Adam and Eve Studies - Part 4: Death in Paradise #adamandeve #gardenofeden #originalsin
What were Adam and Eve like before they believed Satan’s lies?
God created Adam from dust of the earth, in his own image, (a triune being) and “God-breathed” him into life as a living soul. He next formed Eve from Adam’s rib. - Genesis 1:27. 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. - Genesis 2:7.
While Adam lay on the ground, he was still yet a lifeless creature. But when God knelt down and breathed into him, the infusion of the spirit in man occurred. That is what made man in the image of God! That is what gave man the power to have dominion over God's creation. It gave him the intellect he needed to rule what God created. With the infusion of the spirit in man, he is more than a living creature —he's a living being with intelligence.
The first couple were spiritually alive and God-conscious. They had a knowing of holiness, majesty and love, but they had no idea whether those things were good or bad because they had no concept of good or evil. Adam was in complete harmony with his Creator, his heart and mind enlightened and guided by the open and free alliance with God’s Spirit. This partnership of spirits set and shepherded the pattern of the new human existence. They were pure and innocent. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed, - Genesis 1:25.
What was it like in Eden? God turned them loose in paradise with full access. All their needs, and more were met; they lived in safety in a place of indescribable beauty. Their function was to fellowship with God, tend the garden, and “be fruitful and multiply.” They were rulers; they had dominion over the earth, the animals, birds and fish. Nothing was impossible. In the vernacular of our culture we could say “they had it made.”
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. – Genesis 1:26.
It’s important to emphasize that Adam, and subsequently, Eve, were creatures with a free will. God could have created them like robots, forever locked into certain behaviors, praising and glorifying God by rote right on schedule. There’s no joy or glory or worship derived from an entity without choice. God wanted glory, worship, and fellowship with a creature who CHOSE HIM.
They were to obey ONLY ONE RULE. They could eat anything they wanted except for the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Note it isn’t the tree of good and evil but the knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve CHOSE God to his honor and glory by obeying this one rule.
It’s said, there’s a half-truth in every lie and Satan is the originator of that clever deceit. He convinced Eve and subsequently Adam, they would not “surely die" if they disobeyed God. The half-truth is that they didn’t fall over in physical death that instant. However, they began the process, the journey toward physical death in that moment. (Babies begin the process to physical death at the time of birth.)
In that twinkling of the eye instant, when Adam and Eve chose Satan instead of God, the bond between Creator and the first couple was severed and the spiritual union with God ended – right then. The spirit did not die. It existed but the departure of the Holy Spirit left them spiritually dead – separated from God.
Their likeness and image of God is now tainted and disfigured, their innocence and lack of knowledge of sin, shattered. Where he was guided by the Holy Spirit, he is now influenced and led by the imaginations of a sinful mind. Adam, a creature of light, now dwells as a carnal man, in a body of death and darkness, rendering him unfit to be in a Holy God’s presence.
But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God—who chose you to be His children—is holy. For He Himself has said, “You must be holy because I am holy ” - 1 Peter 1:14-16
So, what happens next? What does God do? How to Adam and Eve cope with this explosive development in their life. Watch for next blog – The Fig Leaf Cure.