THE ORIGIN OF MAN-ADAM

For now, closing remarks on the origin of man…(I know you’re thankful…lol)

How long did Adam live in the paradise garden? Nobody knows. Nobody except Adam and God. How did he spend his days? Chatting with his Creator, tending the garden, getting to know the creature that was now his wife, playing with the lions…enjoying his perfect world.

Then, at some point, Adam goofed. He ate of the one fruit that was off limits. And everything came undone. The spiritual connection with God was broken. Sin, sickness, death, decay entered the world. The dominion that he once enjoyed over all the earth and everything in it was handed over to his tempter, the serpent…that ol’ devil, Satan. Adam, along with his bride, was kicked out of the garden…and so began a new life. The one that you and I are familiar with.

You can blame Adam if you like, but you or I would have eventually done the same thing. You can blame Eve if you like, but Adam was standing right there when she took her bite (Gen. 3:6). It’s interesting to note that it wasn’t until Adam had taken a bite that their eyes were opened and they realized they were naked. After all, it was Adam that was commanded by God not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Maybe he was curious. Maybe he was just gullible or trying to impress his wife. Or maybe he was just being man.

Even more likely, maybe…just maybe it was God’s plan all along. There is so much packed into these first three chapters of God’s story. Hopefully, as time allows, we can explore some of it together. For now, though, take a few minutes to ponder on Adam. Try to imagine what it must have been like, this garden experience. In the beginning…and again at the end.

Paradise.

Paradise shattered.

With God, as one. Apart from God, separated by sin. From king of the world, serving the King of kings to, as Paul writes, a slave to sin. Man, what a fall!

You think Adam at some point wished he could take that bite back? Kind of like we wish we could take back some of the things we do? Sure, he did. Probably fairly often. You think he ever felt guilty? Kind of like we do sometimes? Probably. But while God wouldn’t let Adam take back his bite…just like He doesn’t allow us to take back our mistakes…He did something better. For Adam and us. He offered salvation and redemption through His Son, Jesus Christ…and He forgave His creation.

I’m just another Adam. So are you. Don’t be so hard on the poor guy. God forgave him. Can you? And if you can forgive the Adam that screwed up your Garden of Eden, then you should be able to forgive the Adam that screws up everything you live with today…the one that lives inside of you. Do you know what God did when Adam ate the forbidden fruit? Even before He kicked Adam out of the garden, do you know what God did?

“The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.” (Gen. 3:21).

He forgave Adam. He made him garments of skin and clothed him. With His very own hands God made Adam and Eve garments of skin and clothed them. He provided what Adam needed. Why? Because, in spite of the ol’ boy’s sin…God still loved His creation.

So, tell me “Adam”…what makes you think God can’t love you?

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THE ORIGIN OF MAN-ADAM

Remember that it was God who leaned down and breathed the breath of life into Adam’s nostrils. As Adam stirred and slowly opened his eyes, I believe he saw the glory of God hovering before him…watching…waiting for His creation to become aware of His presence. I wonder about the look of expectation on God’s face…the anticipation of seeing His creation come to life…the joy of watching His creation look upon His glory for the first time.

It had to be a moment of indescribable wonder for both! And I believe they were captivated by each other for a time… whether for moments, hours or days…each one mezmerized by the existence and the presence of the other.

Keep in mind, that this was before the fall of man. In a sense, a spiritual sense, God and Adam were one…both of the same Spirit. (This is not intended to imply in any way that Adam was a divine being, because he wasn’t. But he was created a perfect being!) And though Adam would
eventually severe that spiritual connection, at the moment, they were both one. While the seedlings in the ground (that God had created on the third day) sprouted and grew, Adam was getting to know God… and the Teacher was teaching His creation about life…about Himself (God) and about himself (Adam). It’s quite possible that Adam even moved freely between earth and heaven…that he conversed with angels.

In the paradise in which he lived, I don’t believe Adam had to eat to stay alive, just as I don’t believe we’ll have to eat in heaven. I believe he was welcomed to eat… even invited to eat… perhaps at God’s own table…but I don’t believe he had to eat. Nor did the animals that had been created on the fifth and sixth days. Remember, this is before the fall. Sin, death, decay, even hunger was somewhere in the future.

“Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.” (Gen. 1:20,30).

The plants that were given for food were still seeds in the ground. The “meat-eaters” weren’t “meat-eaters” yet…not until after the fall. For now, they were still vegetarians waiting patiently for their first salad. Adam, when he wasn’t hanging out with God, was naming the animals (Gen. 2:19,20). Somewhere along the way, Eve was taken from Adam’s rib (Gen. 2:22), the Garden of Eden was planted by God (Gen. 2:8), and Adam was put in the garden to take care of it (Gen. 2:15).

