Were Adam and Eve the First Human Beings? (Adam and Eve: Genesis 2:4-25)
- Most well-known Bible story after Jesus
- Moves from the creation of the heavens and the earth (Gen. 1) to our human family (Gen 2)
- Moves from creating life, to living life
Were Adam and Eve 1st human beings? (study guide ch. 1 question #6; Doctrine 3-4)
- Gen 1-5 – single, married, sinned, kids, grandkids, died
-S. Joshua Swamidass assoc. prof UW Medicine St Louis “The Genealogical Adam & Eve: The Surprising Science of Universal Ancestry” everyone descended Adam/Eve (evolution from apes)
WHY??
God Created Us to Live Physically and Spiritually
Genesis 2:4-14 These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground— then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is the Gihon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush. And the name of the third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
Potter & Clay – (impersonal spoke vs personal form)
1. Live Physically = Body – God formed from the ground
2. Live Spiritually = Soul – God breathed breath of life
Soul – 100’s X Bible; 0 X Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
1 Person 2 Parts. Eden “beautiful garden of God” = Divine Counsel Heaven/Earth
God Created Us to Work and Worship
Genesis 2:15-17 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
1. Work
- Adam is “like” Jesus here (90% work)
- Work = Cultural Mandate
2. Worship
- Like a priest in temple, Adam is priest in garden
- Worship – obey Law/Command 2 Trees 1. LIFE 2. DEATH
Red Light vs Green Light Dad & WHY? (die) (sneaky/rebellious)
God Created Us for Relationship with Him and Others
Genesis 2:18-19 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”
1. Relationship w/God
- perfect w/God – “good”/”not good” (incomplete)
2. Relationship w/Others
- Trinity “us/our”
Adam – 1. dominion over animals 2. distinction from animals
Eve – 1. Equal Adam (side) 2. Diff’t Adam 3. Helper – same as HS (face-face)
Proverbs 18:22 He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord.
1st wedding – God Father & Pastor
· God made marriage 1 man 1 woman (homo, best, adult, divorce, cohab, forn, polygamy)
· 1st recorded words poetic song husband to wife
· 1st human emotion is joy
· 1st nickname is positive
Genesis shifts to marriage/family & is a case study in generational family systems
Not only does God architect our world, He also architects our marriages & families
God Created Us for Marriage and Family
Genesis 2:24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
· Moses breaks in for commentary that (Jesus & Paul quote Matt. 19:5; Mk. 10:7-8; Eph. 5:31)
· God made marriage 1 man 1 woman 1. Covenant 2. Consummation
Marriage & Family (see Jimmy Evans the 4 Laws of Love)
1. Law of Priority: A man shall leave his father & mother
- Written for us – Adam had no parents
Young Men – independent, self-sufficient (takes a wife – he takes initiative)
Young Women – given marriage
- Leave = physically, financially, practically
- College in our culture is like a half-step
Error 1 – under parent = 18 (pastors daughter)
Error 2 – over parent (control vs influence) =guilt, family pressure, $ manipulation
SINGLE: God/family MARRIED: God/spouse/kids/ext family
=3 kinds of relationships 1. Healthy 2. Unhealthy 3. No relationship
2. Law of Pursuit: Hold fast/cleave to his wife (passionate energy)
- New Family vs Extended Family (1. dysfunction 2. culture)
3. Law of Partnership: One “echade” (Deut. 6:4)
- ONE – house, bed, bank, church, schedule, name
- Strength is not a problem. Independence is a problem
4. Law of Purity: Naked w/o shame
Sex =Naked w/o shame 1. Sin against you 2. Sin by you 3. Bad teaching
- Standard beauty spouse
- Bible teaches chastity before marriage, fidelity in marriage. (fireplace)
Summary
- This is God’s perfect design before the fall & your culture
- A couple that obeys God’s Word has a 100% guaranteed successful marriage
- World: We have inverted this process 3. one flesh 2. live together 1. leave father/mother
What went wrong?
- 2 Trees/ 2 Choices – we chose death
Creator entered creation to 1. Forgive sin 2. Defeat death
Preparing a place for us. Coming w/Eden. Beginning-Middle-Beginning
1. Baptism – I’m a new creation 2. Communion – forgive my choosing death. I choose life
