Adam, the first man to live on the earth, was created by God
from ‘the dust of the ground’.
(Genesis 2:7) He placed him in a garden east of Eden. Every tree in the garden
was good for food. (Genesis 2:9) There were two named trees within the garden:
the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God commanded
Adam not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and He promised
that if he did, he would ‘surely die’.
(Genesis 2:16, 17)
God made Eve from one of Adam’s ribs to be a wife and helper
for him. She came from him; therefore she was of his flesh. (Genesis 2:23) She
would bear his children. (Genesis 3:16)
Both Adam and Eve disobediently ate of the fruit of the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil, (Genesis 3:6) and because of Adam’s
rebellion, God cursed the ground so that it would ‘bring forth thorns and thistles’, and instead of living in the
garden for ever, Adam and Eve, along with their future offspring would return
to the dust from whence they came. (Genesis 3:17-19) The couple were banished
from the garden where they could have eaten from the tree of life. (Genesis 3:24)
Their sin by way of disobedience brought physical death, and ultimately, God’s judgement,
(Hebrews 9:27) not only for them, but for their offspring - including us!
Eve gave birth to Cain, Abel and Seth. Seth was the father
of Noah whose sons were Shem, Ham and Japheth. After the birth of Seth, Adam
lived for a further 800 years - in total 930 years. He and Eve had more sons
and daughters (Genesis 5:4) who intermarried and brought forth children for
populating the world.
Cain murdered his brother Abel, but God in His mercy, set a
mark on Cain to prevent anyone killing him. (Genesis 4:15) Because of sinful
Mankind, evil multiplied, and God saw, ‘that
wickedness was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his
heart was only evil continually.’ (Genesis 6:5) God grieved because of it;
therefore He said He would ‘destroy man’
and ‘beast’, but Noah was a just and
righteous man, and because of this he found grace in the eyes of God. (Genesis
6:8)
God did as He said He would, by bringing about a worldwide
flood. He destroyed all Mankind with the exception of Noah and his family whom He
preserved on the ark that Noah faithfully and obediently built. Creatures for
replenishing the post-flood world were also preserved on the ark. (Genesis 7 –
9:19)
The whole human race from the time of the Flood stems from
Noah’s three sons, (Genesis 9:19) all of whom were ancestors of Adam and Eve;
therefore the disease of sin was not eradicated.
Initially, Noah’s offspring all spoke the same language
until God scattered them throughout the earth because of their disobedience.
God had commanded Noah and his sons to be fruitful and to multiply, and to fill
the earth, (Genesis 9:1) but under the leadership of Nimrod, one of the sons of
Ham, they started building a great city [Babel] with a tower for their own
glory in the land of Shinar. (Genesis 10:8-10) As a result, God scattered them
and confused their language so that they did not understand one another.
(Genesis 11: 7 – 9)
Approximately 2,350 years after
the flood, Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit within the womb of Mary, who
was betrothed to Joseph. (Luke 1:35) When her days were completed she brought
forth her firstborn Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. (Luke 2:6, 7) He was fully Man
and yet fully God. (Hebrews 10:12) He was conceived and born without sin. (2
Corinthians 5:21) He lived a sinless
life, which was something none of us could do. (Romans 3:23) Only such a life
was and is acceptable to God for His complete forgiveness of our sin-filled
life. Jesus lived a perfect life of obedience to His Father on behalf of all
who would repent and believe in Him (Mark 1:15) to bring them to God. (1 Peter
3:18)
Unlike Jesus, we all inherited the deadly disease of sin
from Adam; hence our disobedience to God, even to this day. Only by accepting
His forgiveness through the sacrificial death and resurrection of His Son Jesus,
can we receive God’s pardon and the gift of eternal life. (John 3:36) In the New
Jerusalem which will descend from the heaven of God, (Revelation 21:2) there
will be a pure river of the water of life, on either side of which there will
be the tree of life, bearing twelve fruits, yielding fruit every month.
(Revelation 22:1, 2)
This gospel [Good News] is for all who will receive it.
Links
Biblical Chronology
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