When you think about being a successful man, you might not immediately think of Adam. You know, Adam, the first man? I mean, he ignored God, fell into sin, lost his job, got evicted from his home, and one of his sons murdered the other! Doesn’t seem to be a very good model for manhood. Yet, if we carefully look at Genesis 2, we can learn 4 lessons from Adam’s example.

Lesson #1: A Man Listens

Genesis 2:16-17 (ESV)

And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

When we first meet Adam in Genesis 2, God places him in the garden of Eden. Having placed him there, God then speaks to Adam. Adam’s first action, then, is to listen to God. Thus, we conclude that a man listens to God.

Consider Adam. Created as an adult, he has neither father nor grandfather to learn from. He has absolutely no idea what it is to be a man. The only one who can teach Adam is his Creator. It is no different for us. While we have role models even the best role model is imperfect. We cannot possibly learn everything we need to from them. Instead we need to listen to our Creator.

Lesson #2: A Man Labors

Genesis 2:15 (ESV)

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.

Listening may be Adam’s first action, but it is not his only action. Genesis 2:15 informs us Adam is in the garden “to work it and to keep it.” Here is our second lesson: a man labors. God didn’t create us for a life of leisure, but for a life of labor. We were created to work. We were created to work because God works.

In Genesis 1, God works. He works to create the universe. Having completed His work, Genesis 2:2 reveals, God rests. So, creating Adam to work is just one-way God created man to reflect His glory. Adam’s work in caring for creation continues God’s work in establishing creation. Of course, we can also look to the examples of others. Jesus worked as a Carpenter, Simon-Peter as a Fisherman, and Paul of Tarsus as a Tentmaker. God works, Adam works, and the great men of the faith work. Certainly work is important.

Lesson #3: A Man Loves

Genesis 2:24 (ESV)

Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

God created Eve to complement Adam. He brought her to Adam, for Adam to love. Hence, lesson number three: A man loves. While Genesis 2:24 may be specific to marriage, Jesus doesn’t let the unmarried off the hook.

The two great commandments are both about love. Loving God supremely and loving others sacrificially, Jesus teaches, summarize the entire law. So man loves God first, but a man also loves others. His love for them is shaped by his maleness, but it is love nonetheless.

We love, Scripture teaches us, because God is love. Just as God works, so, too, does God love. He created man to labor, and he also created man to love. A man cannot find fulfillment apart from loving other people. While this may be most clearly seen in marriage, it is equally true for the unmarried. This is why men need relationships with other men. We may not use the word, ‘love,’ in those relationships (although you should), but they are expressions of love.

Lesson #4: A Man Leads

Genesis 3:1 (ESV)

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”

The serpent comes to tempt the woman. But, hold on a second! God didn’t tell the woman to avoid the fruit. According to Genesis 2:16, 17, God told Adam. Eve wasn’t even created yet! How did Eve even hear about God’s command? She heard about it from Adam.

Adam was supposed to lead her. In this case, he was to teach her God’s command: to eat of any tree in the garden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Certainly Eve heard this command, yet Adam followed her into sin instead of leading her into righteousness.

A man leads. A man leads his family. A man leads his friends. A man leads at school. A man leads at work. There are different spheres of life, each requiring a different kind of leadership—but in them all, a man leads.