Hi Gerry,
Thanks much Kat.
I would like to try to respond from a different position. Why did/does God operate the way He does?
Scripture shows us a lot about how God operates and reasons are often given, but many seem to be hidden and difficult to understand. The apostle Paul taught that mysteries or "spiritual secrets" were being revealed in this end time through him, Paul, mysteries that God had kept secret since the beginning of creation until Lord Jesus revealed them to Paul.
There is much to explore on that topic.
But for this one point it seems obvious to say that God does things in order. God has a plan that includes some of the created order in the planning stage. Of course we understand that God does not prefer one person above another in love for people, but that does not mean that everyone has the same assignment.
God chose women to bear new life and deliver that life into the world.
God chose Joseph to be the functioning human parent of Lord Jesus without asking first.
God chose Mary, espoused to Joseph, to conceive a child by God's spirit without asking her permission.
God chose Judas Iscariot to betray Jesus to the priests without asking Judas' permission.
God has and is choosing thousands and thousands to become His elect without asking permission or even cooperation from those called, chosen and elect. We are in effect drafted (dragged) into God's service! To become teachers and leaders.
Does God love any of them/us more than another? No God does not. However, God has a job, a task for each to perform.
Someone had to live without sin and bear the sins of the world. God provided that man, the ONLY begotten son.
Someone had to be first so others could come into the knowledge of God's plan later. For there to be students, there first had to be teachers prepared to teach.
Adam and Eve had to have many children so that the redeemer could be begotten/born out of that blood line 4 thousand years later.
What it all boils down to is something like the following:
God could I suppose have created a billion neuter/sexless persons all at once on the earth and let them have a life experience and then grant them immortality at the end of their life.
Instead, God began with one couple and let them reproduce and live with children and teach those children etc etc.
So in that way, God permitted the first couple and all subsequent couples to participate in the creation process.
Each couple came to know and understand that they were creating NEW LIFE that was destined to immortality. And to carry on the process of creating new persons to serve God.
Of course they didn't understand much of God's plan at that time, but they learned through a process of growth, exploration and discovery to keep their lives interesting and stimulating.
Imagine any new couple, the first or even a modern couple, watching a baby grow in her womb and move and finally be delivered into the parents excited loving hands. Imagine nursing the child for several months with that being its only sustenance, directly from mother to child and watching it gain weight and begin to respond to its environment more and more each day. That in itself is a miracle.
Then God provided a beautiful garden full of food for us to live in. Later we discovered materials to build our own homes and utensils for daily living out of the materials of the earth itself. All planned and provided before mankind was put here.
This is just a brief example of what God is doing with each one of us, all in good time. Sharing HIS creating process with us and actually showing us in a practical way how He will share all the creation with us eventually as his own begotten children when we are changed to be like our master, the Lord Jesus.
Meanwhile we live and have our being IN HIM and enjoy living in this EDEN called earth which is being sustained moment to moment by God's sovereign power and authority.
There is so much more to explore on this subject and I'm sure Ray Smith kept these things in his heart as he explored and recorded all that God gave him to understand. Kat has access to it all and is able to share with us. So please keep asking and searching the scripture for evidence and pleading for God's gift of understanding.
Indiana Bob (correction invited)