Category: Introduction

Verse 1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field, which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden?”

This is the beginning of Satan’s playbook for mankind. Study it well. He has not changed. Why should he, it still works today.

Satan either entered into a snake or took its form. What is important is that he is crafty and Eve was not alarmed by him. Adam and Eve lived in a perfect world, yet they sinned. If someone blames their sin on how they were raised, or their environment, or whatever, most of the time they are wrong. But I have seen children that have spent their preteens growing up in a gross sexual environment, that even when taken out and given a loving Christian home, can not escape the evil. Maybe that is why, sometimes in the Bible, God would tell Israel to go and kill every man, woman, and child in a city. Then that horrible lifestyle would stop and not be passed down to another generation.

Satan’s temptations are cleverly disguised. Eve did not know of evil. She did not understand the traps that Satan can lay. There were no evil thoughts before this moment. We know this because of Genesis 2:25, “they were both naked and not ashame.” Some say that their eyes did not see their nakedness or they wore the glory of God as did the earth at that point in time.

Satan spoke to Eve in this way to put doubt in her that God was not good. And of course, when someone tells us no, we seem to want it more.

Now Eve may not have known completely of God’s command, or was confused by it with Satan’s false information, or did not remember it, or cared to remember it.

Verse 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat;

Verse 3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, lest you die.”

Now Eve added untruth.

Verse 4 And the serpent said to the woman, “You surely shall not die!”

Verse 5 For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and “you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Satan is still putting thoughts before Eve that God is withholding good and is not fair. Satan will mix truth and lies together. Sometimes it is hard to separate 90% truth and 10% lies.

Beloved, Satan is crafty. Beware of him. Study God’s word, pray, and ask God to put more love in your heart for Him. Also, ask Him for wisdom and truth. Pray for these things daily.

LOVE

Verse 18 Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for Him.”

Decades ago, I heard a sermon and the preacher said that God was speaking on the Trinity level. He did not explain that further or I failed to write it down, but I thought the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, having the same nature are one and spoke as one.

Verse 19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called the living creature, that was its name.

So God brought these animals to Adam for educational reasons. Adam was to rule over them and they understood that Adam was in command and in His care. If one is in command, he must have some type of communication with his subjects or followers. So man and animals could communicate, although maybe limited.

Verse 20 And 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.

By naming the animals, Adam realized there was none like him. This probably created a desire in Adams’s heart for someone like him. Now Adam’s heart had an ache, a desire. Emotions awoke that he had not known before. He realized an emptiness. All of this was planned by God. He planted a seed and a desire was born deep in his soul. The first step of a love-to-be.

God did not create Eve just so she would do her part in populating the earth. She was to be Adam’s “helpmeet.” Adam needed companionship.

Verse 21 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man and he slept: then HE took on of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place.

Verse 22 And the LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.

God took one of Adams ribs which protects the heart. She was to be near his heart. They were one flesh in the beginning because Eve was fashioned from man. After Eve was created, they could become one flesh again in the relationship of marriage, a sacred union, and create children. So this one flesh meant they belonged one to another. Eve was to be at the side of Adam as his helpmeet and companion. Not at his feet for him to rule over but obey him in a new relationship.

A new trinity was formed of a man, woman, and God. This is such a great love and a deep love. This also points to God the Father, Jesus Christ, the Son, and a Human with the Holy Spirit within them. With Christ at the heart of a marriage, they as one obey Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is our Priest, He talks to the Father. He takes our conservation and then Jesus Christ has a conversation with God the Father about what a man and woman in the sacred marriage union asked of Him. Beloved, this is Love.

Verse 8 And the LORD God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He had placed the man He had formed.

We assume this was in modern Iraq vicinity because of the two rivers mentioned. Even though the flood destroyed everything and changed how things were, archaeologist agree this is the area where civilization began.

This garden was perfect for the LORD God planted this garden Himself.

Verse 9 And out of the ground the LORD God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

First, I want to go back to the rivers mentioned. Water is what gives life. These four great rivers are what gave life, not only to the garden but to civilization even after Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden. They were known to all before the flood.

God Himself, planted this garden. He arranged the placement of each seed, plant, or tree. If you think today’s gardens are beautiful, this garden had more luxurious beauty. Plus, there was the Shekinah glory of God. Can you imagine sure a place of unmeasureable blessings and beauty? I don’t think our minds can do so.

Verses 10-14 Name the rivers and tell of the gemstones.

Verse 15 Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.

Man is designed by God to work even before the fall. If he is not working, he is not fulfilled.

God is teaching adam. He is more or less a blank slate. First may have been to cultivate and keep the garden while Adam’s strength is being cultivated and honed. Then maybe how to keep his body clean. His emotions were unrealized. Can you imagine the first time God told Adam how well He did in cultivating whatever it was: God was in charge of all his education. Not only teaching him about plants, but his emotional, mental, and moral development.

