ADAM AND EVE DISOBEY GOD CHAPTERS 2

"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" (Genesis 2:9).

This second account of creation is written from a different point of view: It focuses on the first humans. It also uses a different name for God. In the first account, God is referred to as ‘elohim, which means "the mighty God the Creator, the Great One who inhabits eternity." ‘Elohim is used in this important account to emphasize God’s sovereign power. In the second account, the name used for God is Yahweh ‘elohim. Yahweh is used when God emphasizes the importance of his relationship with humanity.

God planted a garden as a residence for the man, Adam. But on his own, Adam was incomplete – as he soon recognized (Genesis 2:20). So God created woman, a separate but equal creation, sharing man’s essential and unique nature. Adam named the woman Eve (Genesis 3:20).

God thus established the institution of marriage as the union of one man and one woman for life. Because of this, marriage is to be held in honor. Marriage was not a product of human culture. God designed it for the happiness of the human race, to enable love to be fully expressed within a family structure, and as a means of reproduction. Both husband and wife have important responsibilities in the marital relationship (Genesis 2:24; Ephesians 5:21-33).

God gave Adam and Eve permission to eat fruit from the many different trees in the garden, including the fruit of the "tree of life" (Genesis 2:9, 16). That tree symbolized constant access to God and eternal life (Revelation 2:7; 22:14). Only one tree was off limits. God told Adam and Eve, "You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die" (Genesis 2:17). Adam and Eve were now faced with a test of obedience. Would they listen to their Creator’s instructions, or would they choose to disobey and sin?

The wily serpent, who symbolized Satan the devil (Revelation 12:9), now entered the scene. He approached Eve, and, imputing an evil intention to God’s command, expressed his own doubts (Genesis 3:1). The serpent’s objective was to pose as a benefactor, to entice Adam and Eve to sin. The serpent said to Eve: "You will not surely die.... For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil" (verses 4-5).

Eve was enticed by Satan’s words. She had to see for herself if she would truly receive this Godlike power. Eventually, Eve "took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it" (verse 6). The first man and woman failed their basic test of faith. Thousands of years later, the apostle Paul explained that both Adam and Eve were guilty of sin in this action (Romans 5:12-14; 2 Corinthians 11:3).

The serpent had cleverly undermined the relationship that should have existed between human beings and God. He had tricked our first parents into defying the Creator’s command by suggesting that God was greedy and selfish and was trying to keep something good from them. Through an attitude that was an affront to God himself (Psalm 51:4), Adam and Eve ruined their chances of living a God-centered life. The serpent had lured them into alienating themselves from their Creator.

By disregarding God’s command, Adam and Eve had made a fateful choice. They had attempted to run their lives according to what seemed right to them and not according to the principles clearly enunciated by God. They usurped God’s authority and set themselves up as lawgiver, judge and jury of the way things ought to be. The couple asserted their independence from God, and grasped at an imagined equality with him. They thought that the forbidden fruit would be the key to vital knowledge they needed – knowledge that God was withholding from them.

Adam and Eve liked the idea of being "like God" in knowledge. But their perception was terribly distorted. God’s intention was for them to grow in knowledge through seeking his divine will and unlimited. wisdom. Through their disobedience, the first humans terminated their contact with the only sure source of truth. In this sense, they barred themselves from the Garden of Eden and from the tree of life (Genesis 3:24).

Yet, even as Adam and Eve cut themselves off from God’s presence, he mercifully gave them a promise and a hope for the future salvation of the human race. In what is often called the Bible’s first messianic prophecy, God told the serpent, "I will put enmity between you [Satan] and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he [the Savior] will crush your head, and you will strike his heel" (verse 15).

To reverse the consequences of human sin, God would send his Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us. Satan would strike the heel of the Savior, Jesus Christ, through the crucifixion. However, Jesus would triumph over evil and death through his resurrection from the dead. Thus, he was prophesied from the beginning to "crush" Satan’s head by destroying the power of sin and the serpent’s sin-filled system.

The disobedience of our parents, Adam and Eve, plunged the human race into sin (Romans 5:12). Yet, when we uncover the complete biblical picture, we see that, in spite of our flawed past and uncertain present, we humans can look forward to a positive future.

God has a plan to save humanity, and the Bible tells us about that plan. It is, above all, a story of hope! As we explore the Word of God, we will discover that we are destined to inherit eternal life in the kingdom of God. To experience this magnificent purpose, however, we must first be reconciled to God through the sacrifice of his Son, Jesus Christ (verses 9-21).