LET’S UNDERSTAND

THE BEAUTY OF PARADISE: “God … planted a garden in the east, in Eden: and there he put the man”. “The garden was located at the center of the earth, somewhere to the east of the narrator. In the garden God planted all kinds of trees. Trees represent the majestic beauty of the garden, as well as providing food, shade and shelter for animals. In the middle of the garden God planted the tree of life (2:15-17). A parenthetical paragraph [2:10-14] gives information either to anchor the garden of Eden to a definite geography, to place the origin of four great rivers in primeval time, or both. Rising from a huge spring fed by the great deep, the river flowed through Eden, then divided into four branches that brought water to the various quarters of the earth.

Two of the rivers are the Tigris and the Euphrates. The identities of the Pishon and the Gihon are uncertain, but the Pishon carried water to Havilah, a part of southeastern Arabia that was rich in gold (10:7, 29; 25:18; 1 Sam. 15:7; 1 Chron. 1:9, 23). Other valuable items, possible aromatic resin and onyx (the meaning of the Hebrew terms are unknown), were found there. This tells us that God provided an abundance of wealth on the earth” (Hartley, Genesis, p. 60). Compare this statement with Jesus’ saying in John 10:10.

THE BEAUTY OF FREEDOM: Just like my parents lovingly protected me by instructing me not to talk to strangers or get into unknown cars, God gave His beloved children directions about how to stay away from harm. Because humans were created as moral beings, God would protect their freedom with a boundary, a clear boundary. They would know exactly when they were crossing the line to moral independence. God gave them an umbrella permission with a prohibition that was the exception: “The LORD God commanded the man, saying, ‘From any tree of the garden you may ear freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die’“ (Gen. 2:16, 17). “Any tree” included the tree of life. Their default experience would be endless life, eating from all the other trees and the tree of life. But if they chose to be like gods, thinking they could discern what was good and what was evil, they would separate themselves from the Life-Giver’s care, and would be under the sentence of death. They were perfect moral beings who only knew good, but they could choose to leave God’s umbrella of ethical discernment. To live or to die—that was their choice.

As any person who is in love will tell you, you can’t hold your beloved hostage. Love simply can’t exist without freedom; therefore, freedom to choose is a basic prerequisite for love to exist. If freedom is not in the equation, then love turns into fear. That’s why, aside from the tree that reminded Adam and Eve of God’s eternal plan (the tree of life), there was another tree, it was called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:9). If Adam and Eve ever wanted to leave God and His moral umbrella, this was their way out.

THE BEAUTY OF WHOLENESS: “The declaration they will become one flesh describes further the unity of a man and a woman. The focus is not on the resulting sexual relationship or the children to be born, though it does not exclude these expressions of their union. Rather, the emphasis is on the spiritual and social unity of the new couple. In becoming one flesh a man and a woman become more closely bonded than their blood kinship … Because the deepest human relationship is found in marriage, any spouse’s abuse or domination of the other denies their mutuality and disrupts the harmony God intended” (Hartley, Genesis, p. 64).

“The climax of the creation is, interestingly, the notation that the couple were naked and felt no shame before each other (Gen. 2:25). Of course, naked refers primarily to physical nudity, but one may also think that no barrier of any kind drove a wedge between Adam and Eve” (Hamilton, The Book of Genesis Chapters 1-17 [NICOT], p.181).

LET’S REFLECT

Many times during my youthful years I was undeserving of my parents’ kindness. Yet they were always compassionate and loving toward me. Many times I thought I knew better than they did. One day, in my early teens, instead of accepting my mother’s help, I decided I would cut my own hair. So I locked myself in the bathroom and got busy. Then I experienced what is known in psychology as “escalation of commitment.” I realized that something was wrong, but since I had already invested some energy and pride into the project, I kept going, trying to fix the problem. However, it went from bad to worse. Has that ever happened to you? You realize that you are going the wrong way, but by then you have invested money, time, honor, and skills so you stay the course, investing even more regardless of the obvious fact that it is getting you nowhere.

Soon I realized that I was in deep trouble. I was trying to clean up the mess I had created on my head, but my problem was that I was running out of hair to fix, and fast. I had only a few inches of hair left, much less than I imagined at the beginning of my venture. And it was all uneven! Then it finally dawned on me that this would probably be a good time to go to my mother’s room, ask for forgiveness (for rejecting her help), and become her slave for life (just kidding), if she could just make me look like a normal person again. Even though I thought I was beyond repair, I came out of the bathroom with a pair of scissors and a desperate look on my face. My mother had every right to reject me and to make me live with the consequences of my actions. But she asked me to sit on the kitchen chair, and with love and much skill, she spent a long, long time trying to make some semblance of respectability out of the little hair I had left. I ended up with a cute, short haircut, and a grateful soul.

