Jesus
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The Sabbath was merely a shadow, as Paul put it. It was a signpost pointing to Jesus Christ, who is the reality of the Sabbath, our true rest and Jubilee.117 Yet the rest of God will one day fill the universe. The Prince of Peace will establish His rule over all things, the lion will lie down with the lamb, and the knowledge of God will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.118 The seventh day of creation points to all of these realities.
Day Eight: His Bride
In Genesis 2, we have another account of creation.119 Here we find the first appearance of Eve. Some scholars view Eve’s formation as occurring on the sixth day. Others, however, view it as having occurred on the eighth day.
If the second interpretation is correct, then the reference to male and female in Genesis 1:27 is a reference to the fact that Adam had a female inside of him (metaphorically). This was before God “split the Adam” and took Eve from his side.120
What makes this interpretation attractive is that the number eight in the Bible is connected with resurrection, regeneration, and newness of life.121
Eight is the number after seven. Many Bible students believe the number seven in the Bible points to completeness or perfection. Eight, therefore, seems to represent a new series, the beginning of a new order. For example, the eighth day is the first day of the week after the seventh (the Sabbath). There were eight souls saved in the ark to greet a new creation and begin a new world.122 Israelite males were circumcised on the eighth day, which foreshadowed the circumcision of the heart that occurs during regeneration.123 The firstborn sons were to be given to YHWH on the eighth day.124 David, the man who would begin a new dynasty in Israel, was the eighth son.125 Jesus was raised again on the first day of the week, or the eighth day.126
The church was born on the eighth day. The old creation was part of the seven-day cycle; the new creation emerged on the eighth day. For this reason the early church “celebrated the first day of the week as ’the Lord’s day.’” 127 The first day of the week is the eighth day.
Even if you disagree as to the precise time of Eve’s formation, one thing is clear. Paul taught us that Adam prefigured Jesus Christ—God’s perfect thought for man.128 And Eve is analogous to the church, which is one body with Christ.129
One of us described the formation of Eve in another place, saying:
Recall that creation is finished. Day seven has passed. We are nearing the end of the eighth day—the first day of the week. It is evening. And God does something extraordinary: He puts His man into a deep, deathlike sleep. This may be the first time that unfallen man had ever slept. If so, a deep sleep was no small thing for Adam to experience.
Behold, I show you a mystery: There was a woman hidden inside of Adam.
I want you to imagine Adam lying on the ground in a hypnotic, deathlike sleep. Watch his still body as the Almighty comes down to him and breaks open his side. The angels of heaven hide their eyes over what is about to take place. Out of Adam’s very being, the Lord God extracts another being. The Almighty takes out of Adam a part of Adam, and by it He fashions another Adam. God takes a human out of the first human and builds a second human. And that second human has within its pounding heart all that is part of the first human, including his passion.
God did His most magnificent work while Adam was asleep. This episode contains an important insight: When man rests, God works.
So out of Adam’s side, God “fashioned” a woman (Gen. 2:22, Hebrew text). This woman is not part of the first creation. She appears after creation, on the eighth day. Consequently, this woman is a new creation.130
Adam’s drastic surgery is over, and he awakens from God’s anesthetic. As Adam wipes the slumber from his eyelids, he turns and looks. What he sees is beyond telling. Before his very eyes stands a living, breathing, pulsating being. Another human. But not just another human, she is Adam in another form.
Immediately, he notices that she has a hand just like his, a hand to hold. She has lips just like his, but fuller and more inviting. At that moment, Adam realizes that he is no longer alone. He has a counterpart to match him. He has a companion. Instantly, the two are hypnotically drawn to each other. Adam falls deeply in love with her and she with him.
According to the Hebrew text, when Adam saw this new creation, he uttered these words: “At last . . . this is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh” (Gen. 2:23). “Finally . . . I am no longer alone!”
“Finally . . . the passion of my heart has an outlet!” “Finally . . . the love that has been beating inside my chest has a home!” “Finally . . .”
Adam had stood on this earth alone. He had been the loneliest creature on the planet. Single and solitary. But now, on the first day after creation, he stood in the presence of one who was just like him. She was Adam in a different form. And in a blinding flash of insight, Adam realized that his loneliness had vanished. His passion had a place to break forth. It could now find release.131
All of this contains a pre-echo of John 19–20. In John 19, Pilate looked at a beaten, dejected Jesus, the Second Adam, and declared, “Behold the Man!”132 Pilate’s words remind us of day six, when the first Adam appeared in creation.133 We then read about the crucifixion of Jesus, when He died. His last words were “It is finished!”134 The word “finished” reminds us of Genesis 2:1, when the first creation was completed.
