Features Sampler: Life Application Study Bible, Third Edition - Flipbook - Page 11
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GENESIS 2
WE CAN HARDLY IMAGINE what it must have been like to be the first and only
person on earth. It’s one thing for us to be lonely; it was another for Adam, who had
never known another human being. He missed out on much that makes us who we
are—he had no childhood, no parents, no family or friends. He had to learn to be
human on his own. Fortunately, God didn’t let him remain alone too long before presenting him
with an ideal companion and spouse, Eve. Theirs was a complete, innocent, and open oneness,
without a hint of shame.
One of Adam’s first conversations with his delightful new companion must have been about
the rules of the Garden. Before God made Eve, he had already given Adam complete freedom
in the Garden, with the responsibility to tend and care for it. But one tree was off-limits: the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam would have told Eve all about this. She knew, when
Satan approached her, that the tree’s fruit was not to be eaten; however, she decided to eat the
forbidden fruit anyway. Then she offered some to Adam. At that moment, the fate of creation
was on the line. Sadly, Adam didn’t pause to consider the consequences. He went ahead and ate.
In that moment of rebellion something beautiful and free was shattered—God’s perfect creation. Adam was separated from God by his desire to act on his own. The effect on a plate-glass
window is the same whether a stone or a boulder shatters it—the thousands of fragments can
never be regathered.
In the case of Adam’s sin, however, God already had a plan in motion to overcome the effects
of the rebellion. The entire Bible is the story of how that plan unfolds, ultimately leading to God’s
own visit to earth through his Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus’ sinless life, death, and resurrection made it
possible for God to offer forgiveness to all. Our own acts of rebellion—both large and small—prove
that we are descendants of Adam. Only by asking for forgiveness through Jesus Christ can we
become children of God.
Adam
Strengths and
accomplishments:
• Namer of the animals
• Caretaker of the Garden of Eden
• Father of the human race
• The first person made in the image of God, and the first human to share an intimate
personal relationship with God
Weaknesses
and mistakes:
• Avoided responsibility and blamed others; chose to hide rather than to confront; made
excuses rather than admitting the truth
• Greatest mistake: Along with Eve, brought sin into the world
Lessons from
his life:
• As Adam’s descendants, we all reflect the image of God, and God wants to share a close
relationship with us.
• Though people are free to do wrong, God wants us to choose instead to obey him.
• We should not blame others for our sins.
• We cannot hide from God.
Vital statistics:
• Where: Garden of Eden, which was probably located in present-day Iraq or Iran
• Occupation: Caretaker, gardener, farmer
• Relatives: Wife: Eve. Sons: Cain, Abel, Seth, and numerous other children. Adam was the
only man who never had an earthly mother or father.
APPLICATION &
EXPLANATORY NOTES—
Begins with understanding
Key verses:
“The man replied, ‘It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.’”
God’s word, then shows the
(Genesis 3:12)
reader what to do about what
“Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ
will be given new life.” (1 Corinthians 15:22)
is being read, and motivates
the reader to respond
to is told in Genesis 1:26–5:5. He is also mentioned in 1 Chronicles 1:1; Luke 3:38; Romans 5:14; 1 Corinthians 15:22, 45;
Adam’s story
1 Timothy 2:13-14.
what God is teaching.
has three basic aspects: (1) The man leaves his parents and, in a public
act, promises himself to his wife; (2) the man and woman are joined
together by taking responsibility for each other’s welfare and by loving each other above all others; and (3) the two are united into one in
the intimacy and commitment of sexual union, which is reserved for
marriage. Strong marriages include all three of these aspects. Jesus
reinforced this teaching in Matthew 19:5.
2:25 Have you ever noticed how a little child can run naked through
a room full of strangers without embarrassment? He is not aware of
his nakedness, just as Adam and Eve, in their innocence, were not
embarrassed by theirs. But after Adam and Eve sinned, shame and
awkwardness followed, creating barriers between them and God. We
PEOPLE PROFILES —
often experience these same barriers in marriage. Ideally, a husband and
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wife have no barriers, feeling no embarrassment in
in exposing
themselves
where
stories
occur,
to each other or to God. But, like Adam
andtheir
Eve (3:7),
we put
on fig
leaves (barriers) because we have areas
we don’t
want ourinclude
spouses,
profiles
of people
or God, to know about. Then we hide,
just as Adam and Eve hid from
strengths and weaknesses,
God. In marriage, lack of spiritual, emotional, or intellectual intimacy
accomplishments
and
usually precedes a breakdown of physical intimacy. In the same
way,
mistakes,
and
when we fail to expose our secret thoughts
to God,
we key
breaklessons
our lines
of communication with him.
from their lives.