2024-08-14_Man is meant to develop. His beingness is in motion toward or away from God (Genesis 2:9-19)

Earlier, when we observed the special field in which man was created, the implication was that the water and the plant life that came up from beneath the ground indicated the direct intervention of God, not the natural process that pertains to the rest of the created order. In intervening directly, God still maintains the natural order of things: The water that comes up from beneath the ground circles back down as rain, and rainwater ultimately leads to plant life coming up from beneath the ground. Similarly, in the Miracle at the Wedding at Cana, in turning water to wine, Christ Jesus affirms that the natural process that begins with water is the natural process that will end with wine. Christ Jesus immediately bypasses all the steps in between but does not disavow the substance nor the chronology of those steps. Still, we are meant to see that, in intervening directly in such a way that sets apart that special field from the rest of creation, God commits a miracle in the Creation of Man. The conclusion of “the first week” (the Creation of Man) is as miraculous as the beginning of “the next week” (the Resurrection of Christ Jesus), for in both instances, we see God intervening directly to bring life out from the dead ground (the grave). Also, in both instances, the new life is body and spirit simultaneously the product of the will and the act of God: The dust is as good as the breath of life, and the dust is formed simultaneously with the breath of life breathed in. Similarly, with the Resurrection, though we do not see the Resurrection as it happens, we do see that the Resurrected Christ Jesus is fully body and fully spirit. Indeed, Christ Jesus here is as corporeal (Thomas able to touch His wounds) as He is unbound by corporeality (Christ Jesus able to appear and to vanish suddenly). This opposes the Gnostic idea that what is spiritual is good, and what is material is bad, which is to say, that man would have been good only if he had been purely spiritual and that the fact that he was from the start an embodied spirit means that he was from the start a degradation of the good. Instead, in the simultaneity and the equal value of body and spirit in the primus homo (the Creation of Man) and in the novus homo (the Resurrection of Christ Jesus), we see that what is intrinsic to man is his combination of physical functionality and mental/spiritual boundlessness. He is meant to be embodied, and thus, to learn and to function in and through his corporeality (see John 17:15: I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world), and at the same time he is meant to be able to transcend his corporeality (see John 17:21: That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us). For man to be in and of nature, and yet simultaneously in and of God, is a miracle of God. Moreover, in the Creation of Man, we see that man being simultaneously in and of nature, and in and of God, is not just his conclusion, if he is reborn in Christ Jesus, but also his beginning: For at the start, he is dead dust come alive, and he is God’s indwelling breath.

Therefore, in making Eden for man, God creates every tree that is pleasant to the sight (that which will delight man’s higher mental/spiritual life) and good for food (that which will serve man’s physical needs). It may be argued that God creates Eden not just for Adam, when he is still in a state of blessedness, but also for fallen man. As we shall see, fallen man will not be allowed to enter into Eden, and yet the memory of the delight that had been lost will be a critical part of fallen man’s psychological and spiritual hunger going forward. As it has been embedded into his spiritual DNA, this memory will inspire man to want to return to what he has lost, albeit in a manner that reaffirms his separation from God and from other men (the Tower of Babel), but positively, it will inspire man to want the King to return and to restore to him what he has lost (see Romans 8:22: we ourselves groan within ourselves [as we await] the redemption of our bodies). Adam’s blessed life in Eden is meant to teach him to rely on God, which is to say, to follow His commandments (see Ecclesiastes 12:13: Rely upon God and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man). The fallen man’s absence from Eden is meant to teach him the same thing, for as we learn time and again, we cannot hope for that Edenic delight to be restored in us unless and until we rely on God and follow His commandments. When in his state of blessedness, there is no sin in Adam, and so the wages of sin, death, is not in his future. Indeed, there is no death in Eden, nor in the created order beyond Eden, and so the precursors of death are not to be found, such as illness and entropy. With neither illness nor entropy, there is no hunger, and with no hunger, there is no physical need, per se. And yet, God makes the plants good for food, when Adam while living in his state of blessedness has no need for food. We may deduce then that God makes the plants good for food because He knows, in his eternally present knowledge of all things that have been, are, and are to come, that the contrast in man’s memory of Edenic plants good for food with his present struggle to eat much less nourishing food inspires in man a longing to be restored to God. That Eden is as much for Adam in his blessedness as for fallen man in his sinfulness reminds us that Adam’s story is our story. We are to be caught up in what will happen to him, as we shall see, and his legacy will be caught up in what will happen to us when we are reborn in Christ Jesus.

