February 2008

Our question this month comes from Mrs. Friedli’s Sunday School Class, “Why did God create Adam first?  Why was Eve created from Adam's rib?” 

I want to thank all of the students in Mrs. Friedli’s class for the awesome Bible questions. It is exciting to see your love and interest in the God’s Word. Keep up the great work!

The story of “Adam and Eve” is so important because it is the 1^st major story in Genesis that explains the Lord’s plan for Creation AND Redemption. The Lord has placed so much in this 1^st Biblical story that needs to be studied and examined. I hope my brief answer will help you to see some of the richness of the Bible through this story. My answer may be a little hard to understand at first, but I encourage you to stay with it. Every answer you get will lead to more questions. That is how we all learn!

The first thing to note about the story of “Adam and Eve” is that this story is the first time God tells us something about Himself in a clear way. We know this to be true because the Bible tells that “Adam and Eve” were created in God’s Image, according to Genesis 1:26-27. This means that when you look at “Adam and Eve” together you see a picture of the Lord.

The fact that a man and woman are needed to give us a picture of God tells us that God has a complexity to His Nature. God is not just like a man alone, but we see that a woman is also needed to give us a fuller picture of His Nature. Hence, the first thing I would say about the story of “Adam and Eve” is that it is a story about God’s Triune Nature. Our God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Lord’s Nature is a relationship between Persons, similar to that of “Adam and Eve”.

Part of your question asked why Adam was created first. If we can agree that “Adam and Eve” teach us something about the Lord’s Nature, we can begin to understand that Adam’s creation followed by Eve’s creation also expresses something about God’s order. When we are talking about the Lord, we always say that our God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We never refer to the Lord as Son, Spirit and Father. No, there is an order that is always maintained. In a similar way, when we speak of the story of “Adam and Eve”, we never change the order and say the story of “Eve and Adam”. This divine order, reflected in the Creation, is never a case of someone being more important than another. God the Father is no more important than the Son or the Holy Spirit. However, the Father is always first in our discussions. So too, Adam is not more important than Eve, just first in the order of things.

The second part of your question asks why Eve was taken from Adam’s rib. Once again, we need to see the answer for this has something to do with the Lord. The story of “Adam and Eve” teaches us that Eve came out of Adam and was of the same essence or substance of Adam. The Bible tells us in Genesis 2:23 that Eve was, “bone of his (Adam’s) bone and flesh of his (Adam’s) flesh.” This wonderful connection between the nature of “Adam and Eve” is again seen in the Lord. The Bible teaches us that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit share the same nature, substance or essence with One Another. Therefore, just as Adam and Eve were both fully human, so too the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are also fully God.

The Lord has also chosen to give us another exciting connection to Adam’s rib that wonderfully explains our redemption in Christ, the New Adam. The Bible tells us that Eve came out of Adam’s side (rib) during her creation. In a similar way, the Church or Woman came out of Jesus’ side (rib) on the Cross. The Bible tells us that when Jesus died on the Cross for our sins He was speared in His side (rib) (see John 19:34). The moment our Lord was speared in His side, blood and water flowed out. It is this blood and water that explains to us that we are forgiven by our Lord’s atoning death. Everyone in the Church comes from that blood and water. As a result, we become our Lord’s people, His Body, His New Creation.

In closing, let me say again that some of this explanation is hard to understand. Your question was not an easy one. However, I hope this answer gets you thinking more about the Lord and His amazing plan for us. Take the time to get to know the Lord better through His Word and keep asking hard questions – that is how we all grow, no matter what our age.

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