"And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed
into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living
soul."--_Genesis 2:7._
IN the Bible God tells us that He made the world, and everything in
it: land and water, and grass, flowers and trees, insects, birds and
beasts, and last of all He made the first man and woman. The man was
made by God out of the dust of the ground, and then God breathed into
his nostrils the breath of life, and gave him a living soul. And the
woman was made by God out of the man's side. They were called Adam and
Eve, and they were to be the first father and mother of everyone who
was to be born into the world.
The good God gave them a beautiful home. It was a garden, with a
clear river of water flowing through it, and all kinds of delicious
fruit-trees and beautiful flowers growing in it. Nothing could hurt
or vex them there. They did not know what pain was, they were never
tired, and all they had to do was to dress the garden and to keep it.
They had no faults, and never did wrong; and God Himself came near to
talk with them.
That was the way they lived, always good and always happy, whilst they
obeyed what God had told them. In the midst of the garden grew two
trees: one was the Tree of Life, and the other was the Tree of the
Knowledge of good and evil. God told them that if they ate the fruit
of this Tree of Knowledge they would die. We do not know what those
trees were like, but sometime or other I hope we shall see the Tree of
Life, for it is growing in heaven, close by the river that flows by the
Throne of God; and when we see it, and taste of its fruit, we shall
live for ever, and be happier than Adam and Eve were. We shall never be
as happy as they were while we are living in this world; but if we will
try to obey God, and live holy lives, He will take us to heaven, and
that will be still better than the Garden of Eden.