ADAM-THE FIRST MAN ON EARTH!
We can hardly imagine what it must have been like to be the first and only person on earth. It’s one thing for you to be alone it was another thing for Adam, who has never known another human being. He missed much that makes us who we are, he had no childhood, no parent, no family or friends. He had to learn to be human on his own. Fortunately, God didn’t let him struggle too long before presenting him with an ideal companion and mate, Eve. Theirs was a complete innocent, and open oneness, without a hint of shame.
One of Adam’s first conversation with his delightful new companion must have been about the rules of the garden. Before God made Eve he had already given Adam complete freedom in the garden, with the responsibility to tend and care for it. But one tree was off-limits, the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Adam would have told Eve all about this. She knew when Satan approached her that the tree’s fruit was not to be eaten. However, she decided to eat the forbidden fruit. Then she offer some to Adam. At that moment, the fate of creation was on the line. Sadly Adam didn’t pause to consider the consequences. He went ahead and ate.
In that moment of small rebellion, something large, beautiful, and free was shattered…God’s perfect creation. Man was separated from God by his desire to act on his own. The effect on plate glass window is the same whether a pebble or a boulder is hurled at it the thousands of fragment can never be regathered.
In the case of man’s sin, however, God already had a plan in motion to overcome the effect of rebellion. The entire Bible is the story of how that plan unfolds, ultimately leading to God’s own visit to the earth through his Son, Jesus. His sinless life and death made it possible for God to offer forgiveness to all who want it. Our small and large acts of rebellion prove that we are descendants of Adam. Only by asking for Jesus Christ can we become children of God.
Strength and accomplishments:
- The first person made in the Image of God, and the first human to share an intimate personal relationship with God
Weakness and mistakes:
- Avoided responsibility and blamed other; chose to hide rather than to confront; made excuses rather than admitting the truth
- Greatest mistake: teamed up with Eve to bring sin into the world
Lessons from his life:
- As Adam’s descendants, we all reflect, to some degree, the image of God
- God wants people who, though free to do wrong, choose instead to love Him.
- We should not blame others for our faults.
- We cannot hide from God.
Key Verse: “And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat” (Genesis 3:12).
“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22)