Sunday: Communication in Eden
Daily Lesson for Sunday 27th of September 2026
Genesis 1:1-31 and 2 tell the Creation story. God created a beautiful world, and in it He put Adam and Eve, the crowning act of Creation. Humans differed from every other creature on earth because they were made “in the image of God” (Genesis 1:27, NKJV), something said only about them and not, for example, about the birds or about other animals. As such, they were to live wholistically abundant lives, experience love in all its forms, and walk in communion with God Himself.
Image © Jim Howard at Goodsalt.com
Also, we read in Genesis 2:18-23 that God created Eve for Adam because, God said, it was “ ‘not good that man should be alone’ ” (Genesis 2:18, NKJV). Right from the beginning, then, humans were created as social beings. Sociologists today teach that human interaction provides numerous benefits to our physical and mental well-being, while loneliness is a killer.
It is no wonder, then, that after the creation of Eve, Adam exclaimed, “ ‘This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man’ ” (Genesis 2:23, NKJV). The familial structure established by one male and one female joined in matrimony is the first social institution God provided for humans, in order for them to experience wholistic relationship and communion. It is no wonder that one of Satan’s main goals always has been to destroy the fundamental dynamics of the original family.
Read Genesis 1:27-28; Genesis 2:15-17; and Genesis 3:9. What kind of communication existed between God and humans in the Garden of Eden?
Adam and Eve enjoyed face-to-face communion with God. As intelligent beings, they were able to meet with God and to listen to His instructions. As stewards of God’s wonderful garden, they grew in knowledge and skill as they cared for the living flora and fauna. Each day they also had special time with God “in the cool of the day” (Genesis 3:8). The Sabbath day in particular, an essential part of God’s creative act, was to be a specially dedicated time of communion between God and His children (Genesis 2:2-3; Exodus 20:8-11). On that day, our first parents experienced God’s love and care for them in a special way.
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It’s hard for us today, thousands of years from Eden, to imagine what it must have been like before sin. Yet, even now, how does the natural world point back to God’s original creation? |
Adam’s fall was not merely a story of disobedience; it was also a revelation of broken communication. Adam and Eve understood creation, but they failed to sustain communion with the Creator. Adam knew how to name the animals and even recognize Eve, but he failed to remain attentive to the voice of God. The Bible says, “And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it” (Genesis 2:15). The secret of Eden was not simply the trees, rivers, or beauty of the garden—it was the presence and voice of God. The Creator had spoken, given instruction, and established relationship, but humanity chose another voice.
The serpent’s temptation was therefore more than an invitation to eat; it was an invitation to distrust the Creator’s word and live independently of His counsel. God had spoken clearly: “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat” (Genesis 2:16), but humanity allowed another voice to become more convincing than the voice of God. Every fall begins when we elevate our own will above God’s Word. Adam thought dominion could be sustained by authority, but in God’s kingdom, authority is sustained through obedience. We were created not merely to manage creation, but to walk with the Creator, hear His voice, and live in fellowship with Him.
The good news is that what was broken in Eden, Christ came to restore. Sin disrupted humanity’s communion with God, but through Christ, the way back into fellowship has been opened. “In his presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Psalm 16:11). The Creator still speaks, still calls, and still desires to walk with His creation. The true restoration of Eden is not merely returning to a place—it is returning to the presence of God, where His voice becomes our guide, His Word becomes our authority, and communion with Him becomes the centre of our lives.
In the beginning, in the Garden of Eden, God communicated directly, personally, verbally and relationally with the first humans.
Genesis 1:27–28 – God spoke directly to Adam and Eve, blessing them and giving them a purpose: to be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, subdue it, and exercise dominion over creation.
Genesis 2:15–17 – God provided verbal instructions about what to eat and what was prohibited. “…for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” God provided the first moral communication to mankind – what is right and what is wrong.
Genesis 3:9 – God called Adam by name. “Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, ‘Where are you?’” Even after sin, God did not stop communicating with our first parents.
It is important to note the impact of sin on the relationship between God and mankind. Sin immediately disrupted communication between God and humanity. Before the fall, Adam and Eve responded to God’s call in fellowship. But after the fall, however:“Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God…” ( Genesis 3:8). Sin always disrupts the level and quality of communication between God and humanity. All relationships are negatively impacted by sin. Sin is a destroyer of relationships. All around us, we have seen the havoc sin has wreaked upon relationships, particularly marriages.
“Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.” (Isaiah 59:1–2).
In recent years communication has taken a big hit. We can communicate faster and more frequently than ever before. I did a lot of my romancing with Carmel by mail. It took time to read and write letters, and waiting between communications was frustrating. Nowadays we use our cell phones and communicate every few minutes by texting. I know one person who texts his wife to see if dinner is ready when they are just in the next room.
The issue we face is that while we think we are communicating a lot more and a lot faster, we are often missing the point of communication. We are not listening to one another. True communication is not measured by the amount of data sent, but has to include how much data is received and understood. When Carmel and I were courting in different countries, we read every letter, often several times. And I think it helped us to understand one another better.
Edenic communication was face-to-face, and involved not only transmission but reception. The creator and the created were not talking past one another.
In our busy modern world, it makes a lot of sense to take time out for two-way communication with God, talking and listening. And while the focus here is on communication with the Divine, we should also remind ourselves that we could probably benefit in our human relationships if we took time to listen to one another as well.
Adam was formed on the first Sabbath! Genesis 2:4 it is interesting to me cuz I grew up thinking that Eve was created on the first Sabbath with Adam! Study to show thyself approved 👌
It’s pretty clear from Genesis 1 that humans were created on the sixth day prior to the Sabbath. Chapter 2 expands on the creation process – it does not take place after the Sabbath. When God rested on the seventh day, He had finished His work. He was not creating on that Sabbath or subsequent ones.
Communication becoming high tech as a sign of the end times can be extrapolated from what Christ prophesied some 2000 years ago. Men shall run to and fro, knowledge shall increase.
I agree it is not the high tech to fault, it is our neglect of prudent use.
Hello team! Thank you so much for sharing with us such an inspiring message. I have learnt the importance of communicating face to face
Today, even when we are face-to-face, we have a communication breakdown, WHY? Next time you are around people, actively LISTEN to the conversations, many people view a shared story not as information to receive, but as a cue to compete for validation or share their own story.
Philippians 2:3: “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.”
Genesis 2:17 “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”
Genesis 3:1-4
1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
One day, God willing, we will understand what would have happened if Eve had LISTENED to every word God said and refused to listen to the serpent!
Thank you for reminding us that listening is a crucial part of communication with other people and with God.
When you look at how beautiful the earth is today and all Gods work, one could only image the beauty that bestowed on Adam and Eve and the garden and how they must have enjoyed the garden and privalege to have communion directly with God. How wonderful and marvelous such a feeling must have felt to them both and God was pleased.
Question:Even now, how does the natural world point back to God’s original creation?
Even though the Fall brought a curse upon the ground (Genesis 3:17–19), the natural world’s beauty cannot be entirely erased. When we look at:towering mountain ranges, vast, intricate ecosystems, the complexity of DNA and biological life, or the rhythmic cycles of the seasons and oceans, we are looking at the fingerprints of an intentional Creator. Romans 1:20 tells us that God’s “invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made. Nature acts as a megaphone, whispering of an original design that human sin has marred, but not completely obliterated.
I hope that I am not jumping ahead of the lesson, but I am absolutely fascinated by the fact that the God who made a sinless world, with wonderful animals and plants; inclusive of two humans, Adam and Eve ; also made the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil, placed in the Garden and allowed Satan access to it.
I am certain you could imagine with me, that holy, perfect pair, Adam and Eve, in the Garden of Eden without the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil, going about their happy , innocent lives, loving each other and loving God. Why was it important to God to have such “a Tree” in Eden and even worst why allow Satan access to that Tree. After all, before Satan’s fall into sin by jealousy; there is no Biblical record of such a “a Tree” in Heaven.
The question therefore arises how does God measure love and faithfulness? What are the essential ingredients of that love and obedience that is satisfactory to God ? When you have made a world with, two “perfect persons”, over whose creation it says -” And God saw every thing that he had made, and behold, it was very good.” Genesis 1:31 Why still seek to test it?
