Following the statements made thus far show to us the problems that mankind has to struggle with. In the eyes of God, humanity is divided into two groups, there are those that believe in Jesus-Christ as their Saviour and have confessed Him to be the Son of God, and there are those that do not believe in Him and have not submitted to the claims God’s God makes about Him. The Bible stipulates that: “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, that is, the world of faith we are proclaiming: ‘That if you confess with your mouth ‘Jesus is Lord’ (meaning Yahveh – Jehovah) and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe (that Jesus is God) and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess (that Jesus Christ is Lord) and are saved!” (Romans 10: 8-10) This verse is one of the key verses found in the New Testament, and with other verses, it is the most important confession a man can make, it takes men that make it, out of the kingdom of darkness into the light of the kingdom of God. We shall explain this more amply in our chapter 6, that deals with and answer this all-important question: ‘WHAT IS SIN?’

Thus, we come inevitably to this present chapter, in it we shall consider the creation of the first man, how he was created, what caused a sudden change to his whole being, what is the reason that man is today what he is. According to the chronology of the Bible, a descendant of Adam called Moses, in his eightieth year, was introduced to Pharaoh in Egypt, the year was 2537 from the expulsion of Adam from Eden, and 1462 years before Christ. Moses, under the inspiration of the Holy-Spirit wrote the book of Genesis, which is, under God, a record of all beginnings. Moses wrote also the next four books of the Bible, together with Genesis they are called the Pentateuch. 

We can read in the Bible this declaration which has been quoted already: “And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in the dark place, until the day dawns and the morning rises in our hearts. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along (or moved) by the Holy-Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:19-20.) Hence the Bible is unique; it is a prophetic book inspired by God the Holy Spirit, which is the third person of the Holy Trinity. Genesis is therefore true record that tells us things that happened as they were foretold centuries before they were fulfilled by God. Therefore, we cannot doubt that events that are foretold but not yet fulfilled, such as the return of Christ to the earth, will evidently come to pass when man expects it least, everything prophesied will happen in God’s predicted time. 

Therefore, it is right to say that Moses was inspired, by the Holy-Spirit, to write about things that he did not know but since God knows the past, the present and the future, so He revealed to Moses things as they happened, and told him to write what was necessary and no more. I say that because men speculate about one thing and another and by wanting to be too clever, they lose the wonder of how perfectly everything was created by God, the Creator of all things, on earth, in heaven and the heaven of heavens. Scientists are clever people, but most of them, got themselves into a trap. They must have proofs for everything, and without real proofs they will not put their name to anything unproven. In that trap there is no room for faith, and there comes a time where things that are real cannot be proven, so because they cannot be proven they shut their mind and lose the means of experiencing the greatest things in life which is the love of God, and close the door to true fulfilment of life on earth. Billy Graham, one the evangelists of the twentieth century, said: ‘What man cannot reason He must believe.’ It is written: ‘Without faith it is impossible to please God.’ (Hebrews 11: 6)

The first eleven chapters of the Bible, cover a period of twenty centuries telling us what happened from, the creation of the first man, Adam, until the scattering of mankind over the face of the whole earth, which followed the destruction of the idolatrous Tower of Babel. This scattering happened after the death of Noah who died in the year 2006, from Adam. The twelfth chapter of Genesis starts with the call of Abraham when he was seventy-five years old in the year 2083, from which period we have far more details that the previous eleven chapters. There arose from that region, which was called Mesopotamia, mighty empires, beginning with Babylon. (Read Genesis 10:8-9.) These eleven chapters are of great importance and the history they depict is unique!  A headache for science!

The Bible was written to register the true events that led to the creation of Adam, who was created a perfect man, without sin and reveals that from the time God created him, he was in constant contact with His maker! God met with him once a day! Adam means ‘man’, how man is now and why is due to the fall into sin of this first man: ‘Adam’! His fall from perfection, happened when he disobeyed God, and thus became a sinner. The Bible states that: ‘All disobedience to God is sin.” Nevertheless, even in his fallen condition, Man is an eternal being, death is God’s punishment on sin, the body alone dies, but the soul, which is the real man, as already stated, lives forever. The biblical record has been greatly criticized, especially in the last two centuries. Since the book: ‘The Origin of species’ written by Charles Darwin (1809-1882), men have embraced the theory of Evolution as a fact, although Darwin’s writings have been and are just speculations, without any proof whatsoever, these speculative shots in the darkness of unbelief are given pre-eminence over what the Bible’s declares: “In the beginning, GOD created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1.) 

To enter the spiritual dimension of the Bible and appreciate its true meaning one needs faith, the kind of faith that God gives because it is not natural to man. We read in the Book written by the apostle Paul to the Hebrews: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” (Hebrews 11:1-2.) The natural man, because of sin, is a man without God, bereft of spiritual wisdom and understanding, but God grants it to people that are humble enough to seek it! Just as He says: “They that seek me shall find me if they seek me with all their heart.”

