Jump Start # 1674

Genesis 2:20 “The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.”

  The account of creation in Genesis one and repeated in chapter two has caused some concern for Bible students. Some have wondered if what is read details two different creations. Some think the two chapters do not fit together. Many theories and ideas have been formed to try to understand these two chapters. I see these two chapters fitting nicely together. Chapter one is the big picture, the overall explanation. In chapter two, some specific details are included, or a microscopic view takes place.

Chapter one tells us that man and woman were created on the sixth day. That first day was busy for Adam. He was created. He saw all the animals and named them. He had surgery. Eve was created. He tilled the garden.

Now some observations:

The first man was very intelligent. The Fred Flintstone, cave man, who grunted, dragged his woman by the hair and was very primitive in intelligence is not the image we have of Adam, the first man. Adam had a vast vocabulary. He named all the animals. We don’t know what language Adam spoke. That would have been chosen by God. He understood how to garden. He seemed to flourish well.

The world God put Adam in was mature, as was Adam himself. I have seen newborns. They are cute, pink and unable to do anything on their own. They need someone to feed them, change them and hold them. Day one, Adam is naming the animals. He is talking fluently. How would Adam survive if he planted a garden but it took months for a harvest? God put Adam in an environment where there was plenty to eat. How would Adam see stars at night, unless God brought the light to him. Even though the stars are “light years” away, their light would have been visible for Adam. The new world had a bit of age to it for Adam to survive. Adam himself was not created as a baby or a child. He is an adult. Though he is one day old, to us, he may look like he is in this 30’s.

The first day for Adam was busy. We don’t find him laying under a tree, looking at the clouds. He is tilling the garden. He is naming the animals. God has always used busy people. The sluggard or lazy doesn’t do well in God’s book. The Lord Himself is busy. He was busy on earth. He is busy today. Churches need to find preachers that are busy. We need to teach our children to be busy. There is a time for rest. God took a whole day, day seven, and rested. God instituted a Sabbath rest for Israel. But some folks park it on the resting day and never move off of that. I know businessmen who complain about finding good workers. Some will only work one week, get a paycheck and then quit. Some don’t show up for work. The first man that God made was a busy man.

God had expectations for Adam. He expected Adam to name the animals. He expected Adam to till the garden. He expected Adam to obey Him. That divine principle is still with us today. God has expectations for us. He expects us to worship Him, follow Him and obey Him. That has never changed. It is interesting on that first day, God didn’t say, “Adam, what do you feel like doing?” That was never said. God gave him things to do.

God wanted Adam to see what He knew. There was no one suitable for Adam. Was this a mistake on God’s part? Did God forget something? No. God is not like that. He knew. He could have made Eve immediately. He didn’t. He wanted Adam to see that there was no one like him. Man is different than animals. Years ago, I was taught that man was part of the animal kingdom. That’s not true, nor Biblical. Man is separate from the animal kingdom. Man has a conscience. Man has a soul. Man is made in the image of God. I was in a restaurant with a group of preachers recently. We were talking Bible verses. A lady sitting next to us came over with a question. She wanted to know if dogs will be in Heaven. I told her politely “no.” With a tear in her eye, she said that she was afraid of that. I guess her little dog had died and she wanted that dog to be with her in Heaven. Man and animals are not the same. Save the whale but abort the baby doesn’t make much sense when you read the first pages of the Bible. Animals don’t understand what we go through. I’ve had people tell me that their dogs can communicate with them and understand them. That’s because they have been influenced by humans. Monkeys have been shown typing on a computer. Certainly, because they were influenced by humans. On their own, with no human contact, they are not that way. Man needs someone to talk to. We are wired to have fellowship with one another. This is one of the powerful aspects of the church, each other. Fellows, who make up our fellowship. Like believers. Those in the same boat with us. We share, influence, encourage and help one another. Man is wired to share things. Animals don’t fit the bill. God knew that. Adam learned that. God made Eve.

God presented Eve to Adam. That very thought is foreign to the American process of dating. What if Adam didn’t like Eve? What if there was no chemistry? What if he wanted to look around for someone else? None of that was possible or happened. Both Adam and Eve came to each other without a past, parents or baggage and above all, without sin. They were the world’s only perfect couple. They alone had a marriage that was made in Heaven. Who did Eve have to talk to, other than Adam? No one. That wouldn’t fly well today. Women must have women to talk and share their feelings with. Eve made it somehow. Adam didn’t have the guys to go hang out with. Just each other. Just Adam and Eve. How did she get through the day without being on the cell phone? We have built so many layers around us that we have convinced ourselves that we cannot survive without these layers. I must have my friends. Eve didn’t. I have to have someone to talk to. All they had were each other. The expression, “It takes a village to raise a child,” didn’t happen to the first family. There was no village. It was just them. The American image of a couple sitting in chairs at night watching TV and barely speaking to one another just doesn’t seem likely in Genesis one. What would they talk about? There was no one to talk about? There was no juicy Hollywood gossip. There was no sports. There was no kids. There was no stores and shopping to talk about. There was no politics to complain about. There was no neighbors. There was no church. There was no sin, crime, trouble, or turmoil.  They were in paradise. I thought about this a lot. My wife and I often have our dinners on our back deck, facing a beautiful woods. We talk about jobs, church, kids, plans, family. It’s hard to imagine sitting on the deck and talking but not about any of those things. What did Adam and Eve talk about? Give that some thought.

The presence of God was around Adam and Eve. We find God involved and connected to Adam. In the third chapter, we find God walking in the cool of the morning in the garden. God on earth—before Jesus came as a baby in Bethlehem. Interesting. God’s law. God’s expectations. God’s creation. God was ever before and with them. God wasn’t far from them. Today, for many folks, God seems distant. It’s hard to see God today. Yet, for Adam, with that very visible presence of God, he still sinned. He made the wrong choice.

That first day for Adam was amazing.

Your first day in Heaven will be amazing!

Roger