1 Then the LORD said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the whole congregation of Israel and tell them: Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy. -Leviticus 19:1-2 BSB
God is holy, without any sin or darkness, perfect in all His ways, and the standard of righteousness and goodness.
When God created the heavens and earth, He created them in perfection. Five times, God said, “it was good” and one time “was good” in reference to the light.
On day number six, God created land animals then He created Adam first then Eve in His image to rule over God’s creation. The word “image” in verses 26 & 27 does not imply in a physical sense. It’s in reference to dominion over God’s creation that is, land animals, sea creatures, and birds, as well as the earth.
God’s image in Adam and Eve can be seen in their human traits like being happy, sad, angry (in a righteous sense), being concerned for others, patient, having mercy, etc. Also, in communication with one another in a language form. And lastly, the ability to create things with their hands.
In the middle of the garden, God placed two trees. One was called “the tree of life” and the other “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2:9). God created those two trees to test Adam and Eve to see if they would obey Him or not. Now, God already knew the answer to that, but it was to show them the level they really had when it came to trusting in God’s Word. All they had to do was obey one command.
When God created Adam and Eve, they were created without sin. They did not know what sin was in the sense of having a mind that would produce evil thoughts. All of their thoughts were innocent before the LORD God.
The LORD warned the man that the day he eats from the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he would die. Adam didn’t know the full extent and reach that the death that God mentioned would bring him. It would permeate not only to his physical body but to his spirit, condemning him and his wife to hell unless the LORD would intervene with a way to atone for their sins. In Genesis 3:21, God made animal skins to cover their nakedness and shame, which resembled their sin. This is the first time that we get a glimpse or foreshadow of Jesus’ sacrifice for the sins of men.
If you notice the other tree in the middle of the garden (the tree of life), God did not forbid Adam to eat, which would have given him eternal life. When God created Eve, Adam relayed God’s command to her. God allowed them to exercise their free will. They had the choice to either eat from the tree of life or disobey and eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
God made a way to receive eternal life while Satan, in Genesis 3, deceived Eve to eat from the tree that would introduce sin and death to them and the rest of the human race through their descendants. After they ate the fruit from the forbidden tree, they became sinners, and God kicked them out of the garden lest they would reach out with their hands and eat from the tree of life and live forever in sin. God did this to save them.
Everyone who is born is born in sin not because God made them with sinful desires, but because Adam and Eve decided to listen to Satan’s lie and ate the fruit of death. Sin came through the influence of Satan and the disobedience of the first two people that were created.
Sin came through one man, Adam, and salvation came through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 5:12-21).
Picture from freebibleimages.org
Spiritual Minefield 