Genesis, chapter 2

Yesterday we created the Universe. That was a fun sentence to write. In fact, you really can’t top it in any way. As we discussed, in six “days” (depending on your definition of a day) God created everything that currently exists today. When you think about that it blows your mind, doesn’t it. All of the vast, intricate systems that we see int eh natural world were painstakingly created by God. In reality, all he had to do was think and it came to pass. Today, in Genesis 2, we will touch on His greatest creation, mankind.

This chapter of the Bible represents the only chapter where mankind exists that we did not have separation from god because of sin. I guess it is in our nature to screw things up from the beginning. It is not like we developed civilization and then fell from grace. It started right at the beginning. Still, there was an idyllic time where mankind lived in perfect harmony with God.

15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." – Genesis 2:15-17

God knew that mankind would fall short of the glory, but we were still given a choice as we see here. I think this is more of a representation of what lies ahead rather than a story of what we have lost. It is clear that God wants us to live in harmony with Him in paradise. That is what the Garden of Eden was. Still, by our own choice, we fell out of grace and man was cast out of the garden. God still wants this paradise for us this day, but it comes at a price. We are now born into sin and must be redeemed through the blood of His Son in order to gain this reward. It is not an instant reward, either. We must toil in this hard life and receive it at the end, living in faith that it is there.