Creation, Part 7

^{Editor’s Note: This article was reprinted with permission from Warren Vanhetloo’s newsletter “Cogitation.”}

Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, and Part 6.

The intent when beginning this series of cogitations on the Genesis account of creation was to set forth a few simple sentences concerning each verse. That which took place in creation is beyond human comprehension, but the account God gave of what He did each day is actually clear and simple. Like the wonder in so much of the universe, we don’t have to understand it, just accept it.

God first told of the radical accomplishments of each day (Gen. 1:1-31) and that He had appointed for man a weekly reminder of His work, to rest on the seventh day (2:1-3). What was completed in those six days has changed, however, and so God must also relate the setting and the events of man’s rebellion in order for us to properly comprehend the world in which we live following the fall. Humans were supreme in the world. They had all that might be desired, but they forfeited their legacy. Because of their failure of a single, simple test, they would be punished, and the earth would suffer consequences of their sin. This is how it happened (Gen. 2:4).

The Lord God had not yet provided rain on the earth nor a man to till the ground, but a mist went up from the earth and watered the surface of the ground (2:5b-6).

1. The first plants and bushes did not grow unto maturity; they were created mature. They were full-grown and ready to produce fruit.

2. This was true not only of wild plants but also of those we consider cultivated plants. They existed and produced fruit before a human existed to cultivate them.

3. God had not yet begun the process that produces rainfall (perhaps not until the flood in Noah’s day). Instead there was daily watering by a mist rising from the ground.

4. A specific name for God appears in this chapter, Yahweh Elohim, providing an exalted setting different from the mention of Elohim, Spirit, Us, and Our in chapter one.

Now the Lord God had formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul (2:7).

1. How God created man is important to know in order to understand that part of man’s punishment included the return of his body to the ground. Detail of formation of other parts of creation was not given. Now God gives a clear picture report, which man cannot duplicate, but can understand.

2. The material aspect of a human was not a new creation-out-of-nothing. God took dust of the ground and shaped it and breathed into Adam’s nostrils the breath of life. Thus Adam was formed a living being, similar to other forms of life, but distinct from all else. Man is not flesh alone nor spirit alone. The two combined are interrelated in one functioning being.

3. Man’s physical makeup came from the material created in Genesis 1:1 (dust of the ground). His body was thus at first a creation in the rough, that is, unformed and unfilled. Man’s immaterial makeup came directly from God, apart from the Genesis 1:1 materials. It was this immaterial aspect that was unique and radically different from all of the rest of the created earth.

4. Since God is spirit, there can be no fleshly likeness to Him. The spiritually similar person is inseparable from the physical body in this world. It is only the immaterial person who is an image or likeness of God. Man is, by creation, a person who uses a body. It is thus the real person who is, if redeemed, absent from the body and present with the Lord.

5. Creative activity had been of general classes: fish, birds, animals. Now God created one single being, with the potential of the entire race. Other than angels, he is the only free agent in this newly formed universe.

6. We need to appreciate that the omniscient, wise God was aware that, following the fall, the rest of creation would gradually decline and that eventually all would be fully destroyed by fire. This special creation of man, even though he would be responsible for sin, would have provision for the body to be resurrected; and each person, once sperm and egg unite, thereafter has an unending existence on earth with the Lord or in hell.

Then the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed (2:8).

1. All of creation was ideal, but God specially prepared a plot for Adam and put him there.

2. Eden was apparently in the lower Mesopotamian valley (2:10-14). That region, especially near the delta, has changed through the centuries. Moses, having been well-taught in Egypt, may have recognized these four rivers and the locations. It is more likely that the special revelation of these opening chapters was first given to a godly man long before the time of Abraham and faithfully transmitted and incorporated into this book by Moses (consider that Job was prior to Abraham, and a prediction by Enoch, no longer extant, was known in Jude’s day (Jude 14-15).

And out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, also the tree of life in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:9).

1. The Garden of Eden had a great variety of fruits for Adam to explore and taste, a constant culinary delight both to the eyes and to the mouth.

2. The terrain and trees were so arranged that there was an obvious “center” of attraction, which was clearly the most important item in the Garden, the tree of life. There is no indication that Adam did eat of it prior to being kept from approaching it after his sin.

3. The tree of knowledge of good and evil was nearby, but not central. It could not be mistaken, however, such that Adam’s eating of it might be accidental.

4. Neither tree, except for designation and location, was any different from other fruit-bearing trees. There was nothing “magical” in the fruit. Eternal life or damnation would be the result of inner choice, not some physical juice.

And the Lord God took the man and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it (Gen. 2:15).

1. Adam had become acquainted with the “regular” world. When God took him and placed him in the Garden of Eden, he would have been immediately aware that it was a special place, even better than the remainder of creation.

2. Adam had an unending feast at his fingertips. He did not need to spend time in the “kitchen” cooking. Abundant variety was available for the plucking.

3. He was, however, assigned two tasks: to dress the garden (control its spread and preserve its beauty, perhaps) and to keep it (possibly to loosen the soil around each plant or tree). There was thus both responsibility and accountability.

4. There is no hint that Adam might achieve favor with God or improve his ideal location by his own endeavor. There was no works-improvement possible. God honors faith, and faith produces acceptable service.

Warren Vanhetloo has A.B., B.D., Th.M., Th.D., and D.D. degrees. He served three pastorates in Michigan, taught 20 years at Central Baptist Theological Seminary (Plymouth, MN), taught 23 years at Calvary Baptist Theological Seminary (Lansdale, PA), and is listed as adjunct faculty at Calvary. Retired, he lives in Holland, Michigan. At the urging of fellow faculty and former students, he sends an email newsletter called “Cogitations” to those who request it. You may send e-mail to him at cbsvan@sbcglobal.net.