GOD PLANTED A GARDEN

Genesis 2:4-25

Key verse: 2:8

"Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed."

* MAN AND THE GARDEN (4-14)

1. With which day of creation does chapter 2 seem to be primarily concerned? How does verse 5 lead up to the creation of man?
2. How did God create man? (7) What does the fact that we are created from the dust of the ground suggest? What is the source of man's life and value? What does it mean to be a living being?
3. Describe the garden which God planted for man. (8-14) How did God provide for man's happiness? What does God's provision in verses 8 and 9 suggest about man's nature and needs?

* ADAM'S BIBLE (15-17)

1. What work did God give man to do in the garden? How does this relate to man's mission in 1:28? Why is it significant that God commanded man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden..."? Why did God want man to be thankful?
2. How does God's command, "You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil," establish spiritual order? How does it make real freedom possible? Why are these things necessary for man's happiness? What were the consequences about which God warned man?

* GOD ESTABLISHES THE FAMILY (18-25)

1. How did God provide a co-worker for Adam? Why could no suitable helper be found among the animals, and why is the woman suitable? How did Adam receive her? What does this suggest about spiritual order in the family? About the family and God's mission?
2. How does God confirm and establish the family? What commitment must man make to his wife? What does it mean that they become one flesh? (See Mk 10:6-9) What does verse 25 suggest about their relationship?

• What does this chapter teach us about God? What do people really need to be happy?