Hendersonhome Chronicles

⁴ This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created.
When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens- ⁵ and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground, ⁶ but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground- ⁷ the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

• In verse 4, we see the first time that God has identified Himself by His covenant name “Yahweh” (denoted by the all uppercase “LORD”).  This is a line in the sand against the other cultures of the time that Genesis was originally written.  Here is the author of the book introducing himself personally to the reader.  Up until now, God has stood at a distance, designating Himself as creator and authority over His creation.  Now, as Genesis re-tells the account of the creation of man, God draws nearer to the crown of creation, and lets Himself be known by a name.

• I’ve always been curious what the first breath was like for Adam.  Was it calm and gentle, like waking up for the first time?  Or, was it a sudden rush of air, filling his lungs almost to the point of bursting?  Did he spend his first few minutes marveling at his hands, his eyes and his feet?  Or did he need time to recover from the gift of life?

⁸ Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. ⁹ And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

¹⁵ The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. ¹⁶ And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; ¹⁷ but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”

Here is the ultimate temporal choice, presented to man again and again.  Choose life or death.  There is no in-between; God does not allow for sampling of either.  The terms are repeated often (Deut. 30:19, Joshua 24:15, Proverbs 8:10, John 7:17).  Blessings or curses, both for ourselves and for others.

Why did God put them together, in the middle of the garden?  Why weren’t they kept far away from each other?  (This is an invitation to leave a comment, by the way).

Also, even including the Tree of Life stands in contrast to the culture of the time Genesis was written.  Ancient pagans believed that their gods had always intended man to be mortal.  Here, Yahweh is stating I have always intended for you to enjoy eternal life without death, but you must choose it.  You must choose Me.

And man, as a race, has repeatedly chosen to take what will kill us, rather than receive life graciously offered from God’s hand.

¹⁹ Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. ²⁰ So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field.

In creating man, God formed something completely different from every other creature.  Man is clearly a part of creation, since other beasts and birdies out of the ground.  In my longing for Heaven, I tend to forget that, as a part of creation, I am tied to this earth.  I want to be separate from it, to go somewhere else.  Yet, I was created to live on this earth.  However, man was also created to have dominion over creation.  Not as an exploiter, but as a caretaker and steward, but definitely in charge.

In chapters 1 & 2, we see a picture of man, inhabiting and ruling over the earth, and God living with man.  If we take a moment to read the end of the Bible, in Revelation 21-22, we get to see the end of the story.  God will come back to earth again, to live with man, and mankind will once again have dominion over creation as God intended.  That seems to be the true meaning of Heaven: God living with man on earth.  Genesis 1-2, and Revelation 21-22 are bookends, describing God’s ultimate plan for mankind.  We live in between the bookends, experiencing life full of strife, injustice and pain.  Yet, we daily have the option to choose life, and establish pockets of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, now.