God’s Good Creation: Part Two A

 In part one of this series, we looked at God’s intentions for His good creation. Everything that God made was very good, including man. However, we learned that “very good” did not necessarily mean “perfect” because God planned for creation to be filled with His glory. The task of filling creation with His glory was given to Adam as the image-bearer of God. Adam was to represent God’s rule and reign by working the garden-temple and guarding it. By expanding the garden of Eden and filling it with children who likewise bore the image of God, the entire earth would become the temple of God. 

   God’s plan to fill the earth with His glory was complicated by the rebellion of Adam. Of course, we know that God isn’t frustrated by the actions of man; however, Adam’s sin made redemption necessary if God’s plans were to be accomplished. How was creation affected by the sin of Adam? What actions did God set forth to restore man and creation while bringing them to His end goal for them? These are the questions that we will address as we consider God’s good creation post-fall. 

The Post-Fall World

And to Adam he said, 

    “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife

        and have eaten of the tree

    of which I commanded you,

        ‘You shall not eat of it,’

    cursed is the ground because of you;

        in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 

    thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;

        and you shall eat the plants of the field. 

    By the sweat of your face

        you shall eat bread,

    till you return to the ground,

        for out of it you were taken;

    for you are dust,

        and to dust you shall return.”  Genesis 3:17-19 ESV 

   When Adam was placed in the garden of Eden, he was commanded to work the garden and guard it. This idea of guarding the garden against potential threats leads us to believe that an attack on the garden was anticipated. Sure enough, the devil came in the form of a serpent to deceive Eve and cause Adam to neglect his duty to guard. By undermining the authority of God’s word, the devil was able to talk our parents into rebellion against God. Adam failed his probationary period of obedience and suffered the consequences of spiritual and physical death (Gen. 2:17). 

   If you recall from part one of this series, we concluded with the idea that mankind as an image-bearer is closely connected to God’s good creation. Their end goals are intertwined with one another. Adam’s primary duty was to have dominion over God’s creation. God made him “head” over that creation. Therefore, when Adam fell in sin, creation was likewise affected by that sin. 

   The curses on Adam and Eve related to their tasks in taking dominion over the earth, which would become more challenging with the presence of sin. Eve’s main duty was to be a helpmate for Adam in his mission and to fill the earth through her womb. This is now complicated by sin. The woman’s desire shall now be contrary to her husband rather than submitting herself as a helpmate. Likewise, her pregnancies and labor would now be painful and potentially fatal. Sin had serious effects on Eve’s ability to accomplish her God-given role.

   Adam faced the curses of sin as well, but not in the same way as Eve. Adam was not created as a helpmate or child-bearer. He was created to take dominion over the earth for God’s glory; therefore, the curses of sin directly affected his ability to do that task. God cursed the ground and told Adam that he would only eat the plants of the field. Every bit of work would become a toil rather than a great pleasure. By sweat, hard work, and pain, Adam would provide food for his family. 

Another point to bring up here is the change in the earth itself. God told Adam that thorns and thistles would come out of the ground. We are led to believe that these are effects of the fall that were not present in the garden. I believe that the ideas of thorns and thistles are representative of the reality that every work of dominion that man tries to undertake will be met with resistance from creation because of sin. We understand this from our own jobs. I work in a plant, and we constantly face challenges to our production goals from machinery breaking or parts wearing out. These frustrating inconveniences are the result of the fall. I imagine that Adam’s work before the fall consisted primarily of great productivity and satisfaction in a job well done. We get small tastes of this when we accomplish tasks and see the finished work. 

   One final point to bring up here is an emphasis on Adam’s connection to the ground. Within the curses, God reminds Adam that he came from dust and he shall return to dust. This takes us back to Adam’s creation, where God took him out of the dust of the ground. The Hebrew word for “ground” is adamah. The Hebrew word for “man” is adam. We can miss this connection in our English translations, but the point would be hard to miss in Hebrew. Man was made from the ground, and his end goal is connected to the ground. This means that God’s plan to fix all of this involves a plan to fix the ground as well; man and the earth are a package deal.

Disobedience Delays Dominion

   “And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” Genesis 4:11-12 ESV 

   After Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden, they had two sons, Cain and Abel. These two worked in different capacities (one a farmer the other a shepherd), but they both took up the roles of taking dominion after the fall. So we see a continuation of the creation mandate to be fruitful, multiply, and take dominion. However, sin had now infected their ability to practice this faithfully. 

Earlier in chapter four of Genesis, we see both Cain and Abel bringing an offering to God. Hebrews 11:4 informs us that Abel offered a more acceptable sacrifice by faith. This infuriated Cain, which led him to kill his brother Abel by striking him in the field. God had previously warned Cain that sin was seeking dominion over him, but he must rule over it. Nevertheless, Cain allowed sin to be his master, and he spilled the blood of his brother out of his anger.

