Genesis 2:15-25 “They Shall Become One Flesh”
Genesis • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 2 viewsMarriage is a gift from God and in this passage we see God's original design of God making male and female... and two becoming one flesh.
Notes
Transcript
Good Evening, Calvary Chapel Lake City!
Please turn in your Bibles to the Book of Genesis. Genesis 2:15-25 tonight.
We are in the book of origins… six days God created all of the heavens and the earth and on the seventh day He rested… He ceased from His created work.
We find ourselves tonight looking back upon day six… the climatic day of creation where God made man in His image and likeness.
We read in V7 “the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.”
We pick up tonight where man… Hebrew “Adam”… is in Eden…
Eden… which was described in vv 8-14…
Many trees bearing fruit and beauty…
The tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil were specifically named…
A river went out of Eden to water the garden and parted becoming four rivers.
Where Eden was exactly, we cannot say… there’s scholarly speculations… we get some sense of possibly a Middle East geography…
BUT, Genesis 2 was Antediluvian… it was “before the deluge”… the worldwide flood described in Genesis 6-8…
A flood that completely changed the original topography of the earth… and may have even destroyed the Garden of Eden…
And, even if you could find Eden… at the end of Genesis 3… cherubim (plural) and a flaming sword that turns every way… guards the way to the tree of life.
We don’t know how many cherubs, but there are many artistic renditions of that scene online picturing at least two cherubs.
And, you don’t want to mess with cherubs… 4 heads, 4 wings…
NOT to be confused with the little chubby babies with wings… those are cupids… which the Bible doesn’t know… cupids are mythology.
Anyhow… tonight… we pick up in V15 of Chapter 2 of Genesis…
And, we get a glimpse of the original design and origin of Marriage…
Beautiful verses… in a message titled, “They Shall Become One Flesh”…
Or… the alternative title… “Marriage.”
Let’s Pray!
In reverence for God’s word, please stand as I read our passage.
Genesis 2:15-25 “Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 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.”
18 And the LORD God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” 19 Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.
21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22 Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.
23 And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.”
24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.”
Praise God for His word! Please be seated.
In V15… the “LORD God”… Yahweh Elohim… took man… Adam and interesting… “put him” in the garden.
The words “put him” (New King James)… some translations read “placed him”… the Hebrew is yânach… meaning “settle down or deposit”…
It denotes Adam’s purpose which was assigned by God.
He was not just there to “tend and keep” or “cultivate and watch over”…
Not from thorns and thistles… those didn’t come from after the curse.
Fertile ground like we’ve never known would produce lush vegetation that would need to be managed.
And, GOD assigned this task to Adam… this work was his spiritual service to God.
Adam was assigned a job… even in the perfect world… in paradise there was work to be done.
Adam didn’t just frolic through the garden… and lay around idle all day…
When perfection is restored and we enter into eternity… there will be work…
Revelation 22:3 declares, “And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him.”
When the curse is lifted… ‘His servants shall serve Him.’ That’s us!
There’s work to be done. There’s service to the Lord… which can manifest itself in very ordinary ways… in very ordinary jobs.
Even for Jesus… Messiah incarnate… there was work to be done… and Jesus had an ordinary job…
Prior to the work of ministry, Jesus was placed at a specific time… to a specific family… in a specific location… and was a carpenter.
He made tables… he fixed tools… he labored with His hands.
And, before Jesus ever launched into ministry… before any recorded healings… or significant teachings…
At Jesus’ baptism… do you remember the words of the Father? … “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
The Father was well pleased with His Son… whom had only shown faithfulness in carpentry to date.
Jesus must have done some of the finest work in all of Nazareth.
I think sometimes we forget that ordinary jobs can serve the Lord…
To clarify what I mean by an ordinary job… I’m talking about a secular career… like a professional position… a trade… meaning you’re not a Pastor… you’re not a missionary… you’re not working for a para-ministry…
And, in your day-to-day job… if God led you there… He has a purpose for you… and you can serve the Lord in your job.
You might be working in a factory… or working in a hospital… and you’ve got tasks to do…
But, just like Adam… we are also to “tend and to keep”… to cultivate and watch over the soil.
Maybe not the soil of agriculture, but certainly the soil of people’s hearts…
There is soil all around you… and you have the seed… the word of God… which you can sew wherever you go… and where you have been placed.
Your place of employment… or your neighborhood… or when you’re out in the world… these can be a mission fields of building relationships… and your faithful work brings glory to God.
