Designed on Purpose for Purpose

Gen 1:26, 27 "And God said, Let Us make man . . . So, God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them." In the Book of Beginnings, we read that the Lord God made man for dominion over all His creation. He was pleased with His design, flourishing and ready to sustain life. But the man He created had no one of his kind, so He fashioned a woman for him from one of his ribs, one who would be his help. God put Adam and Eve in Eden's garden, walked and talked with them, and told them to be fruitful and multiply.

Adam's duty was to dress and keep the garden. It wasn't a challenging task with Eve alongside him since God watered it by a mist from the ground and the river that ran through it, and in God's paradise, there were no weeds or pests. But one day, they lingered near the only tree God forbade them to eat of, listened to, and yielded to the lying serpent. Because they disobeyed their Creator's one command, wanting more than what He provided and knew they needed, God drove them out of the garden, forbidding their return.

Adam and Eve began replenishing the earth, starting with two sons, Cain and Abel. Cain was a farmer; Abel, a keeper of sheep, the family each doing what was needful in the world outside of paradise. We can busy ourselves with purpose but walking outside God's perfect design causes reactions our Creator never intended us to experience—shame, separation, suffering, pain, grief. The couple's lust for more led to banishment from God's presence; Cain killed Abel out of jealousy and forever bore the mark of God's disfavor. God planned your blueprint and mine for His purposes, and although life carries ups and downs that can shape us, altering His divine design for living never ends well. And though God offers love, mercy, forgiveness, and do-overs, consequences for disobedience don't disappear.