My appreciation of God encompasses not only what He says but also what He does. Why test what one has already declared perfect: from a human standpoint that makes no sense. The reason being, humans cannot create anything with the ability of absolute Choice {and I used the word “absolute” in this context reluctantly} Even “AI” is programmed to function in a certain manner. Only God has the ability to so do.
What is the point? Clearly sin, disobedience, distrust of God is a mystery when one seeks to understand its origin in the minds of two sinless, perfect people Adam and Eve or even a perfect angel Lucifer. The implications for us who are beings born in sin and in possession of sinful nature cannot be underestimated. One advantage we have ( if it can be called an advantage) is the story of their history.
The challenge as I see it is to continually seeking to press close to Jesus whilst not denying our God given right to think and question. Just yesterday as we sat eating at church after Service; a member shared with me how her husband left the church after reading a book about Ellen White written by one of her critics.
May this quarter’s lesson not only provide us with information that causes us to think but also grow to love and trust our Creator so that even when we encounters areas that we do not fully understand we remain faithful. Job said it so well – “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him:” Job 13:15 KJV
Steve, maybe God didn’t want to allow for a repeat the Lucifer-to-Satan scenario?
Lucifer sinned in the full light of God’s glory, with no easy choice to rebel against God. He had the admiration and loyalty of millions of angels, and he misled them so that they had to be cast out of heaven with him.
God gave Adam and Eve an easy and obvious choice, and they failed to trust Him even in that. As a result, they had to learn to trust Him in in less favorable circumstances. Heaven will finally be repopulated by people who chose to serve God in the most difficult circumstances. Everyone will know the cost of sin and rebellion, and, knowing this, they will be immune to ever choosing against God.
There’s probably another reason: a challenge tied to Lucifer’s original rebellion. I’m sure He would have said Adam and Eve served God only because they had no other choice. And God wanted them to serve Him by choice, because only people who can genuinely choose can genuinely love.
As it is, heaven will be secure against rebellion for eternity. There was no other way, or God would have chosen it.
God created this world in 6 days and rested on the 7th day. There were many generations before Noah built the ark. After the flood there were several generations before Moses. All this time no recorded history of our world. It was communicated father to family and retold, adding as time went on. I believe God inspired and directed Moses in the first recorded history of our world. We think we need electronics to communicate, God’s way ‘to pass it on’ is the best.
How do we communicate with our God who tells us that we have been created in Their Image? Does ‘Their” refer to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – Triune God? If so, can we conclude that the Image of God is within us, the same Image that created us to have our existence/being in and by Them?
We believe to have been created in their Image. Could this be understood that we are created with the capacity to love and understand our Creator, having the ability to be like Him? After all, in our born-again state we are called upon to worship/communicate with God in Spirit and Truth! John 4:23-24.
If ‘Spirit and Truth’ is the form in which we communicate with God, then the capasity to do so must have been given to us at Creation as part of His Image, but distorted/lost when our first parents followed the voice of a different spirit. Is this not why God send His Son – to restore His Image within us and so enable us to worship Him -, fellowshipping with Him in Spirit and Truth again?
Having been given Grace to have our being in Him through His Son, does this not infer that our communication with the Father – Son – and Holy Spirit has been restored? Do we not now come to the Father through the Son’s willingness to be the Restorer of our relationship with Them?
Adam and Eve enjoyed a full, all-encompassing, spiritual relationship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It was given to man to live life inspired and guided by/in/through Them. The Image in which we were created remained within us. The capacity to know and be known by our Creator has been restored by Jesus Christ, our Savior. Our capacity to love and worship – have our Life – in God’s Spirit and Truth is being restored in Jesus Christ. John 4:24.
Oneness in Spirit, Truth, and Purpose – glorifying God by living/being His Image on this earth. We have always been loved, cared for and given the capacity to understand who we are and Who created us. His Image is being restored in all who have given their heart and life to Jesus Christ – being born-again to become one with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – to forever stay in communication with Them. Matt.11:25-30; John 16:8; 2 Peter 1:21; Acts 1:8; John 16:13; Rom.8:26-27;
Today, we saw the sunrise at a beautiful park in the city. Although urban growth seems prevalent, it’s wonderful to recognize beautiful things, like grass carp feeding in a school of fish early in the morning. Then there are different birds: a grebe, a southern lapwing, a great kiskadee, a heron, and a hawk. No human mind will ever be able to create such diverse and complex living creatures.