There were no thorn bushes to hinder and cause stress to Adam, so at this point mentally, he feels only satisfaction and joy, emotionally.

Verse 16-17 For the LORD God commanded the man saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die.”

God commanded Adam to eat from any tree in the garden including the tree of life. Apparently, somehow this tree helped or gave never-ending life. I guess without Adam’s sin, we would have had a body then like we will have when our physical and spiritual bodies become like Jesus. I guess this fruit did something of a transfigured act. How wonderful that would have been. But sin did enter the world. God loves us so much, that He would not leave us in our sin. He came to earth as a baby, grew, and died on the cross for our sins, rose from the grave, went to heaven, and will return again. I believe His return will be in my children’s lifetime. God tells us to watch for Him and pray.

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I will go into surgery in the morning to correct an aneurysm. Since I am on oxygen 24/7 there could be a problem. Please pray for me. Thank you.

Genesis 2:7 The LORD GOD formed man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils, the breathe of life; and man became a living being.

Verse 7 describes man being formed like that of an artist or a potter. God’s divine plan fashioned man. Man was made from the earth, he was to subdue and rule over it. He was given stewardship and was to care for the earth. Animals were made from the earth, but we are different in that we are made in the image of God. Part of us was made out of existing material and part of us was made out of non-existing material. Could the non-existing material be the breath of God? Could it be that God breathed into man and where there was nothing, then there was something? Something that was Spirit, after the image of God. Now, I do not know about this. It is something to think about. Now God is Spirit, and man has a spirit, man can serve and fellowship with God. With the fall of man, that spirit was marred. That is why we need the Holy Spirit to breathe in us. The Holy Spirit will help us to fellowship with God once again. No animal has the uniqueness of after God’s own image. Also, I believe, that we have spiritual DNA that we pass down to our children upon conception just like the DNA for a physical body. This is when the sin nature is passed down. Also, I believe that there is not some room up in heaven filled with spirits waiting to come to earth to quickly jump in a baby’s body when they are born. I believe all of these things happen at conception.

I do not know when a pre-born baby becomes self-conscious, but they do. Some mothers-to-be complain about a baby kicking when they go to bed. Of course, they do. They do not hear their mother’s voice which brings them comfort. They do not hear your music. If your little one keeps you up, listen to your music or read scripture aloud.

I was told that during an abortion, a baby may try to escape the vacuum, which ripes a baby apart. This is not only self-aware but self-preservation.

So we are made in the image of God of great importance to God with intelligence and self-awareness. We may have a relationship with God and have a fulfilling relationship with Him, but even with the Holy Spirit within us, our image is still blurred. We will not reflect God I’m the way He intended until we join Jesus Christ in heaven in our glorified bodies.

We have emotions like God, but for now, they have a relationship with sin too. We can grow in emotions like God. We can love like Him, but not fully. We can delight in working for Him. We can enjoy His peace by being secured in His care. These are just a few of the emotions we share in our personalities.

One thing we have in our emotional personality is free will. We may choose to obey or disobey God. This affects not only us as individuals but all of earth. Romans 8:19-22 talks about the whole creation groans and suffering because of sin. The earth will be freed when man is set free to the glory of the children of God.

Verse 4: This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made earth and heaven.

Verse 4 takes us back to creation when it says, “in the day” and adds who in that day, “the Lord God” did what, “made the heaven and earth”. A self-existent intelligent One with a word created. With a word, a finished creation. We are not talking about a blob of unorganized cells, then finding form. The word produced form.

Verse 5: Now no shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not sent rain upon the earth; and there was no man to cultivate the ground.

Verse 5 is probably a continuation of the latter part of verse 4. “At the time” no shrub of the field as of yet was in the field. God made all the plants on the third day. But man was not there to gather the seeds, organize the seeds, cultivate a field, plant the seeds, and care for them. This verse tells us that there was no rain that fell upon the earth.

Verse 6: But a mist used to rise from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground.

Verse 6 tells us how God watered the plants. The plants were watered by evaporation which caused condensation. This happened because of the change in temperature from day to night. It did not rain until the flood (Genesis 7).

Verse 1: Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their host.

The word host in this verse is the same word in Nehemiah 9:6 which to me could mean stars or angels. Please read the Nehemiah verse.

Verse 2: And by the seventh day God completed His work which He had done; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.

God was not tired or exhausted from his work in creating. God was finished in the work of creating. The emphasis in this verse is the word seventh. This adjective, seventh, is represented as the Sabbath on Mt. Sinai as God’s covenant.

