Character Studies - ElectronicGospel

Adam and Evea character study by Jeff S. SmithIntroductionEventually, in doing character studies, one gets around to the very first human characters of all, Adam andEve. Most everyone in the world, regardless of their convictions, knows the story of Adam and Eve fromGenesis 2-3, but fewer comprehend their usefulness also to the New Testament. Although relatively littleis said about them overall, especially compared to people like David and Paul, there is somethingelemental and helpful to be gained from understanding their character.DiscussionI. The CharactersA. Creation and Marriage1. it is impossible for us to imagine the process of creation in its earliest stages as God beholds theearth without form and darkness upon the face of the deepa. God summoned light into existence, divided the waters and set a firmament in between them,before turning to vegetable and animal life and the heavenly bodiesb. lastly, on the sixth day, God crowned his achievement with the creation of an intelligentsteward, into whom he breathed the breath of life (Genesis 1:26-31)c. God could now rest from his work for he had created Adam in his image from the dust of theground to take dominion over the things of the earth and to till the soil (cf. cf. Genesis 2:4-7)2. God, however, acknowledged that this man, Adam, lacked the kind of companionship that theanimals enjoyed in their habitations and so he set about creating for him a helpmeet (Genesis 2:18-25)a. this is the origin of human mating and its regulation, not as a merely reproductive exercise,but as an emotional union that we have come to call marriageb. it is an exclusive, life-long arrangement, in which even nakedness is not shamefulc. it also created the human family, so that otherwise unrelated people become flesh and bone ofone another, and so that their offspring are associated on the most minute leveld. only in this marriage bed is a sexual relationship undefiled, but fornicators and adulterersGod will judge (cf. Hebrews 13:4)B. Sin1. when God created Adam, he also gave him a home (Genesis 2:8-9, 15-17)a. immediately, God recognized that idle hands were spiritually and physically unproductive,and so he gave Adam a job–tilling the ground, as well as naming the animal speciesb. Eden was a paradise, well-watered and fertile, and it knew no sin2. God also gave Adam the first divine law–while he was permitted to eat of every other tree in thegarden, including the tree that sustained life perpetually, he was forbidden to eat of the tree of knowledgeof good and evila. God valued man’s free will and desired a relationship with Adam that was based on mutualaffection and loyalty, not something that he coerced or mandated by crippling free willb. those two species of trees still exist today, one planted in Heaven, the other growing wildlyon the earth in the form of every initial temptation that entices the young to abandon his innocence3. for Adam and Eve, the fruit of that forbidden tree was made even more enticing (Genesis 3:1-7)a. Satan, in the form of a serpent, persuaded Eve that she would not die for eating a piece offorbidden fruit, and that in fact, it would make her as wise as God if she didb. so she was deceived and ate, and gave some to her husband who also ate, making them bothsinners and guilty before God (Genesis 3:8-12)c. Adam first blames Eve and then God for his sin, and indeed God does pin some blame onsomeone other than Adam and Eve, cursing Satan for using his free will to tempt others to sin, butultimately, it is Adam and Eve who are held accountable for their own iniquityC. Expulsion1. each is cursed, representing man and woman throughout time (Genesis 3:16-19)2. saddest of all, they were banished from Eden, where that tree of eternal life only grew (Genesis3:22-24)Character Studies! 111