Man cannot make himself ‘believe’. Whatever God says demands faith, which God alone gives when the Holy Spirit moves on man by the preaching of the Gospel. The biblical record stands and its truth cannot be denied. We read in the Bible: “Then God said: Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish in the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move on the ground. So, God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him”. (Genesis 1: 26-27.)  We are not here to defend the record of Holy Scriptures, or prove anything about the existence of God and His almighty power. Those who truly believe know that God is well able to do what He says, we take it as our privileged duty, to state His Words as simply as possible, to allow the Holy Spirit to use it as He wills, to accomplish the will of God.

The first thing which appears, that is worthy of our notice, is that man was created by a divine initiative, a specific act of God. Everyone and everything created is willed of God. What God wills for man will happen, and He does it in his own time. A man of god wrote centuries ago and said: ‘I know that the Lord great, that our Lord is greater than all gods. The Lord does whatever please Him, in the heavens and on earth, in the seas and all their depths.’ (Psalm 135: 5-6) I always feel great when I mention these verses, for it is so satisfying to a poor, weak being like me, to know that God is in charge, sovereign Lord, not only in heaven but also on earth!

 God works according to a plan pre-conceived by Him before the creation of the world. The world, as we know it, is a re-created planet. The first two verses of the Bible apply to two different periods of time. It is plain to see that the second verse shows that the earth at the end of verse one was different to the one mentioned later on. The words: “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep.” These words show that whatever happened to the earth then was the result of a judgement of God on it, because God never creates things that are half done as described, ‘formless and empty’. The creation of the world we know is only six thousand years old, just as is the history of man, God created man to bring this planet to an end and burn it, for which He has already prepared a new world, and people to fill it. God’s throne will be in it, it will be untouched by sin, pure and holy, in which God will reign in righteousness. More can be said about this new world, but not now! The plan of God made before the creation of this temporary planet, is divine and exciting, and He started to fulfil it in the very Garden of Eden, when God gave to the fallen man, Adam, the promise a deliverer whom he will raise (Genesis 3:15.) this Saviour is none else than Jesus-Christ, His Only Son. From then, this promise becomes clearer throughout the Old Testament, to appear in all its glory in the New Testament, by the coming, in person, on this planet, of Jesus Christ the Son of God, who will end everything with the creation of a new heaven and a new earth. 

This earth has been a ground of great violence. In the days of Noah mankind became totally wicked: The Bible records sates: “The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thought of his heart was only evil all the time. The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and His heart was filled with pain. So, the Lord said: ‘I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth, men and animals… and birds of the air, for I am grieved that I have made them. But Noah found favour (grace) in the eyes of the Lord.” (Genesis 6:5-8.) So, the great flood has taken all mankind off the earth, but Noah, his wife, his three sons and their wives, only eight persons were saved! 

Following the flood, as men increased it did not take long for them to return to their evil ways. Injustice and unbelief together with the worship of idols has polluted the earth. But God put a temporary stop, He destroyed their idolatrous temple to their plans and schemes, He destroyed their idolatrous temple with fire, and dispersed them from Mesopotamia all over the face of the earth. Nevertheless, with everything that God did and His multiple interventions, men never learned that they forget God at their expense. The power of sin is too strong for men to change for the better; Jesus teaches that, before the end, He said that, men will become as bad as they were in the days of Noah. Violence, idolatry, moral depravity and godless living will bring God’s judgement once more on men of the world. Nevertheless, when things will be at their worst, Jesus Christ will return to the earth to save it from total destruction. Thus, God will intervene once more to give the world a last chance to change when Jesus Christ will bring total peace to the whole world in which all nations will know wars no more. Thus God, through Jesus Christ His Son, will prove that man can only be happy and content when He is King and rules the affairs of man.

We must return to the true purpose of this chapter, and state that things are they were and as they are today, were not known when God created the first man, whom He called ‘Adam’. “Then God said: ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’ So, God created man in his own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them……God saw all that He had made, and it was very good.” (Genesis 1:26-31.) The Bible states, that the first man is of the earth and that the last Adam, Jesus, is from heaven! They are the two men about which the Bible speaks continually, because each has deeply affected humanity.  Who is He this last Adam? We shall discover that he is the very reason for which the first one was created, and where the first one failed the last one succeeded. So, my first objective is to say all we can, about the first Adam because the story is fascinating. It is far more exciting to find all we can about him rather then waste our time to find the missing link, which has already taken centuries without success! 