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THE ORIGIN OF MAN-ADAM

Continuing discourse on the origin of man…

Most people have the mental picture of Adam being formed from dirt, God breathing into his nostrils, Adam coming to life and sitting up in the middle of the Garden of Eden and looking around in astonishment. For years I thought the very same thing. Until I read, for the umpteenth time this verse…and when I read it on this particular occasion, for some reason, something I had never noticed jumped out at me.

“This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created. When the Lord God made the earth and the heavens- and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground, but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground- the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” (Gen. 2:4-7).

Before any shrub had appeared…before any plant of the field had sprung up… “the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”

Now, God had already created the plants and shrubs…He did that on the third day.

“Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds…” (Gen. 1:11,12).

But those plants had not yet appeared or “sprung up”. They were still seeds in the ground when Adam was created on the sixth day. When Adam opened his eyes for the first time, he opened them to a barren landscape…nothing but dirt. In fact, the same dirt that he, himself, had come from.

“Let the land produce vegetation…”

While the land produced vegetation, God produced Adam.

The first time Adam opened his eyes, he saw dirt. Dirt everywhere. There were also streams because it was the streams that came up from the earth and watered the ground (Gen. 2:6), but at the moment, there was nothing else but dirt…as far as the eye could see, in every direction.

Dirt.

The dust of the ground sitting there looking at the dust of the ground. He’s bound to have had some interesting thoughts! At the same time, I wonder if Adam even noticed the dirt. For there was one other thing I believe Adam saw when he opened his eyes for the very first time.

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THE ORIGIN OF MAN-ADAM

Thus continues the story of the origin of man from the Biblical perspective!

Think about Adam for a moment. God made a mud pie and breathed into it…and it came to life! But this mud pie wasn’t like the kind you and I whipped up as kids. This mud pie had literally miles of blood vessels and nerves and several feet of intestines all crammed into a frame that was roughly six feet tall and a couple of feet wide. This doesn’t include the muscle tissue and the bones…and all the other stuff that’s inside us. All held in place by skin not much thicker than a sheet of paper. It’s amazing to me, that all that stuff can fit in there! But that was Adam. That was man.

But even more amazing is that God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life! Why? So Adam could be alive! God’s very own breath jump-started Adam’s lungs. God’s own Spirit. God’s “life” or breath…shared with Adam, so that he, too, could live. That very same breath that we, even still today, find our very life in. That very same breath has been passed down and
multiplied through the centuries…but it’s still the same breath…the breath of God. The breath that gave Adam life, gives us life. If that single breath of God has given life to so many for so long, is it any wonder that God is eternal?

You don’t believe that the same breath that God breathed into Adam is the very same breath that gives you life? Then answer this: What makes your heart beat just one more time? The breath. But where does the breath come from? Not the oxygen that you breathe in…but the breath itself? Every human being on this planet is one heartbeat…one breath…away from death. Where does it come from? It’s the eternal breath of God. The breath that we pass to our children…that they pass to their children. And when your portion of that breath has been used up, you go home to be with the Lord…assuming you are one of His.

Adam. The very first man. What do you suppose was his first thought? With that first breath, what went through his mind? Do you suppose he sat up and looked around in wonder? Or did he just lie there for a few minutes trying to absorb the magnitude of his existence? Was he aware at all of what had just happened? I mean…he’s not there, then all of a sudden he is!

Think about babies. Babies are formed in the womb. They have a growing awareness of their existence, there in their little world. We can’t know what they think about, of course, but we do know they are aware. Moms-to-be can feel them kicking inside. When they come out, they experience a dramatic change, but they are still aware. But Adam was just jolted into existence from nothing!

He wasn’t there….and then he was! He wasn’t anywhere….and then he was! What in the world could have been going through his mind? And whatever he was thinking…what language was it in? How did he even understand his own thoughts? Was he given a degree of instant knowledge?
Or was he taught by God?

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THE ORIGIN OF MAN-ADAM

Let’s move along a little in our look at the origin of man. Because of the length of this post, I’ll be breaking it up into a couple of different sections. A couple of my latest posts were a bit lengthy…(sorry bout that!)

“Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him…” (Gen. 1:26,27)

Adam was created in the image of God…in His likeness. Many assume this means that man looks like God and God looks like man. That may or may not be true, although I’m sure that there is a family resemblance for those of us in Christ. :0) More than the physical appearance, though, Adam was created after God’s image in that Adam, like God, is a three-part, or triune
being. A trinity. Like God. A body, a soul and a spirit.

God said, “Let us make man in our image.”

Who was He talking to and about? He was speaking to Himself…God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, and He was speaking about Himself. All three were present and all three took part in creation because all three are One.

