The First Family Adam and Eve
Learning about our ancestors often helps us understand ourselves. Adam and Eve, is our first ancestors. Now, Adam and Eve did not always live the way God wanted them to. But through Adam and Eve's mistakes, we can learn important lessons about the way God wants us to live. The story of Adam and Eve teaches us much about the nature of sin and the results of our sin.
Do you remember from the story called "The Creation" That man was created on the sixth day of creation? Let's see how God did this.
Adam and Eve
Taken from: Genesis 2:4-23
When God was making His creation He just spoke and it would happen. But when God made people He created them different. For God didn't speak to make man, He made man from the dust of the ground. You see the body of the man was just a lifeless shell until God brought it to life.
How did God bring the man's body to life? Well God breathed the breath of life into the man's nose and he became a living being. You see, God holy breath is the reason man has life, for that was how man became a living person. The name of the man was Adam. In the Hebrew language, Adam means "Mankind."
Then God planted a beautiful garden to the east of Eden. This garden is known as the Garden of Eden. The word Eden means "delight." Just think, the Garden of Eden must have been a beautiful place, for God had created all kinds of flowers and all different kinds of beautiful trees and fruit trees in the garden. In the middle of the garden God placed the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil.
These two trees were real! They had special power! As you will see for yourself as we are reading.
There was even a river in the garden that watered the garden, and this river ran out of Eden, then the river was divided into four other rivers which flowed in four different directions.
Now, God put Adam in the Garden of Eden. For God wanted Adan to take care of the garden. You know God gave Adam a wonderful place to live, the Garden of Eden, and God gave Adam a purpose for living, taking care of the garden. But, God gave Adam a warning, for God told Adam that he could eat any of the fruit that was in the garden, except the fruit from the "Tree of Knowledge of good and evil." But if you eat its fruit you are sure to die.
Think about this: Adam was not to eat the fruit from the "Tree of Knowledge of good and evil. God had given Adam plenty of food to eat. And that one tree was the only one that Adam was not to eat from. And if Adam did eat the fruit from this tree he would die. But, God did not mean that Adam would die at that very moment, if he ate the fruit from that one tree.
When God was creating the Creation He would look at what He had made and say it was "good." But what God saw in Genesis 2:18 was not good. For God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him." So God brought every kind of animal and every kind of bird that He had created to Adam. And Adam gave each animal and bird a name. Whatever Adam called them was their name from then on. But Adam still did not have a helper.
So God made Adam fall into a deep sleep. While Adam was sleeping God took one of Adam's ribs, to make a helper for Adam. Then God closed up the flesh where He had taken the rib from. Do you know what God did with the rib that He took from Adam? Well, God made a woman. Then God brought the woman to Adam.
When Adam saw the woman he exclaimed, "At last!" This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh! She will be called woman, because she was taken from man."
Think about this: This woman later became Eve which means "mother of all living." Eve was the first creature to come from another living being, for she came from Adam's rib. God could have made the woman from the dust of the ground, just as He had made man. But God chose, to make her from the man, Adam's rib.
Now Adam and Eve obeyed God and even walked in the evening with God in the Garden. But, one day evil entered the garden and on account of that Eve soon disobeyed God and she talked Adam into disobeying God as well. What happen? Well if you keep reading you will let us see what happen in the Garden of Eden.
Mankind First Sin
Taken from: Genesis 3:1-13
Disguised as a clever serpent, Satan came to tempt Eve. For the serpent was the cleverest of all the wild animals that God had made. The serpent asked Eve, "Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?"
Eve said, "Of course we may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. It's only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. For God said, that we must not eat it or even touch it, for if we did we would die."
Then the serpent said, "You won't die! God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil."
Then the woman, Eve, was convinced! She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom the fruit would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then Eve gave some of the fruit to Adam, her husband, who was with her and he ate the fruit, too. At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt a shame of their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to make themselves some clothes.
When the cool evening breezes started to blow, Adam and Eve heard God walking about in the garden. So Adam and Eve hid from God among the trees. Then God called out to Adam, "Where are you?" And Adam said," I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked." Then God asked Adam, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?" Then Adam said, "It was the woman you gave me, she gave me the fruit and I ate it."
So God asked Eve, "What have you done?" And Eve said, "The serpent deceived me. That is why I ate of the fruit."
Now think about this: Why does Satan want to temp us? Temptation is Satan's way to get people to give in to his way of life, and give up on God's way of life. You see Satan tempted Eve and he won in getting her to sin. Ever since then, Satan has been busy getting people to sin.
How could Adam and Eve have said "NO" to Satan's temptation? By following the same guidelines that we can follow. First we must realize that being tempted is not a sin. We have not sinned until we give in to the temptation.
How can we stand firm against temptation? Well here are three ways to stand firm against temptation:
1. Pray to God for strength against temptation
2. Run away from the temptation
3. By saying NO when you meet up with what you know is wrong
Adam and Eve got what they wanted, the knowledge of both good and evil. But they got this knowledge by doing evil, they disobeyed God, and that brought them trouble.
The rules God gives us are for our own good, helping us to avoid evil. So don't listen to Satan's temptation!
