What was earth like in the beginning?

Genesis 1:11-13

¹¹ Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. ¹² The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. ¹³ And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.

Genesis 2:8-9

⁸ Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed.⁹ The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

God formed land, then He created vegetation. Plants and trees covered the land. He wanted the world to be green and full of oxygen.

Then He created animals, both land and flying ones. There was enough grass and fruits for the animals to feed on. God saw to it that animals would thrive and multiply.

God made all of these for His special and crowning creation - man. Man must live in the best environment that He could make. God guaranteed that man would live, multiply and take care of the whole world. Life and sustenance is God’s responsibility to his creatures.

God initiated harmony in creation - perfect balance. Each part of creation played its own role and fulfilled its own responsibility. The parts interacted and synchronized with each other beautifully. No need to monitor the performance of any part here! Each took their existence and purpose seriously. Each simply noted that others needed them, and each should be doing its best for the good of all, thus fulfilling God’s creative word. No problems arose and conflict among creation was non-existent. They were one big happy family.

When creatures live within their specified functions and boundaries, there is no room for complaints, dissatisfaction and want. Where creatures simply listened and did what they were expected to do, there’s no better place! Plants and animals complied readily with the desire and design of God. Their DNA and instincts operated smoothly according to their purpose. 

On the other hand, humans are different. Though they were created on the same day as animals, they were created separately. Humans were a direct creation of God. They didn’t evolve from animals. They possessed qualities beyond those of animals as God had given them some of His qualities.

All they needed to know for life and living came only from God. All the information that would lead them to a life of goodness trickled in every day as they had their daily date with God just before the sun set. They were being schooled to be the best of the best of God’s creation.

And God was patient in their development and learning. He allowed them to move at their own pace and focus on their interests. They were studying in the best school and under the best teacher. They were on the right track and were doing fine.

Adam was intelligent and learnt much. God even gave him the authority to name every terrestrial and aquatic animal, every plant and tree.

Most important of all, they were given the freedom to choose. The will and the freedom to choose were special gifts to humans. They could override DNA, instinct and other elements in their personalities and   . God wanted them to exercise full freedom even in their obedience to Him. Two trees were created for this purpose: the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil.

The original menu God gave humans was simple – it was a fruit diet. They needn’t prepare their food but never went hungry! Fruit was everywhere! It might seem just one type of food, but God made trees of different species. It was certainly not a monotonous meal for God had made each type of fruit look pleasant and tasty. A great variety of food was always within easy reach.

The fruit of the Tree of Life was also on God’s menu. He didn’t inform man about it. The possibility to eat from the Tree of Life was certainly very great! Once eaten, man would have immortality and God wouldn’t have minded at all!

Only one fruit, the humans had to avoid - the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil. This one fruit was not part of their menu and diet.

In giving man access to all the trees God made, He gave man the chance to show explicit obedience to Him and His word.

So far so good.

Adam and Eve had no intention of eating the forbidden fruit. It happened only when a third party came into the picture. Evil had already existed in the creation order before man was created. The writer of Genesis didn’t explain how evil came about. Perhaps, that topic is best left to another sermon series. For now, we do know that doing evil was already an option for humans for they were given freedom of choice.

The third party - in the form of a serpent - focused the couple’s attention on the Tree of the K nowledge of good and evil. The serpent began with a simple question. But it was not a question posed to get further information. No, it was intended to deceive from the very beginning. It began a process and a downward spiral.

The choice of eating the forbidden fruit was deliberate. Adam and Eve had, quite obviously, not tasted all the fruits permitted. If they had, they would have already eaten the fruit of the Tree of Life! 

The forbidden fruit should have been their last choice. Unfortunately, Adam and Eve made it their priority and not their last choice. Upon eating it, they had now the capacity to do evil.

But the fruit they ate came from the Tree of Knowledge of good AND evil. The humans have equal ability and capacity to do BOTH. The problem was that they couldn’t do it simultaneously. They had to prefer one over the other. They could also change their preference when they wanted. The will is free to choose.

Now if   Adam and Eve had eaten the fruit of the Tree of Life first, they would have inherited immortality and eternal life. Unfortunately, they ate the forbidden fruit first and now they had the capacity to do evil.

The knowledge of evil is incremental. Doing evil continues to flourish and is becoming more sophisticated. Despite all man’s advances and achievements in so many areas, people still get around laws and get away with doing wrong. Evil can be accepted and even legalized. History and the daily news would attest that the evil we currently experience is no match for future evils.

But there’s some good news! Rev Dr Betia reminds us, “What Adam and Eve ate was also a fruit of the knowledge of good. Evil can be equalized and even superseded by good. Corruption can be overcome. Goodness can flourish if we choose it.

At the end, it is still the human will that would determine the future and the type of society man wants.

As always, it is best to Simply listen to God. He would tell us His best for life!

For more insights from Rev Dr Betia, do tune in to Simply Listen on Global Reachout. We’re on any social media platform.