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Gen. 2:15   The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.

16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden,

17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (emphasis added)

 

Genesis 2:16 is a very important passage since it marks a huge change in the relationship between God and man. Up till now all of mankind’s needs have been met by God.

1. A need for Blessing (1:26–27)
2. A need for Purpose (1:28–30)
3. A need for Physical Life (2:7)
4. A need for Food (2:8–9)
5. And a need for Companionship (2:18–23)

Suddenly in verse sixteen the relationship is changed as God gives a command.  Man receives his first responsibility, and consequences for disobedience

He was told (and it was later explained to Eve) that they could eat from any tree in the garden except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If he ate from it, God promised that death would be the result.

So now we see the relationship changed from one where God meets all of the needs, to one where man is responsible to obey Him or face consequences.

The question many people have about this is “why did God change that relationship?” After all human beings won’t be able to live a perfect life [2] and God knew this…Even while giving Adam this command He knew they would fail miserably.

God continues this kind of relationship (knowing men would fail Him) throughout the Old Testament. It usually looks something like this:

1. God gives a specific command
2. There are positive blessings attached to obedience (staying in Eden)
3. There are negative consequences for disobedience

We see this clearly in God’s relationship with Israel based on the Ten Commandments, and extensive blessings or curses that would be placed upon them in Deuteronomy 27–30 that the Jews would recite to one another publicly [3].

Later the challenge of obedience was given to kings, religious leaders, and prophets. But they all failed.

So why did God change the relationship?

because He wants us to choose Him willingly

In my opinion a big part of being made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26–27) and having dominion over creation (1:28–30) is the ability to make our own decisions [4]. The Lord created us this way because He knew true glory would come from people who willingly chose to obey Him.

God could have forced us to obey but this wouldn’t bring Him glory since our motivation would be fear or complete control (we couldn’t choose anything else)this freedom allows us to obey out of love instead of obligation.

Of course it wasn’t quite enough for God to give Adam and Eve a free-will [5]. He had to also give them and OPPORTUNITY to choose Him or their own will.

“Okay I understand that” you might say, “but why give us commands when we can’t obey them? I mean God KNEW Adam and Eve would sin!”

This points to a deeper reason for God’s testing our obedience (giving us a choice). Primarily it’s so that we as Christians will serve Him out of love instead of fear or obligation. But the Lord also uses this to show us our brokenness (inability to serve Him on our own).

In other words on my own I will never truly choose God.

My brokeness (and the brokeness of all mankind) is extremely important because Satan wants us to believe we can do a better job of being God (making decisions) than God (Genesis 3:3–5). And today the voice of Satan hasn’t changed. It still whispers “Oh you don’t need God’s help, you’ve got this every moment.

This is why the Lord in love reminds me of my brokeness with every test that I fail.

God doesn’t do this in anger or to humiliate me…but instead those failures are a call to rely on Christ instead of myself.

To admit my brokenness and fall upon the one who can never be broken.

Gen. 1:26   Then God said, “Let us make man* in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

Gen. 1:27  So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Gen. 1:28   And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.

30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.

This passage has started lots of discussion over what the words “in the image of God” actually mean. And while this is a good thing, I personally believe that can detract from what God is actually saying in the passage.

In my opinion these verses are about the dominion (power) given to us by God and it’s purpose for His Glory.

The word “image” in verses twenty-six and twenty-seven being translated as resemblance (looking like God) [1] and it’s root Hebrew word being interpreted as a representative figure or idol[2]. The word “likeness” can refer to external appearance, or having the same qualities as someone else [3]

This is obviously confusing since we don’t look like God, and while Adam and Eve were perfect, they didn’t have the power of God either.

Because of this most Bible scholars take the view that being in the Image of God means that we are His “representative figures” or ones who rule in His place.

This idea is strengthened by the fact that we see the word “dominion” twice in this passage (three times if you include “subdue”) and it’s explained further in 1:29–30.

Here the word dominion clearly means power over all the rest of creation (animals, plants, trees) but I believe the idea goes much deeper than this.

You see God has given us (humans) abilities that no other creation can claim:

1. A soul that dwell for eternity in Heaven or Hell
2. Emotions [4]
3. An intellect that can rationally deal with problems
4. And above all other things the freedom to choose whether we will obey or disobey God

We will get into this tomorrow with Genesis 2:15–17, but the Lord always gives us a choice in life whether to accept or reject Him, and the freedom to choose the way we view as best. This is because He desires individuals who will choose Him WILLINGLY instead of obeying just because something bad may happen to them.

It’s important to understand this dominion (ability to choose, intellect, emotions) is given to us for a very specific reason. It’s so that we can represent God’s rule in Heaven with our use of power on the earth.

Of course it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out we don’t use our dominion to represent God:

1. We use it to control others
2. We use it to gain the approval of others
3. We use it to emphasize our own needs and completely ignore others
4. And above all we use it to choose our own way

The strange thing is no matter what we invest our dominion or choices in it still doesn’t bring satisfaction. Oh at first it brings happiness,but before long we find ourselves looking for another “fix.”

There’s a good reason for that

My dominion isn’t about me

It’s about glorifying God

So until the day I give control of my mind and will over to the Lord life will just be one empty purpose after another.

The good news is there’s more to this life than your own desires…and it’s as we embrace God’s purpose for us that we can truly know what it’s like to be fulfilled.

The God Who Made Us from John Wilburn on Vimeo.