DYNAMIS!
A publication of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
Wichita, KS
Genesis 2:20-3:20
(3/14) 1st
God
Said-V ~ Return to the Earth: Genesis 2:20-3:20, especially vss. 3:15 and
20: “And the Lord God said....In the sweat of thy
face shalt thou eat thy bread until thou return to the earth out of which thou
wast taken, for earth thou art and to earth thou shalt return.” Beloved of the Lord, behold
how well we know Adam and Eve. If
their portraits had been retained in some archive, we would see readily that
they should be placed directly alongside the pictures of our parents and
grandparents and of our children and grandchildren.
Indeed, let us look into our hearts as we read, for there we shall see
Christ our God, for He, too, is present in the events of Paradise always, given
and lost, even as He is with us now.
Christ our God caused Adam to fall asleep. He formed the woman and brought her to
the man. He commanded them not to
eat of the Tree of Knowledge. He
came, walking in the garden, looking for His errant loved ones. He fashions us still and lays His hand
upon us: “And from Thy presence whither shall I flee? If I go up into heaven, Thou art there;
if I go down into hades, Thou art present there” (Ps. 138:6,7). Yes, as He was with our first parents,
so also we may “...grope for
Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;...” (Acts
17:27).
“And God brought a trance upon Adam, and he slept” (Gen.
2:21), and He made a woman. St.
Augustine of Hippo says, “Adam sleeps, so Eve may be formed; Christ dies,
so the Church will be formed."[1] In the Holy Mysteries, He makes us one
with Him, of His own Body, that His precious life and blood may course through
us to eternal life. As Nicholas
Cabasilas teaches: “For in this Sacrament we attain God Himself, and God
Himself is made one with us.”[2]
The pre-incarnate Christ, having formed the woman, brought her to Adam,
in a primal procession of innocence, for marriage. Later, having taken our flesh upon
Himself, He repeats what He said at creation: “Therefore shall a man
leave his father and his mother and shall cleave to his wife, and they two
shall be one flesh” (Gen. 2:24; Mt. 19:5). Further, by His presence at the first
marriage feast, He declares all wedlock to be an holy and honorable
estate. “And the two were
naked, both Adam and his wife, and were not ashamed” (Gen. 3:1).
The cunning serpent also approached the innocent ones who first bore the
image of God. He came with
questions, insinuations, and suggestions.
Centuries later he came again with similar questions, probing and
enticing the Only Sinless One. At
that time, Christ Jesus, the second Adam, spurned His tempting, for He does not
sin. In the beginning, the
innocents turned from Truth and Life to delusion and corruption. Then, “...they heard the voice of
the Lord God walking in the garden in the afternoon; and both Adam and his wife
hid themselves from the face of the Lord God...” (vs. 3:9). For who, full of sin, can stand in the
presence of pure, hallowed, uncreated Light Himself? Our God is a “Fire, consuming the
unworthy,”[3]
yet to us, fallen with Adam, He comes to restore us to life. He forgives and lets us go, bidding us
to “...sin no more” (Jn. 8:11).
As the Only Begotten of God would later come to restore mankind, so He
early told the serpent, “...he shall shall watch against thy head, and
thou shalt watch against his heel” (Gen. 3:16). Beloved, we have lived to see this true
promise fulfilled. Christ trampled
down death by death. He broke the
gates of Hades, raising Adam and Eve from their tombs and He bestows life upon
mankind.
“Thou wast verily nailed upon the Cross, O Life of all; and was numbered among the dead, O deathless Lord. Thou didst rise after three days, O Savior, and didst raise Adam from corruption. Wherefore, the heavenly Powers shouted to Thee, O Giver of Life, Glory to Thy Passion, O Christ, glory to Thy Resurrection, glory to Thy condescension, O Thou Who alone art the Lover of mankind.”[4]