Verse 3: Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

God made this day holy. As to what we should do in response to this is debated. Sanctified means to be set apart. So this day is to be different than any other day. Since God made it holy and is set apart to be holy, we who are His children should do things that are holy on that day. For example, worship God, be thankful, praise Him, and do what causes the Holy Spirit to respond to the point we feel the presence of God. Share Him with your children. Teach your child more deeply than you do throughout the hurried week. There are many books written that can help you. Pray about this and allow the Holy Spirit to lead you to that book and the next, and the next.

God knew that man needed a day of rest from all his toil. Man’s body needed a rest. Man’s mind needed a rest. When you are at rest, you can hear that still small voice of God. In that still small voice, God gives strength, and instructions on how to solve your problems that you are having or ones to come in the week to come. Praise God that He does not leave us alone.

Genesis 2 gives more detail about a few things in chapter one. Chapter one is a condensed version of creation.

To me, the main difference is how God refers to Himself. In chapter one, Elohim is the God of power. Who else could create all that is in its complexity? God has infinite wisdom.

In chapter 2, we have Jehovah Elohim. We have all that Elohim is, plus Jehovah, the covenant God. This is used when dealing with His relationship with people.

God created all things in perfection for one purpose. It was to be for man. It was to give us food. We were to enjoy its beauty, subdue it, and have dominion over it (Genesis 1:28).

Can you imagine this world before the fall of man? Before its beauty was marred by sin. When the Shekinah glory must have still radiated throughout all things. But even with creation marred by sin, God still had Paul tell us this in Romans 1:20, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power, and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.” So Beloved, all creation reveals to all men of the divine nature, power, might, orderliness, love, control of all things, and so forth, of the one true God. So when one rejects this truth, they are without excuse before God. People try to create gods they can control instead of submitting to God who controls all things.

In Revelation when God creates a new earth, creation before sin may be restored. Beloved, may we be together praising Him forever?

Jonah repented, as did Nineveh after God confronted them with His power and Holiness…”God have mercy on me, a sinner.”

Over time, the Holy Spirit transforms a believer’s heart, attitudes, and motives. Love for God along with a longing for His righteousness grows within the believer. The path of spiritual growth involves ongoing repentance as God continues to purify our desires and actions. Until final glory, we must repent over and over again. We continue striving for holiness in dependence upon God’s compassionate grace. Thanks be to God that His mercies are new every morning.

This is from Bible Study Fellowship, Kingdom Divided, Page 183.

This is one of the best Bible studies around. You go to class once a week during the school year. You are off when the school is out of session. Some areas have a children’s program. Go to bsf.org

Genesis 1:28-31

And God blessed them; God said to them., “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, over every living thing that moves on the earth.

This verse is a command. It shows that man was exalted above all things on the earth. Our intelligence is above all creation on earth. But our relationship with the animals is really unknown. Everyone and everything was at peace with one another. The lamb did lay down with the lion and we walk among all the animals in peace. All we really know is that the fall of,man changed our relationship with all animals and that the earth groans because of our sin. (Genesis 3: 17-18: Romans 8:22)

Before the fall, we could commune with God. Our personality was complete through loving God. We learned to love what God loved. Also the part of us, that was made in the image of God is not the same. So we are less than what we were. It may be less, but there is some of that image of God within each of us. When we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, it is on the road to being fully restored.

I believe our spiritual DNA is received at the moment of conception, like our physical DNA. The seat of our personality, emotions, and that image of God is placed. This is why life is so precious. This is why life in the womb is so valuable to God and should be to us.

I will let you read verses 29-31. My comments are that verse 29 is a promise but after the fall not every plant is good. Some plants are poisonous. We did not eat meat until after the flood. Look at Genesis 9:3

Genesis 1:26-27

Then God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female he created them.

Remember my comment for verse 2 about the word “moving” or Hovering,” which was a verb denoting an action with emotion. It would be like us preparing a nursery for a child of ours. Well, the Lord God Almighty, has now finished preparing mankinds nursery with more love than we can ever have for our own children. And with all His knowledge of the future, God still loved us and created us. This was His divine purpose.

Verse 26 is confusing to some when they read the words, “Let Us,” and “Our image: and “Our likeness.” When you study the Bible, you will find that the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ and God created the world. We are introduced to the Triune God.

Elohim is a Hebrew word for God which is plural. Plural and singular words may be used together. For example, Deuteronomy 6:4 says, “O Israel, the Lord (Jehovah) our God (Elohim – Plural) is our Lord (Jehovah).” It is not until the New Testament that we really begin to understand the Trinity.

Then the Bible says, “make man in Our image.” God Is Spirit. We Are Not a spirit. So, what is God’s divine purpose here. I believe He wanted us to have the capacity for spiritual fellowship with Him. We were to communicate with Him with a moral likeness, truth, wisdom, love, holiness, justice, and God’s other attributes.

If man had not sinned, we would have known about only God’s goodness and could have recognized sin by it not being good. We would have had dominion over the earth. As a result, we will not have dominion over the earth until Jesus’ second coming.