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Part 1: Adam and Eve
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Our story begins at creation, where God created man and woman in his own image. From them, all humanity follows. After beginning with creationās first couple and their family, weāll consider Noah and then Job, preparing us to move into the second section about Father Abraham and his family.
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Adam
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The first person we encounter in the Bible is Adam. And the first couple we see is Adam and Eve. Though we usually think of them as a pair, letās for a moment look at just Adam.
In the beginning, God creates us in his image, male and female. This means that Adam, as the first person, exists in Godās image. So do we. Think about that.
God places Adam in the garden of Eden. Itās an idyllic paradise, yet itās not an idle existence. That would be boring. Instead, God gives Adam work to do. Heās to care for Godās garden. By extension, we, too, should care for Godās gardenāhis creationātoday.
Yet Adam is also alone.
God, who exists in communityāas Father, Son, and Holy Spiritāknows the importance of Adam having someone to spend time with, someone to journey with through life. So God creates Eveāalso made in his imageāas a counterpart to Adam.
Though many versions of the Bible refer to Eve as Adamās helper, I appreciate the translations which use words such as āpartner,ā ācompanion,ā ācomplement,ā and ācounterpart.ā In these we see a matched pair, equal to each other.
God gives Adam and Eve one rule: to not eat from one tree. All the rest of the gardenās produce is for them to enjoy, all except for this one plant. This is because its fruit contains special power. It possesses the ability for the people who eat it to know right from wrong, to discern between good and evil.
One simple rule.
Yet Adam and Eve do the one thing God told them not to do. Enticed by the crafty serpent, they eat from the one treeāthe only treeāGod instructed them to not touch. Yet the ripened produce looks so good. Eve picks some and eats it. She gives some to Adam. They both eat the forbidden fruit.
When God confronts Adam, he blames Eve. Eve in turn blames the serpent. Yet each played a role, and God punishes all three.
Scripture later holds Adam accountableāmostly. It is through him that sin entered our world. Itās because of him that we face death.
And this is where Jesus comes in. Because of Adamās sin we will die. Because of Jesusās sacrifice we can live.
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Who do we blame more in this story, Adam, Eve, or the serpent? Does it matter whose fault it is?
Do you believe you can live because of Jesus? Do you have eternal life through him? (See John 3:14ā17 for details.)
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[Read Adamās story in Genesis 2ā3. Discover more in 1Ā Corinthians 15:22.]
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Eve
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Eve is a well-known biblical figure. Surprisingly, sheās only mentioned by name four times in the Bible, twice in Genesis and twice in the New Testament. Her name may mean āliving,ā and we see her as the mother of humanity, with all future generations coming from her. But Eve is best known for picking the fruit God specifically prohibited and giving some to her husband. As a result of their sin, God expels them from the garden of Eden.
Though most of Scripture places the blame on Adamās shoulders, in one place Paul does implicate Eve (2Ā Corinthians 11:3), though we must be careful to not take this verse out of context.
Despite this, Eve often receives the harshest criticism for disobeying God. Adam, however, is equally guilty. He could haveāand should haveāput a stop to eating the forbidden fruit. He knew better. More contemptible is the serpent, who lied to seduce Eve into disobeying God. Because of their actions, all threeāAdam, Eve, and the serpentāsuffer consequences, which they pass on to future generations. This includes us.
Eve receives three punishments for her disobedience: pain in childbirth, a desire to control her husband, and him ruling over her. This suggests that before Adam and Eve messed up, we can assume things would have been the opposite for women: childbirth would have been easy, women would not seek to control their husbands, and men would not try to rule over their wives.
The judgment Eve receives transfers forward to future generations, with women trying to control men and men wanting to rule women. However, in the beginning there was neither controlling nor ruling. There is equality, with God intending that men and women live as equals.
In marriage, this doesnāt mean wives merely helping their husbands but more so functioning as partners, companions, complements, and counterparts to each other.
Weāll do well to apply this mindset to all our interactions with others, both male and female.
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Do we try to control those around us? Do we let others rule over us? How might God want us to change?
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[Read Eveās story in Genesis 2:18ā4:1. Discover more in 1Ā Timothy 2:13ā14.]
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Cain
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After Adam and Eve leave the garden of Eden, they have Cain. The Bible doesnāt specifically say heās their firstborn, but he is the first of their offspring we read about in Scripture. Eve praises God for his role in this, the miracle of birth.
Later, Eve gives birth to Cainās younger brother, Abel. The boys grow up and begin to work: Cain as a farmer, Abel as a shepherd.
