In the very, very beginning, before there was anything at all, there was God.
And God made the whole world.
He made the bright sun to shine in the day and the gentle moon to glow at night. He scattered the stars across the sky like sparkling seeds. He made the wide blue seas and the high green mountains. He made the trees and the flowers, the rivers and the rain.
Then God filled the world with living things. He made the fish that swim and the birds that fly. He made the big slow elephants and the tiny busy ants, the lions and the lambs, the butterflies and the bumblebees. And God looked at everything He had made, and He saw that it was very good.
But the most wonderful thing of all came last.
God wanted to make someone who could know Him and love Him — someone who could be His friend.
So God bent down and gathered up the soft dust of the earth, and with His own hands He shaped the very first man. Then God breathed into him the breath of life — and the man opened his eyes, and sat up, and was alive! God named him Adam.
Then God planted a beautiful garden, far in the east, and it was called Eden. It was the loveliest place that has ever been. Cool rivers wound between the trees. Fruit hung sweet and ripe on every branch. The flowers never wilted, and the air was always warm and soft. And God placed Adam there, to care for the garden and to enjoy it.
God brought all the animals to Adam, one by one, so that Adam could give each of them a name. "You shall be called 'horse,'" said Adam, "and you 'rabbit,' and you 'owl.'" And whatever Adam called each animal, that became its name.
But even with all the animals, Adam was the only one of his kind. So God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper, a companion, just right for him."
And so God caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep. And while Adam slept, God gently took a rib from his side, and from it He made the first woman. When Adam woke and saw her, his heart was filled with joy. "At last!" he said. "Someone like me!" Her name was Eve. And Adam and Eve were husband and wife, the very first family in all the world.
Adam and Eve were perfectly happy in the garden. They walked with God in the cool of the evening, and they were His friends. They were not afraid of anything, and nothing could hurt them.
God gave them just one rule. Only one.
In the middle of the garden grew a special tree. And God said to them, "You may eat from any tree in the whole garden — any tree you like! Only do not eat from this one tree in the middle. For if you do, everything will change, and sorrow and death will come into the world."
It was not a hard rule. There were so many other trees, full of delicious fruit. All Adam and Eve had to do was trust God and obey His one loving command.
But there was someone in the garden who did not want Adam and Eve to be happy.
It was a sly and crafty serpent. And the serpent came slithering up to Eve one day, close to the special tree.
"Did God really say you must not eat from this tree?" the serpent whispered.
"We may eat from all the other trees," said Eve. "But God said we must not eat from this one, or we will surely die."
"Oh, you won't die," hissed the serpent, telling a lie. "God just doesn't want you to eat it because then you would become wise, like Him. Go on. Taste it."
Eve looked at the tree. The fruit did look good. And the serpent's words sounded so clever. She forgot how much God loved her. She forgot His one gentle rule. She reached out, and she took the fruit, and she ate it. And she gave some to Adam, and he ate it too.
And in that very moment, everything changed.
Suddenly, Adam and Eve felt something they had never felt before. They felt afraid. They felt ashamed. They had done the one thing God had asked them not to do, and now their hearts were heavy and sad.
That evening, they heard the sound of God walking in the garden, the way He always did. But this time, instead of running to meet Him, Adam and Eve hid themselves among the trees.
"Where are you?" God called gently.
"I heard You coming," said Adam, "and I was afraid, so I hid."
God already knew what had happened, but He wanted Adam to tell the truth. "Did you eat from the tree I told you not to eat from?"
"The woman gave me the fruit," said Adam.
"The serpent tricked me," said Eve.
It was a sad, sad day. Because they had not trusted God, Adam and Eve could no longer stay in the beautiful garden. They would have to go out into the wide world, where there would be hard work, and thorns, and tiredness, and one day, even death. With great sorrow, they left the garden of Eden behind.
But here is the most important part of the story — and it is full of hope.
Even though Adam and Eve had disobeyed Him, God did not stop loving them. Not for one single moment.
Before they left the garden, God Himself made warm clothes for them, to keep them safe in the cold world outside. He cared for them still, like a father who loves his children even when they have done wrong.
And God made them a wonderful promise. He promised that one day, He would send a Saviour — Someone who would come to make everything right again. Someone who would open the gates of heaven and bring people back to God. And that promise came true, long, long afterward, when the Lord Jesus Christ was born.
So even on that sad day at the beginning of the world, God's love was already shining, like a tiny light in the dark, promising that one day everything broken would be made new.
That is the story of the garden that God made, and the first man and the first woman who lived there.
It teaches us something we can remember every day. When God gives us something to do, or asks us not to do something, it is always because He loves us, and He knows what is best for us. Trusting Him and obeying Him keeps us close to Him and keeps us safe.
And it teaches us something even more wonderful. No matter what we do, God never stops loving us. When we make a mistake, we do not need to hide from Him like Adam and Eve did. We can run to Him, and tell Him we are sorry, and He will always, always welcome us back — with arms open wide.
For God loved the world from the very beginning. And He loves you, too.
The story of Adam and Eve is told at the very beginning of the Bible, in the Book of Genesis, chapters 1 to 3. The promise God made — to send a Saviour — was kept when our Lord Jesus Christ was born to bring all people back home to God.