Study on Genesis 1 - 3 – The Fall
On the first day of creation, God created light. Gen 1:3 is very straightforward: God commanded that there be light, and there was light. Here we see the simple power and sovereignty of God. He only needs to speak and His will is done.
Notice also that God has created light, but He has not yet created the sun. That does not happen until Day Four. What is this light, if there is no sun? It is the same Light that John speaks of in the first chapter of his Gospel (John 1:5). This is the True Light that shines in the darkness. It illuminates the mind and nourishes the soul. The soul reaches for God’s light like a flower reaches for the sun. Indeed, we see that on the third day (before God created the Sun), God creates the plants (Gen 1:11). These plants receive their nourishment directly from God’s light.
As we move through creation week, God creates the seas, the stars, animals, and finally man. God created the universe for Man. For this reason, the state of the universe is directly related to the state of man.
God says “Let Us make man in Our image.” Here we see the first reference to the Trinity. Again, we go to John’s Gospel which declares that the Word was with God at creation (John 1:1-3). The Word is Christ. This verse shows that the Bible was inspired by God and not merely conjured up in the mind of man. The writer of Genesis 1 is speaking of Christ, even though the Godhead had not yet been revealed to man at the time the Word was delivered.
We are made in God’s image. Like God, we are creative and intelligent. Like God, we can love. These qualities are not found in any other creature.
On Day Six, God completes creation and declares that it is good (Gen 1:31).
In the next chapter of Genesis we read a more detailed account of the creation of Man and a description of the Garden of Eden. We learn that God forms man out of the dust and breathed into him the breath of life. Once again, we see that God has created man in a way very different from the beasts. God has given man the breath of life. The Hebrew word that is used here is the same word that means “inspiration” and “intellect.”
We now move to the Garden of Eden which God creates for man’s pleasure. God walks with man in the Garden. This is what God intended for man from the beginning. God created us to be at His side, not as pets or servants, but as friends (John 15:15).
God notices that the man is not happy. He needs a companion. God creates all the beasts and birds for the man, but he is still not happy. So, God causes the man to fall asleep and he creates woman from man. Woman is made from the same substance as man. She is not inferior to man. They are equals. All the beasts had been brought before man so that he could give them names (symbolizing that man has dominion over them), but he was still not happy. Only woman, who was created like man, was a suitable companion. And now we see the first family. The Bible says that man will “be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh” (Gen 2:24).
The Tree of Life grows in the Garden, and so does the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (Gen 2:9). God tells man that he can eat from any tree in the Garden (including the Tree of Life), but he cannot eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. God warns man, “for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die” (Gen 2:17). If man disobeys God’s Will, he will suffer and lose God’s favor.
A river flows out of Eden and splits into four more rivers. These rivers are: Pishon, Gihon, Tigris, and Euphrates. Of these rivers, only two appear on any map. They are the Tigris and the Euphrates. They flow through modern Iraq. Eden can no longer be found on this earth. Men have searched for it and failed. Men have tried to recreate it and failed.
Now comes the serpent, who “was more crafty than any beast of the field” (Gen 3:1) He tells the woman that if she eats the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, she will not die as God has said, but “in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” This is the first and greatest lie. Satan, the adversary, has told the woman that she can be like God. The serpent says this is why God has told them not to eat the fruit, because God knows that they will become like Him.
So the woman goes to the Tree and “when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate” (Gen 3:6).
Several things should be noted in this verse. First, the Tree was “a delight to the eyes.” Not everything that is pretty is beautiful. We should be careful that we only follow the true Light, and not be tempted by something that merely glitters. Second, that there was no debate between the man and the woman over eating the fruit. The woman presented the fruit to the man, and he ate. She did not decieve him, and he did not protest. They were equally guilty. Third, she saw that the tree “was desirable to make one wise.” The Apostle Paul spoke of this false sense of wisdom in his letter to the Romans. “For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man.” Here we see man attempting to raise himself up to God’s level. Man is trying to become his own God. It is the height of idolatry.
God discovers this betrayal. He demands an answer from the man. The man blames his wife, who then blames the serpent. But God is not fooled. The serpent is punished first, “cursed are you more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field” (Gen 3:14). There will be hatred forever between humans and Satan (symbolized by the serpent). God says, “He shall bruise you on the head,” and this is the first prophesy of Christ who will finally defeat Satan.
The woman is punished with birth pains. It is fitting that when new life is brought into this world, which should be a joyous moment, we are reminded of this first and greatest sin.
But to the man comes the greatest punishment. God says, “Cursed is the ground because of you.” The entire world, which was created for man’s benefit, is now cursed and dying because of man’s sin. It has traditionally been said that man’s punishment is that he will now have to work for his food. This is not entirely true. We see from Gen 2:15 that man was placed in the Garden “to cultivate it and keep it.” Man was already working. His punishment is that his work will be unproductive. “Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you” (Gen 3:18). Then God declares, “For you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Man will die and be returned to the earth from which he was formed. The breath of life that God had given man is not mentioned. Man is now just a shell of what he was.
Finally, the man and the woman are expelled from the garden and so they can no longer eat the fruit of the Tree of Life. Man’s punishment for disobeying God is thorough. He will wallow in his sin. Though he lives, he is now dead.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
- Romans 6:23
© Copyright 2005, Jason E. Heath
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