Eve

 Eve

Genesis 1.26-4.26

The woman opened her eyes and stared into the vast, beautiful space she would soon learn to call the sky. Bright colours and wondrous sights she didn’t yet have names for swirled all around her, green leaves, blue streams, warm golden sunlight, juicy red fruit. She breathed in, enjoying the feeling of her chest expanding and the delicious smells that tickled her nose. She found she could wiggle her fingers and her toes, and sit up, then stand. She stretched her hands high above head. It felt good to move! The woman caught movement out of the corner of her eye and realised she wasn’t alone. Brightly feathered creatures perched in the trees, and lithe, velvety shapes crept through the tall grass. After watching them for a while, the woman realised they were alive and awake, like her. They were beautiful and wonderful, but they were not of her kind. Is there anyone else like me? she wondered.

But the woman didn’t feel lonely or worried or afraid. Everything in her new home was wonderful and perfect and full of joy. Best of all, God was right there beside her. The woman knew that God had made her. He wasthe her Father. He loved her and said she was one of the best things He had ever created, made in His image. And she wasn’t the only one!

God led her to the man, later, he would be called Adam. He was lying down, sleeping. He opened his eyes and saw the woman, later, she would be called Eve, for the very first time. Adam smiled. “At last!” he said. “You are like me, flesh of my flesh and bone of my bone.” Adam told Eve that God had said it wasn’t good for Adam to be alone. God had brought every kind of animal to Adam, and the man had named each one. While Adam loved all the animals, none of them was the right partner for him. He needed someone like himself, someone made in God’s very own image. “This is very good,” God said. “Together, you will take care of the beautiful world I have made.”

The Bible doesn’t tell us exactly what it was like for Eve right after she was created, so we can’t know for sure what Eve’s world was like, but the Bible does tell us a few interesting things. We know she lived in a world that was fresh and new and perfect. Nothing had yet been broken by sin or damaged by people’s bad decisions. The Bible also talks about a river that flowed out of Eden and the various lands the branches of that river flowed through. People have different ideas about where those might appear on a modern map, suggestIons include Egypt, Armenia, or somewhere in the Middle East. 

The Bible also tells us that God planted a garden in Eden for Adam and Eve to live in. He lovingly made a beautiful home for them and taught them how to care for it. We know God planted many delicious fruit trees to produce food for His beloved children. And God himself walked with them in the garden every evening. 

Eve lived in God’s garden with Adam and the animals in perfect peace, joy, and harmony. Many people believe there were no such things as wild animals, all of God’s creatures trusted and loved Adam and Eve like our pets trust and love us today.  Some people even believe that animals could talk, since Eve didn’t seem surprised when the serpent spoke to her. Of course, we can’t know that for sure, but it’s an interesting idea!

Because our Bibles use the pronouns He or Him for God, people often of God as a man. But God is not male or female the way humans are. The Bible says He made all human beings, boys and girls, men and women, in His image. This doesn’t mean our bodies look like God’s, He is Spirit and doesn’t have a physical body like we do. Genesis 1 uses two Hebrew words to describe how humans are made in God’s image. One of the words, tselem, is often used with statues or models. God intended us to be replicas of Himself. He gave us many of His own characteristics, like the ability to love and to create, though we are limited in ways that God isn’t. The second Hebrew word, demut, means to be like or to resemble. One of the ways God made us to be like Him is in the job He gave us of ruling creation as His representatives.

Sadly, Eve is famous not only for being the first woman who ever lived, but also for being the first person who ever disobeyed God. When Adam and Eve sinned, chose their own way over God’s, the image of God in them, and in all the humans who came after them, was broken. But it would be a mistake to give Eve’s story a sad ending. Right after God told  Adam and Eve about the consequences of their sin, by sending His Son, Jesus. The Bible calls Jesus the second Adam. He accomplished what the first Adam couldn’t, perfect obedience to God, and gave us a chance to have a new life and to act like the image bearers we were meant to be. Being made in God’s image means that He works through us to accomplish what he wants to do in the world. Even if, like Eve, we make terrible choices, God doesn’t want our story to end there. He wants to save us from the brokenness of the world, and the brokenness inside us. Through His power, and through bearing His image, you can be strong!