The ‘time’ of planning came to an end and the time for action began. Creation was spoken into existence. The colours, the dimensions of space, the sound that sustains the atom, the energy that sustains each element, burst forth from the imagination of God into ... something that has never been before ... a dimension separate from Him, yet intimately upheld by Him. No expense was spared, no space was too vast, no speed was too fast, no detail was too small, when He prepared the environment in which the masterpiece of His imagination - man - would live and move and grow into all that He imagined us to be.
When man opened His eyes for the first time, all was ready, all was prepared. The first words man heard were words that established them as the rulers of this world, and the objects of God’s approval ... “God saw all that He had made, and it was very good.” (Gen 1:28) All these blessings were given not because of anything man did to deserve it or earn it, but simply because man was designed and created for this purpose. No other creature had the spirit capacity for companionship with God. No other spirit being was given the unique position of stewardship over creation. Man was uniquely positioned in both the spirit realm and the physical realm. And this position was not something man achieved, but had simply received. It is also important to understand that God did not owe man anything - the blessings He gave were out of His own free desire to do so. Never was ‘obligation’ any part of the relationship God imagined. As long as man remained in right relationship with the Creator, he would also remain in right relationship with creation.
God had more in mind than a wonderful garden and occasional visits with man and so step by step He began to lead man into a deeper appreciation of His purpose. Adam was given the task of naming all the creatures. In the process of doing this, it became obvious that all these creatures had companions ... but none were compatible with man: “...no helper was found who was like him.” Intimacy is linked to recognising likeness.
Isn’t it just so thoughtful of God, that instead of simply telling man that it is not good to be alone, He prepares a task, an experience in which man comes to this conclusion. He is not interested in simply enforcing His thoughts on you, He wants you to use the imagination and intellect He has given you to come to the same conclusions as His. (Gen 2:15-20). By leading man into this experience, our Creator reveals something of His own desire and motivation. He too desired a companion in whom He would recognise His own likeness.
“So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to come over the man, and he slept. God took one of his ribs and closed the flesh at that place. Then the LORD God made the rib He had taken from the man into a woman and brought her to the man. And the man said:
This one, at last, is bone of my bone,
and flesh of my flesh;
this one will be called woman,
for she was taken from man.” Gen 2:21-23
Many eons later, another man would be ‘put to sleep’, his side would be split open and a new creation would be formed. “...Who has heard of such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall a land be born in one day? Or shall a nation be brought forth in a moment? ...” (Is 66:8 AMP) In speaking about the relationship between a husband and wife, Paul adds this: “This mystery is profound, but I am talking about Christ and the church.” (Eph 5:32) In another letter He writes: “... we speak God’s hidden wisdom in a mystery, which God predestined before the ages for our glory.” Part of the mystery of our likeness to God, is demonstrated in this diversity, yet union of Adam and Eve. She is bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh, she is like him, came from within him, yet is separate. The secret of their union, yet distinctiveness, mirrors the secret of our relationship with God.
So each of these journeys or experiences that He led man into, weren’t isolated events - they were all part of a much bigger picture. Through each of these events God was revealing more and more of Himself to man, and man was entering deeper and deeper into an intimate understanding of God. Adam and Eve were all God imaged them to be in the sense that a seed contains all that is required to produce a tree, but they did not yet blossom into all God foresaw for them.
However, this process was interrupted. Not everything God purposed for man was fulfilled in Eden. For instance there was a tree of life of which man had never partaken. Despite an explicit warning, Adam chose to ignore God’s instruction and listen to another. Some of the consequences of this disobedience is what I want us to look at next. It is however important to recognise that Adam’s act of disobedience cannot be fully understood in isolation. Adam stands in relation to Christ like a shadow - it is only in the light of Christ that it finds its true form.
When man stepped out of his position and relationship with God, all of creation stepped out of relationship with man. Creation responded to man the way man responded to God. The ground that willingly and spontaneously produced food for man’s sustenance, would now only yield what was earned through the sweat of his brow. Adam and Eve suddenly had to deal with issues such as dependence and dominance. Man entered a new order, known as the kingdom of darkness; the reign of death. This new government was not located outside of man, but a government that’s described as a “...law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner”.
But what remained the same? One of the words often used to describe this condition of man, is the word ‘lost’. Man was no longer in the possession of his owner. However, there is a beautiful promise hidden in this word, for if something is ‘lost’ it also implies that it belongs! A thief never becomes the rightful owner of what is stolen. The kingdom of darkness never became our natural home - it is always a kingdom in which we are lost, we never belong. The problem is that the longer one lingers in a foreign land, the less one remembers of where you came from and with time, the foreign becomes familiar. At the head of this dark kingdom resides the father of lies. All he ever gave birth to are lies - the rest of what he controls is stolen property. No matter how comfortable and familiar the stolen property becomes in his kingdom - he will never be their Creator, never their rightful owner. Although the father of lies took possession of all that was given to Adam, the rightful owner was still the Lord of heaven and earth for “the earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein.”
Jesus once spoke about a lost coin and the determination of the owner to find it. The lost coin never lost its value ... and the owner knows this. Although man began to forget his origin, our Maker never forgot His own. He always knew our value, despite our location or condition. Part of His plan to rescue us from the kingdom of darkness, was to remind us, to bring us back into a consciousness of our beginning in Him. From a human point of view, “... you forget the LORD your Maker, Who stretched out the heavens And laid the foundations of the earth”, but from God’s point of view, “...can a woman forget her nursing child, And not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, Yet I will not forget you”
“...All the ends of the world
Shall remember and turn to the LORD,
And all the families of the nations
Shall worship before You.
For the kingdom is the LORD’s,
And He rules over the nations.” Psalms 22:27-28
Another term that is used to describe this state of man, is ‘sick’. Any physician knows the difference between the patient and the sickness. The sickness is a foreign influence that needs to be destroyed. One does not treat the patient like the sickness, neither does one treat the sickness as if it is the patient. When the foreign influence is destroyed the patient can once again be himself or herself. I’ve heard people talk about the sinfulness of man as if it is the very quality that defines man. It is not! There is a cure. Long before the fall of man God defined man as His own likeness and His own image, and in the fullness of time He affirmed our identity when the Word became flesh. When the Word became a man, it also became the Word about man and man is nothing more and nothing less than what this Word declares him to be.
We should always remember that in this tragedy, man was not simply the victim, but an active participant and chose his own fate. Man endangered himself and continues to endanger himself. Man abandoned the authority, the dominion and the stewardship that was given to him and in so doing, gave a perfect opportunity for the thief to steal. In short, man was not an innocent victim, he was guilty. To say it another way: if there was an insurance company that covered Adam and Eve in the event of a loss - their policy would not pay out because of their negligence. They were partly responsible for the situation. There was actual and real guilt both on the side of man and obviously on the side of the thief.
The master plan therefore included both the necessary reminder and revelation to loose man from the grip of darkness, but also an actual price that had to be paid for the legitimate guilt.