The Story of Adam and Eve – 6 Things You Need to Know about the Garden of Eden
The Book of Genesis is awesome because it appeals to all ages and to people of all levels of spiritual maturity. There is something truly for everyone; it is woven together so perfectly that the divine inspiration is bursting at the seams. Some may consider the book to be merely stories, or something geared toward small children, but nothing could be further from the truth! The wisdom embedded within is nuanced and layered – the deeper you want to dive in, the more profound the message. Take, for example, the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
Most people are somewhat familiar with it: Adam is the first man and Eve the first woman, who, tricked by the serpent, commit the first sin. For this, their punishment is banishment from the garden, where they must labor and struggle for the rest of their days. But there is so much more to the story. Here are 6 things that you need to know, insights that will help you in your life today, in helping to refine the way you view God.
#1. There were two special fruit trees in the garden: The Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge.
Much of the talk of the Adam & Eve story revolves around how they ate the apple from the forbidden tree, aka the Tree of Knowledge. God forbade them to eat of it, since it would open their eyes that evil, or things apart from God, exists, and is a choice that they can make. Why would God put it there in the first place? Since human beings were created in his own image (meaning, the capacity to love), it had to be there. You can’t choose love without not choosing evil. It is the flip side of good. Just like a piece of paper has 2 sides: you can’t have the paper with only one side, there is always a back to it. So it is with good and evil.
Separate from this was the Tree of Life, which they ate of freely. This tree kept them alive; it offered eternal life. God placed it there so they could live as eternal beings in the garden with him, in paradise.
This is important for us today because it shows that we were created to be eternal beings. We were not created to choose evil, even though it is an option to us naturally, since we were created to choose love. Once the first humans chose sin, the tendency to sin again became a reality, which affected all of creation, and continues to be passed on generation to generation as original sin, an unfortunate part of human nature.
#2. The serpent tricked the woman first for a good reason
There has always been a lot of debate about why the serpent (Satan) tempted Eve first with the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. One interesting aspect of this is that it is the woman that gives birth, and that if he could cause the woman to sin, her offspring would inherit this “original sin”, and that all future generations would have to deal with its impact.
This is important because it shows that spiritual aspects, as well as physical characteristics, can be passed on to our children.
#3. Adam failed to defend his wife from the serpent
Where was Adam when the serpent was tempting Eve with the Apple? Thought the story doesn’t say directly, it does mention that she gave him the fruit as well, pretty much just after she ate of it. Therefore it seems as if he was there with her, but did nothing to defend her, or turn the serpent away.
You may have heard the saying that “evil flourishes when good people do nothing”, or something to that affect. We must always be on guard for those in our lives, and help them to make right decisions, especially when it comes to sin or morality.
#4. God removed them from the Garden because he loved them, not to simply punish them.
So the story goes that God kicked Adam & Eve out of the Garden as punishment for their disobedience. Instead of living with God in luxury, they then lived outside, having to deal with all the struggles that humans deal with, especially death. On one level, this is true, but if we look deeper we can gain insight of the nature of our God.
This story relates God as Father, and a good father acts in the best interest of his kids, even if angry or disappointed in their behavior. Punishments are just, always with the intent to modify future behavior. In this case, God was acting out of love by removing them from the garden. If they stayed in the garden, they would still have access to the Tree of Life, and be doomed to live forever in their state of sin. By removing them, he subjected them to physical death in order that they could one day be given restored, glorified bodies.
God already had a “Plan B”, and this was the first step of it. Death was not created by God, but was the natural consequence of human choice. However, God did allow it, knowing that it would not have to be the final state – restoration would be possible. We know now that this plan involved the sacrifice of his own Son for the atonement of sins, and that the Eucharist has become the restored “Tree of Life” for us to partake.
#5 God walked with them in the garden directly, but not outside of it.
Why does it sometimes seem that God is so distant, or so hard to sense in our lives? The answer lies here in Genesis. God’s original plan was to walk in fullness with his created people, in love and with our obedience, modeled after the relationship within the Trinity. In this manner, God would have been fully present and no one would question his whereabouts or existence.
Due to the sins of Adam & Eve, they left the Garden of Eden. God was still with them, but sin had now clouded their sense of him, like looking through a foggy window or barely hearing a whisper. Sin is by definition separation from God, and since we live in a sinful world, God seems shadowy or distant at times. He is there, we just need to put more effort into finding him. And one day in heaven, the “veil of death will be removed”, and we can again be fully in his presence as it was intended all along.
#6. Humans left the garden within the first few pages of the bible. The rest of the Bible is about how to get back in.
Note that the fall of man happened very quickly. By page 2 or 3 of the entire Bible, things have already been messed up. The Bible is basically about God’s restorative plan, one step at a time. In the Old Testament, God slowly reveals more and more of himself to the people that he chose for just this purpose, the Israelites. They were often times very stubborn, a “stiff-necked” people as it was written, and had many ups and downs in their relationship with God. They were punished on several occasions for their disobedience and drifting from God, in order to round them up, bring them back and re-focus on their relationship with him. All the while, God was slowly moving his plan forward.
God’s plan is fulfilled through the birth, life, death and resurrection of his Son, the Christ, earthly known as Jesus of Nazareth. Both fully human and divine, he perfectly wiped away the sin of the world, past, present and future by following God’s plan for him, giving himself us to a horrible death. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, the Father raised him up to live and reign forever in Heaven, in physical form. Before his death, he instituted the sacrament of the Eucharist that provides nourishment and eternal life once again for those who believe in him, and follow his commands on how to live the best that they can.
The Gospels in the New Testament provide four accounts of the life of Jesus. The rest of the New Testament addresses the birth of the Church, and the events surrounding it. Much of the New Testament contains letters written by church leaders to the struggling early churches, with instructions and insights that were divinely inspired, and continue to apply to us today.
In Conclusion
God’s plan for redemption is truly awesome. Despite being revealed centuries ago, there is still too much ignorance of it today. This is evident by how lost so many people seem today, searching for something, slaves to addiction, sinful behavior or mental health issues. The Bible is really a collection of books about healing and restoration – this is the “good news” that Christians talk about. Share this with someone that you think might need to hear it today!
