Man's Purpose; The Fall; Gen. 2-3
Genesis
Notice some of the
provisions here because we are going to see the parallel in Genesis chapter
one. Just as God told Noah and his sons to multiply and fill the earth so God
tells Adam and Eve in the garden before the fall to be fruitful and multiply
and fill the earth. [2] “The fear of you and the terror of you will be on every
beast of the earth and on every bird of the sky; with everything that creeps on
the ground, and all the fish of the sea, into your hand they are given.” This
is going to be a slightly different view of man’s relationship to the animal
kingdom than what we find in the pre-fall perfect environment of the garden.
There Adam was to rule but there was no hint of fear. In Genesis 9 there is
also the institution of meat eating for the human race which was not true prior
to the flood. [3] “Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I
give all to you, as {I gave} the green plant.” The clause “as I gave the green
plant” goes back to what God said in Genesis chapter one: “Behold, I have given
you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and
every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you.” Genesis
9:7 NASB “As for you, be fruitful and multiply; Populate the earth
abundantly and multiply in it. [9] “Now behold, I Myself
do establish My covenant with you, and with your descendants after you.” So
this is a world-wide covenant between Noah and God, and this covenant is still
in effect today.
Genesis 1:26 NASB
“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and
let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over
the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on
the earth.” Notice here it is “rule over” instead of fear being upon the fish
of the sea, etc. [27] “God created man in
His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created
them. [28] God blessed them; and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply,
and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over
the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth’.” If
Genesis chapter nine is a covenant then Genesis 1:26-30 is a covenant, even
though the word “covenant” is not used. Because of the similarities and
parallels and terminology what we have here is the first covenant between God
and man; it is a contractual relationship that God enters into with man. This
is a conditional covenant based on man’s obedience to the prohibition. Man is
to rule the earth and to subdue the earth. That puts man is a unique
relationship to everything else in the created order. Why is that significant?
The reason that it is significant is that it tells us that everything on the
earth was made for man. Man is not just another cog in the animal kingdom,
everything was made for him. This sets man up as distinct from everything else
in the created order.
Genesis 1:29 NASB
“Then God said, ‘Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on
the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it
shall be food for you.” This shows that God has supplied abundantly for man.
God in His grace always supplies everything man needs. This is a principle that
we will see again and again and again throughout the Scriptures. God is
sufficient for man, He always supplies for everything man needs. The problem is
not that God hasn’t supplied everything man needs but that man continues to
reject that provision and wants something else; he wants to redefine
everything.
The creation account of man as the image
of God in Genesis 1:26, 27
The creation of man occurs
on the sixth day in Genesis chapter one and that six
days is then picked up as the theme for chapter two. Chapter two focuses on
everything that takes place on that sixth day. This is a stylistic device in
Hebrew narrative that is very common, it is called pearling. It is like a pearl
that is found in an oyster. There will be a series of events, a strong of
events like a string of pearls, and then you’ll go back and pick one of them
and that becomes the subject that is expounded upon and developed in more
detail in the next section.
Gen 1:26 NASB “Then God said, ‘Let Us [plural] make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth’.” What is going on here is crucial to understanding the unique position of man in the created order. The term for “image” is from the Hebrew word meaning image, representation; “according to Our likeness,” and the question we have to ask when we look at this is in what sense are we in the image and likeness of God? Is this an immaterial, shadow image or is this a physical image? Is this saying that man looks like God? Or is the answer a little bit of both?
We are helped a little in this by understanding some of the verbiage that is used in the suzerain-vassal treaty form. What we discover in that treaty form is that vassal is described as an image and likeness of the great king. What does that mean? That means that this vassal, the king, set up to rule his country is the representative of the great king. He represents the king in all that he is. So if you want to know what the great king is like then you look at the vassal king. He is to be the image, the reflection of the great sovereign. So man is to represent God. All of this is part of this package of image and likeness. So image, first of all, is going to describe man’s immaterial make-up: his soul, his mentality, everything that comprises the immaterial nature, because that is what makes man unique from all the other creatures. The image is a little bit of both. Primarily it is in the immaterial aspect because that relates to who man is. But what we are also going to see is when you look at the text, look at Genesis 1:26, 27, the image is specifically related to function, to what man does. So image and likeness is not just a static concept of his immaterial but it is that immaterial soul as it relates to its function, to what man is to do in relation to the creation, why God has placed him on the earth. There is a specific purpose.
Image describes man’s immaterial make-up, the composition
of his soul. Support for this is found in the fact that Adam’s descendants who
have been marred by sin are said to be in the image of Adam. In fact, when we
come to Genesis 5:1 and begin to see Adam procreate and he and Eve have
descendants, then those children are said to be in the image of Adam and
according to his likeness. Then when we get to Genesis chapter nine and God
gives the reason why a man who kills someone, someone who commits homicide, is
to be punished with capital punishment and have his life taken. It is because
man was created in the image of God. Think about
this. Man is said to be created in the image and likeness of God in Genesis
1:26, 27. Then in Genesis 5 when Adam procreates, his children are in the image
and according to the likeness of Adam, not God. That emphasizes the fact that
something happened to this image. It has been marred by sin but it is still the
image of God, and that is the reason why murder is wrong and why capital
punishment is necessary in Genesis chapter nine. The image is not lost by sin,
it is simply marred.
