From creation to disobedience and back again by Gary Rose

I woke up early today, even before the sun had risen and lay in bed for awhile, thinking of some of my fellow Christians and praying for their well being. Then for some reason I thought of my Composite Bible Small version and a technical problem I had running it on my "new" (refurbished) computer with Windows 7 on it. 

Then I remembered that I had originally made CBS using The Windows Vista operating system and that accounted for the problem.

As I continued in thought, I remembered the icon for the program (above) and associated the sky with all nature. And, in like manner I naturally thought of God's creation and of the first few chapters in Genesis.

When I sat down to do my blog, I looked at those chapters and began to consider them again. Here are the passages and then some of my own thoughts...

Genesis 1 (World English Bible)

¹ In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.  ² The earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep and God’s Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters. 

  ³  God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.  ⁴ God saw the light, and saw that it was good. God divided the light from the darkness.  ⁵ God called the light “day”, and the darkness he called “night”. There was evening and there was morning, the first day. 

  ⁶  God said, “Let there be an expanse in the middle of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.”  ⁷ God made the expanse, and divided the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so.  ⁸ God called the expanse “sky”. There was evening and there was morning, a second day. 

  ⁹  God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so.  ¹⁰ God called the dry land “earth”, and the gathering together of the waters he called “seas”. God saw that it was good.  ¹¹ God said, “Let the earth yield grass, herbs yielding seeds, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with their seeds in it, on the earth”; and it was so.  ¹² The earth yielded grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with their seeds in it, after their kind; and God saw that it was good.  ¹³ There was evening and there was morning, a third day. 

  ¹⁴  God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of sky to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs to mark seasons, days, and years;  ¹⁵ and let them be for lights in the expanse of sky to give light on the earth”; and it was so.  ¹⁶ God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He also made the stars. ¹⁷ God set them in the expanse of sky to give light to the earth,  ¹⁸ and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good.  ¹⁹ There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day. 

  ²⁰  God said, “Let the waters abound with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of sky.”  ²¹ God created the large sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed, after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind. God saw that it was good.  ²² God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”  ²³ There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day. 

  ²⁴  God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures after their kind, livestock, creeping things, and animals of the earth after their kind”; and it was so.  ²⁵ God made the animals of the earth after their kind, and the livestock after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind. God saw that it was good. 

  ²⁶  God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”  ²⁷ God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them. (emphasis added) ²⁸ God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”  ²⁹ God said, “Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree, which bears fruit yielding seed. It will be your food. ³⁰ To every animal of the earth, and to every bird of the sky, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food;” and it was so. 

  ³¹  God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.  (emphasis added) There was evening and there was morning, a sixth day. 

Genesis 3 (WEB)

  ⁴  The serpent said to the woman, “You won’t surely die,  ⁵ for God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 

  ⁶  When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took some of its fruit, and ate; and she gave some to her husband with her, and he ate it, too.  ⁷ Their eyes were opened, and they both knew that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together, and made coverings for themselves.  ⁸ They heard the voice of Yahweh God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Yahweh God among the trees of the garden. 

  ⁹  Yahweh God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” 

  ¹⁰  The man said, “I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” 

  ¹¹  God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” 

  ¹²  The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” 

 ²²  Yahweh God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand, and also take of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever...” ²³ Therefore Yahweh God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. (emphasis added)

Why in the world did this sin take place? Adam and Eve were beings made in the likeness and image of God. They were innocent humans, living in a perfect place. They obviously had fellowship with God Gen 3:8. God had spoken to them (3:11), giving them them instructions (commandment[s]) what to do. It seems obvious to me that they knew who God was and what HE had done (creation). Again, why did they disobey and with it, sin?

They were tricked by the serpent is my first response, but I think there was more to it than just that. Why were they even able to be tricked in the first place, for, after all, weren't they made in the image and likeness of God? Further, both Adam and Eve were part of God's proclamation in Genesis 1:31- "very good"?

Yes, they were made like God. However, there was one difference- they didn't know about good and evil. They were innocent and easily tricked. Perhaps (conjecture on my part) they didn't even know there would be consequences for disobedience.

The next time you look up to the heavens and see a beautiful blue sky with seemingly perfect clouds in it, think of Adam and Eve in that perfect Garden of Eden and remember the creator. Then purpose in your heart to obey HIM in all things that HE COMMANDS YOU TO DO! Then obey willingly!!!

Problem solved!!!