Firstly, we read in the Bible that God created him and that He gave to the creation of man His very special attention. The signature of God, His existence, His wisdom and His power are seen in everything that he created, but when it came to the creation of man, we read in the Bible that: “God said let us make man in our image, in our likeness”. ( Genesis 1:26.) Everything was created by the power of God’s Word, He simply spoke and it appeared, and by the power of His word the whole Creation is held together. Yet when it came to create Adam, the Bible says: “The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being (soul).” (Genesis 2: 7.) It is a unique statement that only applies to the creation of man, making him a very special being. Can we imagine with what care God formed and shaped him, and as He breathed into this lump of clay which He carefully put together, there arose from the ground the first man created in the image of God. 

We can discern from God’s careful attention, that here was for this lump of clay a very special purpose fashioned in love, out of all animal creatures, man alone can love, just as does His God and Creator! Man, if he evolved at all, is from being perfect to being what he is today, a sinful creature. Mankind is not climbing towards perfection, as so many believe, man is descending towards destruction. The glorious purpose of God has been frustrated by sin, but In Jesus-Christ, God has taken up again the possibility for man to become just like He is, and by faith in Jesus, men, by faith, are created anew to fit a better world! God created man for himself; His desire was to have him as his friend. We do not know how long Adam lived perfect in the beauty of his surroundings. It is there, before Eve was created, that He fellowshipped with God, seeing him and talking face to face with his maker. Man remains the superior created being for whose pleasure all the creation, visible to the human eye, was created.

Adam spent with God a chunk unknown of eternity in a happy relationship. God created also the animal life, yet when it came to naming the animals, God gave Adam the privilege to do it. It shows how close they were to each other, enjoying happy times as friend with friend in a loving relationship, God responding with love to the love of his special friend! We read in the Bible. “Now the Lord God formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man (Adam) to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So, Adam gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. “(Genesis 2:19-20.)

This must have been a huge tusk, and it could only be done by a wise being, hence Adam had all the faculties necessary for the job which God intrusted to him. Whatever was the language that God and Adam used, to correspond with each other, it was as perfect as any other, and I would say it was better because it was the eternal language of God, which was and is still spoken in heaven, between the Holy-Trinity and all the hosts of heaven! Adam was a wise being, with eternal faculties and an acute intelligence. If one could have met him, one would have realised that he was a very intellectual, learned being, far from a senseless wild animal. When he called a lion, a lion, in his language, it was as perfect as it is to us in English. God was so pleased with it that he left it so, and whatever name Adam gave to each creature it was good; just right! If that language was still spoken on earth everything would be called by its original name, as given by Adam!

Living in these blissful surroundings, in a garden planted by God, Adam lived without a mate. God created all the animals, all the creatures of the sea, and birds of the air, male and females created he them, as for Adam there was, as yet, no companion. As stated already we do not know how long Adam lived alone with God in these beautiful surroundings, nor does it say that he missed being alone, because at no time, did he complain, or ask for a partner. The Bible says: Yet God said: “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make him a helper suitable for him”. (Genesis 2: 18.)  Therefore, God took the initiative to create Eve; it is worthy to note that whereas Adam was created from the dust of the ground, Eve was not, she was created out of a rib taken out of Adam’s side. It was the first operation performed on a human body and it is recorded in the Bible. Not a part from his head to think for him, or from his neck to turn him at her will, but from a rib, from near his heart to love Him, and one he could love in return!

The biblical record says: “God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was asleep, he took one of man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made woman from the rib he had taken of the man and he brought her to him.” (Genesis 2:21-22.) Eve must have been very beautiful being as perfect as was Adam in the sight of God. We read in the Bible: “So God created man in his own image in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them: Be fruitful and increase in number; and fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” (Genesis 1: 27-28.) This is how humanity began, in perfect harmony with God their Creator, feeling completely at home in His presence. 

Because of the biblical chronology we have a tendency to think that God created Adam, and that in the same day he named all the animals and that at the end of it, Eve was created. Hearing some preachers talk, gave me that impression! But things did not happen that quickly! We gather from Holy Scripture that God met with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day, at sunset. Those who say that no man ever saw God are wrong; these two did, at least in their sinless perfection. But there is no reason not to believe that this happened all the time that Adam was alone with God, and that he was able to enjoy daily the same meetings with God. Through Adam, of the same blood, God made all nations, all this multitude of people that fills our planet were to come out from the loins of this perfect man. Before Eve was created, Adam lived in close proximity with his maker; I am sure that in the same way Eve with Adam continued this nearness in a very real and enriching life with our wonderful God, it could have been for more than just a day or a month or a year. I cannot imagine that because so much is written in one or two chapters, that this perfect bliss was cut short, as so many seem to think! To our first parents God was not an unknown being, no! He was a very real father to Adam and Eve! Shame that it got spoiled and that today to most fallen men on this ungodly planet, this wonderful God is unknown!

