Podcast: Play in new window | Download
As we consider Adam, the first human to appear in the Bible, hear the words to Calvin Miller’s humorous little children’s poem “One Apple, One Snake, Equals One Bellyache.”
“One apple, one snake, equals one bellyache,”
Said God, on Thursday at three!
“Sssssse here,” said the snake. “There’s no bellyache;
Sssssimply pay no attention! Be free!
Show God whose boss…it’s all applesauce!
Take one little bite and you’ll ssssee!”
“This apple looks sunny, firm and not gummy—
I think I’ll just chomp down and see!
Mmm! This is quite yummy and good for the tummy!”
Said Eve, standing under the tree.
After biting a chunck, she turned to her hunk
And said, “Adam, here, take a bite, too.”
But when Adam bit down, he fell to the ground:
“I think I’ve come down with the flu!”
“Ha, ha,” laughed the snake, “Tremble and ssshake,
For you doubted the old ressssssipe:
One apple, one snake, equals one bellyache,
Like God told you Thursssssday at three!”
1.) The Rise of Adam (Gen. 2:1-7)
After God created the heavens and earth and everything in them—that is after he created light on the first day and the sun and moon to hold the light on the fourth day—that is after he created the skies and seas on the second day and birds to soar through the skies and fish to swim through the seas on the fifth day—that is after he created land and vegetation on the third day and animals to roam the land and consume the vegetation on the sixth day, he came to the pinnacle of his creation before he rested on the seventh day.
Of all of God’s creative accomplishments, none was greater than the creation of man in his own image and likeness. Man was God’s greatest masterpiece. When he finished molding the first man, he stepped back and said, “It is very good!” (Gen 1:31)
This is how he did it—as a great sculptor takes raw clay and forms it into a beautiful figure, God, who is a master artist, reached down to the ground that he created and picked up some dust. His imagination became image as he formed this dust into a representation of himself. He smoothed the man’s skull and connected his hip bone to his leg bone and to all of his other bones. He attached the muscles and ligaments and arranged the organs. He popped in the eyes and opened the ears. And he covered it with skin to hold it all together.
And when the body was completely formed, God performed divine CPR on the man by breathing the breath of life into his nostrils. As God exhaled, life entered the lifeless body for the first time. The man became a living creature. He was a tripartite being—that is he had a body, soul, and spirit. He not only had the ability to walk, run, and lift, but he could also think, feel, and make rational decisions. He was created with the knowledge and skills to maintain his lordship over nature.
The first man that God created was given the name Adam. This name comes from the Hebrew word “adamah” which literally means “ground” or “soil.” Perhaps this name contains a bit of divine irony—God named him Adam to constantly remind him of his earthly nature.
Thinking about the creation of Adam helps us to appreciate the gift of human life. We should be grateful for being the pinnacle of God’s creation. We are all created in his own image and likeness—we each have a body, a soul, and a spirit. We have the ability to think, reason, and make decisions. We have the ability to experience and express emotions. We can communicate and have meaningful relationships with each other.
Being created in the image of God means that we all have a piece of God in us! This is why all humans have inherent worth and dignity. This is why all humans, regardless of race, class, status, or background are valuable. This is why Christians believe that all human life is precious. This is why we should treat everyone with respect.
2.) The Life of Adam (Gen. 2:15-25)
Not only did God create Adam, he also gave him a job. He placed Adam in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. So, Adam became a gardener. We don’t know exactly what types of trees and plants grew in this garden, but we do know that at least some of them produced fruit for Adam to eat. As long as Adam nurtured the garden, the garden would nurture Adam. He could eat from any tree in the garden except from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that was in the center of the garden.
Adam was also given the job of naming all of the animals that God created. Have you ever wondered why God gave Adam the task of naming the animals before he created Eve? Well, I don’t know the definitive answer to that question, but I do know of many parents who have gotten into heated arguments over what to name their kids. Can you imagine how difficult it would be naming all the birds and beasts, all of the livestock and every living creature?
Well, we don’t know how long Adam lived and worked the garden alone, but we do know that God recognized that it was not good for man to be alone. So, he created a suitable partner to help him tend the garden and procreate the human race. While Adam rested from his work, God went to work again. God became a divine anesthesiologist and caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep and then he became a divine surgeon and performed rib-removal surgery on him. From this rib he brought forth a woman—a creature like him, yet different. He created them male and female with complementary reproductive physiology for procreation.
Everything God makes is good, but Adam was especially pleased with God’s latest masterpiece. He verbally expresses his pleasure with the words, “This is now bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. Then God created the marital relationship, performed the first wedding, and set forth the pattern for human family life.
When you think about it, Adam had a really good life. He had a wonderful relationship with God, a woman to call his own, a reliable job, a beautiful place to live, all the food he could eat, and all of his needs provided. Adam didn’t get any of these things for himself, they were blessings from God. And God blessed him abundantly!
As we consider Adam’s life, it provides a good opportunity to reflect on our own lives. Like Adam, God has blessed us abundantly. Those of you who are married, thank God for the blessing of your spouse! Those of you who have children, thank God for the blessing of each of your kids! Thank God for the anatomy to produce kids! He is the one who gave it to you!
Those of you who are working, thank God for the blessing of your job! Thank him for the ability to wake up and do something productive each day! Thank him for the skills he has given you to do your job. Thank him for the means to keep food on your table and provide your basic necessities. All of these are blessings from God! If you really think about it, we all have a pretty good life!
