Sunday
January 25
1. A LITTLE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS
a. How is the creation of human beings described in comparison with angels? Psalm 8:4, 5.
“God created man a little lower than the angels and bestowed upon him attributes that will, if properly used, make him a blessing to the world and cause him to reflect the glory to the Giver.”—Testimonies, vol. 3, p. 50.
“God created man in His own image, after His likeness, free from sin, and with organs well developed. The earth was to be populated with intelligent beings who were only a little lower than the angels. But God would first prove the holy pair, and test their obedience; for He would not have a world filled with beings who would disregard His laws.”—The Signs of the Times, January 23, 1879.
b. What is written about the creation of Adam? Genesis 1:26, 27; 2:7.
“There is no ground for the supposition that man was evolved by slow degrees of development from the lower forms of animal or vegetable life. Such teaching lowers the great work of the Creator to the level of man’s narrow, earthly conceptions. Men are so intent upon excluding God from the sovereignty of the universe that they degrade man and defraud him of the dignity of his origin.”— Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 45.
Monday
January 26
2. A HELPMATE—A COMPANION
a. Describe the creation of Eve. Genesis 2:21–23. What lesson should we derive from this text? Ephesians 5:28, 29.
“Adam was perfect in form—strong, comely, pure, bearing the image of his Maker. God gave him a companion, a wife, to share with him the beauties of nature. In order for this holy pair to continue to be happy, God gave them something to do. The fact that they were holy did not debar them from working. God is never idle. To every one of the angelic host is given an appointed task.”—Manuscript Releases, vol. 10, p. 326.
“God Himself gave Adam a companion. He provided ‘an help meet for him’—a helper corresponding to him—one who was fitted to be his companion, and who could be one with him in love and sympathy. Eve was created from a rib taken from the side of Adam, signifying that she was not to control him as the head, nor to be trampled under his feet as an inferior, but to stand by his side as an equal, to be loved and protected by him. A part of man, bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh, she was his second self; showing the close union and the affectionate attachment that should exist in this relation. . . .
“God celebrated the first marriage. Thus the institution has for its originator the Creator of the universe. ‘Marriage is honorable’ (Hebrews 13:4); it was one of the first gifts of God to man, and it is one of the two institutions that, after the Fall, Adam brought with him beyond the gates of Paradise. When the divine principles are recognized and obeyed in this relation, marriage is a blessing; it guards the purity and happiness of the race, it provides for man’s social needs, it elevates the physical, the intellectual, and the moral nature.”—Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 46.
b. After the creation of Eve, what did Adam recognize, and for how long is the law of marriage (verse 24) valid? Genesis 2:23, 24.
“As the Creator joined the hands of the holy pair in wedlock, saying, A man shall ‘leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one’ (Genesis 2:24), He enunciated the law of marriage for all the children of Adam to the close of time.”—Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, pp. 63, 64.
“Every marriage engagement should be carefully considered, for marriage is a step taken for life.”—The Adventist Home, p. 340.
Tuesday
January 27
3. THE FIRST DOMINION
a. What privilege and responsibility was given to our first parents in Paradise? Genesis 1:28; Psalm 8:6–8.
“Adam was crowned king in Eden. To him was given dominion over every living thing that God had created. The Lord blessed Adam and Eve with intelligence such as He had not given to any other creature.”—The SDA Bible Commentary, [E. G. White Comments], vol. 1, p. 1082.
“When Satan declared to Christ, The kingdom and glory of the world are delivered unto me, and to whomsoever I will I give it, he stated what was true only in part, and he declared it to serve his own purpose of deception. Satan’s dominion was that wrested from Adam, but Adam was the vicegerent of the Creator. His was not an independent rule. The earth is God’s, and He has committed all things to His Son. Adam was to reign subject to Christ. When Adam betrayed his sovereignty into Satan’s hands, Christ still remained the rightful King. Thus the Lord had said to King Nebuchadnezzar, ‘The Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will’ (Daniel 4:17). Satan can exercise his usurped authority only as God permits.”—The Desire of Ages, pp. 129, 130.
b. Though the first dominion was snatched from Adam by the usurper, what promise is given by God? Micah 4:8; Daniel 7:27.
