Astronaut Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon declaring, “One small step for man, one great step for mankind.” In Hebrew the same word is used for both man and mankind, and translators logically translate “He made mankind in His own image ..” (Genesis 1:27). In Genesis 2:1 we are told that all creation is completed. Later, in Genesis 2:5 we are told that God had prevented rain as there was no man to till the ground. Then we are told that God formed man out of the dust, breathed into his nostrils and he became a living soul. Some will claim that the man of Genesis 2 is different to the mankind of Genesis 1. They often then go on to argue that this explains bad people, mankind without God’s breath, and the good people who have it. The problems with this theory are (1) Genesis 5:1 records Adam as the father of all generations and (2) during the Flood just eight people entered the ark and were spared (Genesis 6:18) and all the evil people were destroyed (Genesis 7:23). If you will pardon the pun, the theory of two kinds of men simply doesn’t hold water!
So, Genesis 2 should be seen as a ‘flashback and zoom in’ scene beginning at day 6 of creation. Eve is formed by God from Adam’s rib whilst he slept and the first heterosexual couple (that originally formed one being) are put together by God to be as one joined physically by sexual union. God did not take a man out of a man, nor did he join man with another man, nor a woman with another woman, in this intimate union that many translators term as ‘one flesh’.
Adam is put to work in a weedless garden and his wife is the assistant gardener. Is it any wonder that at retirement many couples still dream of spending more time in the garden? Yet whilst working, the extra effort of mowing the lawn or pruning is something we might pay someone else to do if we can afford to.
Father, thank you for making me in Your own image and likeness including my sexual identity. I pray that one day I will know a world without sin or weeds, as Adam and Eve both did. But most of all may I know daily fellowship with You, even now.