This was no ordinary orchard God had planted various trees in the garden to provide for man’s needs. Adam was placed in the garden to cultivate or keep it. Genesis 2 narrows the focus to the garden of Eden. Genesis 1 portrays the big picture, the role Adam and Eve were to play in relation to the entire creation. They were to reproduce, to “ be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.” Every plant and tree was provided for their food. Adam and his wife were to rule over the earth. Man’s purpose was to exercise dominion over all creation, in God’s image. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day (Genesis 1:26-31). And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And God blessed them and 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, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed it shall be food for you and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food” and it was so. 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 over 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. Man was created by God to rule over His creation: Genesis 1 describes the creation of our world as it relates to God’s purpose for man. Rather, their purpose is to set the scene for the fall of man, a major turning point in the history of creation. Providing a scientific explanation of creation 39 is not the purpose of chapters 1 and 2. The more I study the early chapters of Genesis the more convinced I have become of their purpose. Turning to the final chapters of the Bible where God concludes His plan for creation, we will see how the fall of man played a major role in the carrying out of God’s plan. We will show how the fall fits into God’s plan for man up to the present.
We will consider the biblical account of creation, the fall, and its consequences for mankind. We begin our study at the outset of human history as recorded in the first few chapters of Genesis. God’s Word clearly and emphatically tells us why the world is in such a pathetic plight: By divine permission Satan tempted Adam and Eve they sinned, and God has graciously pronounced upon all creation a curse for which He has provided the cure. In this lesson we will trace sin and suffering to its earthly origins and causes. In answering “What in the world is going on?”, another question must be asked and then answered: “What in the world went wrong?” That question forms the basis of our lesson. His perfect plan does include the suffering and agony we see all about us. They think God is either cruel or that He is not in control.
Those who do believe in a God find God somehow responsible for all that is painful. The desperate plight of our planet has convinced some that there is no God. Among the informed, little optimism remains. Pollution, nuclear waste, disintegration of the ozone layer, acid rain, and a host of other maladies are bringing the earth itself to the brink of disaster. Rampant crime, cruelty, corruption, and injustice exist side by side. The Nazi regime cruelly slaughtered millions of Jews not so long ago, while the world knew better and chose to look away. This very day Kurdish people endure unimaginable suffering at the hands of the Iraqi army and even of nature itself. Understandably, the cause of such a tragedy is of great concern.įew could deny that something seems desperately wrong with the world in which we live. Since that time, the cause of the crash has been the focus of extended research, analysis, and even litigation. Pieces of wreckage were carefully removed and stored for further analysis. A few years ago, Delta Flight 191 crashed at Dallas-Fort Worth airport killing scores of people and injuring others.