The Tree of Life in the midst of the garden: Given that Adam in his state of blessedness has neither sin nor death in him, the question has arisen as to why he should need for this tree to be pointed out to him. This is like pointing out to a breathing person that he is breathing. Nevertheless, if Eden is as much for the fallen man in his absence from Eden, as Eden is for Adam in being in Eden, then the Tree of Life reminds us that God intends for man to be alive everlastingly. Eden was made for Adam, and, therefore, for all of us, and so what the Tree of Life represents is a vision of the everlastingly superabundant life that God intends for man as intrinsic to his humanity, and not just for the person of Adam. This is the life we all have squandered in our sin, but this is the life to be restored to us, when we are reborn in Christ Jesus (see Revelation 2:7: He that hath an ear, so let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh, will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God). Because the Tree of Life in Revelation 2:7 is to be planted in the New Jerusalem, we see then that Eden is a foreshadowing of the New Jerusalem, and, thus, the New Jerusalem is a fulfilling of the promise of Eden. Each is a Tabernacle where man in his blessedness lives with God, is guided by God, and learns to be ever closer to God.

The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil: Like the Tree of Life, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil are gifts from Jehovah God to be dispensed in accordance with his will. As Adam in his state of blessedness already has everlasting life, the Tree of Life for him may be considered an icon of the life he has been given, just as for us it is an icon of the live that we have squandered. On the other hand, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil refers to a knowledge not yet given to Adam in his state of blessedness. He knows only what is good in virtue of the fact that, absent sin, there is only good to know. In order for a created being to know good and evil, there must be a perversion of the good, a degrading of creation, so the absence of what is good is knowable. Adam must degrade himself and creation in order to have knowledge of the absence of what is good. In His omniscience, God does not need to degrade creation in order to know what evil is, but man cannot be omniscient, which is to say, he cannot know as God knows. Therefore, if Adam follows through on the temptation to know as God knows, the result must be his own degradation and the degradation of the created order, which in turn means that he must be banished from Eden. Thus, in placing the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in Eden, God is placing before Adam a test of his obedience to God’s commandment. Adam either will mature in wisdom, or he will be lost (see Proverbs 9:10: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom). God tests Adam, and He tests us, because He wants us to grow in love for Him through obedience unto His will (see John 14:23: Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man loves me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him). Eden is meant to be a school for Adam, even if that means risking Adam’s innocence.

And a river went out of Eden to water the garden: This is more clearly translated as “a river went through Eden.” Given the overabundance of perfect life in Eden, we may presume that this is a reference to the blessings of God, for God alone set apart Eden, and God alone will keep Eden as delightful, which is to say, as Edenic, as it is. God’s action made clear is what is referred to as “the Day of the Lord,” just as we saw in the Book of Revelation that what we call God’s Judgment is really just God taking off the blinders from our eyes and revealing all the truth to be what it is. “The Day of the Lord” is symbolized by overflowing water, and thus  the water flowing through Eden suggests that Eden is where God makes Himself clear (see Joel 3:18: And it shall come to pass in that day, that all the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim). Eden is synonymous with God’s Tabernacle. It is the Holy of Holies. Adam’s school literally is in the place God sets aside for His most intimate relationship with man. God puts Adam there, but for Adam to remain there, he must turn to God always, just as one of the persons crucified beside Christ Jesus turns to Him at the end (see Luke 23:42-43: And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise). The word paradise here has the same root as Eden, where the Tree of Life is (the Crucifix also being that “Tree of Life”).

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary: As nature was created for man, it was his vocation not only to ennoble it by his work, to make it subservient to himself, but also to raise it into the sphere of the spiritual and to further its glorification. This applied not merely to the soil beyond the limits of paradise, but to the garden itself, which, although the most perfect portion of the terrestrial creation, was nevertheless susceptible of development, and which was allotted to man, in order that by his care and culture he might make it a transparent mirror of the glory of the Creator. Here too the man was to commence his own spiritual development. To this end God had planted two trees in the midst of the garden of Eden: the one to train his spirit through the exercise of obedience to the word of God, the other to transform his earthly nature into the spiritual essence of eternal life.