After three days of being in what might be described as a “deep sleep,” Jesus was resurrected. When Mary Magdalene saw the resurrected Lord, she believed He was the gardener, a throwback to the garden of Eden.135 We are now in the presence of a new Eden—a new beginning, a new creation, a new day.136 The first (old) creation was finished at the cross. The new creation has emerged. The grave has become a garden, and the resurrected Christ has become the last Adam. Jesus then breathed His Spirit upon His disciples.137 In His resurrection, the Second Adam became a life-giving spirit.138 The church, the body of Christ, the bride of the Lamb, was born. Interestingly, John was careful to point to the language that Genesis 1 repeatedly used, “morning” and “evening.”139
Just as Eve was inside Adam before she appeared, the church was “in Him [Christ] before the foundation of the world” before she appeared.140 Just as God put Adam into a deep sleep, Jesus was put into the deepest sleep of all—death.141 Just as God opened Adam’s side to bring forth Eve, the side of our Lord was opened on the cross. Out of it flowed water and blood—the outstanding marks of birth.142
The pierced side of Jesus is the womb from which the bride of Christ was born. The water that poured out of Him reminds us of the living waters that poured forth from the rock when Moses struck it in the presence of Israel.143 Paul told us “that Rock was Christ.”144
The water speaks of the life of God that awakens our dead spirits, and the blood speaks of that which redeems us from sin.145 Eve, the bride of Adam, was formed after the first creation was finished. She is part of a second or “new creation.” The same is true for the new Eve, the church, the bride of the Second Adam. She is part of the new creation. She is that which comes out of Christ, just as Eve came out of Adam.
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“Truth unchanged, unchanging” is ever moving forward to the completion of God’s purpose, and that purpose is being fulfilled, and will be consummated, in the immutable Jesus.
—F. F. BRUCE146
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In short, Jesus Christ is the real Adam, and the church—the Lord’s counterpart—is the real Eve. Paul called this “the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed”—the open secret that has been in God’s beating heart from before time.147 There are two aspects to this divine mystery. The mystery of God is Christ,148 and the mystery of Christ is the church.149 And the mystery of all mysteries is that Christ and the church are united together in oneness.150
BACK TO THE GARDEN
In Genesis 2:15, God commanded Adam to cultivate and keep the gard
en. The Hebrew word for cultivate is abad, and the Hebrew word for keep is shamar. These same Hebrew words are used to describe how the priests cared for the tabernacle of Moses.151 (The tabernacle was a precursor to the temple of Solomon.) The priests were to cultivate (abad) and keep (shamar) the tabernacle. In addition, we are told that God walked in the garden (Hebrew, hawlak) during the cool of the day.152 God also walked (hawlak) in the midst of the temple.153
The meaning is clear. The garden was a temple for God. Like the temple, the garden was the joining together of God’s space and man’s space—the intersection of the heavenly realm and the earthly realm. For this reason, Isaiah called it “the garden of the LORD,”154 and Ezekiel called it “the garden of God.”155
The parallels between the garden of Eden, the temple, and creation are striking. Let’s first compare the garden with the temple of Israel.
THE GARDEN AND THE TEMPLE OF ISRAEL
The garden of Eden faced east.156 The tabernacle and temple faced east.157 The garden was placed on a mountain.158 The temple was also placed on a mountain.159 The trees of the garden were pleasing to the eye.160 In like manner, the temple of God is always associated with beauty.161 Palm trees, pomegranates, lily blossoms, and open flowers were graven in the walls of the temple.162 These all contain echoes of the garden.
The cherubim (plural of cherub) were embroidered into the curtains of the tabernacle and temple, guarding the Holy of Holies.163 The cherubim were also placed on both sides of the bloodstained mercy seat of the ark of the covenant, guarding it just as they guarded the garden of Eden.164 This is why the First Testament says that the Lord dwells in the midst of the cherubim.165
Gold, silver, and precious stones filled the temple.166 Gold, pearl,167 and precious stones flowed from the garden of Eden. Interestingly, gold and onyx were in the temple—the same elements mentioned in Genesis 2.168 But why is silver mentioned in the temple and not pearl? Consider Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 3:12–15, when he spoke of gold, silver, and precious stones in the context of building the church. In the temple (both the shadow and the reality), silver replaces pearl. This is because silver typifies redemption.169 Before the Fall170 and after the Fall is removed,171 silver is unnecessary. So we have pearl instead. But between Genesis 2 and Revelation 21, silver is necessary.
It is no accident that the ancient Hebrews and rabbis regarded the garden of Eden to be God’s first temple.172 Both the tabernacle of Moses and the temple of Solomon constantly remind us of the garden.173 But they also remind us of creation itself.
The tabernacle was built in seven distinct stages.174 The temple of Solomon was built in seven years,175 and it was dedicated in the seventh month.176 God created the heavens and the earth in seven days, and then He rested. Moses rested after he built the tabernacle.177 And once the temple of Solomon was built, God found rest.178 It’s not surprising, then, that the psalmist regarded the temple as a microcosm of heaven and earth.179
Jesus Christ is the reality of the temple. (In the Greek, John 1:14 says Jesus “tabernacled among us.”) He is also the reality of the garden. He is the real Tree of Life180 and a flowing river.181 In Christ, God’s space and man’s space are joined together. But Christ is also the reality of the seven-day creation, as we have seen. He is, as the Second Testament declares, the head or firstborn over all creation, including the new creation.182
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The Christian faith begins not with a big DO but with a big DONE.