Paul… addressing Christians whom he called bondservants…
He commanded obedience to their master… with sincerity of heart… revering God…
And, then famously in Col 3:23-24 he wrote, “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.”
Tend and keep… faithfully.
Well… back in Eden… beginning in V16… we read the first use of the word “commanded”… and this first command pertained to life and death.
The command from God to Adam… was permission to eat from every tree in the Garden… the Tree of Life and all the other beautiful fruit bearing trees…
… which would have been unimaginable in their beauty…
… the fruit… you think you know what an apple tastes like… you have NO idea.
In the United States… I skip eating Mangoes… and I love mangoes. BUT… you haven’t tasted a Mango until you’ve eaten one fresh in the Philippines.
The Philippines ruined me from eating mangoes anywhere else. They might be good in California, because California has some pretty amazing fruits.
Lot’s of fruits and nuts in California they say.
Avocados… best I ever had came fresh… grown in California.
Nutty… flavorful.
And, even then… the Filipino Mangoes… and the California Avocados… they would be NOTHING compared to Eden.
Because Eden was perfection… Eden was without corruption…
Man walked with God… face to face…
And, Adam had permission to eat from all the trees except for one… God laid out just a single prohibition… God said in vv 16-17… and pay attention to the why behind the prohibition…
The LORD God says, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 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.”
Freely eat except for one tree… why??? It was a test… it tested man’s love for God… and whether man would obey God’s one command.
Adam was a free moral agent… and not a programmed robot… and true love is given by choice, NOT by force.
Forcing a person to love you causes resentment and hate.
And, true love is based on trust. Would Adam exercise trust in God’s command… or would he disobey?
Dr. Henry Morris reflecting on this moment wrote, “This was the simplest imaginable test of man’s attitude toward his Creator. Would he “trust and obey” because he loved the one who had shown such love for him; or would he doubt God’s goodness and resent His control, rejecting and disobeying His word on even such an apparently trivial restriction as one forbidden fruit in a whole paradise of abundant provision?”
Sadly, we know what Adam chose.
This command by God was concerned with Adam knowing good and evil… and with Adam dying.
It’s not that the eating of the tree would impart magical knowledge to Adam… where upon eating he would know good and evil.
Adam already knew good… for he knew God.
When Jesus was called “Good Teacher”… Jesus replied, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.”
Adam knew good already.
It’s not recorded that he had encountered evil yet… but through disobedience to this first command, he would know evil… for his disobedience was just that- it was evil.
Evil means “disagreeable” and what is disagreeable to God is ethically evil.
To reject God’s command… it to reject God’s word… it’s disobedience to His will… by def.… this is evil.
Adam would know evil because upon breaking God’s command, Adam participated in evil.
Knowledge of evil came not by intuitive knowledge, but by experiential knowledge.
In disobedience to God, Adam walked the evil road, and now knew what evil was.
To date… evil was not in the world… except in the presence of Satan… but the world was not cursed…
But Adam would eat… and just like God said… on that day Adam would die.
The warning “you shall surely die” lit. could be read, “Dying you shall die.”
And, I think in that phrasing you get the sense of instantaneous spiritual death and progressive physical death.
Not instantaneous physical death… not take a bite of the apple and keel over dead because it was laced with cyanide… that didn’t happen.
Adam lived 930 years according to Gen 5:3… but physical death… progressive physical death was introduced into the world… and eventually Adam would die.
But, in the moment he disobeyed God’s command… Adam died.
He died spiritually… no longer would Adam walk with God face to face…
… whatever glory he was previously clothed with was stripped away… he was naked and exposed.
And, he hid from God. God asked Adam, “Where are you?”
Separation from God is the very essence of death… it’s worse than physical death… and on the day of disobedience to God’s command… Adam would die…
… which we will look closer at next time in Chapter 3.
And, I do thank God for grace… I know and believe that in faith in Jesus Christ… our sin is forgiven.
But, what impact does our disobedience have upon our relationship with God?
It’s not helpful… but even then… we are not without hope.
In those moments of walking in disobedience… and feeling like God is asking us ‘where are you?’…
… how important is it for us to cry out to God for help!?
We know from our Romans 7 study… that Paul wrestled with his internal sin nature… why do I do the things I don’t want to do?? he asked.
Paul found himself defeated when he relied upon himself for sanctification.
