The Strand Study Bible

GENESIS GENESIS useful purpose, except for the gemstone. There is no creature that eats them or gets any use or value out of them, they do not break down into fertilizer; they never decompose to form soil as do the common rocks; their very hardness, in which partially lies the secret of their value, precludes such a possibility. There is only one possible reason why God created these precious stones – for the pleasure and the enjoyment of man. Precious gems are the result of special design, as is evident from their structure. No matter what gem is under consideration, it is always built on a certain geometric plan and pattern which is somatic to all the individuals of that classification. No matter how small you crush a gemstone, it is impossible for that stone to lose its structural pattern. For example, the purple amethyst is a crystal, which occurs in the shape of a rhomboid. No matter how fine you grind it, the amethyst will always be in the shape of a perfect rhomboid. The same is true of the yellow topaz, which occurs in the shape that is orthorhombic, or the deep red garnet, which occurs in the shape that is isometric, or the red ruby, which occurs in the shape that is hexagonal. No matter what the gemstone, the geometrical structure of that stone remains the same no matter how finely it is broken down. We have, therefore, an argument for intelligence and specific creation. 2:13 Gihon was probably a canal off the main river. 2:17a This is the first time the phrase “ thou shalt not ” is found in Scripture. Sadly, there are many who feel that the God of Scripture is just too hard-nosed. However, that’s not the case. Adrian Rogers in Adrianisms notes: God is not some cosmic kill-joy. Every time He says, “Thou shalt not,” He’s simply saying, “Don’t hurt yourself.” And every time He says, “Thou shalt,” He’s saying, “Help yourself to happiness.” 7 God only wants for us what we would want for ourselves if we were smart enough to want it. THE ADAGE IS TRUE: Sin is not hurtful because it’s forbidden; it’s forbidden because it’s hurtful ( thou shalt surely die ) 2:17b Adam and Eve were created in a state of innocence, but with the power of “choice” ( in the day that thou eatest thereof ). God said to man, “It’s your choice. Like the angels before you, you were created in my image (mind, heart and will - Gen 1:26b , 27b ). Thus, you were fashioned with a free will, called self-determinism, which is the ability to choose between good and evil.” F.J. Huegel in That Old Serpent – The Devil notes: If God had not created man free, with the power of choice, and with the capacity of utter self-determination, he could never fulfil the hopes of His Maker. Man’s devotion to God, if it was to have any value, must spring from personal volition. 4 If humans are not free to choose, but all their acts are determined by God, then God is directly responsible for evil... a conclusion that is clearly contradicted by Scripture (Hab 1:13, Gen 2:9 and Mk 5:13 ). Freewill means that man possesses the potential to put himself first, even above God (Isa 14:12-14). Therefore, free will, though it makes evil possible (if a thing is free to be good, it is also free to be bad), is the only way God could experience love. As far as we know, until the creation of the angels and men, God had never designed a creation with the ability to choose. Designing creatures with the ability to choose allowed God to experience what it is like to be chosen . Knowing what it was like to love, God wanted to know what it was like to be loved . Thus God created self-willed creatures with the freedom to love Him by choice, not by force. Greg Boyd in Repenting of Religion notes: 57

The Genesis account presupposes that Adam and Eve possessed the power of choice. If their relationship with God was to be loving and obedient, it could not be otherwise, for love and obedience require choice. Nothing in the passage suggests their rebellion was divinely planned or fated. 8

Charles Massegee in Sanity in a Satanic Society agrees. He notes:

Remember, in the Garden of Eden Adam and Eve were perfect. They were in a perfect environment. God wanted Adam and Eve to choose to experience His love and His plan for their existence, so He gave them a choice. 6 Meaning: God created good with the possibility of evil; that is, He made it possible for sin to be committed ( Isa 45:7 ). Massegee continues:

There can be no right without the possibility of wrong. There can be no obedience without the possibility of disobedience. There can be no faithfulness without the possibility of unfaithfulness. This is why God allows us to sin today. God wants us to have a choice. 6

The key to understanding the real purpose for man’s existence lays in the reasoning behind why God would place an unfallen free-willed creature in a Garden with a forbidden tree. Question –Was God tempting man to see if he would do wrong? If so, then once again, God is directly responsible for evil... which is an unscriptural conclusion (Jms 1:13-17). So, if God did not tempt man to sin–to choose wrongly, then what was the reason for God’s purpose behind the forbidden tree? If it wasn’t to tempt unfallen man with the possibility of disobeying, then what was its purpose? Why place a “choice” before man? There is only one possible reason why God would have placed the forbidden tree in the Garden. He had planned on man obeying; for God alone understands the unprecedented beauty that comes from the result of obedience ( Jere 9:2 ). God had placed a “choice” before man cheering him on to obey, not tempting him to see if he would choose wrongly. Unfallen man’s obedience was meant to be a blessing to something prior to his existence. It was meant to set things right for a previous creation that had had problems. Tony Evans in his Kingdom Agenda pulpit series put it this way: …and on the sixth day God created man. Why? Here’s why –to demonstrate what He could do with less when less was committed to him verses what He could do with more when more was in rebellion against Him... God created man to demonstrate He could do more with a lesser creature who would follow Him than a greater creature who would be in rebellion against Him. So He created man (Psalm 8 says) a little lower than the angels… 9 Thus, the real purpose for the human race was to assist God in His endeavor to salvage the universe that another free-willed