Amen to this. However, animals that “Bond” with humans, like “My two Cats,” and especially one of them; allows herself to be stroked and petted. The other one just stays at a distance at all times except when she is fed. I find more “Beauty” in these two cats than in animals that are always at a significant distance to even come as close as “My Two Cats.” But “Scripture” does indicate that we will “Bond” to those creatures in God’s “New Earth,” that are now “Fierce and deadly” to get too close to them now.
In all my 61 years of my Seventh Day Adventist Journey, I have never studied Genesis 1 and 2 the way I have this time around. It is very interesting as to how Chapter 1 indicates that God created “Light” and divided “The light from the darkness,” on the first 24 hour period. But then, on “The 4th 24 hour period,” it says that God created “The Sun Moon and Stars” on this 24 hour period to essentially “Govern the 24 hour periods of the nights and the days. My question here is, “How can God create “Light” and divide the light from Darkness on “The First Day, But allow “Four” of these 24 hour periods to pass before he Then “Creates the Space Objects that actually “Divide the light from the Darkness?” Then Chapter 1 indicates that on the fifth 24 hour period He creates “Sea Life and Birds (Out of the Waters.)” But then in Chapter 2:19 It says there that God Formed every beast of the field, and every foul of the air, “Out of the Ground?”
Pete, some of those questions are for God after the resurrection. 😊 (In my 67 years in the church, I have had time to think about this and hear some helpful explanations.)
In the meantime, keep in mind that God’s presence is, in itself, light. Furthermore, if the sun, moon, and stars existed without God creating the physical phenomenon of light, we would not be able to see them.
Even when we cannot understand exactly why God did things in the order He did them, we can be very sure the sequence was well planned, as are all God’s works.
Please read the first two chapters of Genesis again, remembering that there were no chapter divisions in the original.
As I understand it, God did not dictate Genesis to Moses, but Moses was guided by the Holy Spirit to write down the creation stories that had been handed down from generation to generation since creation, preserved by the family of Noah during the flood.
Note what Genesis 2:4 NIV says. “This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created,” I see that as the end of the main creation account, because the next part of the verse says nothing new.
Bible versions differ in where they set the break between one story and the next one. I think that the CEV, which puts the break in the middle of Gen. 2:5, makes a lot of sense:
For sure, Genesis 2:5 is a new story, giving more detail about the Garden of Eden and the creation of Adam and Eve. This circling back to a previous time and adding more detail is a common literary device even in current literature.
I think the KJV is the most confusing translation. The NASB, known for being a highly accurate formal translation, is better:
It allows for the explanation that I have heard: The account is here referring to cultivated shrubs, such as those found in an orchard, and cultivated herbs “of the field.” God probably planted those in the Garden.
Then the account goes on to describe God’s original irrigation system and a more detailed account of the creation of humans (Hebrew “adam”).
For all interested in the relationship between Genesis 1 and 2 I would like to recommend the book “Exploring the Genesis Story” by Dr. Randall Younker. The concepts are probably in a YouTube video somewhere which is where I first found them several years ago. He is a biologist, a linguist, a theologian and by profession an archeologist. He made everything make sense for the first time.
Thanks, Jo Lynne. Can you tell us a little about what you learned in the book?
Thanks a lot for all your submissions team. Am learning a lot from this platform. Actually it’s important to know in our modern world that communication is a two way traffic much as we may desire and communicate to God, it’s so important to always be still and silent to hear God’s voice in our lives. He does talk to us every minute. “Be still and know that I am God..” Psalm 46:10. Blessings
How does the natural world point back to our world before sin? If the natural world is us living human beings, I would say remembering the Seventh day Sabbath. Now if we change that question to, how does nature in our times point back to God’s original creation, then the question has already been answered in the blog. Genesis 2:2-3.
The first “not good” in the Bible (Gen. 2:18) was not sin, but isolation. God’s remedy was relationship, reflecting His own relational nature. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit exist in perfect fellowship, so humanity was created for meaningful wholistic relationships with God and with one another.
Amen amen amen keep on going