In the Beginning - Pt.3

If we imagine that we are still in the theatre that I pictured in Pt.2, then the opening chorus has now ended, and we may settle down to watch the hero of the play, and the heroine. We think of them as Adam and Eve. We move, now, into the main part of Genesis ch.2.

The first chapter of Genesis was what we might refer to as a cosmic, God's-eye view of the creation, with human beings, created in the image of the Creator, as the climax of the process. However, when we come to the second chapter, we find that the focus has shifted. This presentation of the Creation is down at ground level, with humanity at the centre. The account follows a repeated pattern of defining a need; providing an answer; and establishing a rule.

The first area that is dealt with is that of the earth itself. The need, here, is for cultivation: "In the day that YHWH Elohim made the earth and the heavens, when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up - for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground ..." (Gen 2:4-6). The answer to that need was to create man, who was intended to take care of the garden and the surrounding landscape. "... then YHWH Elohim formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. And YHWH Elohim planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there He put the man whom He had formed. ... ... YHWH Elohim took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it." (Gen 2:7-8, 15). 

However, there was a condition set! "And YHWH Elohim commanded the man, saying, "You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die." (Gen 2:16-17). That condition establishes a rule - "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" symbolises doing things our own way, and we are told that, instead, we are to trust and obey the words of Almighty God. One does not need to be a professional student of history to realise that being able to say (or sing!) "I did it my way", is a root cause for all of the trouble that has been, and is, experienced all over the world.

The second issue concerns man himself. The need that is recognised is that man needs a suitable helper: "Then YHWH Elohim said, 'It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.' " (Gen 2:18). The answer to that need is dealt with: "So YHWH Elohim caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh; and the rib which YHWH Elohim had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man." (Gen 2:21-22). She is instantly recognised, by the man, as one who is "like himself" - as opposed to the various animals that he had named. In the first poetic passage in the Bible, he says: "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." (Gen 2:23). The record continues: "Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh." (Gen 2:24).

So, what is the rule here? I would suggest that it is of a one-partner, life-long, relationship that we call "marriage". This does not mean that there is anything 'wrong' or 'incomplete' about those who are not married! It does mean that any physical, sexual relationship outwith marriage is wrong in the eyes of the Creator. There is also the rule of "equality". That great old commentator, Matthew Henry, writes: "The woman was made of a rib out of the side of Adam; not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved." The two genders, whether married or single, need one another as equal partners - but with different needs, abilities, strengths, and responsibilities - in every activity and community. 

It's a lovely picture that we see in those earliest days of the history of planet Earth and its people. How tragic it is that all was soon to be spoiled - but that is for next time!

What is love?

According to the songwriter, "Love is a many-splendoured thing"; "the April rose that only grows in the early Spring.  It's "nature's way of giving a reason to be living; the golden crown that makes a man a king"!

One of the best video-tapes (remember them?) that I used in school lessons, was about love.  I would sometimes give advance warning of that showing - it did tend to whet the appetite of certain members of any class!   Of course, my pupils had their own ideas as to what defined 'love'.  They tended to range from those with a definite sexual connotation (perhaps with the idea of 'shocking' the teacher!), to "warm feelings towards another", or "being willing to put others first".

One of our difficulties is that we use the word "love" in so many different ways.   I love a glass of IrnBru, but not in the same way as I love to watch a beautiful sunset.  I love dogs, but not in the same way as I love my friends.  I love my daughters, but not in the same way as I love their mum - my wife.

The Greek language, as many are aware, has no less than four different words, each of which is translated into the English language by the single word "love".  The most important one, and the one used over and over again in the New Testament, is "agape".  This has nothing to do with the soppy, sentimental, psychological sensation of a Mills & Boon novel.  It has nothing to do with my physical appetites.  It has nothing to do with the most amazing earthly vistas.  It doesn't even have anything to do with my human friendships.  I could argue that there is something of it in my relationship with my wife and daughters - but even that would be an insufficient definition.  Perhaps the best way in which I have ever heard it explained was by my former minister, spiritual mentor, and dear friend, the late Rev. George B Duncan of St.George's-Tron Parish Church, in Glasgow.  He defined "agape" as "the minimum of emotion, and the maximum of evaluation."

"Agape" is, simply, the love of Almighty God - shown to sinful people like you, and me!   "God loved the world (i.e. its people) so much that, in the Persona (not a typo!) of the Son, He died on a cross; taking your place, and mine; paying the penalty for our sin; even becoming 'sin' for us; that all who come to Him, in repentance, and faith, may know full and complete forgiveness and, here and now, begin eternal life".  (see John 3:16).

John wrote: "In this is love, not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation (to satisfy the righteous wrath of God the Father against rebellious, sinful, humanity) for our sins.  Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." (I John 4:10-11).

Another songwriter claimed that "Love makes the world go round".  In that, there may even be an element of truth - as long as we think of the highest form of love, God's love, the love that is His very essence.  May all who read this post experience that love, for themselves.