An Introduction To The Creation Of The Man And The Woman (Part 2)

 In the state that Adam was in, he was responsible for a lot. We see that he was responsible for:

• Living in the image and likeness of God Himself-Gen.1:26.
  • This refers to the whole man being a reflection of the excellencies of God. His whole heart and mind and will would all please God and be as God would be were He a man.
• Ruling over every creature that would exist on the earth-Gen.1:26.
  • This refers to the proper management and care for all the animals, including those in the sea and in the air. How? Simply by the recognition of his dominion as one who is made in the image of God, who is Himself in dominion over everything.
  • This aspect of the creation of man defines and informs everything about the man. He is to rule, govern, in the way that God governs His kingdom. He was to express the righteous character of God and the holiness of God as well. He was to exercise final authority but in the way that God would in a perfect creation. This also informs the homelife of the man as well as he is to express his authority over his wife and children with the same righteousness and wisdom and skill that God does over His own children. This reality is a critical one in order to understand what a godly home is to be and one that we will look at in more detail later.
• Bearing children and filling the earth and subduing it for the purposes of ruling over it-Gen.1:27.
• Working in the garden and keeping it all the while avoiding the tree of the knowledge of good and evil-Gen.2:7-9, 15-17.
• Being joined to his wife and becoming one flesh with her in the context of marriage-Gen.2:24.

These are tremendous responsibilities. However, there is one responsibility that supersedes all of these by virtue of the fact that Genesis 1-3 indicates that whenever God speaks, it is creative, purposeful and authoritative. His words carry grave importance and power. They are as precious as they are fearful. Whenever God speaks, it is not a trite event. It is to create in His creation a fear that causes us to tremble in awe (Isaiah 66:1-2). This responsibility is the proper dissemination of and obedience to God’s Word.

 Apparently, the very first words to Adam, before Eve was created, are found in Genesis 2:16-17. I believe that these were spoken before the woman was created because the following verses, which are there for sequential flow of the narrative, show the need for the man to have a companion in order to fulfill the mandate from God to fill the earth. So, prior to the creation of the man’s beautiful helper, God gave man, and man alone, a command. Here it is: “The Lord God commanded the man saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” Apart from the actual meaning of this text, I want to make a few observations at this point.

Consider the fact that these words are given to Adam, before Eve was created. What does that tell you? In the context of the original creation, man was to be a manager of all things created. He was to be the ruler over the entire earth and the things in the earth. However, all that existed in the created universe was there simply(!) because God spoke it into existence. Thus, God’s word is far superior to the creation itself as God is far superior to the creation itself. All of this Adam would understand. Therefore, when God spoke to Adam, it carried great weight and seriousness. This is God after all! So, now, not only is Adam responsible for the creation and its care and management, he is also responsible for the Word of God, i.e. God’s instructions, which is far more important than the creation itself. These words from God indicate relationship and revelation of a holy and immensely perfect Creator to a created being who exists only because God created him. Adam now is a steward of God’s word. He would be responsible for conveying God’s mandate to Eve and explaining it their children and their children’s children. Again, that is true to this day. Whenever the call to teach, or explain, or train people in the revelation of God’s commands is given, it is to the men that God refers (Deuteronomy 6; Pss.44:1; 78:1-7; Ephesians 6:4). Moreover, men will be held accountable for that in the day when He judges all men (and women) in the future. 

The implications of this fact are clear and may form the basis for the ways in which God has worked through the ages by different methods with different people depending upon the amount of revelation, i.e. Scripture, they were given (Hebrews 1:1-2). A further implication is that this also helps us to understand why God would allow only men as leaders in the church. Adam was created first and thus the very first commands of God were given to him as a stewardship and that cannot be reneged upon. This would be the understanding of 1 Timothy 2:9-15. Why does Paul not allow a woman to exercise authority, which in this case relates to teaching (v.12)? Because God spoke to Adam first and, as such, gave him the responsibility of the handling of His Word. That is why Paul indicates that the order of creation is the pivotal rationale for his assertion that only the man is allowed to teach in the church-he was created first and first received revelation from God (v.13). Further, the introduction of deception came through Eve, and not Adam (v.14). That is not to say that Eve was evil as she was “very good” (Genesis 1:31). But, in Genesis 3, we will see that the path that Satan took to enter mankind into his dominion was through the woman and thus she fell into transgression. The man also clearly was there with her and through his disobedience plunged themselves and their children, of whom we all are, into a condition of sin which is called ‘depravity’. The product of which is death (Romans 5:12; Cf. Genesis 2:17).

 Therefore, God created the man out of the dust of the soil and gave him life and gave him a charge, a stewardship. The greatest of this stewardship was the Word of God, which then was in straightforward commands and instructions. Today, we have  a volume of 66 books we call a ‘Bible’ that is the summation of all God’s revelation to mankind. Adam was given much. However, all of this was for the purpose of the glory of God which is indicated by the fact that man was created in His image, according to His likeness.

The man had a responsibility to God to obey His word. In order to do that, he needed a helper. The woman was created with the awesome and lofty intention of helping Adam manage all that God has given to him. Hers is a privileged position.