First Impressions: Adam & Eve

Introduction: First Impressions

There are many “firsts” in life.

First job

First car

First home

First kiss

First child, grandchild

First impressions

First impressions set the tone and expectations for our relationships

In our relationship with God, Adam and Even give the first impression of what God expects and desires from us as men, women, and follower of Him.

Genesis 2:15–25 ESV

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 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.” Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” 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. 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. 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. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 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.” Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

Adam was to be a leader (Genesis 2:15-17)

This extends back to the first commands

Genesis 1:28–30 ESV

And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.

Adam was called to work and maintain the garden, have dominion or authority over the animals, and be a leader for his wife and family.

In particular, Adam was to lead his wife side by side. As the saying goes, “Woman was not created from man’s head so that he lord over her, or from his feet so that he trample on top of her, but from his side so that they may share life together.”

Eve was Adam’s companion and partner. He was to lead her. Men are to do the same. Our calling, God’s expectations are that we lead. Be followers of Christ and leaders of mankind. Leadership, though, is not lordship. It is service first. Proper teaching. Good communication. Patient instruction. Like us, Adam failed at this.

Sin entered by one man, Adam, Salvation enters by one man, Jesus Christ

Romans 5:12–17 ESV

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

While we have often looked at eating of the forbidden fruit as the first sin, we might consider that the first sin was a sin of omission and the second a sin of commission.

Sin of Omission: Adam was to communicate to his wife the command to not eat of the fruit of the tree of the garden. This appears to, maybe, not have been communicated properly (Genesis 3:3) “neither shall you touch it”

God never said not to touch although it might be wise not to

Man has apparently been in the practice of creating a hedge around God’s commands from the beginning of time (ref: Matthew 15:9) “teaching as doctrine the commandments of men”

Adam did not tend the garden (being fixated with the forbidden tree), have dominion over the animals (allowing the serpent to tempt), or lead his wife (he sat idly by while she was led astray by the serpent)

Notice that when she eats the fruit he is standing right next to her

APPLICATION: Men everywhere are to lead

1 Timothy 2:8–15 ESV

I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works. Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.

Adam’s lack of leadership is referenced here. Adam was not deceived, but he didn’t properly lead. Instead, he allowed her to take the lead and that lead to her being deceived. He should have said, “No, God said we cannot eat that fruit!”

God is longing for men to step up and lead with passion while standing firmly on the Word of God

Eve was to be a helper (Genesis 2:18-25)

It was not good for man to be alone, so a helper was created. From his side, she is to stand by his side.

Instead, she attempted to take the lead instead of allow her husband to lead.

Sin of Commission: Eve committed the sin of eating of the fruit and giving it to her husband to eat too. She may have added to God’s law just as she added to her responsibility by trying to lead.

She allowed herself to be compromised because she found herself outside of her lane

She went outside her created purpose and tried to take a leadership position. She was then led astray by another voice that was not God’s or her husbands (the serpent) (Genesis 3:4-6)

Eve was supposed to help Adam, but instead she hindered him

When Eve crossed the boundaries she sinned

APPLICATION: Women are to be helpers

God’s desire is that women help their husbands and families as we all journey together to heaven.

Follow God’s Plan

The world has turned upside down and not followed God’s plan

Proverbs 16:9 ESV

The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.

We might make plans, but God will establish our path

James 4:13–17 ESV

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

Like Adam and Eve, we are not to be arrogant about our plans. We need to follow God’s plan. Do what is right (avoid sins of omission) and do not do what is wrong (avoid sins of commission)

Don’t Listen to the Outside Voices

There will always be voices that try to lead us away from God’s plan and path. It can even come from those closest to us just as it did for Adam and Eve.

Don’t listen to these voices.

God has spoken to us through Jesus…Listen to Him

Matthew 17:5 ESV

He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”

Conclusion: This First Impression shows us God’s Expectations

Romans 3:23 ESV

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Romans 6:23 ESV

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

But God!

Ephesians 2:4–8 ESV

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

Are you saved today? Men are you leading? Women are you helping? All people are you following God’s plan? Listen to Him and no one else!