Free to be….

Then the LORD God took some soil from the ground and formed a man out of it; he breathed life-giving breath into his nostrils and the man began to live.

Then the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the East, and there he put the man he had formed.   (verses 7,8)

Read Genesis 2:4-25

So many things of importance in human relations with God, each other and creation are set up in these early verses of Genesis. In this passage alone God sets the parameters within which humans are to live, and he establishes the authority of people over animals. He also establishes marriage; it is important to note that this was the way things were always meant to be. Marriage wasn’t something that came as a result of the human fall into sin, a necessary follow up to human rebellion. God always wanted marriage as a blessing for his friends.

God did not create robots, programmed to have no choice but to obey. He did not create puppets, which can only move when someone pulls the strings. Rather, he created flesh and blood human beings who knew God’s will but also had the freedom to decide whether or not to live within it.

It’s a promising beginning. A man and the woman God gave him, living in a beautiful environment created just for them; living in harmony and equality with each other; with authority over God’s creatures and responsibility for their wellbeing; and in a good relationship with the Creator. What could go wrong?

Father, in Jesus I am now your new creation. Help me to be what you have made me. Amen.

by Robert Turnbull, in ‘God’s Promises for each Day’ (LCA, Openbook, 1999)

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