Chapter 3
THE FIRST
MARRIAGE - A Picture Of CHRIST AND THE
CHURCH
"And the
LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an
help meet for him. And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the
field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he
would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the
name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air,
and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet
for him. And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept:
and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the
rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her
unto the man. 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. Therefore
shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife:
and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife,
and were not ashamed." Genesis 2:18-25
On the sixth day of creation
the Lord God said, “Let us make man in
our image, after our likeness” (Gen. 1:26), and he did. In chapter two,
verse seven we read, “And 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 soul.” Then, in verses 16 and 17, we read
that “the Lord God commanded the man.” He
did not command men, but “the man”. He did not command the man and the woman.
The woman was not around. He commanded “the man”, Adam. The commandment was given to one man because one man was
representative of all men.
There was a reason for this.
God had ordained the salvation of his elect by another Man, the last Adam, who
is our Lord Jesus Christ. As we all fell by the act of one representative man,
Adam, God ordained that all his elect be saved by the work of another
representative Man, the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:12-19).
Romans
5:12-19 "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered
into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that
all have sinned: 13 (For until the
law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam
to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's
transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. 15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead,
much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. 16 And not as it was by one that sinned, so
is the gift: for the judgment was by
one to condemnation, but the free gift is
of many offences unto justification.
17 For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which
receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life
by one, Jesus Christ.) 18 Therefore
as by the offence of one judgment came upon
all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto
justification of life. 19 For as by
one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall
many be made righteous."
Why was Eve created?
“The Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone” (v. 18). Why was it not good
for man to live alone? He had no one to love. Being created in the image of
God, Adam was full of love and affection. That love and affection must have an
object. He had no one to talk to. There was no one like himself with whom he
could converse, no one with whom he could discuss the beauties of the garden,
no one with whom he could share his thoughts. He had no one to touch and
embrace.
Companionship, togetherness
is essential to those who love. We need to touch and be touched. We need to
embrace and be embraced. He had no one to help. There was no one who needed
Adam’s help, and no one to help Adam with his needs, as a man living in the
world. The Lord God graciously took
care to provide help for fallen, needy man, even before he fell and became
needy.
There was no one for him,
with whom the man could share his blessings. Love must give and delights to
give; but Adam had no one to whom he could give what God had given him, no one
to whom he could give himself. He had no one to comfort, --no one for him to
comfort and no one to comfort him, --no one for him to admire and no one to
admire him.
He was alone. Adam had no
one with whom to produce others like himself. All the animals of the garden had
their mates and their little ones; but Adam was alone. He had neither wife, nor
sons, nor daughters (vv. 19-20). Eve
was created by God specifically to be “a
help meet” for Adam.
How was Eve created?
We are first told what the
Lord God did for Adam (vv. 21-22). “The
Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam.” This was more than a
normal rest, or sleep. God himself put Adam into a coma. No one else could do
this to Adam. While Adam slept, God took one of Adam’s ribs out of his side and
closed up the flesh, so that there was no scar. From that rib which he took
from Adam, God made a woman. Then he brought her to the man.
God did not create the woman as he did the man, but
made the woman from the man. Woman was not the beginning of a new order and a
new race. She was the continuation of the race. Adam was the sole head and
representative. That is God’s order.
She is called “Ishshah”, woman, because she was taken from “Ish”, man.
The Lord did not take the
woman from the man’s head to reign over him, nor did he take her from man’s
foot to be trampled upon by him, but from his side as one who is his equal.
God took woman from the rib
of man, from under his arm, to be protected by him, from near his heart, to be
loved by him.
Then the Lord God brought
the woman to the man. She was the gift of God to man. This is God’s order. It
cannot be changed (1 Cor. 11:8-9).
1
Corinthians 11:8-9 "For the man is not of the
woman; but the woman of the man. 9 Neither
was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man."
Verses 23 and 24 tell us what Adam did. “Adam said, This is now bone of my bones,
and flesh of my flesh.” He was saying, --This woman is part of me. She is
to be loved and cherished by me, as I would love and cherish myself. We are one
person. “Therefore shall a man leave his
father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one
flesh.”
