God created man quite uniquely from the way He created every other living thing on the earth. God said, “Let there be…” and the vegetation sprung forth, and the sea creatures and the birds came to be, and the animals of the earth were brought out of the earth. But for man it was different. For man He said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” And then He created us in His own image. (Genesis 1:26-27). But man’s creation was even more special, we were made by God’s word yes, but we were also made by His hand and given life by His breath, His Spirit. Verses 4-7 read,
These are the generations
of the heavens and the earth when they were created,
in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.
5 When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, 6 and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground— 7 then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature
God had made the angels by His breath (Psalm33:6) and He gave life to man by that same breath. This breath of life from God Himself gave man the ability to understand, choose, and think. Job 32:8 says it like this,
But it is the spirit in man,
the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand.
The breath of God is the Holy Spirit of God. Remember too that life was and is in Jesus, life came through Him (John 1:3-4). And when we were made in God’s image He gave us a soul by His Spirit. I picture The Son of God breathing His Holy Spirit into man that day. The creation of man was very special. God made man and then He made a place just for him, a place he could care for and enjoy. He made Eden. Verses 8-15 in The Message describes it,
Then God planted a garden in Eden, in the east. He put the Man he had just made in it. God made all kinds of trees grow from the ground, trees beautiful to look at and good to eat. The Tree-of-Life was in the middle of the garden, also the Tree-of-Knowledge-of-Good-and-Evil.
10-14 A river flows out of Eden to water the garden and from there divides into four rivers. The first is named Pishon; it flows through Havilah where there is gold. The gold of this land is good. The land is also known for a sweet-scented resin and the onyx stone. The second river is named Gihon; it flows through the land of Cush. The third river is named Hiddekel and flows east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.
15 God took the Man and set him down in the Garden of Eden to work the ground and keep it in order.
Eden was paradise on earth, it was lush and had nearly everything the man would need and want. It also had two special trees. It had the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. And God gave the man a rule, one simple rule. Verses 16-17 read,
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.”
Why would God do that? Why would He place this tree in the Garden if man couldn’t eat from it? God had given man a soul with the ability to choose, He had given him freewill. What good is freedom if it can’t be exercised? If man could choose to obey or disobey but there was nothing to obey, then would freewill have been much of a gift? The man could choose God, who is all good and His understanding or He could elect to disobey and take the knowledge of good and evil.
Man had nearly everything he could need, but not quite everything. God was about to fix that, but He wanted the man to understand it too. Verses 18-20 read,
Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” 19 Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him.
God had already made the animals and He brought each one to Adam to name. In naming them Adam would look to see which of them would be the right companion for Him. God knew none would give Adam everything he required in a mate, but Adam needed to see it too. None of the animals could talk and think the way Adam could, none had been formed by God’s hands in His image. None could complement who Adam was in the perfect way. So God completed the male by making the female. Verses 21-25 read,
So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said,
“This at last is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman,
because she was taken out of Man.”
24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
God could have formed another man for Adam the same way He had formed Adam. But another man would not have been the perfect complement to Adam, he would have been the same as Adam. Just as Adam’s creation had been distinct, so too was Eve’s. He made her out of man. She was made of the same stuff but formed to be a counterpart, an accompaniment to balance and fulfil Adam. God gave His second command that future generations would leave their parents and hold fast, that is to cling firmly to grasp to their wives so tightly that they would become one united being. Adam and Eve were perfect, innocent, and complete. They were the crown of creation, the reason God made the heavens and the earth and He proclaimed it very good (Genesis 1:31).
God Himself knit you together. You are wonderfully made! (Psalm 139:13-14). You are distinctive from all of Creation as a masterpiece of God. You are not here by accident or happenstance, no matter the circumstances of your conception or birth. God chose to give you life. Praise Him. I for one am really thankful He made you. I’m glad that you are who you are and I thank the Lord right now for you. As you read to or listen to my words we are connected. We are each meeting a need in one another even if for a brief moment and that is a miracle. So thank God for you and the life the Lord gave you.