The questions arise: What is the state of Adam’s blessed innocence when confronted with this divine commandment? How is he different then from how we today would respond to a similar commandment?

Ellicott’s Commentary: In Paradise Adam had unlimited freedom, except in one small particular, and no promptings of his own nature urged him to take delight in disobedience and sin. But if thus he was free from passion, on the other hand his conscience then was undeveloped, even if it could be said to exist at all in one who did not know the difference between good and evil. He was devoid, too, of experience, and his reason must have been in a state as rudimentary as his conscience. Nevertheless, Adam was an intellectual being. He must have had a deep knowledge of natural history, for doubtless he called the animals after their natures. In Genesis 2:23, he calls his wife Ishah, and himself Ish. Now, this name signifies a being, and in so calling himself Adam seems to claim for man that he is the one creature upon earth conscious of his own existence. And when Eve appears he simply adds a feminine termination to the name, recognizing her thereby as the female counterpart of himself; but in so doing he shows a mastery of language, and the power of inflecting words according to the rules of grammar…[Being tested] seems to be a necessary condition of the existence of beings endowed with free will [so from the start, Adam is an intellectual being with free will, which is to say, with the capacity to love]…The fall was not all loss; St. Paul affirms this with reference to the gift of a Savior (Romans 5:17-19). And besides this, higher qualities are called into existence now than were possible in the case of one who had no experimental knowledge of evil. We may even say that in giving this command Jehovah was appealing to qualities still dormant in Adam [and] that the Divine purpose was to develop these qualities in Adam: not necessarily, however, by the fall, for these qualities would have been to some extent exercised by resisting temptation…Adam, had he remained innocent, could nevertheless have attained to no higher happiness than such as was possible for a being in a rudimentary and passionless state of existence. He would have attained to the perfection of innocence, of pure physical enjoyment, and of even scientific knowledge; but his moral nature would have developed very slowly, and its profounder depths would have remained unstirred in him. He would have been a happy grown-up child, not a proved and perfected man. 

Notice that in the first Genesis Story, God creates man as a pair, male and female, on the Sixth Day, and He acknowledges that to be good. Here, God has created Adam and yet has found something not good. Indeed, this is the first time that God judges something about His creation to be not good. If it is not good for Adam to be without a help meet, then why not create Adam and Eve from the start? The reason is that God creates man as one who will be developing in his moral and spiritual stature. The other animals are simply as they are, but man is meant to grow closer to God than when first created. Development occurs in part by withstanding temptation (or by succumbing to temptation, learning from all the negative ramifications that follow, and seeking to be restored), which we have seen in the placement of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Another development occurs in men leaving their unitary lives to forge one flesh with women. Here, we are observing God’s model for marriage, but the broader point is that man develops through his relationships with others. Thus, recognizing that it is not good for man to be alone, and then good for him to be in a marriage with his wife, tells us that we shall develop morally and spiritually in our obedience to God and also in our relationships with others (see the Summary of the Law).

In the original Hebrew, to name the living creatures means to impart his legacy upon them, much like a father bestowing his name and his blessing upon his son. Therefore, when later Adam sins, and brings death into his life, he imparts the legacy of death upon the rest of the created order. From a spiritual standpoint, living creatures die not because they sin, for the living creatures are incapable of sinfulness, but because they are caught up in the legacy of Adam. All of creation is perverted by Adam’s sin, and so all of creation is made whole again when Christ Jesus reverses Adam’s sin (see 2 Corinthians 5:17: Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: [all] old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new). Adam imparts his legacy upon the living creatures while searching for his help meet, which is to say, for the one relationship that will be properly adaptable to him. Searching for his help meet is part of how Adam develops in his moral and spiritual conscience, and so it would seem more broadly that as man moves closer to, or further from, God, so the rest of creation will be caught up in that. Grace and Sin each have greater ramifications that seem possible at first. The direction of man’s moral and spiritual development will express either.