As I do every Christmas season, I sat down and watched my all time favorite film “It’s a Wonderful Life.” It is a story about recognizing God’s blessings and realizing that we really do have a wonderful life. The main character, George Bailey, had a wonderful wife, four precious children, an extended family that loved him, a stable job at the Building and Loan, a beautiful old house, and a whole town full of friends, but he didn’t recognize what he had because he focused on what he didn’t have. He was angry and frustrated because he didn’t have more money and he gave up his opportunities to go to college and travel the world. It wasn’t until the angel Clarence gave him some divine perspective until George realized how wonderful his life really was.
Do you realize how wonderful your life really is? Do you thank God for the things you have, or do you curse him because of the things you don’t have? Seeing Adam’s life helps us to see how good God is to us!
3.) The Fall of Adam (Gen. 3:1-12, 17-24)
Well, George Bailey fell into the same trap that Adam had many generations before—the things he did not have blinded him to all of the things he did have. God provided them everything they needed for a perfect life; he gave them only one prohibition—not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Only one rule to follow, only one commandment to obey!
But we know how the story goes. Satan disguised himself as a serpent and appeared to Eve. He cast doubt on God’s command by asking the question “did God really say.” He deceived her and she yielded to the temptation of eating the forbidden fruit. She also gave some to Adam and he disobeyed God by eating the fruit. Thus, sin entered the human race and they immediately felt shame. They sowed fig leaves together and covered their nakedness.
A while later Adam and Eve heard God approaching as he walked through the garden in the cool of the day, but they hid from him. That is when the blame game first began. Adam blamed Eve for his sin. He said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some of the fruit and I ate it.” (Gen. 3:12) Eve blamed the serpent for her sin. She said, “The serpent deceived me and I ate.” (Gen. 3:13)
God punished Eve by increasing her pain in childbearing. God punished Adam by increasing his pain in working the soil and farming the land. He punished both of them by removing them from the Garden of Eden. As John Milton would say, “Paradise was lost!”
The story of Adam’s fall is the story of the fall of mankind. Adam was our representative to God and he failed miserably. I have often heard modern men say things like, “This whole mess was really Eve’s fault…” But look at where the Bible places the blame. Romans 5:12 says, “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.” Likewise, I have heard people say, “Well, if I had been the one in the garden, things would have been different.” Really? If any of us think we would have done better than Adam, we are only fooling ourselves. Just look at our current track record with sin!
Sin still works the same way today as it did in the Garden of Eden. God has made his expectations and commands very clear, but we are often tempted to take what is not good for us. We often think we know what is best for ourselves, and therefore we rationalize our choices by asking, “Did God really say…” or “It isn’t that big of a deal…”
Do you ever rationalize or make light of your sinful actions? Do you ever blame someone else for your sin? What sins are you most tempted by—greed, lust, pride, anger, envy, etc? Like Adam, I guess all sin comes down to one question: Who do I trust more— God or myself?
Well, the story of the first Adam is one of great beauty and great tragedy. The beauty is how he rose from the dust; the tragedy is how he fell into sin. Indeed, the story of the first Adam’s rise and fall is the story of mankind’s rise and fall! God created each one of us, but we have all fallen into sin.
But I cannot tell you the story of the first Adam without telling you the story of the second Adam. The first Adam was a man created in the likeness of God; the second Adam is God begotten in the likeness of man! The first Adam fell for the devil’s schemes and yielded to temptation; the second Adam resisted the devil’s schemes and overcame temptation! The first Adam put his trust in himself; the second Adam put his trust in God! The first Adam got us into this mess called sin; the second Adam came to deliver us from sin! The first Adam brought death upon the human race; the second Adam brings the hope of everlasting life!
Like the first Adam, the story of the second Adam is one of great beauty and tragedy. The tragedy was when he hung on the cross and died; the beauty is how he overcame death by rising on the third day!
Who is this second Adam, you ask? It is none other than our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus was born in human flesh as the second Adam and is our new representative to God. Through his death and resurrection he paid for the sin of Adam and offers us forgiveness and reconciliation with God. He offers us a new paradise today!
Will you accept his offer?
Adam and Eve
by Victoria Dame
This is the story of Adam and Eve,
And of the Serpent who did deceive.
So that he could become one with the land,
From the dirt God made man.
Adam was his given name,
God gave him Eden to tame.
To keep Adam from being alone,
From his side he took a rib bone.
God then created a new life,
He made Eve, Adam’s wife.
He gave them the garden in which to roam,
Telling them to take care of their new home.
Help yourself to all that you see,
Except for this one little tree.
It is the tree of good and evil,
And if you disobey it will be your upheaval.
God said eating the fruit will make you die,
So leave it alone and on me rely.
Then one day as Eve was gathering food,
She met a snake who changed her mood.
He told her eating fruit from the tree,
Would not harm her but would set her free.
That she and Adam would like God become,
Knowing all that God knows and then some.
Eve did believe the Serpent’s lies,
She wanted to be powerful and wise.
Grabbing some of the fruit to Adam she ran,
Here eat this it will make you more than a man.
As soon as they had eaten it the knowledge was strong,
What the serpent had said was totally wrong.
Waiting for God they sat in fear,
Knowing his punishment would be severe.
God asked them what they had done,
Now from the Garden I’ll make you run.
God cursed the two as he set them out of the garden gate.
It had to be done because of the fruit in which they ate.
Adam, you’ll have to make a living from the dirt,
And Eve having children will truly hurt.
Nothing will come easy, but you will get by,
And then one day as promised you will die.
Sin was something that God could not stand,
But he still loved the man.