What are the Four Gifts of Life?

In the beginning, as recorded in the book of Genesis, God gave mankind four gifts at creation.  The first gift was the gift of fellowship with God, or as defined in other sections, Eternal Life.  Adam and Eve fellowshipped with God in the garden.  God would walk in the garden in order to be with his creation.  Adam and Eve knew the sound of the Lord as He would walk through the garden.

“Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.  But the Lord God called to the man, ‘Where are you?’ ”  Genesis 3:8-9  (Moses expresses that first man and woman were very familiar with the presence of God in their world and because of their sin, they were ashamed of what they had done in disobeying Him and thus hid from God's presence.  Because of His incredible love for them, God sought them out and confronted them personally.  He spoke directly to them and asked them to explain why their fellowship with Him was hindered.)

The second gift was the gift of intimacy.  The ability of the man and the woman to relate to each other in a joyful, loving & intimate way and thus reproduce themselves in the earth.  This gift also included the pure relationships that man and woman can have with other human beings.

“God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number;’ ” Genesis 1:28   (Moses expresses that God blessed man and woman, He gave them an ability to relate to each other like no other creature that He had created.  And in that relationship, they would be given the privilege, the honor and the responsibility to be fruitful, prosperous and to create more life and all the joys that having a family would bring to their union with each other.  Their intimacy, their knowing each other in the most personal way could bring God's miraculous power of creation into their world and a life would be created for eternity.  The giving of themselves to each other would release a spiritual, emotional and physical pleasure that would satisfy the longings and desires that He had placed in their hearts for each other, as well as those desires that He had placed in their hearts to create other beings in His image for His glory and His character to be revealed to all of creation.)

The third gift was the gift of authority.  The dominion and stewardship of the seas, the 1st heavens & the earth, and everything in them was given to man and woman.

“fill the earth and subdue it.  Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”  Genesis 1:28   (Moses expresses that God gave man and woman authority over the earth, the world that He had created just for them.  They were not co-equals with all of creation, but were made to fill the earth, subdue it and rule over every living creature.  God created a tremendous world of incredible landscapes and powerful creatures, but He placed man at the top of it all, wherein he was given responsibility to preserve it for future generations as well as tame it for what he needed to survive and thrive.  Man was also given charge to rule over other living creations, not destroy them for his own purposes.  It was after the time of Noah, in a radically altered world, that God had to give other living creatures to man and woman for food.  God placed all of creation into the care of man and woman because He had designed and fashioned them with the abilities to do what was best for all of creation.)

The fourth gift was the gift of resources.  All the earth was given to man and woman to supply for the basic needs of his life.

“Then God said, ‘I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it.  They will be yours for food.’ ” Genesis 1:29   (Moses expresses that God gave man and woman every seed-bearing plant and every fruit seed tree on the earth for them to survive and thrive.   They could consume such plants and fruits, since the seed could be planted again and they would never experience any lack for themselves or future generations.   Again, God created the world for man and woman, not man and woman for the world.   He purposefully designed creation to sustain and provide for them and their families for thousands of generations.)

“The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.”  Genesis 2:15   (Moses expresses that God even created a very special place in the earth for man and woman to live, where all that they needed would be supplied.  He even gave them the responsibility to work in this area and to care for it in such a way that it would be able to continue to provide for them in every way.  In the vast creation of the universe, God selected an area that would be their home, a place where they would enjoy and find pleasure in working.  In fact, work was established before the Fall of Man, and it was a blessed thing to do and be, rather than just sitting around and doing nothing but playing, sleeping and eating.   They were given a specific purpose in life, in addition to being in a perfect relationship with their Creator and God.)

“Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.”  Genesis 9:3  (Moses expresses that after the Judgment of Noah's Flood, God had to extend His gift of resources to include living creatures into man's diet.  No longer could they live just on plants and fruits, but the post-flood environment would cause such to be limited in certain areas and thus man had to get nourishment from the flesh of animals.  Prior to the Flood, the planet was surrounded by a water canopy in the upper atmosphere that shielded the earth from cosmic radiation and caused a uniform temperature to allow plants and animals to thrive throughout the entire earth, North & South, East & West.  After the Flood, this water canopy was now on the planet, frozen at the North and South poles, wherein all creatures and plants no longer grew to incredibility huge sizes and now the earth would experience intense changes in temperatures and winds thus causing storms and droughts, and more intense seasons throughout the middle portion of the planet at various distances from the earth's equator.) 

When a gift is given to someone, they are usually free to use it in any way they desire.  When God gave these gifts to the first man and woman, He did not articulate detailed instructions as to how they were to utilize these gifts.  Because of His relationship with Adam and Eve, they were able to experience eternal life on a daily basis with God helping them to perfectly utilize the gifts of intimacy, authority and resources.  His presence would guide their every thought, every word, every action.  The life of God would just flow through them and they would know what to think, say and do to bring about the fullness and blessing God created within each gift.  But such an experience of life by Adam and Eve required complete surrender to God’s presence, His thoughts, His words, His actions.  Such required Eternal Life (knowing God) operating throughout the gifts of intimacy, authority and resources.  Otherwise, they would not experience the fullness of the life that He created for them.

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