SOME THOUGHTS ON

CREATION AND THE FALL

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    Although the first chapters of Genesis give us a clear and straightforward account of what took place at the time of creation, and how sin entered into the world, I would like to call attention to some of the things that the Bible says, while pointing out absurdity of those who create a fantasy world concept of reality by claiming that the Bible says something other than what it actually says.


Genesis chapter one:
1  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2  And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3  And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
4  And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
5  And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
[Comment: These verses tell us God brought the universe and the earth into existence, on the first day, and that the earth came into existence as a formless and empty (void) mass (verses 1-2). God then created light, in a way that caused the earth to have both day and night (verses 3-5). Furthermore, the words, “the evening and the morning were the first day” make it perfectly clear what is meant by the word “day.”]
[Note: It is anti-intellectual to assume that Moses meant something entirely different from what he actually wrote down, such as Darwinian evolution.]

6  And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
7  And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
8  And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
[Comment: Although skeptics are quick to assume that the word “firmament” is a reference to something hard, verse twenty’s reference to “the open firmament of heaven” makes it clear that the Bible is not talking about something hard. The word “firmament” could just as well be translated “expanse”.]

9  And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
10  And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.
11  And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
12  And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
13  And the evening and the morning were the third day.
[Comment: Since the human mind tends to reason from assumptions, the rocks and trees would have looked old even though they had just been created. However, that just proves how unreliable our assumptions are, and why our thinking needs to be corrected by God’s Word (2Corinthians 10:5).]

14  And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
15  And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
16  And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
17  And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
18  And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.
19  And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
[Comment: On the fourth day, God not only created the heavenly bodies, but also created an aura of light around them that reached the earth (verse 14). Furthermore, even though the sun was not created until the fourth day, verse one makes it clear that God caused the earth to have both day and night, “evening” and “morning” from day one (see verses 3-5).]

20  And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
21  And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
22  And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
23  And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
[Comment: If we could witness what took place on the fifth day, and watch flocks of newly created Geese fly overhead, it would be easy to assume that all of those geese had a common ancestor, when that was not the case at all. Since they were newly created, their similarities were the result of design, not ancestry.]

24  And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
25  And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
26  And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28  And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
29  And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
30  And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.
31  And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
[Comment: These verses tell us that God did not create man with a sinful nature, but instead created him in His own image (Ephesians 4:24). And, because Adam and Eve both bore the image of God, both were given dominion over the animals (verse 26&28).]

Genesis chapter two:
1  Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2  And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
3  And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
4  These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens.
5  And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.
6  But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.
[Comment: God took six days to create the heavens and the earth, because establishing the week as a unit of measuring time was part of His plan. During those six days, God created “heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is,” including the angels (Exodus 20:11).]

A MORE DETAILED ACCOUNT OF THE CREATION OF MAN

7  And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
8  And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
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 knowledge of good and evil.
[Comment: Before sin entered the world, edible plants flourished on their own, and did not need to be constantly cared for (verse 5). At the same time, even though God formed both man and beast from the elements of the earth, the fact that He created man in His own image and gave him an eternal soul set him apart from the animals (verse 7&19, Ecclesiastes 3:18-21).]

10  And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.
11  The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;
12  And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone.
13  And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. (See 2Chronicles 32:30.)
14  And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates. (See Daniel 10:4.)
[Comment: Although the Euphrates is known to this day, the names of the other rivers are obscure, although a certain dry riverbed is thought to be one of them.]

15  And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
16  And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
17  But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
[Comment: Because the commandment was given to Adam, he was responsible for seeing that it was carried out, and never should have followed his wife’s lead when she chose to disobey.] 

18  And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
19  And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
20  And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.
[Comment: This naming of the animals apparently took place on the sixth day (verse 19), and since Eve was created on the same day it could not have taken very long.]
    [Note: I personally believe that Adam saw one huge herd consisting of many kinds of animals (similar to the herds seen on the plains of Africa). Then, as part of the gift of language, God expanded Adam’s vocabulary by causing a name to pop into his mind each time his eyes focused on a specific animal.]

21  And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
22  And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
23  And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
24  Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
[Comment: The fact that He put Adam to sleep during surgery long before man ever dreamed of doing it testifies to the inspiration of Scripture (verse 21). The words, “closed up the flesh” tell us that God healed Adam’s wound almost instantly, and could imply that the missing rib was regenerated at that time. Verses 22-24 then reveal the origin of marriage, and God’s will regarding it (Matthew 19:4-6).]

MAN’S FALL INTO SIN

GOD’S RECORD OF WHAT TOOK PLACE

Genesis chapter three:
1  Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2  And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3  But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4  And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5  For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
[Comment: The fact that Adam and Eve actually did become as God in the sense that they wound up “knowing good and evil” (verse 22), tells us that the serpent did not lie by saying something that was absolutely false, but by using words to deceive. At the same time, even though Adam and Eve did wind up “knowing good and evil,” because they gained that knowledge through disobedience it brought only sorrow, pain, and regret.]

6  And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
7  And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
8  And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
9  And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
10  And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
11  And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
[Comment: The fact that Adam and Eve immediately felt ashamed of their nakedness, and knew that they needed clothing, implies that there was a change in their nature. At the same time, they knew that their relationship to God had changed, and hid from Him.]

12  And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
13  And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
14  And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
15  And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
[Comment: While in a certain sense Adam and Eve both passed the buck, it is significant that neither of them denied their own guilt (verses 12-13, Proverbs 28:13). In verse fourteen the words “thou art cursed above all cattle,” tell us that sin brought a curse upon all of creation (see Genesis 1:31). And, in verse fifteen we have the first reference to Christ (the seed of the woman).]

16  Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
17  And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
18  Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
19  In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
[Comment: Verse sixteen records God’s judgement on the woman, and the consequences of her sin, while the words “he shall rule over thee” lay the groundwork for the government that a sinful world requires. Verses seventeen through nineteen then reveal God’s judgement on Adam, including the sentence of death (verse 19).]

20  And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
21  Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
22  And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
23  Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
24  So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
[Comment: Verse twenty makes it clear that every person who has ever lived (or ever will live) is a descendant of Adam and Eve. Moreover, the fact that God did not regard fig-leaf aprons as adequate (verse 21) tells us that true modesty requires more than simply covering the privates, and that loin cloths, bikini bathing suits, and other lewd attire is not acceptable.]

[Note: Although the words, “By the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation… By one man’s disobedience many were made sinners” tell us that we are all sinners because of what Adam did, it is not a matter of one person being punished for what someone else did (Romans 5:18-19). Instead the change in our nature that took place as a result of the fall actually makes us sinners (1John 5:7, Jeremiah 17:9, Psalm 51:5), and thus “children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3).]

CONCLUSION

    The historical record of creation and the fall is just as much a doctrine of Scripture as anything else that the Bible says (2Timothy 3:16). And, it is only the blindness of sin that leads people to think that Bible history cannot be taken at face value, or that God wants men to teach their own opinions rather than what His Word actually says (2Corinthians 1:13).