(GENESIS 2:4-16) This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made earth and heaven. 5 Now no shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground. 6 But a mist used to rise from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground. 7 Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. 8 The Lord God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed. 9 Out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
10 Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four rivers. 11 The name of the first is Pishon; it flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 The gold of that land is good; the bdellium and the onyx stone are there. 13 The name of the second river is Gihon; it flows around the whole land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is Tigris; it flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. 16 The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; 17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
The following verses are a recap of the sixth day of creation, in order to give us extra details. And as I was meditating on this passage, I was given two messages, so I'm going to think on one today, and think on the other one tomorrow.
When God created man, He breathed life into us. I sense this was more of a soulful breath. Since we are created in His image and likeness: all humans have a spirit - a personality; and we each have a soul - a place intended for God to inhabit... to fill our lives... like nobody or nothing else can. We were specifically created with the purpose to be God-filled.
Unlike God, we have a beginning. But just like God, we will have no end. The question is: where will we spend our eternity? With God - or - without God?
God told Adam that they were able to eat from any of the trees, except for one. There were trees for food. And at the center of the garden was the tree of (eternal) life. It definitely appears that they were also allowed to eat from this tree. But then there was the tree of knowledge of good and evil, from which they were not to eat. So we clearly see that we were created with a free will, and with a choice to make.
Adam and Eve were "born" into a perfect world. They started off living in God's will. So their choice was to remain in God's will - or - to disobey... which led to a spiritual death and a separation from God. From that point on, all people are born into sin - a fallen state of death and separation from God.
We all still have a choice to make; but now our choice is: remain separated from God (stay stuck eating from the forbidden tree and living by the Law) - or - choose the tree of (eternal) life (the cross, embracing salvation which is only found in Jesus, and being sealed and filled with the Holy Spirit, becoming born again as children of God).
I cannot help but be overwhelmed with God's love. Even though He knew people would reject Him, God still created us with a free will, giving us only one simple choice to make.
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