Creation: The Fall Of Man PT1

Creation: The Fall Of Man PT1

Today we are going to dive into the creation of the material world, by which man is a bridge between both worlds, the material and the spiritual, but more on that in a few minutes, let's start today with a very special prayer called the Memorare . It's a prayer to our blessed mother, and it goes like this:

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thine intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen.

So in our past podcasts, we were reminded that we must learn and study the true creation accounts that are found in Genesis chapter one and two. These creation accounts are foundational for our Catholic faith, and for us to understand the history of our salvation. I challenge you this week to please take some time to read Genesis chapter one and chapter two.

Now as a general overview,

Moses is the author of the Pentateuch meaning the first five books of the Bible.

In Hebrew, we call that the Torah. Now Genesis one is sort of this airplane or big picture view of the story of creation. So think of Genesis one as a big picture. God's name in Genesis chapter one is revealed to us in Hebrew as Elohim. The powerful, awesome mighty God of all creation distant. And when He speaks the words, creation is made manifest. Genesis chapter one is a transcendent view of God.

Now Genesis chapter two is a much more down to earth, more personal accounting of the creation story. It is the same story, but in Genesis chapter two, we're getting a close look, a magnify look at day number six, which took place thousands of years ago.

But again, Genesis chapter two is just a close up view of day number six. Now in this chapter, chapter two, we have God's name revealed to us as Yahweh in Hebrew. The meaning of that is that God who comes down to earth, who creates us with his own hands, who breaths life into us, wants to be in relationship with us? Why? Because God himself is relationship. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And he wants to share in that relationship with us. But more on that in a little while.

So in Genesis chapter one, we find immediately that God is a God of order.

In verse 2 in Genesis chapter 1, we see that the earth was without form and void. That darkness covered over the whole earth and that the Spirit of God hovered over the waters, the Spirit of God, the Ruah pronounced roo'-akh that we're gonna see in Pentecost again as well.

When we want to make a Lego design, we have to start with something. If we want to make a cake, we have to start with something. But God created everything from nothing. He simply spoke and it came to be. Light and darkness were created at the beginning of time.

Then on day number two, God separated the waters above the air and the waters below the sea. On day number three, God gathered together the sea into certain places as dry land comes up. We call those gatherings of waters oceans, and then dry land appears in the midst of them.

We have vegetation and plants, seeds, and fruit also created, and they came to life on this day. Please note when God looked at what he's created so far, day one, day two, day three, he looks at it and he says, it's good.

Then on day number four, five and six, he starts to fill in the forms and make the voids non-existent. He fills in with what he creates. So, as a review day number one-light and darkness. So what does he fill in the light and darkness on day number four? The sun, the moon, the stars, the planets, and the galaxies. God looked at what he created and again, he saw that it was good. Remember on day number two, God separated the air from the sea. So on day number five, he filled the air with all types of winged birds. He fills the oceans and seas with all types of sea creatures.

He told them to be fruitful and multiply. And once again, he saw that is good. Do you see the order? How day one and four connect, day two and five connect? So then we have on day three, land and vegetation coming out in the oceans. Well, on day six, God starts out by making land animals to creep along and walk along the earth. The cattle, the beast, the creeping things. And He again says it was good. But he didn't stop there. On day six on the height of day six, he makes his greatest creation. Do you know what that is? It's you and me? It's man and woman. We find a key verse in Genesis chapter 1 verse 26 and 27. God says, let us make man in our image, in our likeness and let them have dominion over the earth, over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, over the cattle, over all the earth, over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.

Two...

Man and woman are God's greatest creation.

You are God's greatest handiwork, and there is none like you. God created only two genders, not three, not 10, not 20, but two, male and female. Why, would God do that? Because he has the purpose for our lives, the purpose of procreation and unity. And that together, man and woman are called to compliment one another.

These are important things that we need to know. Especially in the times we're living in. There is a reason for everything. And the most important point, point number three, that I think we can take away today is that when God saw everything, is this: That everything He made so far has been good. But on day number six, after the creation of man, he says it is very good. His greatest creation was man. That's where we get the name Adam from. Adam means, man. And that first man who was a real person one who was created in the image and likeness of God himself. That means you and I.

We have an inherent dignity within us. Every newborn baby has that inherent dignity. Every senior citizen with Alzheimer's, who's 100 years old and is suffering in some way, shape or form, has an inherent dignity value and worth. And that dignity comes from God alone. Not from anyone else. But from God alone.

In Genesis chapter one, we see the hierarchy of creation for the material world. At the lowest level, we have inanimate objects. Then we have vegetation, then animals, and then at the top level is us, humans. That's why we are the bridge between the material world and the spiritual world. Baltimore catechism in question number 48 says,

"What is man"? And the answer that it gives is "the man is a creature composed of not just body, but of soul.”, (The soul being composed of soul and spirit), and that Man, body soul and spirit, is made in the image of God.

