a deceiver. He sought to sow discord, seed doubt against His Creator in a petty attempt at revenge. But Eve does not realize.
Instead, she responds that they are forbidden from eating or touching the tree in the middle of the garden (3:2-3). From context, we know this to be the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Satan immediately refutes this, now blatantly falsely accusing God of being two things: a liar (3:4) and selfish (3:5). He states that Eve will not die, and that God wishes to keep the knowledge of good and evil to Himself. And this is true, as we see when Eve and Adam eat the fruit (3:6-7a). Yet, the serpent still deceived. He framed this knowledge as something desirable to seek after. It was not.
Ashamed of their sin (now having the knowledge of good and evil), they covered their shame and hid from God (3:7-8). As God walked through the Garden, searching and calling for them, Adam reveals himself and proclaims his shame (3:9-11). This begins a sequence of events where God curses the serpent, woman, and man separately (3:12-19). All three deal with consequences from their actions. Amidst it all, though, is the promise of redemption through the seed of the woman (3:15). This sets the tone of God’s gracious redemption throughout history, both in the present and in the future.
Adam and the newly-named Eve (3:20) are cast from the Garden, barred from entry (3:22-24). They set out into the greater part of Creation. And man never returned to Eden.
Adam and Eve proceeded to live a very full life. While their first two sons had an unhappy ending to their tale (4:1-24), Adam and Eve went on to have multiple sons and daughters and lived a full life (4:25–5:5). They brought up their children to honor and rightly fear God. Realization set in. Adam and Eve’s sin had brought about the knowledge of good and evil. By shunning the good obedience of God, they introduced the evil of sin to the world at large.
The world continues to fade. Sin still reigns supreme. But we praise God for we have seen the God’s promise in Genesis 3:15 begin to be fulfilled through Christ’s death. While Christ’s heel was bruised by Satan’s temporary defeat of Him, we look forward to when our Savior returns and crushes the serpent’s head completely.
Much like Adam and Eve, we as believers are tempted by false, empty promises of the flesh. Our human desires overcome our knowledge that what we are doing is evil. God sees that. And just as he covered Adam and Eve with the animal skins (3:21), so are we covered by the perfect redemptive atonement of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross (Hebrews 10:5-10). All glory be to the one Who sits on the throne!