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The Beginning of the End
appetites and passions were under the control of reason. They were
holy and happy in bearing the image of God and in perfectly obeying
His will.
[13]
As our first parents came forth from the hand of their Creator,
their faces glowed with the light of life and joy. Adam’s height was
much greater than that of men now living. Eve was somewhat less
tall, yet her form was noble and full of beauty. The sinless pair wore
no artificial garments; they were clothed with a covering of light
such as the angels wear.
The First Marriage
After the creation of Adam, “God said, ‘It is not good that man
should be alone; I will make a helper comparable to him.’” God gave
Adam a companion fitted for him, who would be one with him in
love and sympathy. Eve was created from a rib taken from Adam’s
side. 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,
loved and protected by him. She was his second self, showing the
close union that should exist in this relationship. “For no one ever
hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it.” “Therefore a
man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and
they shall become one” (
Ephesians 5:29
;
Genesis 2:24
).
“Marriage is honorable” (
Hebrews 13:4
). 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, marriage is a blessing; it guards the purity and happiness of
the race and elevates the physical, intellectual, and moral nature.
“The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He
put the man whom He had formed.” Trees of every variety were in
this garden, many of them heavy with delicious fruit. There were
lovely vines, growing upright, their branches drooping under their
load of tempting fruit. It was the work of Adam and Eve to train
the branches of the vine to form bowers, thus making a home for
themselves from living trees covered with foliage and fruit. In the
middle of the garden stood the tree of life, surpassing in glory all
other trees. Its fruit had the power to sustain life forever.