These terms, image and
likeness, explains not merely that man is in the image of God but that he is
the image of God. One term that is used is that he is the vice-regent, he is
the representative of God; he is to rule all the created order on the earth as
God’s under-lord. This is typical terminology in the ancient secular treaty.
Man was thus created to
fulfill the role of God’s vice-regent, God’s personal representative and ruler
over creation. That is why man is created higher than all the other creatures
and what sets him apart. So what man is in terms of his immaterial make-up is
inseparably linked to what he is to do. Man is to rule
the creation; he is set over creation; he is distinct from nature. God created
everything to be utilized by man—responsibly. As Christians we should have a
biblical view of ecology and nature, not a pagan view. There is a difference.
In looking at the image
one of the things we need to notice is that man is created in this image to
perform his role as the vice-regent, and the physical body is to house the
immaterial representation of God. What we are getting at here is that it is not
just an immaterial image, not simply the soul, but the physical body, the way that
man is made in shape and form physically is related to his function. God
designed man to be the perfect physical machine in order to fulfill the
responsibilities of being in the image and likeness of God. To clarify, in
order to have a creature to fulfill responsibilities as God intended God could
not devise a better way to do it than the way you and I look. God created us
this way for a reason, so the physical body is not just by chance.
Our physical body was
known by God to be what would eventually house the incarnation of the second
person of the Trinity. Therefore for God, eternal, infinite God, thinking in
eternity past: Now what is the best physical form for me to best express my
nature to mankind? So when God designs the human body he knows that eventually
He is going to be incarnate in that human body, therefore it is going to be the
best physical form and representation of His essence. Once again, we don’t look
the way we do by chance. There is specific design to it.
Conclusion: Human physical
design is not by chance or simply a functional design, but is specifically
designed the way it is to express God’s will, to house God’s Son, and to
fulfill man’s destiny. God is intimately involved in not just the immaterial
creation of the soul but there is purpose and significance to the physical
house in which the soul lives.
We are told that man is to
rule. The word “rule” comes from the Hebrew word which means to have dominion,
to rule, or to dominate. This is not a passive term; it shows that man is supposed
to take initiative. He is to plan, he is to develop, he
is to utilize nature for his own purposes. The word “subdue” is from the Hebrew
word which means to subdue and is used later of kings who subdue a foreign
army, it means to bring something under control, to bring it into bondage. What
man is to do is to go out and bring nature under his control. This is in
contrast to pantheism which says that man just lives and goes with the flow; he
just lives with nature, is part of nature. But we are to control it and that
means that we are to learn everything there is to learn about the creation. All
of science should have its roots in understanding the environment, and that
includes, of course, theology and doctrine.
In conclusion, all pagan
thought is inherently pantheistic, making man a part of nature. Thus man stands
in nature and is not to harm nature. In fact, man begins to worship nature.
That produces a static culture that goes nowhere. That is why aboriginal
cultures never advance from century to century; there is no technological
development. It is because of their religious view. Religion makes a
difference. This is why these original chapters of Genesis are so foundational
to our thinking. Christianity says that man is over nature and is to utilize
nature in order to improve his life. Only on the basis of Christianity can we
produce a dynamic growing culture. Culture doesn’t just happen; culture is the
result of religious and philosophical assumptions.
In the image of God it is
man and woman together that represent God on the earth. God makes the image
male and female. This shows that there is an essential identity and equality
between male and female, so this destroys any kind of view of male dominance in
terms that a man is inherently better. He is different, he has a distinct role;
the woman has a distinct role; but as image bearers of God they are to work
together as a team to fulfill the dominion mandate. But in that team, just as
in any team, there is a distinction of role.
The believer being
conformed to the image of Christ is to represent Christ as an ambassador on the
earth. What has happened is that man was created in the image of God and then
that image was marred and distorted by sin. So man just procreates and
replicates according to the image and likeness of Adam. Then when we come into
the New Testament with regeneration and sanctification by means of the Holy
Spirit we are being renewed according to the image of Jesus Christ. As a
believer grows and matures on the basis of doctrine and his thinking is
transformed he is back to where he can have that same kind of divine viewpoint
look on history and on nature that characterized Adam, so he can begin to
fulfill the role that God originally assigned to man. The human race moved from
normality before the fall to abnormality after the fall and it is only through
sanctification that we begin to return to normality and begin to fulfill the
original conditions that God laid out for the creation of man. In the church
this defines man as the image of Christ as the ambassador. Just as Adam was to
represent God in the creation as the vice-regent so the believer is to
represent Christ to the earth as the ambassador.
Genesis chapter two is
going to expand the concept that we see hinted at in Genesis 1:26, 27. Genesis
In the first nine verses
of chapter two we see the vegetative condition of the earth. There was no rain
on the earth at this time, the plants had not sprouted yet, and we are told
there was no man to cultivate. We see right away that one of the things being
emphasized is that man is designed to work. Work is not a consequence of the
fall. Work changes its nature after the fall but from the very beginning man
was to cultivate, he was to work in the garden. We see in vv. 7, 8 the creation
of man: that man is made from the dust of the soil. The chemicals of the ground
are mixed together and God forms the physical house of man. Then God breathed
into his nostrils the breath of life. Here that emphasizes the impartation of
soul and human spirit. God take the immaterial part of man and breathes it in.