But then he cried out in Rom 7:24-25 “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
Paul found victory when he stopped relying on himself and looked to Jesus Christ… and in Rom 8… the Holy Spirit… for deliverance.
There are times you will err in disobedience to God’s command… like Adam… and like Paul.
But you need not spiritually die. Your faith in Jesus Christ… and your reliance upon him to save you presently from the power of sin…
John wrote that in “believing you may have life in His name.” (Jn 20:31)… Life now and eternally.
Thank you Jesus!
Well… continuing along V18 “And the LORD God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.”
In Genesis, during the creation story God made many things that He called “good” (light, the Earth, grass/herbs/fruit bearing trees, the Sun/Moon/and stars, sea creatures, birds, animals and bugs) and at the end of the sixth day, He deemed creation very good.
But, when He created Adam, something was not good. Adam was alone.
Interesting… God says “it is not good that man should be alone.”
And, the word alone is the Hebrew word “bad.”
Alone is bad. It’s not good. You should be able to commit that Hebrew word to memory. Alone is bad.
Alone lit. means “separation.”
So, God made a helper comparable to him or a helper suitable or corresponding to him.
Comparable means lit. “in front, facing toward.” Not behind… not below.
It’s the picture of one facing you. It’s not a derogatory term…
Nor is the term “helper.” This is not a demeaning term. God didn’t say, “I will make him a bondservant.”
The wife was never intended to be the husband’s slave. God didn’t create woman to be the servant of man, but to help him.
A helper is one who assists or aids… and God knows that us men need help.
And all the ladies said, “Amen.”
And, you look at the scriptural example and the husband… when he functions in his spiritual role… he will help her too.
He should love her as Christ loved the church.
It’s very helpful to the wife when she is loved well.
God saw man lacked something… he was alone and this was not good.
Did Adam even know what alone meant?
Us men are thick sometimes. We need help.
Adam probably thought… “I’ve got fruit trees… and the garden. It’s you and me God… we’ve got the four rivers… we can go fishing…”
(Of course catch and release only at that time… no meat for diner yet).
Adam probably thought, “Life is good! I have everything I need.”
Of course God knew Adam needed a companion… one whom Adam would become one flesh with…
But, Adam was digging Eden… he had no aspirations of moving out of his Father’s basement… I guess you could say Adam was the first Millennial.
Interesting… Jesus is the last Millennial… the Millennial King.
To help Adam out… to help him see that his aloneness is not good… God brings forth a magnificent object lesson…
Let’s re-read vv 19-20 “Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.”
So… as we read in Gen 1… on day 6 God formed from the dust of the ground… every beast of the field… we could add “according to it’s kind”…
Beast can have widespread meaning to include both domesticated and wild animals.
But, we do see in V20 “cattle” which is more accepted as the domesticated animals…
And, “beasts” as those in the wild.
Beasts and birds are brought before Adam “to see what he would call them.”
So, God brings two animals before Adam… it’s big… chewing hay… it has horns and moos…
And God says, “What will you call that one Adam?” “Behemah”… “A Bull” we say.
And, Adam is brilliant… his mind has not been dulled by the fall… and all the junk we are exposed to… GMO foods… chem trails… vaccine shedding… pollutants in the water and air…
His mind and body are first generation… unfallen… shrouded in glory… walking with God…
And, some think the names he gives the animals reflect a character that he observes…
Guzik reflected on Mark Twain and a joke where Twain described Adam coming home to Eve after naming all the animals.
Eve looked at an elephant and said, “What did you name that big animal?” Adam replied, “I called it an elephant.” Eve asked, “Why did you call it an elephant?” Adam answered, “Because it looked like an elephant!”
Oh the simplicity of man.
But, God puts this naming on Adam and V19 states God wants to see what Adam will call them.
God being omniscient… would of course know what Adam was going to name them… but this verse seems to indicate an interest of God in the affairs of man.
God brings these animals to Adam “to see what he would call them.”
This strikes me… and brings me great comfort.
The God of the universe stooping down to fellowship with and joyfully watch His creation employ creative energies of naming creation.
God said, “Let us make man in our image and our likeness” and God is watching it unfold in Adam.
The Psalmist wrote… Psalm 8:4–6 “What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him? 5 For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor. 6 You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet,”
God is mindful of you… He cares for you… and desires relationship with you…
I wonder… how many times has God figuratively brought things to us… to see what we will do with His creation?
Let us be sure to be faithful to Him.
