5 Things You Didn't Notice in the Creation Account
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- Updated Jul 14, 2022
One of my favorite portions of Scripture is Genesis 1-3. Although I know that the ending is sad because of the entrance of sin into the world, I find the verses about the world when it was perfect and we were without sin fascinating.
Today I want to take you on a journey through some verses of Scripture which can be easily skimmed through, but tell us a lot about God and His plan for us. In seeking these verses, we will learn more about the amazing character of the Lord.
1. The Holy Spirit Was Here from the Beginning
There is clear Trinitarian support right off the bat in Genesis 1. Genesis 1:2 says, “The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”
I absolutely love how the Spirit of God (The Holy Spirit) was hovering over water. When we think of the Holy Spirit we can remember fire at Pentecost, but we can also think about the Spirit descending like a dove at Jesus’ baptism. Matthew 3:16 says, “And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him.”
The Holy Spirit moves, and He comes to us. Jesus said that He was ascending to the Father so that the Holy Spirit could come dwell inside of our hearts. From the very beginning there was Father, Son, and Spirit.
2. The Enemy Begins Deception with a Question
In Genesis 3:1 the Serpent says, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?'” In his cunning way, he takes the words from God and adds to them. Then the enemy point blank lies and proceeds to tell part of the truth: “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” (Genesis 3:4b-5).
This reminds us of Jesus being tempted in the wilderness and how the Devil tried to use the Word of God improperly to trick Jesus into sinning. However, of course, Jesus is perfect and withstood all of his attacks. I find it intriguing that Satan attacked humanity in a beautiful garden, but he attacked Jesus in a dry desert. Even in the most ideal circumstances, we are prone to sin. Even in the most difficult places, Jesus never fails.
Deuteronomy 4:2 says, “You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you.”
3. The Woman Was Not Given Her Name Eve Until After the Fall
This in no way means that the woman was not as valuable as the man. They were equally important to God. Adam we read was placed in the Garden, but he needed a helpmate. “But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him” (Genesis 2:20). This led the Lord to create woman from man’s rib.
We then see Adam give his bride a name in Genesis 2:23b “she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Eve’s original name was Woman. This was not a negative term, but an endearing, amazed decision when Adam saw his wife that God created. Literally he said, “At last!” (Genesis 2:23a).
I believe Eve may not have needed her name apart from Woman in the perfect world because her and Adam had perfect oneness and unity. There was no division, there was no belittling – there was a perfect marriage. After they sinned, Adam names his wife Eve out of obedience of the Lord. Genesis 3:20 “The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.”
4. There Was a Second Tree That They Needed to Avoid
After Adam and Eve sinned, they could no longer be in the presence of the Holy Creator. However, there was also another reason why they had to be kicked out of the Garden of Eden. Genesis 3:22-24 says “Then the Lord God said, ‘Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever-’ therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.”
The question then comes, if they ate from the Tree of Life after sinning, would they have been eternally hopeless? Regardless of that answer, the Lord sent them out to protect them from eating from the Tree of Life. This also gets me excited because even though mankind could not get back to God on their own, thousands of years later, Jesus came to earth to come and rescue us. He died on a tree of death so that we could be reunited with God. His death on the Cross and resurrection is the greatest act of love that this world has ever known.
Tying back to point one, also note the wording, “Behold, the man has become like one of us…” Us implies more than one. Us implies the Trinity.
5. God Created Everything, but He Invited Mankind to Be Involved in His Work
Genesis 2:19 says, “Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name.”
God the Creator not only designed and brought us to life, he modeled to mankind and invited them into His work. Just as Adam was asked to name the animals, the Lord gives believers today a role to play in His kingdom work. We each have spiritual gifts and talents that we can use to point to the Image of Christ. We are people who are not only made in the image of God, but we are called to point to Him with our lives (Genesis 1:26-27).
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Photo credit: Unsplash/Carolyn V