There are two factors: biological life and soul life. But it is not until the
two come together in one that there is full human life. The Scriptures teach us
that God immediately or directly creates the soul of each individual and
imparts that at the moment of physical birth. God immediately or directly
creates the soul and He indirectly creates each human body through procreation.
Through procreation there is the development of physical life from that point
on but not soul life. Soul life cannot be created through a physical process.
In verse 8 God plants a
garden toward the east in
Verses 10-17 describe the
geography. The rivers flow out of
Then the prohibition is
given in vv. 16, 17 NASB “The LORD God commanded the man, saying, ‘From any tree of the
garden you may eat freely;
In verses 18-25 we see the
creation of the woman who was designed to be a helper to the man. The word for
“helper” is the Hebrew ezer.
God is considered an ezer
to man, a helper to man. This is not an insignificant role. If God takes on the
role of helper then we can’t ever think that it is in any way less significant.
Verses 19, 20 go on to describe the function of man in terms of the work that
he is carrying out. But we want to go back and look at verse 15 NASB
“Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.” The word for
cultivate is the Hebrew word abad. It means to work, to serve, to carry out
responsibility. Incidentally, the same word is used of worship, to serve God.
So their entire life was in service and worship of God. The starting point of
worship is Bible study; them outwork of worship is fulfilling our
responsibilities in terms of the plan of God. A second word that is used here
is to “keep” the garden, the word shamar in the Hebrew. It also means to guard or to watch. So
man is to work the garden and to guard the garden. He has a watchman’s position
here. Part of our responsibility is guard, to be a protection over that which
God has delegated to us. Conclusion: Work itself is not a curse,
it is the essence of what man is supposed to do. This leads us to develop the
idea that worship means fulfilling God’s role as He has intended. It is only
after the fall that work became toilsome and laborious. Prior to the fall it
was wonderful and formed man’s basic purpose on the earth. It only becomes
toilsome when the creation itself is cursed because of man’s sin.
The first role function of
the image of God is when Adam is naming the animals. In the ancient near east
naming was tantamount to exercising control and dominion over something. The
way to control things was through classification and categorization.
The fall of man: Genesis chapter three
In this chapter we see the
test that they have to face: whether they will obey God and not eat from the
fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good an evil or whether they will disobey
God. Genesis 3:1 NASB “Now the serpent was more
crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had
made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from
any tree of the garden’?” Satan comes in the form of a serpent. He understood
all of the implications of what he was doing and knew just what to do in order to
trap the woman. He raises the question in such a way that however she answers
it she is wrong. If she answers the question she has to make a judgment on the
truthfulness of God. It isn’t sin until she starts to think, but once she
starts to think independently the die is cast. They fail the test and the
result is a knowledge of sin. They are told they would
know good and evil. This is human good, not good in terms of righteousness; it
is good in terms of counterfeit good, not good in terms of perfect righteousness.
Genesis 3:7 NASB
“Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked;
and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.” Now they
are exposed and vulnerable and they try to solve their problem on their own by
sewing fig leaves. This is typical of mankind which tries to solve problems by his own resources rather than by God’s resources. Then when
God comes to walk in the garden they hide and the Lord seeks them out. Again we
see this consistent pattern that God seeks out man. This is the grace of God, He does not leave man in his fallen condition but
continually reaches out. God does everything necessary for man all the time.
The issue is man’s volition.
Then God pronounces the
curse. We see this laid out in Genesis 3:14-18. In vv. 14, 15 we see the curse
on nature. NASB “The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,
Cursed are you more than all cattle…” What is the implication there? The cattle
are cursed too. All nature is going to be cursed. “… And more than every beast
of the field; On your belly you will go, And dust you
will eat All the days of your life.” The implication from that is that the
creation moves from perfect environment to fallen environment. “And I will put
enmity Between you and the woman, And between your
seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on
the heel.” Her seed is an allusion to a future savior, the Lord Jesus Christ
who would be true humanity and undiminished deity. This is the first mention of
the gospel.
Then the woman is cursed.
The curse of the woman is related to her function in the Adamic
covenant. She was to be fruitful and multiply. Genesis
Genesis 3:17 NASB
“Then to Adam He said, ‘Because you have listened to the voice of your wife,
and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall
not eat from it’; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of
it All the days of your life.’” This hits man right in the arena of his
original covenanted responsibility. Nature is going to fight him. Before it was
cooperative; now it is going to be antagonistic. There was work before the fall
but it wasn’t toil. [19] “By the sweat of your face You
will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken;
For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.”
The man was to cultivate
the garden; now the land is hostile. The man’s responsibilities have become
burdensome to him. The woman who was designed to help him now desires to
control him. Painless procreation becomes painful labor. The animal kingdom is
affected and transformed, and the botanical kingdom is affected. But God is
still redemptive. Genesis