jiggaz:
New year eve

jiggaz:
God created man in His own image, in the
image of God He created him; male and
female He created them.
-Gen 1:27

Introduction

The first book of the Bible is actually a
compilation of the stories of 8 men and their
Creator. Our Lord tells His story in Genesis
chapter 1 through 2:3 and after that each
story begins with the phrase “These are the
generations of … ” or “This is the account of
…”. Adam’s story begins at 2:4 and continues
through chapter 5 and explains why the
creation account of chapter 2 differs slightly
from that of chapter 1. Noah’s story is told in
chapters 6 through 9, with the account of his
sons Ham Shem and Japeth in 10 and part of
11. Shem’s story begins in 11:10 and ends in
11:26. Terah’s story covers 11:27 through
25:11 and is really the life of his son
Abraham. Ishamel’s story requires only 7
verses, 25:12 through 25:18 whereas Isaac’s
story begins in 25:19 and continues through
the end of chapter 35. Much of Isaac’s story
describes the life of Jacob. Isaac’s oldest son,
Jacob’s twin Esau, gets one chapter, 36, and
then the rest of Genesis has Jacob telling the
story of his 12 sons with Joseph in the
starring role. It is my firm conviction, from
archaeological discoveries and other extra-
biblical sources, that Moses had the written
accounts of these men in his possession
when he compiled them into the book of
Genesis. This week we’ll begin telling the
stories of these 10 men as if from their own
lips.

Adam’ s Story … Part 1, In
The Garden . Gen . 2: 4
through 2: 25

I guess you could say everything started with
me, at least from the human standpoint.
Although I didn’t arrive till the creation work
was all but finished, everything that came
before was for my benefit, to provide me with
food, shelter and a pleasing environment.
The Lord had planted a large and beautiful
garden, rich and lush, that covered most of
what you call the Middle East today. If you
know anything about oil, you know it comes
from decayed vegetation. The largest known
oil reserves are under the sands of Middle
Eastern desserts, which means that the whole
area was once rich in vegetation. Since both
the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers flow through
there today the general location of the Lord’s
garden is pretty well established.

Like I said, I was a relative late-comer to the
creation and so when I arrived the Garden of
Eden, as He called it, was already there. Aside
from its lush vegetation, the garden teemed
with an incredible variety of other living
creatures as well. So beautiful was it that
when the Hebrew descendants of my family
describe Paradise they use a word whose root
means garden, a reference to the Garden of
Eden. And to think, the Lord had placed me in
charge of it all. Wow!

After the Lord instructed me that I was free to
eat any fruit or vegetable in the Garden except
those that grew on one of the trees in its
middle, the one He called the Tree Of The
Knowledge Of Good And Evil, He brought me
every animal He had created, and whatever
came out of my mouth when I saw each one
became its name. We were all made of the
same basic elements as the Earth and it was
about then that my name became obvious.
Adam is the Hebrew word for man and comes
from adamah, the Hebrew for earth or ground.
To facilitate the propagation of all the species
the Lord established the process of
procreation and had formed male and female
versions of each of His creatures except me.
So He put me into a deep sleep and from one
of my ribs, He made a female version of me, a
“womb-man” or woman. The Lord knew just
what I wanted and the moment I saw her I fell
deeply and hopelessly in love. It was a pure
and innocent love, absolutely unconditional,
like no other emotion the Lord has ever given
us. I never wanted to spend even a moment
apart from her.

I hope you’ll take a moment now and think
about our situation. We were young and in
love, beautiful people in a beautiful idyllic
setting without a care in the world and in
intimate non-stop fellowship with our Creator.
Our minds, unfettered by the debilitating
effects of sin, were free to soar among the
very thoughts of God, our senses enjoying to
the fullest the countless pleasures He had
created just for us. We walked and talked with
Him as He taught us of the wonders of His
Love. There was peace and harmony in the
Garden, peace between us and our Creator
(Who loved us as the highest and best
examples of His creative ability, created in His
own image) and peace among all the species
of His Creation. It was truly Heaven on Earth.

Now contrast that with the world’s view of
man’s initial appearance on earth. Emerging
from some primordial soup, growing first fins
then legs, living in caves and digging in the
dirt for food, resembling a monkey more than
a man with an intellectual capability on par
with the least of them, this ape-man stumbles
aimlessly into one discovery after another that
over the course of time accidentally results in
us today. Or as Frank Peretti has so aptly put
it, “From goo to you, by way of the zoo.” This
view has early men hardly able to
communicate with an ape, let alone God, and
only by chance emerging superior to their so-
called relatives. Not only does it violate the
natural laws its proponents espouse, but even
they are slowly being forced to admit that
even if their theory could work, there hasn’t
been enough time since the beginning for all
this to happen. (Maybe some of us are
descended from apes after all.)

Pardon my strong opinions, but I was there. I
walked and talked with God and enjoyed all
the limitless pleasure of His Garden and His
Company. That experience so profoundly
impacted me and was so deeply ingrained in
my psyche that even today its memory is
clear enough in the minds of my descendants
that they long to go back there. They define
Heaven in terms of my experiences in the
Garden and indeed the two have much in
common. The story of our eviction and the
provision the Lord made for our return is on
tap for next time. But for now take this advice
from one who knows. Fall on your knees
today and thank God for providing The Way
back to the Garden.

https://gracethrufaith.com/the-bible-thru-the-eyes-of-its-writers/adams-story-part-1/