Adam understood from the
beginning what very few men understand today. The man who has a wife is the one
responsible for the household. He is the head of the house, prophet, priest,
and king. He is the provider for the household. He is the ruler of the house
and the protector of the house. And the woman who has such a man can rest in
his care and love (1 Pet. 3:7).
1 Peter 3:7 "Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving
honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of
the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered."
“And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed” (v. 25). They were, as God
had created them, holy and upright. They needed no clothes to protect them.
They needed no clothes to conceal any part of their bodies which God had made.
And they were not ashamed, because they had nothing to be ashamed of. There was
no sin in their nature, no guilt in their consciences, and no wickedness in
their actions. But they did not remain in this blessed condition. As soon as
they sinned, they were under the curse. And as soon as they sinned they were
ashamed (Gen. 3:1-7). We are all inheritors of their shame, because we have all
inherited their guilt (Rom. 5:12).
What does the Holy Spirit here teach us?
Without question, there is much
to be learned about true womanhood in these verses.
·
Blessed is that woman who receives and bows the Word of the Lord and
teach your daughters to do so (Titus 2:3-5).
·
Blessed is her family. She alone is a truly virtuous woman (Pro.
31:10-31).
But there is something far
more glorious here. The marriage
performed by God in the garden of Eden, the marriage of Adam and Eve, is a
picture of the marriage performed by God in grace, the marriage of Christ and
his church.
There is a second
representative man - Christ our Savior (1
Cor. 15:21-22, 45-49). He is not just the second Adam. Christ is the last Adam,
the last representative man.
1 Corinthians 15:21-22 "For since by man came death, by man came also
the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as
in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."
1 Corinthians 15:45-49 "And so it is written, The first man
Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was
made a quickening spirit. 46 Howbeit
that was not first which is
spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. 47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. 48 As
is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. 49 And as we have borne the image of
the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly."
·
The first Adam sinned. The last Adam obeyed God perfectly for his
people.
·
The first Adam brought death to all his race. The last Adam brought life,
eternal life to all who were represented by him.
·
As we have born the image of the first man Adam, so all God’s elect
must and shall bear the image of the last man, the Lord from heaven, our great
Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
This last Adam shall not be alone in his kingdom. God
has declared that he shall have a people to love and by whom he shall be loved,
--a people made after his likeness (Rom. 8:29-30), --a people with whom he can
be in fellowship, --a people with whom he can walk, --a people to serve him,
whom he can serve, --a people to admire him, whom he can admire, a people with
whom he can share everything, --a people to reign with him forever.
The Lord God made a body of flesh for his dear Son (Gal.
4:4-5; Heb. 2:17; 10:5). Woman was made of man; but here is a man who was made
of woman by the hand of God, that he might redeem and save fallen men.
God caused a deep sleep to come upon his Son. His sleep was death, death
for sin. None but God could do this. At the cross, God put his Son to death for
us, that we might live by his death. Yet, as Adam, knowing full well what he
was doing (Gen. 3:6; 1 Tim. 2:14), died for Eve, so Christ was willingly made
sin for us and freely, voluntarily laid down his life for his bride. From the
side of our crucified Redeemer there flowed out blood to justify and water to
sanctify his chosen bride (John
19:34; Eph. 5:22-27).
In the fulness of time the Lord God will bring the
chosen bride to Christ, by the effectual, irresistible grace and power of his
Spirit (Psa. 65:4; 110:3). He will
make her submissive to him, cause her to adore him, and unite her to him.
Christ left all for her and cleaves unto her; and she leaves all for him and
cleaves unto him (Eph. 5:30-32).
They are not ashamed! (1 John 2:28-29). “He that believeth shall not be ashamed!” Adam
and Eve had no outward clothing and they were not ashamed. The righteousness of
Christ is a garment to cover us, the garment of God’s salvation, which makes
believers unashamed before God. Our Savior’s death has put away our sin and our
guilt. His Spirit has given us his nature. By faith in him, we have confidence
before God and are not ashamed, for in Christ we are holy and unblamable. Yes,
we still have this outward body of flesh that must be covered because of its
corruption. But soon we shall lay it aside and rise in his likeness. In that
last great day, we shall stand before the bar of God in the perfection of
Christ, robed in white garments, clean and white, and shall not be ashamed.