“By yielding to temptation, [Adam] was brought under the power of Satan, and the dominion which he held passed to his conqueror. Thus Satan became ‘the god of this world’ (2 Corinthians 4:4). He had usurped that dominion over the earth which had been originally given to Adam. But Christ, by His sacrifice paying the penalty of sin, would not only redeem man, but recover the dominion which he had forfeited.”—The Signs of the Times, November 4, 1908.
“The earth originally given to man as his kingdom, betrayed by him into the hands of Satan, and so long held by the mighty foe, has been brought back by the great plan of redemption. All that was lost by sin has been restored.”—The Great Controversy, p. 674.
“The divine Intercessor presents the plea that all who from among the fallen sons of men have overcome through faith in His blood be forgiven their transgressions, that they be restored to their Eden home, and crowned as joint heirs with Himself to the ‘first dominion’ (Micah 4:8).”—The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 4, p. 309.
Wednesday
January 28
4. A WEDDING GIFT
a. After their hands were joined in holy matrimony, what did the Creator give to Adam and Eve as a gift ? Genesis 2:8.
“God is a lover of the beautiful. He has given us unmistakable evidence of this in the work of His hands. He planted for our first parents a beautiful garden in Eden.”—The Adventist Home, p. 27.
“In this [Eden] garden were trees of every variety, many of them laden with fragrant and delicious fruit. There were lovely vines, growing upright, yet presenting a most graceful appearance, with their branches drooping under their load of tempting fruit of the richest and most varied hues. It was the work of Adam and Eve to train the branches of the vine to form bowers, thus making for themselves a dwelling from living trees covered with foliage and fruit. There were fragrant flowers of every hue in rich profusion. In the midst of the garden stood the tree of life, surpassing in glory all other trees. Its fruit appeared like apples of gold and silver, and had the power to perpetuate life.”—Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 47.
b. What happened to that beautiful garden that was once Adam and Eve’s delight? Revelation 2:7; 22:1, 2.
“The Garden of Eden remained upon the earth long after man had become an outcast from its pleasant paths. The fallen race were long permitted to gaze upon the home of innocence, their entrance barred only by the watching angels. At the cherubim-guarded gate of Paradise the divine glory was revealed. Hither came Adam and his sons to worship God. Here they renewed their vows of obedience to that law the transgression of which had banished them from Eden. When the tide of iniquity overspread the world, and the wickedness of men determined their destruction by a flood of waters, the hand that had planted Eden withdrew it from the earth. But in the final restitution, when there shall be ‘a new heaven and a new earth’ (Revelation 21:1), it is to be restored more gloriously adorned than at the beginning.”—Ibid., p. 62.
“In the earth made new, the redeemed will engage in the occupations and pleasures that brought happiness to Adam and Eve in the beginning. The Eden life will be lived, the life in garden and field.”—Prophets and Kings, pp. 730, 731.
Thursday
January 29
5. RESTORED INTO GOD’S FAMILY
a. By the plan of redemption, what privilege is given to those who accept God’s free gift of salvation? Luke 19:10; John 1:12; 1 John 3:1, 2.
“The Son of God was given to redeem the race. At infinite suffering, the sinless for the sinful, the price was paid that was to redeem the human family from the power of the destroyer and restore them again to the image of God. Those who accept the salvation brought to them in Christ will humble themselves before God as His little children.”—Testimonies, vol. 9, pp. 283, 284.
b. What prophetic description is given about Adam and the host of the saved when they will finally be introduced to Eden restored? Revelation 5:13.
“Transported with joy, [Adam] beholds the trees that were once his delight—the very trees whose fruit he himself had gathered in the days of his innocence and joy. He sees the vines that his own hands have trained, the very flowers that he once loved to care for. His mind grasps the reality of the scene; he comprehends that this is indeed Eden restored, more lovely now than when he was banished from it. The Saviour leads him to the tree of life and plucks the glorious fruit and bids him eat. He looks about him and beholds a multitude of his family redeemed, standing in the Paradise of God. Then he casts his glittering crown at the feet of Jesus and, falling upon His breast, embraces the Redeemer.—The Great Controversy, p. 648.
Friday
January 30
PERSONAL REVIEW QUESTIONS
a. What does it mean to have been made “a little lower than the angels”?
b. Why did God institute the marriage?
c. Does this fallen planet actually belong to Satan or to God—and why?
d. To what can the fallen sons and daughters of Adam look forward?
e. What will be the fortune of the redeemed throughout eternity?