Adam And Eve

It is always amazing for to read a section of the Bible for probably the hundredth time, and to still be able to find something new in it. Having recently read Genesis 1 and 2, it was a joy to realize that even before our ancestors Adam and Eve first sinned, God was already using Adam and Eve to point forward to our Savior Jesus Christ and his relationship to us, the Church.

We know the story very well. God creates man and sees that he is alone, and that this is not good. Of course, God knew all along that it was not Good for man to be alone, yet he created Man first anyway. One has to wonder why. If God knew that it would not be good for man to be alone, why not create man and woman at the same time? Because by creating man first, Adam and Eve could be used as a picture (type) of the relationship between Christ and the Church. After all, Jesus existed before the church just as Adam before Eve.

When God created Eve, he did not do it in the same way as he did for Adam. God did not simply form another body and breath life into it, but he made Eve from Adams rib. He cause Adam to fall into a deep sleep, and while sleeping, he took the rib from Adam to create Eve. Again, God did not have to do it this way. Eve could have been created in the same way as Adam. Even using Adam's rib, God could have simply painlessly removed the rib while Adam was awake. But he didn't. He put Adam into a deep sleep, foreshadowing the deepest of sleep that Christ would experience for us, death. God did not miraculously remove Adam's rib, but opened him up to do so (and of course closed him up afterwards - Gen 2:21). Adam's side was pierced in order that Eve might have life. Jesus' side was pierced for us as part of his ultimate sacrifice that we might have life. Without Adam's sacrifice of a rib, there would have been no Eve. Without Jesus' sacrifice of his Holy life, there would be no church.

I don't think this is coincidence. God knew all along that his beloved creatures would fail him. Even before we did, he gave us some very clear signs pointing towards the Savior to come. There had been no sin, but the idea of a Savior was already clearly there.