In the perfect sate that they lived, still eternal, they were given the order to increase and fill the earth, hence sexual relationship was not forbidden or unknown as some people promote it, saying that the fruit they ate was their first sexual experience! Somehow, there is a theory “en vogue” that teaches that sexuality is a purely animal relationship and that Adam and Eve, in their state of perfection, could not practice it. If sin did not find its entrance mankind would increase in the same way as it does now, but without any pain for women to deliver a child, and not for so many years, Men would still fellowship openly with God in a total spiritual, moral and physical purity. 

As in the creation of Adam, Eve also was created, as already stated, by God’s initiative, one of the objectives being the development and growth of humanity. God seeing further then we ever can, foresaw that Adam would, at one point, need a companion. We read in the Bible that, “The Lord God said: It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make him a helper suitable for him. So the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.” (Genesis 2: 18 &22) So Eve was not formed like Adam was formed from the dust of the earth, but Eve was created from one of Adam’s ribs. It is God who performed the first marriage ceremony when they were still sinless. We do not know how long Adam and Eve lived together in the garden in this state of utter perfection, since God did not find it important to tell us it appears to be unimportant, but it does not disallow us to mention it and imagine how blessed it must have been. Nevertheless, whatever chunk of eternity they spent it must have been a perfect honey moon. 

The covenant I mentioned previously continues with these words. ‘Then, God said: I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground – everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so! God saw all that he made, and it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. (Genesis 1:29-31.) Now it is important for us to notice at this point how God declares, right from the beginning, His sovereignty over his whole creation is stated by these few words: “I give you”. There is in this expression the spirit that runs right through the Bible; God alone decides the way for man. Even when it comes to the food they were given to eat, pointing clearly that Adam and Eve were vegetarians, and God made it very clear in the words of this covenant. We also read: “God saw (or looked), all that he had made, and it was very good”. He said this on the sixth day of creation, on the seventh day; He rested from all his labours.

In conclusion to this chapter, we have to say how this perfection and man’s utter trust in God was broken, and how, the communion that he enjoyed with God was marred, the result of which is still affecting the whole of humanity which bears, up to this day, the profound change that destroyed everything that was perfect in man in the whole earth. The blessing of God was very real upon man and the whole of His creation. As today so it was then, God’s blessings never fail to bring a real satisfaction, true contentment and a deep happiness to men who experience the bliss of walking with God.  Nevertheless, the continuity of His blessings, depended on man’s submission to the will of God, just as it does now, his submission is expressed by man’s obedience to His command. 

It is important to note that the continuity and preservation of everything that is good and perfect, in our world and beyond into infinity, depends on the Sovereignty of God. Because God is Sovereign over the whole of His Creation, evil as we know it will one day be destroyed. It is because God is God that men can know, that sin, suffering, whether it is mental, physical or spiritual, and be assured that all pains, weeping and dying, will be wiped away by God’s almighty hand. There is a day, appointed by God Almighty, when impurities of any kind, together with fallen man, will be burnt by fire, sin and sinners will have done their worst and their end will usher them into a new beginning, to a place appointed for all those that rebelled against His will; but a new world untouched by evil, in which God will dwell with men that by His grace have believed in Christ and were born into an endless life.  

“He who is seated on the throne said, ‘I am making all things new’ Then he said, ’Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.’ And he said to me: ‘It is done; I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars ~ their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulphur. THIS IS THE SECOND DEATH.” (Rev. 21:5-8)

There are many ideas floating about throughout all generations, men imagine various things about God, but rarely do they speak well or truth about him, things that the wisest of them may say about our Creator are verging on utter foolishness. All theories about Him are like the waves of the sea that come and flood man’s mind which continually searches to know what cannot be known. Outside of what is stated in the Bible, every human thought is only speculations. One thing that we can be sure of, and that what makes sense is what God tells us in His Book about himself, what the prophets have uttered about Him proves that man can only say what is true about God, when he is under the inspiration of the Holy-Spirit, He alone makes such a man capable to understand and appreciate spiritual truths, that a fallen man can never say by his own intellect. God is truth, just as He is love, and Holy. God cannot lie; lies have entered human history through the devil’s insinuations. It is when Eve was lied to by Satan and when with Adam she partook of the forbidden fruit, that evil took over man’s will and sin made him his slave! Satan is leading mankind a dreadful end, which as God foretold is the lot of the wicked. But the time is not yet, so anyone reading these statements can still repent and turn to God! Repent and ask Him now to forgive your sins, and accept Jesus-Christ as Saviour. You too can be a part of this wonderful renewal which God has planned!

“Then I saw a new Heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down from heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: ’Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21: 1-4.)

True Christianity has not got the mission to make this old world better, this world and men who dwell in it without God, are condemned already to the awful end as stated above! The true message of Christ is to change men into new creatures, the new birth makes man a spiritual being by faith in Him, and fits him for a new order of things, as stated so clearly.

Please continue to explore the wonderful plan of God for this world, for the Bible has a message especially for you; if you can believe it. TURN to the next lesson.