Questions 25 & 26
QUESTION #25
What were Adam and Eve like when God made them?
ANSWER
God made them holy* and happy. They lived with God in the garden he made for them.
SCRIPTURE
Genesis 1:26-28; Genesis 2:15-17; Genesis 2:25; Psalm 8:4-8
QUESTION #26
What did God require of Adam and Eve?
ANSWER
God required them to trust him and obey him completely.
From the first day when God made him, Adam lived with God his maker. And the God who made him is holy.
What does it mean to be holy? The scriptures* tell us that God is holy. He is ‘set apart’. He is set apart from all the things that he made. Because he is the one who made all things, he is greater than all that he made. He is higher than his creation* and nothing can compare with him. God is also ‘set apart’ from evil.* God is not only great, he is good. He always does what is right. God never does what is wrong. There is no evil mixed with his goodness. He is completely good.
God made Adam to be holy as well. Adam was not holy in the same way that God is holy. But Adam was also ‘set apart’ from all the other things that God made. God made him in his own image. Adam could speak, feel, think, imagine, and decide in ways that none of the animals could. Adam was also ‘set apart’ from evil. Adam walked and talked with God. He had no fear. He felt no shame or guilt.* He only felt God’s pleasure. Being with God gave him joy.[1]
God gave Adam a place of honor.* He asked Adam to name all the animals. He gave Adam and Eve the task to work and keep the garden. He told them to have many children. He told Adam to rule over all that God had made. And Adam showed honor to God. Adam trusted him. He had a desire to please God. He always did as God asked.
God also gave Adam many other reasons to be happy. God made a wonderful place for him to live. He gave Eve to Adam. God made them so that they would be just right for one another. Both the man and the woman received all that they needed from the hand of God. In the garden that God made, they were never sick. Adam knew how it felt to trust God in every way. He knew how it felt to be blessed* by God. He knew how it felt to know that God was pleased with him.
God gave only one command to Adam and Eve. They could not eat from one tree in the middle of the garden where they lived. God told Adam to enjoy the food from every other tree in the garden. But the fruit from this one tree was not his to eat.
Why did God give Adam a command like this one? Think about it this way. Imagine you are walking down a path. You see a sign that says, ‘DO NOT ENTER’. A sign like that can be put there for two reasons. One, someone has something good there that they do not want you to have. The sign is a command to keep you from enjoying something. Or two, someone knows that there is danger ahead. The sign is a command to keep you from being hurt. God’s command to Adam and Eve was like the second command. God knew that the fruit was not good for them. Bad things would happen to Adam and Eve if they ate from that tree. So, God said, ‘No.’ God did not give the command to take something from them. He gave the command to bless* them.