Genesis 1 continued

By now the angels were standing on tiptoe waiting for the climax of the working week. They knew that all must be finished soon for the Sabbath was drawing on and the creatures of the universe looked forward to spending that time with their Creator.

Genesis 1:24-31

And God saw every thing that He had made, and, behold, it was VERY good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Thus we see that all the creatures of the earth were made on the same day, with Adam as the last creation. We know from later verses that the former were made in pairs, male and female, while Adam was on his own. There was a great purpose in this, as there is in everything that the Son of God does.

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Genesis 2:7

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 2:18-24

And Adam said, "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called ‘Woman’, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they shall be one flesh."

The question raised in the minds of the spectators was why the need for male and female? No one else in the universe was made that way. Neither the angels nor the other inhabitants of the universe had any need of reproduction for they were made in just the right number to fulfil all God’s requirements. So why the difference in this world?

The question is answered for us by Jesus Himself.

One day, after telling Him of a woman who had been married to seven different men in her lifetime, some of His opponents wanted to know how God would sort out that problem in the new world. They said:-

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Mark 12:2327

"In the resurrection therefore, when they shall rise, whose wife shall she be of them? For the seven had her to wife."

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The need for Adam (and Eve) to exist and to be capable of reproduction came with the entrance of sin, so that there could be replacements for the disobedient angels. Jesus could have made the total number required to reinstate the universe at the same time as He was creating Adam, but He had another plan in mind. It was His purpose that the question of keeping the commandments would be demonstrated by Adam and Eve who were so like the angels, and also by their children who would be seen to have no knowledge of God’s way as the angels did. They were not to be born with full knowledge, as their parents had been created, but would grow and learn while they demonstrated.

Also He, in His foreknowledge, saw that Adam and Eve could sin, and if this occurred then many of their children would be lost to Him by the wages of sin, death. Romans 6:23. To handle this contingency, He built in a scheme whereby He could be the God of the "living", those who clung to Jesus as their "Life". This is what He meant when He told His hearers that God is not the God of the "dead (in sin)" but only of those who live by righteousness.

Then, as the creatures of the earth came to Adam and he "named" or described their characteristics and reason for existence, the mystery deepened in the minds of the watchers. Where was the mate for Adam? (We can go into that more fully next time.)

It is common today for men and women to have a high opinion of themselves and of their merits; so much so that they forget their dependence upon God. But we have just seen that snakes and spiders etc. were made in the same way and on the same day, to counteract this tendency. Ecclesiastes 3:18-21.

It is also natural for humans to feel independent, and to imagine that they support themselves, and can even continue their own existence, but that is not what Jesus showed on the sixth day. There He set the position of His newly created child between the fallen angels and the loyal ones. Adam and his descendants could go either way, and as we know, the majority have chosen the way of rebellion.

They are described by the Apostle Paul in the following words,

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Romans 1:21-23, 28

Because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

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Such was their pride and self-conceit that "they did not like to retain God in their knowledge."

Like the beasts, our father was taken from the ground. Therefore we are but "dust and ashes." Genesis 18:27. Adam could not boast at all, not even over the beasts that are placed under him, for it was simply by the power of God, who can make of the same clay "a vessel unto honour and one unto dishonour", that he was any different from them. Romans 9:21.

The earth is the source from which all moving creatures spring. "All are of the dust, and all turn to dust again." Ecclesiastes 3:20. After death and decomposition the dust of the prince cannot be distinguished from the dust of the poor man, nor even from that of his dog.

While they remained true to God, Adam and his companion were to bear rule over the earth. Unlimited control was given them over every living thing. The lion and the lamb played peacefully around them or lay down together at their feet. The happy birds flitted about them without fear; and as their glad songs ascended to the praise of their Creator, Adam and Eve united with them in thanksgiving to the Father and the Son.

The holy pair were not only children under the fatherly care of God, but also students receiving instruction from the all-wise Creator. They were visited by angels, and were granted communion with their Maker, with no obscuring veil between. They were full of the vigour imparted by the tree of life, and their intellectual power was only a little less than that of the angels. Hebrews 2:6-8. The mysteries of the visible universe, "the wondrous works of Him which is perfect in knowledge", gave them an exhaustless source of instruction and delight. Job 37:16. The laws and operations of nature, which have engaged mankind's study for six thousand years, were opened to their minds by the infinite Framer and Upholder of all.

They harmonised with leaf and flower and tree, gathering from each the secrets of its life. With every living creature, from the mighty leviathan that plays among the waters to the insect mote that floats in the sunbeam, Adam was familiar. He had given to each its name, and he was acquainted with the nature and habits of all. God's glory in the heavens, the innumerable worlds in their orderly revolutions, "the balancings of the clouds," the mysteries of light and sound, of day and night - all were open to the study of our first parents. On every leaf of the forest or stone of the mountains, in every shining star, in earth and air and sky, God's name was written. The order and harmony of creation spoke to them of infinite wisdom and power. They were ever discovering some attraction that filled their hearts with deeper love and called forth fresh expressions of gratitude.

So long as they remained loyal to the divine law, their capacity to know, to enjoy, and to love would continually increase. They would be constantly gaining new treasures of knowledge, discovering fresh springs of happiness, and obtaining clearer and yet clearer conceptions of the immeasurable, unfailing love of God.

And so may we.

See you next time,

Ron