That's why we are the bridge because we both have a body material and a soul that is soulish- the place of intelect, understanding and senses- and we have a spirit through which I am able to be in contact with God. When we die, our soul and spirit lives on forever in one of two places, heaven or hell.

Now question 51 asks who was the first man and woman. Clearly we find the answer to that question in Genesis chapter two, which I said again is an in depth look at day number six of the creation story. So let's go ahead and jump into that.

Now, Adam and Eve were created on day number six, they are real people. They were our first parents and the parents of the whole human race.

Here we see how God creates Adam or man from the dust of the ground. Remember those words that you sometimes hear on Ash Wednesday? Remember that you are dust and to dust, you shall return. That is the origin of those words because it's the origin of our creation, the creation of man in Genesis chapter two. And then it says that God breathed into his nostrils, the breath of life, and only then does man become a living soul.

You see, it wasn't until God breathed life into him, and he became a living being, we get our bodies, but it's comes to life with God breathing life into our soul. So then, God gives Adam the authority of over all the plants and the animals. God gave him a vocation. He was the first priest. He was given the ability to name all the animals. Then God saw that it was not good that he was alone. So he tried to find a suitable partner for him.

You see the Trinity is relationship. The Trinity is Father's Son and Holy Spirit. And God wants us to be in relationship as well, both with him and with one another.

So looking amongst the animals and not finding a suitable partner for him, God cast a deep sleep upon Adam. While he slept, He took look out one of his ribs from his side and then closed up in its place, flesh. And from the rib he took out, he formed the woman Eve. Here we have her creation.

And then we have the first marriage made between Adam and Eve, the first man and woman. That's what marriage is about man, and woman.

So some final thoughts before we conclude today, there's a beautiful insight that comes from the church fathers regarding this creation of Eve from the side of Adam and the piercing of Christ side upon the cross at Calvary on good Friday. Let's compare the events side by side. First, Adam was placed into a deep sleep. We see Jesus hanging on the cross, dying on the cross and he is dead lying there upon the cross, that deep sleep. Adam's side is opened up and the bride, his bride Eve comes forth from his side. Jesus dead on the cross is pierced with a lance and what comes out, but blood and water.

What does blood signify? What does water signify? Well, they signify two sacraments. Blood being the Eucharist, and water being baptism.

And where do those sacraments come from? They come from Jesus Himself.

Who is Eve to Adam? Eve is his bride. Who is the Church to Jesus? It's the bride of Christ. So coming forth from his side comes his bride, the Church.

Now when Adam and Eve lived together in the garden of Eden, they were in a state we call original holiness. What does that mean? Original holiness meant that Adam and Eve lived in friendship with God, living in harmony with the animals and with one another. And they shared God's life, which we call sanctifying, grace. You and I experienced that when we received baptism. We received God's life within us called sanctifying grace, Adam and Eve at the beginning of time experienced, pure love, pure joy and happiness. They were free from death. There was no sickness, no cancer, no diabetes. There was no weakness in their bodies. They had no sin. There was no evil there were no natural disasters. They also had something called preter, natural gifts. The root word preter means gifts that are above or beyond the natural. Such gifts included that they had this great knowledge of God. We call it infused knowledge. They didn't have to study to learn about God. They didn't have to go to school to learn about God. They were given directly from God himself knowledge about him. Not as much knowledge as the angels had, but still more knowledge than we have. But they still had to learn through their senses. They didn't have the same knowledge as the angels did because angels were pure spirits.

Adam and Eve received three powers. They received the power of the intellect, the power of the will and the power of passions.

Intellect is what they used to understand more about God. They used their intellect to control their passions.

They receive the will, which allows them to accept, to choose the good. That's what our will does.

And the gift of passions, their emotions of their soul. They could choose anger. They could choose fear. They could choose hatred. They could choose desire, joy or sorrow. Therefore they would never be angry unless they wanted to. They would never be afraid or fearful unless they wanted to. They would never cry unless they wanted to. That's unfortunately not the same for us. Theirs was a perfect state in the state of the garden of Eden until Satan enters into the garden and we have original sin.

We'll see why we lost those gifts next time through the original sin. Until then, take a moment to read Genesis chapter three, to get a head start for what we're gonna be learning about in our next podcast.

I truly hope you enjoyed diving deeper into Genesis chapter one and Genesis chapter two. And I really look forward to sharing with you next week when we take a closer look at the fall of man, original sin, the punishment that rightly came from God, and how Jesus along with his mother, Mary, will crush the head of the ancient serpent, the devil. I didn't mention day number seven, the day that God rested. What did Adam and Eve do on day number seven? They worshiped the Lord. They offered up all of God's creation to the Lord on that Sabbath day. And I pray that each one of us will more fully worship the Lord in Church on Sunday as Adam and Eve did on day number seven.

 

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