So many times in my life I acted like I knew better than God. I am stubborn; yet He is patient, compassionate and loving.

“Adam and Eve had no need of material clothing, for about them the Creator had placed a robe of light, a robe symbolic of His own righteous character, which was reflected perfectly in them” (SDA Bible Commentary, vol 1, p.227). In the history of redemption, what brought about a “clothing crisis” (Zech. 3:1-5; Rev. 3:17, 18)?

In the BEAUTY of God’s moral umbrella there was no shame. Why is there shame now?

Read Genesis 3:7. We will be dealing with the fall of humanity in our next lesson, but why do you think that the first thing Adam and Eve did when they sinned, and found themselves naked, was to make coverings for themselves?

Why does the "clothing crisis" continue until the end of time? (see, Revelation 3:17, 18).

LET’S COMPREHEND JESUS IN SCRIPTURE

We will be addressing the theme of redemption in the following lessons. But it is important for us to understand, at this point in the biblical narrative, that the amazing beauty of the completion of God’s work applies not only to creation but to redemption as well. He vowed to re-create the beauty that He originally designed for humanity. That is why many of the words and concepts we have studied in the first three chapters of Genesis regarding creation, will be repeated in the New Testament in regards to the redemption brought about by Jesus. Consider the following insights from Genesis and the New Testament:

Genesis	New Testament
Completion (Gen. 2:1,2)	Completion (John 19:30)
In these verses we are told that God “completed” creation. In the Greek version of the Old Testament (Septuagint), this word contains the verb ‘teleõ’, which means to finish, complete, accomplish.	The final cry of Jesus on the cross, dying to redeem the world, was “It is finished!” This statement also contains the verb ‘teleõ’ (to complete, finish, accomplish).
Rest and Sabbath (Gen. 2:2,3)	Rest and Sabbath (Heb. 4:9,10).
The seventh day was set apart by God to become a memorial of creation (see Exodus 20:8-11). God rested on this day, celebrating the completion of creation. He blessed this day and sanctified it	In Jesus, the seventh-day Sabbath becomes a celebration of our redemption as well. When believers enter fully into rest by trusting Christ’s redemptive work, they rest from their own works, just as God did from His in creation.
Covering nakedness (Gen. 3:7,21)	Covering nakedness (Rev. 3:17,18)
When Adam and Eve sinned, they found themselves naked, and tried to hide their shame. But God made garments of skin, and clothed them.	Throughout the Bible, this “clothing crisis” is the choice between self-sufficiency and God’s provision. Jesus exhorts us to get our white garments from Him, so that we may be clothed and the shame of our nakedness may not be revealed.
Paradise and Tree of Life (Gen. 2:8, 9; 3:24)	Paradise and Tree of Life (Rev. 2:7; 22:14)
The beautiful place God prepared for his children was the paradise of delight. In the middle of this garden was the ever-present reminder of their connection with the life giver: the tree of life. Unfortunately, humans lost paradise, access to the tree of life, and became mortals.	Because Jesus took humanity’s death upon Himself, He re-opened the way to paradise (see Luke 24:43). Those who believe in Jesus’ death in their place, once again have access to the tree of life (Rev. 22:14) and eternity. The Bible starts and ends with the same theme. It is a full circle!

LET’S RESPOND TO GOD’S AMAZING BEAUTY

Write a covenant between you and God to trade your shame for HIS wholeness, accepting what He promised: “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners … Giving them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting … Instead of your shame you will have a double portion, and instead of humiliation they will shout for joy” (Is. 61:1, 3, 7).

God wanted His children to live surrounded with beauty and abundance. He even clothed them with His robe of righteousness and blessed them with a paradise of delight. Glimpses of the surprising beauty of His design may still be observed in the magnificence of nature around us. And still, we can’t imagine what it was at the beginning, before sin entered this world. Nevertheless, God did not give up when his children became trapped in a shameful “clothing crisis.” He promised to rescue us and bring us back to the paradise of delight. But the price would be high, because our robes would only be made white in the blood of the Lamb (see Rev. 7:14)!