Issues In Genesis: [The Early Earth]Create?: Teachers Comments

• 1. To discuss life on earth before the Fall.
• 2. To show that the Sabbath stands as a memorial to Creation.
• 3. To reveal that the human race forfeited immortality through sin.

• I. Life on Earth (Gen. 1:28-30, 2:3)
• A. God instituted the Sabbath at Creation; neither time nor space limit it.
• B. God entrusted human beings at Creation with rulership of earth.
• C. God ordained a plant-based diet in Eden for animals and for our first parents.
• II. The Living Soul (Gen. 2:7)
• A. God created Adam as a living soul, comprised of body and spirit.
• B. Because of sin, humanity no longer has the quality of immortality but is subject to death.
• III. Life in the Garden (Gen. 2:8)
• A. Eden was a specific place on earth, rather than a mere symbol.
• B. Sin marred the labor of Adam, making it toilsome. God originally intended work to be invigorating and enjoyable.
• C. God created Eve the equal of Adam, for companionship and to share in his work in the Garden.

God created the first human beings then rested on the Sabbath. This association of God’s people with the Sabbath begins a pattern that continues throughout the rest of the Bible. From the beginning of time down to the end, the Sabbath repeatedly becomes a symbol of God’s power to restore His people.