God Creates the Family

September 23, 2018 Background Scripture: Genesis 2:18 – 24; 4:1, 2 Lesson Passage: Genesis 2:18 – 24; 4:1, 2 As stated in the previous lesson, dominion of the earth was not intended to be a one-man job. Mankind was to grow into the dominion of the earth as they multiplied and filled the earth with the glory of God. Being in the image and likeness of God, as mankind multiplied and filled the earth, God could look at the earth and see a reflection of His own glory. Adam was not created in a way that he could multiply himself. Adam needed companionship so that he would not be alone and so that they could together multiply and fill the earth. God allowed (required) Adam to review and name every animal upon the face of the earth. After this was accomplished, it was clear that none of the other creatures were suitable helpers for Adam. Therefore, God put Adam in an unconscious state and removed a bone from his side and reclosed the flesh. With that bone, God made a woman of the same substance that Adam was made of. God then brought her to Adam. Adam recognized that the woman was of the same substance that he was made of and called her “woman”. I find it interesting that Adam did not immediately recognize the woman as his “partner” to work alongside him. Instead, Adam recognized the woman as “part of” him. Whatever he was, she was the same. She was bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. She was not bone and flesh like his but rather, she was his bone and flesh and Adam recognized that. Being “part of” him meant that together they completed each other, and they were again one person. The footnote to Adam’s recognition of this says that this is the reason that through marriage a man and woman are to become one flesh. It was through the reproductive process between this pair that God established the family. As we reflect again on Adam’s assessment of the woman, we see the necessary step that formed the proper foundation for the union of these two. Because Adam saw her as “part of” him, some things would be natural in this union. Whatever Adam did for himself, he would naturally do for her because she was “part of” him. The woman did not have to negotiate for anything or to earn anything because Adam would naturally give her whatever he gave himself. She was “part of” him. God did not give her an initial assignment because He had given Adam an assignment. When Adam carried out his God-given assignment, the woman would be there working with him because she was “part of” him. Adam’s assignment became their assignment. God never took the responsibility for the assignment from Adam, neither did He divide the responsibility between Adam and the woman. It was Adam’s assignment, but God gave him a helper who was suitable for Adam. After Adam sinned by breaking the one commandment God had given him, God expelled Adam and his helper from the Garden of Eden. Note that God did not treat the woman as Adam’s equal, He treated her as “part of” him. When Adam was expelled from the garden, all “parts” of him were expelled. The family was established outside the Garden of Eden when the woman became pregnant and gave birth. Her first born she called Cain and her second born she called Abel. The scriptures only note that she conceived once prior to giving birth to Cain and Abel. This leads many to believe that the two sons were twins. Thus, began the family of man. Robert C. Hudson September 5, 2018

God Creates People

September 16, 2018 Background Scripture: Genesis 1:26 – 2:7 Lesson Passage: Genesis 1:26 – 31; 2:4 – 7 Where did people come from? Why are we here? Why am I here? What’s expected of me in this life? These are some of the questions that many of us have pondered in our quiet time. Much of the field of science is devoted to the discovery of unbiased answers to these and other questions about reality. The scientific process begins with a hypothesis, or guess, and then proceeds to test the hypothesis to either disprove the hypothesis or use experimental data to convert the hypothesis to a theory that can be verified by other scientists. The process is well-proven in small controlled-environment laboratories and has proven its usefulness in man’s creative process of innovation. The process is utterly useless on a grand scale such as the universe. You cannot create a universe in a laboratory and test your hypothesis. Science is not the answer to the previous questions. Philosophers have pushed their imaginations beyond their life experiences and developed “schools of thought” that challenge us to look beyond our own reality and contemplate previously unrevealed methods of thinking about the meaning of reality. These “schools of thought” are not meant to be proven or disproven, but only enjoyed during moments of contemplation. Through philosophy, we can develop answers to the previous questions that have no basis in reality, and we can be okay with that. Whether through science or philosophy, the previous questions will go unanswered in the absolute sense of the answers being correct. However, what if the one who created everything could tell us that he did it and even tell us what he did? This is what Genesis 1 is all about. After God finished creating the heavens and the earth, He then created the most unique of all of His creation, mankind. Man’s uniqueness lies in that he was created as a physical being with the substance of the earth and then animated, or enlivened, with the indwelling Spirit of God. Mankind was created in God’s image and after God’s likeness. Even the details of his creation are different. Rather than speaking man into existence as He had the entire universe, God took counsel with Himself about man’s creation. Then, God took some of the dust of the earth and fashioned a physical body for man to live in. God clearly went to great lengths to make man. After He formed the body, then God breathed His Spirit into the earthen body and the image and likeness of God became a living physical being unlike anything else God had created. I believe it is always worth noting that God created the entire universe, which includes the earth, before He created man. The responsibility that God gave to man was to have dominion over all of the living creatures that inhabited the earth. Man was given the fruit and grain of the trees and plants as food. The dominion of the earth was not intended to be the work of one man, but man was to multiply upon the face of the earth and grow into dominion. Adam’s first assignment was to be a caretaker of the garden that God planted toward the east in Eden. All large assignments should begin with small tasks. It is through small tasks that we learn stewardship, prove our faithfulness, and earn the privilege of larger responsibilities. It is a biblical principle that if a person cannot be faithful over small things, they should not be trusted with greater things. That answers all of the previous questions. Robert C. Hudson September 5, 2018