Sunday, October 13, 2013

Paradise

The book of Genesis opens up with the ancient Hebrew account of creation. The one, all 
powerful, all wise God decides to put order into the universe. He creates a whole world, then 
crowns it with Man, created in His own image. 

(This is a stark contrast to the other creation accounts from the Ancient Near East. It was generally believed that there were many gods, who were not all powerful or all knowing. They created man because they were unable to take care of themselves, and they needed someone to supply them with food through sacrifices. This was not so with the God of the Hebrews.)

To the man, He gifts the responsibility of stewarding creation. He places the man, Adam, in the perfect Garden of Eden, and gives to him a helper to correspond and have relationship with him. Adam names the woman Eve. Together, they are to tend the Garden, and are free to live giving glory back to God and living in perfect, unhindered relationship with Him. It is, in a word, paradise. Perfect environment, perfect God, perfect relationship. It seems that all would be well; where is there room for discontentment when you have all that you need?The man is given only one restriction: You may freely eat fruit from every tree of the orchard, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will surely die. 

"Die" must have been an unfamiliar word. Now there is an opportunity for Adam and Eve to have faith and trust in God. But the other side of that occasion is the opportunity for doubt and disobedience. Will they find themselves to be totally satisfied with God and His judgment of the tree, or will they try to decide what is best on their own? 

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