One other quick observation about this verse… the fact that Adam names the animals also testifies that Adam had a known language… he wasn’t walking around with a bone in his hair grunting like a caveman saying, “Me Adam… You God.”
Don’t be misled by evolution… Adam was born fully functioning… brilliant beyond imagination.
Adam starts naming all the animals… the beasts… the birds… and God accepts them names.
And, you can kind of picture this object lesson…
God saying, “Ok… that one with the big horns is a bull… and the one that is similar but has udders… what will you call that?”
“That’s a Cow.”
And, they go through all the animals and Adam lines up Mr. and Mrs. Giraffe… and Mr. and Mrs. Tiger… and Mr. and Mrs. Ape…
And at some point… the light bulb goes off… and Adam thinks… “Where’s Mrs. Adam?”
Thus we read at the end of V20, “But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.”
Now he gets what it means to be alone.
Adam could have dominion over all the animals and rule over them, but he could not have intimate fellowship with them.
And, I’m not sure if now is when God talks to Adam about the birds and the bees, but all these animals were soon going to be fruitful and multiply…
But… Adam is alone. He has no helper. There is no one comparable.
Every other kind has a Mr. and Mrs., except for human kind.
This was “not good”… which doesn’t mean “evil”, but unfinished… therefore imperfect.
Alone is bad.
So, God completes this creative work, as we read in vv 21-22 “And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22 Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.”
Again, this is still Day 6 of creation… where in Gen 1 we read the abridged over view… “male and female He created them” (Gen 1:27) … and God blessed them and commanded the to be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it...
Now… here is Chapter 2 we are see just how God did this. And, this drives Theist Evolutionists crazy.
Because I guess they take man being formed from the dust of the ground is symbolic… and they stretch that to mean man evolved from apelike ancestors…
Something like that… but then there’s Eve’s creation… and this messes them all up because she is formed from Adam.
And, the New Testament corroborates…
1 Timothy 2:13 “For Adam was formed first, then Eve.”
1 Corinthians 11:8 “For man is not from woman, but woman from man.”
You and I were born of woman… but the first woman was made from man.
God puts Adam in a deep sleep… a divine anesthesia if you will… and takes one of Adam’s ribs…
The Hebrew word translated as “rib” is only translated as rib twice and in these two verses of Genesis 2.
Around 38 other times… the same word is translated “side”… leading some Pastors and scholars (even Henry Morris) to reject the notion that God removed a rib.
However, context dictates which word is appropriate… context determines if the word “side” or the word “rib” should be used… and V21 states God “took one of his...”
“One of his sides” doesn’t make sense… Did God take a whole rack of ribs?
Every Bible translation I read uses the word “rib”… not “side.”
I’m not on the side of “side”… I’m on the other side… I’m all about the rib.
And, not only I, but the oldest Jewish writings and commentaries state the object taken from Adam was his rib.
And, Answers in Genesis holds the position that Adam’s rib was what was used to create Eve.
If you like the argument for “side” over “rib”… let me throw you a bone… sorry… that saying just fit all too perfect…
But, in the following verse Adam will proclaim “This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh”…
Is that a support for the side… looking beyond the rib bone… to include flesh and blood… ? Maybe. But, I’m not convinced.
The context, as you continue reading V21 it states God “closed up the flesh in its place.”
This shows that there was an intrusive surgery… the flesh was opened… something was removed… and the flesh was then closed up.
Context seems best to support that this was a rib… not an entire side.
The interesting thing about ribs is they have the capacity to regenerate. Did you know that?
If you cut off a lizard’s tail… it grows back. Your ribs are unique amongst your bones… in that ribs have significant regenerative properties…
This is because the tissue around the ribs contains certain cells (osteoblasts) which build new bone tissue.
Your other bones are not like this. A fracture can heal… but bone healing? Bone regeneration?
That’s unique to the rib. I wonder if Adam’s rib grew back?
And look… don’t believe the tale that men have one less rib then women. That’s nonsense.
Both men and women have 12 pairs of ribs. 24 individual ribs.
The number of ribs is determined by DNA… a surgical extraction of a bone would not mean that your descendants after you would lack that same bone. Surgery doesn’t alter DNA.
If I lost my arm in an accident… would my children be born with one arm? No… their DNA code would be intact.
Lot’s of rabbit trails around this topic… one more… this is fun… Which side did God remove the rib from? The left or the right?
Jewish tradition (from Targum Jonathan) states that it was the right side.