An interesting point to make here might be that God never intended for Adam to be the only man on earth. When He said, “Let us make man in our image”, He also said of man, “let them rule over the fish of the sea”, the birds, the livestock and over all the earth. He already knew the earth would be full of humans. And He already knew that Adam would fall. Likewise, He already had the plan of redemption in place. But for now, we’ll just ponder a bit on Adam.

“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” (Gen. 2:7).

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THE ORIGIN OF MAN-ADAM AND THE DINOSAUR (PART 2)

Let’s take a closer look at what the Bible says about the origin of man…

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Gen. 1:1)

Somewhere back in eternity past, millions or billions or trillions or gazillions of years ago, God created the heavens and the earth. Noone can really say how long it did or didn’t take, because it’s not recorded anywhere. It does seem, though, that God created the heavens first, because according to Job 38:7, the morning stars sang together and the angels shouted for joy as the earth’s foundations were being laid and its dimensions being marked. So, we can reasonably gather that the heavens were created to give the angels a home, then the angels, and finally, the earth.

There’s an interesting passage in Ezekiel (28:12-19) that seems to describe Lucifer…”the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.” Lucifer was “anointed as a guardian cherub.” It’s generally accepted that at some point in time, back in the beginning, Lucifer was highly favored in God’s sight. As such, it’s perfectly reasonable to gather that, just as God created Adam and gave him the gift of dominion over the earth in Gen. 1:28 (until his fall), it’s also reasonable to conclude that as God’s greatest creation (up to that point) ,Lucifer too, was given dominion over the earth until his fall. The difference being that Lucifer’s domain existed eons before Adam’s.

As previously mentioned, God didn’t create the earth to be empty, but to be inhabited. Now, while I do believe that Adam was the first and only man created in the image of God, I also believe there were other “men” here before him. Those that we call prehistoric man. I also believe that they existed right along with dinosaurs, in a time that we’ll never fully understand. It can be safely assumed that God created both dinosaurs and the cave man for Lucifer to rule over, just as He created the animals that Adam would rule over in a later age.

Depending on which translation of the Bible you read, you will stumble across a couple of passages that speak of “behemoths” and “leviathans” which could very easily be describing what we, today, call dinosaurs. In the book of Job (chapter 40), God describes creatures that we’ve never seen or heard of as described…unless one considers the dinosaur. Verse 19 even says this creature ranks first among the works of God!

Then somewhere along the way, Lucifer’s heart became proud and wickedness was found in him (Ez. 28). There was a war in heaven and Lucifer and a third of his angels were cast to earth. In all likelyhood, the people of earth at that time also sided with the creature that we’ve come to call satan…much like they will do when this present age ends. It’s interesting to note, that in several passages of the Bible, we’re told the heavens will be shaken, the stars will fall from the sky, the sun and moon will cease to give light to the earth, earthquakes beyond human imagination…all will befall man at the end of this age. It’s not unlikely, then, that the same fate was shared by our predecessors, prehistoric man to an even greater degree.

Scientists believe that at one point in time, the earth’s axis was perpendicular to the sun. Now, it’s slightly angled. They believe that’s what caused the ice age that wiped out the cave man and the dinosaur. But what caused it? Perhaps, just like in Is. 13:13, the earth was shaken from its place by the Lord’s wrath! Lucifer was defeated, his “dominion” was left void and without form…a barren, empty wasteland.

Then sometime later…how much later, we’ll never know…”Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” (Gen. 1:2)…and God began to restore the earth. In verse 3, God didn’t “create” light. He simply said, “Let there be light.” Let the light penetrate the darkness that had been caused by the catastrophic destruction of the earth…the pitch black cloud of debris that had been caused by the tilting of the earth during the Lord’s wrath.

Verse 6. God didn’t create anything. He seperated what was already there. The waters from the waters that He had created eons before. He restored the expanse between the waters and called the expanse “sky”.  Then He gathered the waters and let dry ground appear. He simply restored what was already here until we get to verse 20, when He created the creatures of the air and water. The same species that we have today. And God told them to fill the earth. It’s interesting that in the KJV, He told them to FILL the earth…but He told Adam to REPLENISH the earth. And you can’t REPLENISH unless there was something there before.

There are a few other passages scattered around that hint of the prehistoric time. God knew that we, “modern” man, would be needing and using fossil fuels for almost everything we do. How did we get them? From the prehistoric age. There was no magical compression of time that started with Adam’s creation. Nor was there a creation of dinosaurs during Adam’s time followed by some mysterious disappearance. It was all in God’s plan. From the very beginning.

The one thing above all others that we need to realize is this: whether this is how it happened or not, has no bearing on His plan of salvation. It simply helps us to understand a little more of what He had planned for us from before the beginning of time. The important thing is that according to 1 Peter 1:20, Jesus was chosen before the creation of the world to be your Savior and mine…regardless of when or how that creation took place! He was chosen for you…and for me. Before the creation of the world. God wasn’t surprised that Adam fell…or that we do. That’s why He provided for us when He did!

