A Few Words: Genesis 2

Saturday, April 5, 2014

Eve #atozchallenge

English: Eve, the snake and the mitochondria (Photo credit: Wikipedia

Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

Genesis 2:24

New King James Version (NKJV)

Genesis 2 provides an accounting of the creation of the woman, Eve, to be a companion for Adam. There is specificity in the order of relationships as they were formed from the beginning of creation. Man and woman were created to be a unified corporate relationship. This is the natural order of the foundation upon which family is intended to be built.

Eve was deceived into sin by Satan and in turn convinced her husband to join her. They had an equal responsibility in accepting the deception. The Fall of Adam and Eve is the beginning of the history of humankind. Adam is the father and Eve is the mother of all who came after them.

We can speculate on many issues if we accept the Bible version of this story. Questions regarding incest have puzzled many. How different races came from the initial pair of humans raises doubt among those who would want to refute the Bible. But by the same token explanations offered by science and evolution advocates raise the same questions. After all, if evolution is accepted as the origin of humans, is it practical to believe that dozens of humans suddenly appeared or just one?

Questions abound no matter which belief we choose, but the God theory works best in my opinion. And from a purely logic approach it makes sense that marriage should only be between a man and woman. It is after all the natural order of a system that depends on the process of reproduction for growth of the species.

That growth began with Adam and Eve. And the woman Eve carried those first humans and delivered them into this world.

“Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh?"

Matthew 19:4-5

New International Version (NIV)

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Consequences #atozchallenge

English: Adam and Eve are being sent out of th...

Adam and Eve are being sent out of the garden of Eden (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

Genesis 2:16-17

New International Version (NIV)

If God loves us so much why does allow sickness and death?

This is a question that is posed often by nonbelievers and believers alike The answer is given earlier on in the Bible.

Eden was a paradise. Adam and Eve were created with perfect bodies intended to last forever. They were physical perfection yet they had that fatal flaw shared by Satan--pride. Apparently it was not enough to enjoy God's company and rule over a perfect domain given over to their charge. God expressly commanded for them to not eat the fruit of one tree in the Garden, yet tempted by Satan they choose to disobey God and eat of that fruit. As God warned, the consequence of their disobedience was death.

We can speculate as to whether there was or was not a literal tree with tangible edible fruit or if the account is more metaphorical or symbolic. Either way the result was the same. Physical perfection was lost and Adam and Eve were expelled from the most perfect place. Their eventual fate would be death.

This was the Original Sin that set the standard for all of the human descendants of Adam and Eve. From that point on the Bible tells the stories of early mankind and the consequences of repeated disobedience. Every bad thing that happens in this world is the consequence of something that came before whether it be poor judgement, disobedience, sin or the entropy related to the Original Sin.

We are all sinners therefore we are all destined to die. However, through God's loving grace we can return to perfection and paradise.

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.