As the right in Scripture (typically the hand) is associated with blessing and prominence.
Milton in Paradise Lost popularized the left side as it was near the heart… symbolizing unity of the two in flesh and heart.
So… which was it? WHO KNOWS??? The bible is silent… so we are silent. When Scripture doesn’t say… you cannot be dogmatic.
But, God indeed causes Adam to sleep… removes a rib… and from man forms woman.
The rib he took from man (Adam) He made into a woman (Heb. ʾishshâh).
From adam is formed ʾishshâh.
And, God brought her to the man… Adam is now awake…
And, Adam said… “Wowzers… NOW I know what I’ve been missing!”
V 23 “And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.””
Genesis 3:20 tells us, “And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.”
Eve’s name means “life” or “Life-giving.” Just like how Adam named the animals… there is meaning behind the name for his wife.
My Pastor in the Philippines often like to emphasize male and female were the origin design for marriage by God…
He would say, “God created Adam and Eve… NOT Adam and Steve!”
Which is true… it was after the fall… that man distorted original design…
Abraham had a primary wife and two secondary wives…
David and Solomon multiplied wives… having many wives and concubines…
Rom 1 in describing mankind who rejects the knowledge of God… God gave them up to vile passions… women with women… men with men.
Paul calls this “shameful” and and an “error” and will receive “penalty.”
All of this is a distortion of God’s original covenant of marriage.
Adam’s declares that woman is “Bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh”…
This phrase not only describes the process by which Eve was made…
From Adam’s rib.
And, that Adam recognizes Eve is like him (Bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh)…
Adam also recognized she was not like him (he is man… she is woman… she was taken out of man). Adam correctly applied Gender and recognized only two…
Gender is not complicated or fluid… it’s assigned at birth.
I read an AIG article this week which testified to the depravity of man and their twisting of scripture to promote gender fluidity…
One line read… “Some LGBT activists state that God originally made Adam as both male and female, the female half (or nature) being removed to then create Eve.”
But Gen 1:27 reads, “male and female He created them” (them is plural… an “them” was NOT a pronoun describing only Adam… “them” was Adam and Eve).
Scripture did NOT state, He created Adam both male and female.
The Hebrew word for this idea is “Bologna.”
In this ‘bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh’ principle… we also see a commitment from Adam to Eve due to kinship. There are of the same body… thus he is dedicated to her.
Some would say Adam made a covenant with this declaration…
“Covenants are relationships God establishes with people on the basis of his promises.”
And, through scripture… man makes covenants with fellow man.
And repeatedly this idea that we are of the same bone and flesh… a kinship recognition and dedication… is mentioned in Scripture.
Laban said to Jacob, “Surely you are my bone and my flesh.” (Gen 29:14) Laban recognized Jacob as kin and welcomed him into his home.
Abimelech convinced his mother’s brothers to follow him and said, “Remember that I am your own flesh and bone.” (Jdg 9:2) And, their hearts were inclined to follow him.
When David was anointed as king and made a covenant with all the tribes of Israel… they first came to him and declared, “Indeed we are your bone and your flesh.” (2 Sam 5:1)
Side-note: Today, we say, “Blood is thicker than water.” to emphasize familial ties are stronger than all others.
I read the full saying is "The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb."
Which totally flips the meaning… bonds we choose are stronger than those we are born into.
And, many of us… especially when you serve in church and really allow other Christians into your life… when you let the wall down… can testify “yes and Amen” to the strength of the Christian bond we share.
Adam… wakes from sleep… beholds God’s gift to him… a helper comparable to him… and he is committed to her…
He declares he is one with her.
The great marriage passage of Ephesians 5:28–30 reflects all of this… “So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. 30 For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones.”
We are one… unified… committed to… in covenantal relationship with spouse… with Christ… and He with His bride the church.
I feel very concerned for the many people beating up on the church right now.
She’s the bride of Christ… I wouldn’t mess with Jesus’ wife.
Continuing with this idea of unity… in a capstone verse… Moses writes…
V24 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”
The One flesh principle some take only to reflect sexual union, but that is short sighted. One flesh expresses both physical union AND unity in marriage.
But from a physical sense… let me just say this… sexuality expressed inside the marriage covenant is a gift from God… this is how God intended us to practice sexuality… and we are under God’s blessing… when husband and wife become one flesh.
In fact, it’s in God’s will as he commanded husband and wife to “be fruitful and multiple” (Gen 1:28)… thus, this union is a blessing and God’s design.