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THE ORIGIN OF MAN-ADAM AND THE DINOSAUR

Well, now the origin of man wouldn’t seem to be too controversial on the outside. Either one believes in creation, or evolution! This post isn’t to try to justify creation, but rather accepts it as a given! The  potential “contradiction” comes in with pre-historic man. The Bible has been around for just a few thousand years. We have scientific evidence that, at some point in time, there were dinosaurs and and pre-Adamic man roaming around the earth…and that they did so millions of years ago! The Bible seems to indicate that Adam was the first human…so we have a math problem here! So at the risk of opening up an giant-sized can of worms, today I’m addressing the topic of prehistoric man and the dinosaur age.

There are many theories floating around on this subject…even to the point that God created Adam and dinosaurs at the same time (around 6000 years ago), then supernaturally aged the dinosaurs…or something like that! Some are a bit of a stretch, while others sport some credibility. I’d like to share with you an idea that’s not new, but not extremely widespread either. Let’s take a look at this thing from a different angle and see if we can’t get the Bible and science to agree somewhere down the road!

First of all, ancient man and his prehistoric creatures did, in fact, exist. It’s hard to deny the existance of such creatures, while gazing into the lifeless and empty eye sockets of a dinosaur skeleton. In addition to dinosaur bones, we also have dinosaur fossils. We have evidence carved in stone of what we call the “cave man.” It’s important to acknowledge their existance, because to say they never walked the earth would be ridiculous in light of the evidence. The dinosaur skeleton is proof of its being!

At the same time, it’s just as ludicrous to think that prehistoric man (and the dinosaurs he shared the earth with) lived at the same time that Adam did…that there’s some sort of flaw in the scientific measuring of the times gone by. First of all, one would think that somewhere in the Bible…assuming that the men of Adam’s time shared the earth with the cave man…somewhere they would have been mentioned by someone. Secondly, it’s universally accepted that the people and creatures of the prehistoric age were rendered extinct by what we generally call the “Ice Age.” Assuming that’s true, and there’s no reason to disbelieve it, then Adam and the rest of mankind (along with all the creatures of our time) would have perished, as well.

So, we are left with the choice of believing science, which claims they existed and provides the evidence of such…or believing the Bible, which provides little evidence at all on the surface. The truth, however, lies somewhere in between. If we can’t reconcile the Bible to the known and proven existance of the prehistoric age, for instance, how can we reconcile it to our own time? To our own needs? To our very salvation, even?

That’s what this particular series is about…bringing together science and the Bible in one picture of what we’ll call…”the dinosaur story.” Neither is wrong. In fact, they’re both right. But neither is complete on its own. Together, however, they present a clear picture of what took place millions of years ago. Yes, the earth was here then! No, Adam was not. And before any wild conclusions are drawn about each of God’s “creation” days lasting ten thousand years or more, I don’t believe that either. They could have, of course, but I believe they were literal days, just like the days we now enjoy. Twenty-four hours in length.

Our problem is that we try to make what happened fit into our boxes of understanding, rather than changing the size and shape of our boxes! This is gonna be an interesting series, folks! And, I’m not asking you to believe it or not…just offering you an alternative that fits nicely into place with both science and the Bible, without leaving one or the other out in the cold! After all, assuming that God created everything, wouldn’t He be the Father of science as well He is the Author of the Bible?

Take a journey with me, if you will, back into the book of Genesis. Chapter one, even. And if you’ll read that chapter slowly, you’ll notice something very, very interesting! God didn’t create anything at all until you hit verse 20!  Now, it’s true that verse 16 says that He “made” the two great lights and the stars…BUT…it’s interesting to note that it says He “made” them. Everywhere else during the creation process, He “created.” The reason for that, is that in ancient text, two different words were used…one meaning that God caused it to happen from something that already existed…the other meaning He actually created something…from scratch. That, of course, is why we have two different words in our Bibles.

And perhaps, another clue:

“For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens (He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited),
“I am the Lord, and there is none else.” (Is. 45:18 NASB)

God didn’t create the earth a “waste place,” but formed it to be inhabited. Yet, Gen. 1:2 says the earth was without form and void (KJV) or formless and empty (NIV). Jer. 4:23-26 describes the same earth that Gen. 1:2 describes…formless and empty. The light from the heavens was gone (implying that it had once been there). There were no people, no birds, all the towns lay in ruins, and the once fruitful land was a desert. What the heck was Jeremiah describing? Can you imagine God creating something void and formless because He didn’t have the ability to create it in whole to begin with? Notta chance!

With that in mind, let’s step back into the past…beyond Adam…beyond the Garden of Eden…to the very beginning!

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