Cain and Abel both give the results of their labors as an offering to God. We donāt know why they do this because the Almighty hadnāt asked them to. This is well before Moses commands the people to give God offerings and sacrifices. Nevertheless, the boys desire to give back to God.
Perhaps Cain decides to go first, and Abel simply follows his older brotherās example.
God accepts Abelās gift but not Cainās. We donāt know why.
One thought is that while Cain offered some of his crops to God, Abel offered the firstborn from his flock, the best. Another idea is that this foreshadows the law of Moses and ultimately the sacrifice of Jesus, which requires the shedding of blood (Hebrews 9:22). Abelās offering could accomplish this; Cainās could not. Or there may be another explanation weāre unaware of.
Regardless, God affirms Abel but not Cain. Imagine giving something to God and having him reject it. We can understand why Cain was angry and upset.
Still, God speaks to Cain and encourages him to do what is right. Sin knocks on Cainās door. It desires to control him. God tells Cain to rule over the temptation.
As you may know, Cain doesnāt.
He invites his brother out into the field. There he attacks his younger sibling and kills him. We donāt know if Cain intended to murder his brother, but the story does read as though Cain premeditated the attack. The outcome of death may have been deliberate or accidental.
Either way, Abel dies. And Cain is the worldās first murderer.
God punishes Cain for his sin and drives him away.
Two brothers. One dead and the other exiled. What a sad outcome for creationās first family.
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What can we do to get along better with our brothers and sisters? When we face the temptation to sin, what must we do to control it and not give in to it?
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[Read Cainās story in Genesis 4:1ā24. Discover more in Hebrews 11:4 and 1Ā John 3:12.]
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Abel
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Having discussed Cain, we now know the story of Abel, Adam and Eveās second child. To recap, Abel and Cain give gifts to God. The Almighty accepts Abelās gift but not Cainās. Cain is angry and kills Abel.
Though we can speculate why God approved Abelās offering and not Cainās, we donāt know for sureāat least not from the account in Genesis.
The book of Hebrews, however, gives us a clue. One passage outlines the faith of many of the Bibleās heroes. Among them we read of Abel.
Hebrews says that by faith Abel offered a better sacrifice than Cain. Furthermore, it says that because of faith, God praised his gift and affirmed Abel as righteous. The implication is that Abel received Godās affirmation with a humble spirit and didnāt let it go to his head. In short, Abel kept his ego in check.
Though we might expect God to then protect Abel for his noteworthy faith, remember that Cain had the ability to determine his actions. The only way for God to stop Cain would be to take away his free will.
How hard it mustāve been for God to not intervene and prevent Cain from killing his brother. Yet itās not in his nature to stop us from doing something we want to doāeven if itās something quite terrible. This is a result from living in a sin-filled world.
Though Cain cuts Abelās life short, we can expect Abelās faith brings him into Godās presence right away. What a wonderful outcome.
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How strong is our faith? Does God commend us for giving him our best, through faith? Do we respond with a faith-driven humility when he affirms us?
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[Read about Abel in Genesis 4:1ā24. Discover more in Hebrews 11:4.]
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Noah (1)
Following the biblical story arc, we move forward several generations. Sin entered the world through Adam, found its expression in Cain, and, over the following centuries, chaos prevails. The world becomes corrupt, filled with violence.
God decides to wipe away humanityās rampant evil.
The rest of Godās creation can stay, but he decides to do away with peopleāall except for Noah and his family. The Bible calls Noah righteous. This means he lives rightly, even though God has not yet defined what that means. Noah is blameless in his life and walks faithfully with God.
Scripture doesnāt tell us the spiritual condition of Noahās family: his wife, his three sons, and their wives. These seven may be righteous like Noah, but the Bible doesnāt say that. Regardless, God plans to save all eight. A better understanding is that they will live not because of their own merit but because of Noahās. So it is with us and Jesus.
God plans to send a massive flood to destroy the world. Only these eight people will survive. Everyone else will die. Most land animals will perish as innocent victims in all this. Then God will allow humanity to start anew, through Noah. Itās a massive do-over, Creation 2.0.
To accomplish this, God tells Noah to build an ark, a huge boat, one big enough to carry a representative pair of each species and seven pairs of clean animalsāalong with enough food for all.
Noah obeys.
People back then lived for several centuries, and it takes Noah and his family one hundred years to complete this massive project. Building an ark doesnāt make sense and requires years of backbreaking work. Yet they persist, no doubt enduring the ridicule of those around them and making many sacrifices as they build Godās boat, all the while attending to the daily needs of living.
When the rains come and the floodwaters rise, Noah, his family, and the animals God sends to them board the ark. God seals them inside and they survive the great deluge.
When the waters recede, eight pe...
