God finishes his creation in 6 days; and says it is good. There is so sin. No error. No fault in His ways. He then rests on the 7th day. A sabbath. A day of rest is established before the law, it goes back to the week of creation.God blessed the day and sanctified it (v 3), this is a creation ordinance. God is laying out order to what is good. (This is a rabbit rail I will get lost on, but love the topic! Come over for coffee!) Then we move back into the details of creating man.
Genesis 2 is not a rewrite of Genesis 1. It is not an error. It is a look deeper yet into the account of creation. This is where details come out to help us understand the beautiful union between Adam and Eve and the intended goodness of fellowship with God.
God breaths life into Adam's nostrils. He forms him from dust and breathes into his life. 'Man became a living soul.' (v 7 KJV) God breathed. This is so glorious. My thoughts go to 2 Timothy 3:16-17 All scripture is breathed out by God... The same authority in which God created man He also created scripture. His breathe has the very power of life. This is incredible. God spoke, and it came into existence. God breathed and He gave life and breath to man; and he breathed again and gave us His word, which is how we can come to know and understand life in Jesus Christ.
It can be a struggle in our western mindset to allow the intimacy of this account to settle in. We want to liken this to something, or it gets cluster clumped with legends, fairy tales and mythology. Don't allow you heart and mind to do this. As we read it over and over again let the truth of God settle into your heart and mind; so that you can be able to pause and see God's glory and purpose in and through creation.
So, God created man and then we read 2:9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden and the tree of good and evil. Here we are introduced firs to the tree of life. So important to note, because we will encounter the tree of life again, in Revelation 22. And as we get into our Resurrection study we encounter how Jesus Christ , who is the way the truth and the life, that he being life will be pierced to a tree in order that we might have life through Him.
V16-17 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest eat freely; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in that day that thou eatest therefore thou shalt surely die (KJV). The notes in my study Bible read as follows: God commanded- the first solemn charge that God gives to Adam. Man had choice and only in his perfect prefall condition did he have perfect liberty to do that which is good. The first man received this command alone, a sign of his sole headship representing mankind before God in the covenant of works...the negative covenant command ( not to eat of the tree of good and evil) was a test of obedience but also a test of man's trust in God- that God knew what was right for man better than Adam did.
A test we all still struggle through today. The minute we don't get our way or the Word of God rubs us wrong... we quickly jump to what we will see coming up; the lingering whisper of the serpent... "did God really say...?" We can look around a garden full of provision and blessing and instead of receiving the positive command " you may eat freely," all we hear is the except that one... And why do we do that? Because our default is to think we are like God rather than created by God. We are so obsessed with making God relatable that we have lost sight of who He is and have made a weak God who has whims and fancies that we ourselves; might have and know better. Since the fall this has not changed. It remains a daily struggle until the day that we join Jesus by his side. Yet how many times to I fail to confess my own godlike pride and demands? How many times when the narrative doesn't fit do I discount it as God's will for my life or try to write my own? And how many times do I stand in a garden; looking at an empty tomb; waiting for 'additional blessings,' to come my way? Through the atoning work of Jesus Christ, we have been given life, and life abundantly. Sister, when you look around, is Jesus enough for you today?
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