—WATCHMAN NEE183
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In the temple, God’s glory and presence dwelled on the ark of the covenant in the Holy of Holies. The Holy of Holies was a perfectly cubed room. It grew in size from its dimensions in the tabernacle to its dimensions in the temple of Solomon. But it still retained its perfectly cubed shape. In the temple Ezekiel saw in his vision, the Holy of Holies grew even larger.184 In the book of Revelation, we are introduced to the New Jerusalem—a colossal-sized, perfect cube.185 In other words, the entire city is the Holy of Holies. God dwells there. The Tree of Life; the flowing river; and gold, pearl, and precious stones all reappear in the city. And the city is a bride.
The gold, pearl, and precious stones all reflect different aspects of the nature and work of the Godhead.186 In Revelation 21–22, the garden of Genesis 2 has been transformed into a city—the very dwelling place or “house” of God. The bride of Christ is the house of God. From the beginning of creation, God has been building His house, which is also the bride of Christ. Interestingly, in Genesis 2:22, we are told that God “built”—a Hebrew word translated “made”—a woman out of Adam’s side.
The imagery is clear. God began His creation with clay. Humans are but jars of clay.187 We were designed to contain God’s life. The Tree of Life appears in the midst of the garden. And women and men are invited to eat from that tree and live by it. The Tree of Life is God’s life in consumable form. The reality of the tree, of course, is Jesus Himself. The words of the Second Testament quickly come to mind: “I am the vine . . . without Me you can do nothing.” “He who feeds on Me will live because of Me.” “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” “Christ . . . our life.”188
By eating from the Tree of Life and drinking from the flowing river, clay is transformed into gold, pearl, and precious stones for the building of God’s dwelling place. This dwelling place is not a physical building. Rather, the New Jerusalem is a magnificent symbol of the glorious church, the bride of the Lamb. This dwelling place is pictured by Eve, whom God built from Adam’s side. She is the new creation birthed after the first creation was finished. And she and her husband, Jesus Christ, are united in spirit. Note Paul’s remarkable words in 1 Corinthians 6:16–17 (NIV): “Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, ’The two will become one flesh.’ But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit.”
In Christ, the garden of God, which is the temple of God, will fill the entire cosmos.189 Together with our Head, we—the body of Christ—are the real temple of God, which God is seeking to enlarge to the entire creation.190
N. T. Wright wraps it up nicely, saying, “I have already hinted strongly enough, I think, that Jesus saw his own work, his own public career, his own very person, as the reality to which the Temple, sabbath, and creation itself were pointing.”191
There is so much more. But we hope these points will throw new light on the word of our Lord Jesus when He said, “If you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.”192
ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE ON
CHRIST IN CREATION
Before we shift our attention to a small village called Bethlehem, we want to go deeper in unveiling Jesus in the first two chapters of Genesis. In this chapter, we presented a survey of the main points, largely focusing on Genesis 1 (the macro version of creation). In the next chapter, we look more closely at Genesis 2 in the light of Christ (the micro version of creation). Augustine said the first chapter of Genesis is creation in the mind of God, and the second chapter is creation in time and space. He went on to say that you can take it the other way around if you want.193 That’s the genius of a great story. You can always take it the other way, look at it upside down, inside out, sideways and crossways, and find new insights and inspirations.
So the first two chapters of Genesis give us different but complementary tellings of the same story—the greatest story ever told. And that story is the narrative of Jesus Christ and God’s timeless purpose in Him.
CHAPTER 3
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Christ in Creation:
The Micro Version
Heat cannot be separated from fire,
or beauty from the eternal.
—MICHELANGELO1
GOD’ S ART OF COMMUNICATION IS INCARNATION, WHICH BEGAN with the sound of a big bang that pierce
d the silence with “Let there be light” and crescendoed as sound became sight and creation blossomed forth. Then one day, the star of Bethlehem bloomed, and the ultimate act of communication took place—the human incarnation of the eternal Word, the Light of the World, when God took human flesh in Jesus, who was the Christ, the human One, the bright and morning star.2
The people who walk in darkness
Will see a great light;
Those who live in a dark land,
The light will shine on them . . .
For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders.3
The universe is so big, it takes two versions, a micro and a macro rendering, to tell the creation story, just as Jesus is so big, it takes four gospels to tell His story. Although, as we are trying to show in our expositions of Genesis 1 and 2, you can start anywhere in the Bible and tell the whole Jesus story.
THE STORY STARTS WITH DIRT
The first image in the Genesis 2 micro version?
Dirt. At least dirt is where the micro creation account launches the birth story of the universe: no shrubs, no plants, just dirt and dust. The Bible begins with a disquisition on dirt. Biblical faith is a down-to-earth faith.
That image of dirt is presented in poetic form, in terms of what it isn’t rather than what it is, but the dirt is inescapable. The Latin word for “dirt,” humus, is from whence we get the word humble. Something can be as dry as dust and lifeless as dirt, with scant or scrawny growth. Or something can be as rich as topsoil, the humus of life, when the ground has been fertilized by its past. Out of humble dirt comes life. Far from dirt being “matter out of place,”4 matter is dirt placed to order. But not without water, H2O, the union of opposites. Hydrogen burns; oxygen promotes burning. But when united together, they put out fires.