For Adam and Eve failed to listen to God's warning! They did not understand the reason for God command. But all of God's commands are for our own good, we may not always understand God's reasons for His command. All we really need to know is obey God.
Now when God asked Adam about his sin, Adam blamed Eve. Then Eve blamed the serpent. It is so easy to blame someone else for our sins, but God knows the truth, and He holds each of us responsible for what we do. What did God do to Adam and Eve? Let's keep reading and see.
The Punishment and The Judgment God Gave Adam and Eve
The Punishment
Taken from Genesis 3:14-19
God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all other animals. You will crawl on your belly, in the dust as long as you live. And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel."
Then God said to Eve, "I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy, and in pain you will give birth. And you will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you."
And to Adam, God said, "Since you listen to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat, the ground is cursed because of you. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it. The ground will grow thorn and thistles for you, though you will eat of the ground's grains. By the sweat of your brow will you have food to eat until you return to the ground from which you were made. For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return."
God's Judgment
Taken from: Genesis 3:20-24
Adam named his wife Eve because she would be the mother of all who lived. And the Lord God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife. Then God said, "Look! The human beings have become like us, knowing both good and evil. What if they reached out, and took some fruit from the tree of life, and then ate the fruit! Then they would live forever! So God banished Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, and God sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which he had been made.
Then after sending Adam and Eve out of the garden God stationed mighty cherubim angels to the east of the Garden of Eden. But that not all God did, He also placed a flaming sword that turned every which a way to guard the way to the Tree of Life.
Think about this: Everything in the Garden of Eden was perfect, and if Adam and Eve had obeyed God they could have lived there forever. But after they disobeyed God, Adam and Eve could no longer live in the garden. Adam and Eve chose their way of disobedience, and then God chose what action He would take. As a Holy God, He could not allow sin to go unpunished.
If God's punishment for Adam and Eve's sin seem to much, remember that their sin set in motion the world disobeying God. That is why we sin today! Every human being that has ever been born, except for Jesus Christ, has inherited the sinful nature of Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve's punishment shows us how seriously God sees sin of any kind.
Like Adam and Eve, all of us have sinned and we are separated from fellowship with God. Disobeying God is a sin, and it breaks our fellowship with God. But thank God, when we disobey Him, He is willing to forgive us and restore our relation with Him.
Remember, Satan is our enemy! He will do anything he can to get us to follow his evil ways. Adam and Eve disobedience and fall from God's grace affected all creation, including the environment.
Cain and Abel
Taken from: Genesis 4:1-26Adam and Eve may have thought their sin, of eating a piece of fruit from the tree that God had said, "do not eat of," wasn't very bad. But notice how quickly their sinful nature developed in their children. For Adam and Eve's disobedience quickly showed up in their children in outright murder. Adam and Eve acted only against God! But one of Adam and Eve's sons acted against both God and other people. Let's read the story and see what happen.
The Story
This story is about two of Adam and Eve's sons, their names was Cain and Abel.
When these two boys grew up Abel became a shepherd, which is someone who raises sheep. But Cain became a farmer, which is someone who grows food from the ground. Now when it came time for Cain to gather from the fields, what he had planted he brought God an offering from what he had grown in his field. But Abel, worshiped God, and he had faith in God, he brought several of his best lambs from his flocks of sheep as an offering to God. God accepted Abel's offering, but God wouldn't accept Cain offering. This made Cain very angry and he looked sad.
So God asked Cain, "Why are you so angry? Why do you look so sad?" God told Cain that his offering would be accepted, if he would do what is right. But if he didn't do what is right, then he had better watch out. For sin would be in his life and sin was eager to control him. That he must not let that happen.
Think about This: The first murder in the world is about to happen. Murder is a sin that God will punish you for. For God doesn't like murder. So, let's read on and see what happened.
Later on Cain asked his brother, Abel, to go into the field with him. While they were in the field Cain attacked and killed his brother, Abel. A little later on the Lord asked Cain, "Where is your rother? Where is Abel?" Cain answered the Lord with, "I don't know! Am I to know where my bother is at all the time?"
Just think: Cain could not control the sin that was waiting to attack and destroy him. And Cain was greatly punished for Abel murder! For God judges all sins and punishes us. Not out of vengeance, but because He desires to correct us, and He loves us.
Let's keep reading and see what happened!
The Punishment and Judgment God gave Cain
God said to Cain, "What have you done? Listen! I hear your brother's blood crying out to me from the ground! You are now cursed and must leave here, from the land which you have made dirty with your brother's blood. No longer will the land give you plenty of crops, no matter how hard you work! From now on you will be homeless wandering about on the earth. You will keep on the go, going from place to place."
Then Cain said to God, "My punishment is too great for me to bear! You have made me leave my land and leave your presence. You have made me a homeless wander. Someone who is on the go all the time. And anyone who sees me will try to kill me!
But then the Lord said, "They will not kill you, for I will give anyone who tries to kill you seven times the punishment that I have given you." Then the Lord put a mark on Cain as a warning to anyone who might try to kill him. So Cain left God's presence and settled in the land of Nod, which is east of Eden. The word Nod means "wandering."
In time Adam and Eve had another son, which they named Seth. Eve was happy and said, "God has given me another son in the place of Abel, the one Cain killed.
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