Outside of marriage… sexual expression misses the mark. It’s sin. The physical union is no longer under the blessing, but under the curse.
Paul warns in 1 Corinthians 6:16 “Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For “the two,” He says, “shall become one flesh.””
That same passage speaks against sexual immorality… for it is a sin against one’s own body… and the believer’s body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you.
When we sin, in word or deed… we grieve the Holy Spirit of God according to Eph 4:30… and of the most grievous is expression of sexuality outside of the marriage covenant.
This is the “one flesh” principle that flows down through the generations and sets a standard for marriage.
Morris wrote, “The institution of monogamous marriage, home, and family as the basic medium for the propagation of the race and the training of the young is so common to human history that people seldom pause to reflect on how or why such a custom came into being.”
It’s original design… Marriage is one of the few things that survived the fall of man.
Which also makes Marriage a target for Satan. However he can twist and corrupt God’s original design, he will do.
We just read Eph 5:28-30… and the following verse… Ephesians 5:31 reads, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”
For the reason of a husband loving his wife as his own body… nourishing and cherishing… just as Jesus does the church…
For the reason that we are joined to one another… and joined to Christ.
“Joined” in Genesis lit. means “cling” or “cleave”…
In marriage, man and wife ‘leave and cleave’… the new union of husband and wife supercedes the parent-child relationship.
The new union is of two who become one flesh.
And, as we read in Eph 5… we are to love our spouse as unto ourself.
And, we can be pretty selfish creatures… be just as selfish for your spouse.
In blessing your spouse, you bless yourself. In dishonoring your spouse, you dishonor yourself.
It’s a one flesh principle.
Some of you are familiar with the scholar Matthew Henry who providing many valuable Bible insights in the late 1600’s and early 1700’s
In men’s Bible Study… we are on a first name basis with him… he’s simply “Matt” to us…
But on this topic of Eve’s creation… and unity in their marriage… very poetically Matthew Henry states, “That the woman was made of a rib out of the side of Adam; not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved.”
And whether that was Matthew Henry or not… I’m not sure. Barnhouse states it comes from a Jewish tradition.
Good sayings have a tendency of being recycled down through the ages… and this one is no different.
Regardless of origin… it’s a beautiful saying… from one became two… and yet they are one… equal, protected, and beloved.
When Jesus walked the earth… Pharisees one day attempted to ensnare Him… asking Him about divorce…
We read in Matt 19:3-6 “The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?” 4 And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”
In this evil day in which we live, use this passage as a guide… do as Jesus and take those who would test you to the word of God.
Take them to Scripture… take them to original design…
The religious elite ask an insincere question to test and ensnare Jesus… they ask about divorce.
And, He tells them… “Have you not read?”
Do you read your Bible? The original design from Genesis 2 was male and female… leave and cleave… one flesh to be joined and not separated.
This is God’s ideal. Of course because of mankind’s hardness of heart… is certain circumstances divorce is permitted.
But, this was not original design… and divorce is a whole other sermon.
But, in the original design… when we operate how we should in marriage… exercising these principles of one flesh… unity… love… joining…
Marriage becomes a gift.
And, indeed in vv 24-25… marriage is reflected for Adam and Eve. These are their marriage verses.
And Moses wraps up what we call Chapter 2… with the words of V25 “And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.”
Prior to the fall… Adam and Eve were without sin… and were naked”… which goes beyond nudity.
As with many things… darkness… life… death… there are physical and spiritual principles that accompany these biblical concepts.
And, this nakedness of Adam and Eve was total openness… they were stripped bare… with nothing to hide…
They were not ashamed… because there was no sin in their life.
They could walk… totally exposed physically and spiritually… with no embarrassment in this dispensation of innocence… from the creation to the fall.
It would have been unnatural for them to feel embarrassed … or to feel shame… under these perfect circumstances walking with God.
No sin… no moral guilt…
And, let me close with this thought… (worship team please come) we can look back on that time… and grieve knowing the world we live in now is far from God’s original design.
We can lament the corruption of the world.
But, we also can rejoice… knowing that Scripture promises a return of that perfection… in glory sin will be altogether eradicated…
Scripture promises “They shall see His face” (Rev 22:4)… once again we will walk with God naked and unashamed.
Praise God! Come Lord Jesus!
Let’s pray!
If you need prayer for anything before you go tonight, we are here to pray with you!
May you be richly blessed as you close out this week.
