The First Man

TEXT: Genesis 1:26-31; 2:7, 18-23

Let’s imagine that we can go back and watch God create the first man.

Did you ever wish you could observe an exciting occasion without being noticed yourself? Did you ever wish you could go back in time for just a few minutes or hours to see how something really happened? Let’s imagine that we can go back and watch God create the first man.

We’re going back . . . back . . . back to when the world was new. Nothing is more than six days old. Over there, a deer is grazing on the greenest grass we’ve ever seen. The deer’s fur looks smooth and soft. Near him, a rabbit hops by as if it didn’t have a care in the world. We are standing under a tree, and flowers of every color bloom around us.

A few feet away, our attention is caught by Someone bending near the ground. It is the great Creator himself. It is God! But what can He be doing? We know that every time God wanted to make something new, He spoke the words and it was done. Now why is He bent over? It looks as though He is doing something with the dirt.

Let’s move a few steps closer. Now we can see better. He is working in the dust. No, He is working with the dust and making a shape. We strain our eyes to see better. Yes, the shape looks a little like God himself. How quickly His touch changes the features to look like a person. Now He is stepping back to look. We cannot resist moving nearer. We see a perfect man. But he is so still, no part of him moves. We hold our breath to see what will happen next.

God bends over him again and breathes into him the breath of life. The man begins to breathe . . . he moves his arms . . . he sits up and laughs as he puts his hand into God’s. They stand up and walk away.

How exciting! Imagine, God just took that dust and made a man! We are so interested in what is happening that we wouldn’t think of leaving now.

God names the man Adam. God said He didn’t want Adam to be alone so He brought all of the animals to Adam, and Adam gave them their names. But God wanted someone special for Adam, someone he could share God’s creation with.

As we watch, God has Adam lie down, and soon we can see that he is sound asleep. God bends over Adam, as He did when He created him. Again we move closer, fascinated. God has opened up Adam and taken out a rib! Carefully He fixes Adam’s side. But what will He do with that rib?

We watch closely as God forms a woman from that rib. We cannot tell how it happens . . . it’s as if God’s touch does it without effort. We see a lovely woman.

But look, Adam is moving. He is waking up! What will he think of this new creation? Again we find ourselves holding our breath to see what will happen. Adam opens his eyes and sees her. He jumps to his feet and shouts for joy. He says, “She shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”

Our time is up and we cannot watch any longer. We must come back to the present time. But we will always remember what it was like when God created man in His own image. He breathed into man the breath of life and gave him a living soul that would never die.