   When God approached Cain, He issued a curse against him because of his sinful disobedience. We must be careful to notice how God cursed Cain. God cursed the ground so that Cain could not exercise dominion over it in the same way he had done before. This wasn’t an arbitrary curse. The same ground that received Abel’s blood is the ground from which Cain was cursed and made a fugitive. This story establishes a principle found in scripture that the land can be polluted by our sin. There is a connection between our obedience and the status of God’s good creation. We will see this topic discussed more fully later in this series.

   In this example of Cain’s sin, we find that disobedience delays dominion. The land was negatively impacted by Cain’s sin. Rather than Cain taking dominion over the land and over his sin, he has neither because sin had dominion over him. The creation was infected by the sin of God’s image-bearers and placed under a similar bondage.

Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. When he built a city, he called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch. Genesis 4:17 ESV 

Cain’s sin did not take away his desire for multiplication and dominion, but it did undermine the goal of multiplication and dominion. Remember that God’s goal for creation is to fill it with His glory. This was to happen by man faithfully working and guarding creation to spread God’s temple over the whole world, making God’s name to dwell there. Notice the distortion of this mandate in Cain’s actions. He bore a son, exercised dominion by building a city, then called the name of the city after the name of his son. We see in this decision a hint towards fallen mankind’s proclivity to take dominion for his own glory.

   The remainder of chapter four is full of cultural developments from the descendants of Cain, which reflects dominion over creation. Musical instruments and implements of iron and bronze were all developments made early in human history from Cain’s descendants. Their lack of faith does not make the products of their dominion bad in and of themselves; however, their use of these products in a disobedient way will delay the dominion which spreads God’s glory. Notice Lamech’s pride in being able to kill those who strike him. We learn from Cain and his descendants that mankind will always seek dominion. The question is whether it will be according to God’s standard and goal or man’s.

And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.” Genesis 6:13 ESV 

   As fallen man continued to multiply and fill the earth, sin and its dominion over man multiplied with them. Man developed the creation, but not in a way that brought God glory. The earth was filled with violence through man. Much like the ground that cried out from Abel’s spilled blood, the earth cried out from the violence which filled it in Noah’s day. Notice that God’s response to all of this wickedness would be destruction of all flesh along with the earth. Mankind as image-bearer is still intimately connected with all of creation. When man sins, the land is corrupted. When man is judged, the land is judged with him. 

   God’s judgement in the flood completely wiped out mankind’s work of multiplication and dominion. The flood acted as a prototypical ceremonial washing or baptism to make the earth clean again. Only Noah, the recipient of God’s favor, and his family were saved on the ark which God commanded Noah to build. Animals of all types were brought into the vessel of salvation as well in order to restart the work of dominion with Noah as a new “Adam” figure. Notice what God commands Noah in Genesis 9:1-3:

   And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. ESV

   The creation mandate originally given to Adam is reiterated for Noah and his sons. They are still commanded to be fruitful and multiply because God still has a goal for His good creation, which involves it being filled with His image-bearers. Likewise, the call for dominion is retained as well. The dangerous wild beasts of the post-fall world are given a fear and dread of mankind so that man might still practice dominion. If God were to withhold this restraining fear, we might not be able to adequately subdue creation around us. 

Therefore, in the midst of bringing judgment on man and creation, God is restoring things back to a proper order. We know the storyline of the Old Testament and realize that the flood didn’t bring lasting restoration; however, we do see a picture of a future restoration of man and the land that is lasting, everlasting. There is one more narrative about disobedient dominion that I would like to cover in this post that sets the stage for God’s redemptive plan.

   And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” Genesis 11:3-4 ESV 

   Once again, we have an example of fallen men practicing dominion in a disobedient way which hinders their ability to practice God-honoring dominion. These men developed the ability to make bricks. We take this for granted, but this was a great development with amazing building potential. Rather than spreading across the earth and using this new building material for housing or some other potential use, they remain in one location for the purpose of NOT being dispersed. Rather than spreading the glory of God’s name, they sought to make a name for themselves and their own glory. 

   In response to their self-glorifying efforts, God went down and confused their languages and drove them out from the Tower of Babel to disperse them. Their act of disobedient dominion was met with judgment from God. Now their efforts of dominion would be frustrated by language barriers and the cultural distinctions that would soon follow. God will not be mocked. He will accomplish His plan even in the midst of man’s disobedience. 

Conclusion

   We have demonstrated from Genesis 3-11 that the post-fall world still remained under the creation mandate of dominion given to Adam. God’s image-bearers were still called to exercise dominion because God still planned to fill the earth with His glory. In the midst of this mission, sin seeks to have dominion over man in order to twist man’s act of glorifying God to glorying in himself. God met all of these attempts with judgments to frustrate man’s ability to have dominion. These frustrations will ultimately turn into beautiful examples of God’s grace when He accomplishes His work despite these imposed hindrances. The plan for man to take dominion over the earth to fill it with the glory of God will be accomplished only by the grace of God.

  In the next post, we will continue considering the post-fall world within the context of God’s promises to Abraham and his descendants. God has a plan for filling the earth with His glory, and it takes root in a nation and the land.