Lesson 2 Adam and Eve - Parents of Humanity

Genesis 1: 26-27, 2
1. Chapter 1 vv 26, 27 and chapter 2 of Genesis, provides the back drop of Christian understanding of the origin of man. Philosophers long ago looked at man as a rational animal. Jewish Christian tradition, in non ambiguous terms, affirms that God created man, and therefore we belong to Him. 2. Gen 1, v 27 God created man and woman, on the 6th day, after creating the whole of the universe, the heaven, the earth and the sea and everything in them. God put all that he created at the disposal of man, so to say, made man the king of the universe. (vv 28-30). Man is created as a relational being. If God created man, mans first relationship is to God. No man is an island. Being created by God, he is fully subject to God. Man being placed in a galaxy of created things, is conditioned by them and at the same time needs to lead them to their destiny. As he comes from God, man is divine and more than mere human. As placed in the universe he is on the way to God. This double relationship of man to God, his creator, and to the world in which he is placed, belongs to his very identity. Man belongs to God but he is in the world. 3. When it came to creating man and woman, God deliberates. Let us make man in our own image according to our likeness (1/26). This decision of God to make man in his image and likeness is the Fundamental Statement about man in the OT, parallel to the NT one The Word became flesh Jn 1/14. Psalm 8 clearly observes the tension between the greatness of man being the image and likeness of God and his lowliness being a sinner. What is man and honour We are Rajakumarans and rajakumaris. We belong to Gods own family, we are his people. Being the image and likeness of God we are the children of God too (Jn 1/12). All our religious duties like praying, attending Holy Mass, reception of sacraments are efforts to grow in the image and likeness of God. To be deeply
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involved in the mystery of being the image and likeness of God, we may repeat Gen 1/26 and 27 and or make a street play on Sirach 17/1-3. 4. Male and female He created them 1/27. The sexual differentiation as male and female is visible in upper grade birds and animals. 1/27 clearly affirms that in man sexuality is a God made disposition. In birds and animals sexuality is exercised by natural instinct. In man it is to be regulated by the related laws, summarized in marriage laws, in 6th and 9th commandments etc. The verse male

and female He created them reminds the parents of their duty of sex education
and of the related laws to their children. Positively, sexuality, when practised as willed by God is one of the finest ways of practicing Christian Koinonia between the husband and wife. 5. Be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth. (1/28). The primary purpose of marriage, procreation, is laid down here. The two commandments issued in Paradise, Dont eat this fruit and Increase and multiply are of equal importance. God made a thorough preparation for human beings by creating everything in the universe before creating human beings. Parents, especially the young couples, should prepare themselves and other members of the family to receive the new born baby. He should never be the result of an unwanted pregnancy, or an unwanted child. The adverse effect of such attitudes of the mother on the baby in the uterus, are by now scientifically established. A Malankarite should never have recourse to abortion. In case of necessity, get the help of someone, or an agency for rearing the child. It is said parenting starts at

the pre-natal period, as the mother starts praying for the child in her womb.
6. Subdue the Earth. Gen 1/26, 28-30. Man is made the master of the universe (1/28-30). All created beings are put at the disposal of the human beings, even the heavens, and the planets, like moon etc. Man is to work before and after the fall, work not only on farming, but developing all the potentialities latent in the nature. Subdue the nature is not exploiting the environment, by industry and technology, but making use of all the material and human resources available, making the nature serve humanity and thus reach its destiny. We imagine that only angels and man worship God. On the contrary worship is cosmic. Psalm 19 declares, Heaven declare the glory of God (v1) How do the mute beings (like
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stars) praise God? The answer is, Through men who recognize them as gifts of God for men, and thank God for them. When water, atom is used by man for the purpose for which they were created by God, man makes them praise God. This changes the mute beings into liturgical worshippers in Shehimo we pray: Vaachalethyuloru marthyan mookam shrishti pakaram sthuthicheyan. ( Monday, Shubaho p.53) 7. God rested on the seventh day, blessed it and made it holy (2/2-3). Not that God was tired, or withdrew from what He created. God never rests, He is in his eternal rest. But the author is offering the legitimation for the liturgical set up of Sabbath observance. Sabbath is like Samadhi, the 8th yoga of concentration on oneself: The Jewish Sabbath was inserted into the 10 commandments (3rd commandment). Sabbath (Sunday) observance is for a total withdrawal from oneself and concentration on God. God is my ultimate rest. (Kabir). An area where each and every Malankarite/Malankara family needs an evaluation, the priests, the senior members of the parish, mathrusangam, MCYM, and the children, all included. Every Sunday/feast day is a call to concentrate on God and things divine. Sabbath Observation is not a withdrawal from work, but an occasion for creative activities for God, and his people. We make our Sundays holy first and foremost by worshipping God in the proper manner, and by dedicating oneself to the service of the people. For this, every sunday church goer should prepare oneself for what he/ she is to do on that day. Parents have the grave obligation of preparing their children, even the grown ups, for it. As on now what is the difference between attending office work on Sunday, (out of necessity) and Sunday church attendance? Preparation for the church attendance is what should make the difference. 8. God created man from dust, clay (2/7). Sublimity of man that he is created by God, coupled with his lowliness that he is made up of dust, to which he will return too. (manushya nee mann agunnu, nee mannilekka thirichu pogum). Man is down to earth he is earth bound. Adam without article = proper name as in 5/1. Adam with art = the man.
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Adamaha = earth, ground, soil. Adam is made from Adamaha. Human nature is intimately connected with nature. God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living being. (2/7). Man is fully earth bound and totally God oriented. Isaiah compared mans dependence on God as that of the pot to the potter ( 64/8). We sing that today in the hymn Kushavan kaiyyil kalimannupol. Mar Ivanios became fully conscious of this dependence when he felt: I saw God shaping my mind, as the potter gives

shape to the pot. (Girideepam (malayalam) 1973 pp.82-83). Someone may at times
see that God is forming, giving shape to his/ her thoughts, desires, and decisions for a ministry in the church. Listen carefully to the promptings of the Spirit. Parents should allow God to form their children, not steam rolling the doctor IAS engineer pattern alone on them. God has a plan for each and every one of them. Before you were born in your mothers womb, I knew you Do we recocgnize that God has a blue print for me, my family and my children? God definitely had a plan for the unwanted, rejected children too. Are we moving within Gods Family Planning for us or are we dictating our own plans to God as expressed in the children, not very soon, go slow attitudes? 9. Creation of woman (2/21-25) 1/27 declares, Male and female he created them. 2/21-25 powerfully explains the intimate relationship and complementary character of man and woman. Woman is formed from the rib of man, a part of man that is close to mans heart. Wakening up from sleep, seeing the woman for the first time, man is thrilled, and burst into the love song, bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh meaning my other self. This mutuality creates another paradise within the paradise of Eden, a Paradise of Persons. Man woman relationship, though supposed to be highly intimate and spontaneous is a highly regulated one. Its purpose is fixed: increase and multiply and fill the earth. Man should leave his father and mother, and form one soul and one body with her. With these commands,
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The married people are reminded of: o Their obligation of preserving the unity of marriage. o Obligations related to procreation. o Obligation of creating a paradise of persons among themselves. People who are getting ready for marriage, are reminded of: o Marriage preparation course. o Learning to respect positively to the divine designs related to marriage. o Promote a celebration of life in ones own life and in the life of others. To keep man- woman relationship as God wanted it, is one of the greatest challenges modern man is facing today. Gen Chps. 1-2 almost fully reflects Gods designs of this relationship.

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