I’m taking you on a little side trip for this post.
Have you ever wondered why something happened in the bible? I have. I wondered how Adam and Eve made such a stupid mistake! I have never read a commentary or heard an explanation that satisfied me on this topic. So, I asked God to show me.
God, in the garden, was giving us the format for every story ever. We have a theme, Creation. We have the protagonist, Adam; the antagonist, the serpent or Satan; the conflict: THE Battle for his soul. God is the guide Who helps our hero, Adam. The climax happens at the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. And the conclusion is The Fall of Mankind. The plot: a typical tragedy. Adam experiences conflict which leads to a very bad ending, the introduction of death on earth.
But wait, this is not the formula that we use for every story, ever. The hero must overcome. But that is why there is a first Adam and the second Adam in Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:45 And so it is written, the first man Adam was a made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.) (1 Corinthians 15:47 the first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. /And read on… so beautiful!)
The first story was just a subplot! It sets the stage for the real hero, Jesus. The first Adam was lacking. He did not have what it took to enter into the conflict to win. My point here is this first Adam lacked one thing: Love. He was made by Love, he was taught by Love, but he did not have Love inside of him.
He was in a perfect environment. The stage was set for all good things to happen, and then there was the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil set in the middle of the perfect garden. It is not until the serpent comes as the antagonist, do we have the real conflict. But Adam is found lacking. And Eve was deceived. She was no help.
Adam was made by God, He breathed life into him. He gave him free will. The same with Eve, only she was made from Adam. God gave them speech and communication skills. Part of Adam’s occupation was to name the animals. It says he communicated with God as they walked in the cool of the day. We know Adam and Eve talked because it is recorded in the Bible what each of them said. They both could walk right away; they had balance and coordination. Imagine, Eve, learning how to walk when Adam met her! It doesn’t work for the story. God gave them many things but they still had to learn love.
We, who are born as babies, learn from our environment and the people around us. We encounter people living out the emotions and attributes we need to learn so we can live. If they fail us, we have stories, with heroes, and conflicts that are overcome and have a climax of good versus evil with conclusions that mostly win over evil. We have books, movies, and plays that show us this scenario over and over. We learn to love. Or at least have the ability to learn it, if we want to. And it is in us to want Love from the beginning, from the garden. And to pursue Love.
From this stance, we will go to the next question and see how Adam does in answering it, in the next post.
By the way, this garden thing…
God made it to water itself.
The trees and plants had perfect seeds.
The insects were perfect too, they did not destroy all of your best efforts.
Were there weeds???
Of course, the garden was made to feed all the animals and two people. So did they have deer problems? Or mole problems?
I ask these questions to my gardening friends. What exactly do you think Adam had to do to “dress and keep” the garden?
Put your comments below. Thanks!
Comments