davidbowerkingwood

In His Own Image, by Adele Bower ©

Creation Begins

There came a time before time that a decision was made to create; to that point only the Trinity existed as it always had, unchanging, eternal, but now a decision had been made to create. The existence of the angelic creation is referenced in many places in scripture but the occasion of their creation is not revealed in the Bible. I believe it is safe to assume they were created before Adam and Eve because Satan, as a fallen angel, is present in the Garden of Eden to tempt Eve.

The Bible reveals the existence of angels, and tells of an angelic rebellion followed by the fall of one third of the angelic creation and the ongoing spiritual warfare that has been going on a very long “time” (I use that word advisedly); I wrote of this in a three part series called, “To the Soldiers in the Spiritual War.” I’m inclined to believe that initially the angelic creation existed as spirit beings in a non-corporeal environment; the Bible is silent on that point. To question how long this condition was the norm is essentially meaningless in a timeless eternity.

From there we move on to what seems to be a later creative act described in Genesis 1, the creation of the heavens and the earth. This is a distinctly physical creation with the universe as we know it coming into existence by the word of the Trinity. This process is summarized in the first six chapters of the Book of Genesis on which I have written in a series starting with “The Creation Story“. I am of the studied opinion the earth and the universe as we know it is only a few thousand years old.

At the point man is created, it appears the Trinity would have engaged in three classes of creative acts, the angelic, the physical universe as we know it including animal life, and mankind, who was uniquely created by the breath of God in God’s image; eternal spirits temporarily housed in bodies of the “dust” of the earth. The distinctive nature of man’s creation is a topic I’ve discussed in several essays including “Let’s Face it, your Eternal,” and “Your Temporary Clay Jar – Another Thought.”

The Creation Phase comes to a Close

After the creation of man, the revealed or implied acts of creation by the Trinity came to a close. At some point in the future the Trinity will either create or recreate a new heaven and a new earth; currently in my thinking I’m leaning toward a refiner’s fire; think of the refining of gold to burn out impurities.

By way of review, the eternal Trinity had decided to create; the sequence seems to be the angelic creation came first followed by the creation account recorded in the first chapters of Genesis. The Trinity spoke creation into existence with the exception of man which was breathed into existence and created in the image of the Trinity.

Mankind was placed in a perfect environment and told to rule the animal population and to populate the earth. Adam was given one restriction, he was never to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. After that commandment was given Eve was created from Adam’s rib and became the suitable help God wanted Adam to have.

There is no time reference given to determine how much time had passed after Adam’s creation until the creation of Eve; there is also no time reference for Eve’s creation to her temptation by Satan in the form of a serpent. I am inclined to think in longer rather than shorter terms; I’ve covered this in “The Fall.”

It was during the time after the expulsion from the Garden of Eden I believe Adam and Eve had many children before the recorded birth of Cain; the only information that might be helpful in this regard was Adam’s age of 130 years at the birth of Seth. Remembering that Adam was created as an adult male and Eve as an adult female could open the door to a rather large number of children, wouldn’t you think?

The Bible’s mission is to reveal mankind’s sin and God’s solution to mankind’s problem; not to provide a comprehensive history of mankind; I believe Cain’s wife came from this growing pool of individuals.

Before Adam’s disobedience the earth was a far more hospitable place, precisely designed for mankind’s requirements; after the fall the earth was still a protected environment conducive to man’s health but the Garden of Eden was no longer accessible. The flood, however, severely compromised the earth’s environment and resulted in the general conditions we have today. After the fall and the expulsion from the Garden of Eden Satan’s second assault on God’s plan was to be implemented.

Access to the Garden of Eden was prohibited as a manifestation of God’s grace in order to provide the needed protection for mankind to prevent access to the Tree of Life; living forever with a fallen sin nature is not a happy thought.

Next time we will consider the nature of Satan’s attack and the resulting judgement.