This is the history of the heavens and the earth
when they were created,
in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens

Genesis 2:4

Sovereignty, The topic of. 

Normally, when I want to understand the meaning of a particular term, I look for Bible passages that contain the word and examine how they use it. But I found that our English translations rarely use the word ‘sovereignty’, so I needed a different approach to learn the characteristics of God’s sovereignty. My thought was that Genesis, the book of beginnings, would be a good book to examine and try to identify God’s method of governing mankind, since governing is the essence of what sovereignty is. After several months of study, I finally made it through the second account of creation as recorded in Genesis 2:4-4:26. This post summarizes the key points and brings out the conclusion of the study.

Foundation of God’s sovereignty over man

The first verses of this portion in Genesis allude to a time before any plants were growing in fields (Genesis 2:4-6) In these verses, we understand that God created Earth without pre-cultivated fields. The fields would come about by man’s work of tilling the soil and God’s provision of rain. Notice how both God and man were involved in the process of producing crops. Man would till the soil, but he would need God to provide the rain for good success. Thus, God would be man’s provider.

This shows that God’s style of government was more supportive than dictatorial. By dictatorial, I mean a style of administration where the ruler expects his people to serve him, like slaves their master. But God created mankind as creatures who were dependent upon His provision for good success in their work. Thus, His sovereignty is the type that provides from His resources to meet the needs of those under Him.

Features of God’s sovereignty of man

The authority structure of God’s government is quite clear. The first interaction between God and man in this passage relates God giving man a command to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:16-17). This clearly shows that God had authority over the man, which was fitting because God was the Creator and man was the created. So, this may be a simple observation, but God was sovereign over man. Though simplistic, I think it is a fundamental feature of God’s sovereignty – God is in charge and man’s role is to obey. 

However, we see that, although God forbade eating the fruit, He didn’t take steps to prevent disobedience. He could have restricted access to the forbidden tree, just as He did with the tree of life in Genesis 3:24.  But God allowed the option of disobedience. It might seem like God was setting the man up for failure, but notice what really was taking place – although God required the man to obey, He granted him the choice to obey or disobey.

Besides God’s authority, we saw a second fundamental component of His sovereignty introduced in Genesis 2:18-20, regarding the knowledge of good and evil. God created man without the knowledge and forbade him from taking it for himself. However, we noted that He didn’t leave the man in ignorance but instructed him. We saw how the task of naming the animals was used to bring Adam’s attention to the lack of companionship in his life and to understand that it was not good. God had declared that the man’s situation was not good. Then He brought awareness to Adam through the process of naming the animals (Genesis 3:20). Thus, we saw God was the revealer of good and evil to man. 

It seems to me that these two features, authority and revelation, are two fundamental components of God’s sovereignty over man which have continued to this very day. What is more fundamental than our responsibility to obey God? But there is also God’s revelation of good and evil to man. Hasn’t He been the source of true wisdom to us? Take, for example, how He has continually revealed to mankind that sin is evil, and that obedience to His word is good. He has been doing the work of revealing throughout all of history.

So God provides support to mankind in his endeavors, not as a genie who obeys every command, but as the Authority who gives the light of wisdom. But although He is man’s authority, He has permitted mankind the choice to obey. And although He is man’s revealer, He does not force men to accept what He reveals, as we shall see in the two primary stories of this passage.

Application of God’s sovereignty over man

After recounting the woman’s creation, the narrative takes up two stories that show several striking similarities between Adam and Cain. In the stories, God warned both men not to sin, yet both sinned; after their act of sin, God asked both a similar question, and both gave a response; and to both He pronounced a curse regarding the ground. But the narrative sets the stories in contrast, showing that the men ended up in very different situations: one was given provision to be in the presence of God, while the other left the presence of God for a life of apparent independence. 

The first story is of Adam and his wife, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and the serpent. The serpent’s interaction was full of deception, obscuring the true good and evil by making it appear beneficial (good) to eat the fruit when it was actually very detrimental (evil). Furthermore, he diverted the woman’s attention from her responsibility to obey God. His words, although seemingly enlightening, brought darkness.

It occurs to me that Adam and his wife’s act of eating from the forbidden tree struck at the core elements of God’s sovereignty. First, in disobeying God’s command, they disregarded His rule over them. Secondly, in listening to the serpent, they rejected the truth that God had revealed regarding the detrimental (evil) effect of eating the tree.

God’s response to their sin showed that His style of administration did not change when they fell. We can see they were still responsible to obey God, for God made them give account for their disobedience. We also see He continued as their revealer, for He clarified that their main problem was not their nakedness but their disobedience. Also, He made life-changes so all their descendants would recognize that life without God is an evil situation. Thus, we can see that He continued as ruler and revealer even to unregenerate man.

God also continued as provider, for He gave clothing which made it possible for them to stand before Him without shame. If that was not enough, He provided protection from destruction by guarding access to the tree of life. 

Although they sinned, God was still their ruler, revealer, and provider.

Application of God’s Sovereignty over rebellious man

The second story was of Cain’s sin. We noted how there was a difference between Adam and Cain in that Adam clearly stated what took place while Cain attempted to conceal his deed. Cain’s pretended ignorance led to God pronouncing a curse that put a separation between Cain and the others (Genesis 4:12). So Adam brought his actions to light by telling what he did, but Cain obscured the truth by trying to hide his actions. Obscuring the truth is what the serpent did with his deceptions. Thus, Cain was following the serpent’s path and, as a result, God established an enmity between him and the others (see Genesis 2:15).

It occurs to me that another difference between the two men is that Adam feared to stand in God’s presence whereas Cain didn’t seem to mind. Perhaps we could say that Adam feared God and Cain did not?

We saw that God honored Cain’s choice because He did not immediately destroy him. Cain rebelled against God’s authority and rejected God exposing his sin; God could have put an end Cain’s choice by putting an end to his life. Instead, God preserved his life and allowed him to continue down the path he had chosen. Thus, although God has authority over man, not only does He permit man the choice to disobey, but He allows a man the freedom to continue in that choice for as long as he lives.

But notice what God did with the one who rejected His revelation of sin – He placed enmity between him and the others. That is, God instituted a division among mankind, separating those who walked the serpent’s path of darkness and those who accepted the light of God’s revelation.

Conclusion

The first day of the history of mankind teaches us that God exercises sovereignty as a Provider.
Within the role of Provider, He has authority over mankind. But, although He gives commands, He does not compel obedience. Furthermore, He allows true freedom to choose between obedience and disobedience, for He does not cut life short when people choose the wrong thing.
He also reveals good and evil to mankind. As with the freedom of obedience, He also allows people the freedom to disregard His revelation. But those who choose to reject are in darkness and, in God’s kingdom, He establishes a division between them and those in the light.

Footnote: If you’ll permit me to say so, it seems that the first day of the history of mankind had some similarities to the first day of Creation (Genesis 1:3-4).

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