John 1: 1-3
In the beginning was the Word [Christ], and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
Col 1:16
For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.
Gen 1:25-27
God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good. Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
Narrative
Everything was good with man, and between man and God. God provided all their needs. Continual fellowship with God was their joy. God had given them everything they needed for complete fulfillment. He cared for them as a loving mother would her newborn baby:
Gen 1:28-31
God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth." Then God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food"; and it was so.
Gen 2:25
God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
Man rebels against God’s authority
Narrative
Although Adam and Eve were created in the image of God, they were not God, so they were required to live in total dependence on God. Therefore Satan longed to see Adam and Eve rebel against God, seeking independence of Him, just as he had done, so that they would die spiritually. God had told Adam and Eve:
Gen 2:16,17
"From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die."
Narrative
Satan lied to Eve about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and both she and Adam fell for it. They picked from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in an attempt to live independent of God--in control, on their own--and to seek fulfillment apart from Him:
Gen 3:1-6
Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?"
The woman said to the serpent, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.'"
The serpent said to the woman, "You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
