In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Such powerful words are the first ones recorded in the Bible. This is the first of many big questions the Bible answers: where do we come from? The answer is: we come from God. The Bible begins with a book called Genesis. This is a Hebrew word that means Beginnings. Genesis explains the beginnings of our universe, humanity, and the great history of our common heritage. While it may be difficult to completely understand, we can know that God has always been and that He created life out of nothing.
On the first day, God said, 'Let there be light.' And there was light. He separated the light from darkness. On the second day, God separated the waters and put space in between them. This is how the sea and sky were formed. On the third day, God created land. He adorned it with all nature like trees, grass, mountains and valleys. On the fourth day God created the sun, moon, and the stars. On the fifth day, God created all the animals that swim in the seas and fly in the sky. On the sixth day, God created all the animals that walk on land. He crafted each one just the way He wanted it.
God then said, 'Let Us make man in Our Image.' So God took dust from the ground and breathed into it the breath of life. Man became a living being. This is what makes man so special in the world. There is no other thing in God's creation that bears His image. Does this mean we all look like God with our skin and hair? No, it means we carry within us a spirit, an immortal part of our being that is made in the image of God. Our physical bodies will eventually waste away, but our spirit will remain.
Within the garden were two special trees given as a blessing from God: the tree of Life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The tree of Life indicated God was willing to share the gift of eternal life with Adam. God gave Adam another gift: choice. He commanded him not to eat from the tree of Knowledge. In this way, God offered Adam the choice to obey God and deny himself, or to obey Self and deny God.
Adam taught Eve about God's gift of choice. Now both were given the opportunity to choose to obey God or to serve Self. Away in the spirit realm, God had created heavenly beings to minister and help Him. One of these spirits soon chose to obey Self over God. The consequence of this choice corrupted his heart. He deceived many angels into serving him instead of God. There was a great war in the spirit realm. The corrupted one and his followers were cast out of heaven. He soon found his way to the Garden of Eden.
This enemy's name was Satan. In the Biblical languages of Hebrew and Greek, Satan means adversary and lying in wait. Satan is also called the devil which means false accuser. The devil took the form of a snake and approached Eve. He lied by saying she would not die but would be like God. Eve took some fruit and ate it. Then, she gave some to Adam, and he ate too. With this choice, Adam and Eve decided that they could determine what was 'good' by rejecting what God had commanded.
Adam and Eve did gain knowledge of good and evil when they ate from the tree. Instantly, they realized that what they had done was wrong and sinful. God pronounced judgment on those who had disobeyed Him. Among other punishments, God cast Adam and Eve out of the garden. Their perfect relationship with God was broken by sin.
Before the creation of the world, God had a plan. His love for mankind motivated such a plan. Knowing that man would fall if given a choice, God took steps to secure fellowship with His image bearers again. Genesis reveals God's plan in a prophecy: 'And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.' (Genesis 3:15)
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