Chrism

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. (Gen. 2:7)

• We are the creation of God, and we have in us a living soul granted to us by God.
• Unlike other creatures that were “made” or “created,” God “formed” man according to his own image. 
• We were made from dust of the ground; for we are clay, and God the potter. 
• Although our bodies are earthly, made from the earth, our souls are the breath of heaven coming immediately from God. 
• Therefore instead of cleaving to earthly matters, let us commit our spirits to God, for from His hand we had them. 

Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. (Gen. 2:15)

• God appointed Adam business and employment. Paradise did not exempt Adam from working as he was told to tend and keep the garden and name and care for the animals.
• We were not sent to this earth by God to be lazy, instead God gave us this earth for our habitation and to work on. 
• Our work should first of all serve God and also serve our generation and people on this earth.

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. (Gen. 2:17)

• God is a law-maker, and he gave Adam a law to test his obedience. 
• Breaking of the law also included a penalty. The penalty of death. 

And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. (Gen. 2:18)

• God pities our solitude and encourages society. He created us sociable creatures and he knows it is our pleasure to share knowledge and affection with our own kind.
• Even when we are at our best, we still need people in our lives that can help us and support us as Eve was created to be there for Adam. 
• We must therefore be glad to give help and to receive it from others. 

Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. (Gen. 2:24)

• Marriage is honorable. As they say marriages are made in heaven, and the marriage of Adam to Eve certainly was because God specifically made Eve for Adam. 
• God, as Eve’s father, brought her to the man, as his second self, and a companion to him.
• The bond of marriage is so strong, that man is supposed to leave everything and become one body with his wife. 

And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? (Gen. 3:11)

• God knew Adam’s sin, just as he knows all our sins, yet he asked Adam for a simple confession. 
• This is not so that we may inform God of our sins, as he already knows, but that we may be humbled in confessing our wrongs. 

And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;   Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. (Gen. 3:17-19)

• God passes the sentence upon Adam.
• The ground is cursed and Adam cannot live from the delicacies of Paradise anymore but instead must toil with his own hands to eat. 
• Adam’s life is also shortened because of the hardship that he will endure, and he will return to the same earth that he was made of by the hands of God.

Oh Lord, You saved our father, Adam, from the seduction, and delivered our mother, Eve, from the pangs of death, and gave us the spirit of sonship. Let us, therefore, praise You and bless You saying: Glory to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

– Summary and Excerpts from Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Old Testament

 Image by John Paul Stanley / YoPlace.com.