The story of Adam and Eve is believed by some but scoffed by others, nevertheless, there is a principal theme in the story of who God is. His character is revealed whether you believe the story of Adam and Eve as real or not real.
There are two things that motivates and drives mankind, needs, and wants. Before the fall of mankind, Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden where God met all their needs and because He met all their needs, they had no wants!
Some may argue that God only meets our needs but not our wants because they believe wants are selfish and being selfish is sinful. I would argue otherwise and will explain later.
The principal theme of the story is that God loves those He created, so much so, He walked with them, talked to them, and provided for them. In summary, He, God, did what He wanted and enjoyed the most, and that was to Fellowship and Commune with them. He, God, felt pleasure when He did so. Because of that relationship, Adam and Eve felt Safe, Healthy, and Satisfied, the three things we, as humans, strive for every day.
Feeling Safe, Healthy, and Satisfied are the motivators for all our behaviors and actions. We work mostly to secure a means, Money, to acquire (purchase) Safety, Health, and Satisfaction. If one of those elements is not acquired in sufficiency, we resort to lying, cheating, and/or stealing to acquire them.
Isn’t that interesting; Lying, Cheating, and Stealing are all mentioned in the Ten Commandments! They are the last half of the commandments. Those commandments deal with our relationships with our fellow mankind while the first half deals with our relationship with God. The Ten Commandments tell us what needs to be done if we want to be Safe, Healthy, and Satisfied, and live the “Perfect Life”.
God tells us, if we follow the Ten Commandments AND never break them, we will have a perfect life and live forever.
God met all Adam and Eve’s needs. God, who created Adam and Eve, recognized the “Need” for them to feel valued (important) was just as important of a need as their need to feel Safe (secure) and Healthy (strong enough to function without pain, hunger, or suffering). Feeling “Valued” brings “pleasure”. When we feel pleasure, we feel Satisfied. The fulfillment of these three elements gives us a “Perfect Life”.
After creating mankind, God both desired and chose to fellowship and commune with those He created. He not only is our Creator, but He is also our Sustainer and Provider. We can have NO NEEDS! When ALL our NEEDS are met, we have NO WANTS. He is our Everything. He is our Father; we are His Children.
So, what went wrong? That will be the topic of our next post.