5
The Pastor's Class
Created for Companionship
Genesis 2:18 - 25
You might have noticed that between last weeks lesson and this week's lesson there are several verses of scripture. Since this is an overview course we cannot cover every verse. The fact that I choose to skip a few verses does not mean that they are not important. Every verse in the bible is important. We could do a whole lesson on 2:2 the seventh day. The seventh day is the only day that God has blessed. He made it holy (to sanctify or set apart). On this day He rested (ceased His work).
If you are a skeptic when it comes to the word of God let me challenge you to put this one principal to work. Make one day out of seven a holy day, a day of rest. Do it for 6 months and see if at the end of six months it has had an effect on your life.
Verse 18
18 The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”
The New International Version, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House) 1984.
As we read through the creation account we see again and again that the Lord God pronounces that His creation is good. At the end of the creation period he looked at all he had created and stated that it was very good.
However, in today's lesson we read the first time where God says it is not good.
1. Why do you think God said it was not good for Adam to be alone?
We are created in the image of God. There is in the nature of God a need for companionship. That is why God created us, in order that he might have companionship with us. That need for companionship is reflected in us.
Now some of you will argue that to have a need shows weakness and therefore an imperfection. This is not true. The need for companionship is not an imperfection rather the yearning toward perfection.
You would not look at a child and say there is an imperfect adult. You understand that a child is an adult in the making, not yet mature, not yet complete.
A Lesson in Success
There is a valuable lesson to be learned here about success. Adam had a perfect environment. No pollution, no traffic jams, no disease. His mind was not corrupt, his heart was pure.
He possessed everything. He had access to anything and everything he wanted. No worries about food or clothes, no bills to pay, no IRS, no budgets, no retirement funds. Everything that His Father had created was his.
He had an exalted position. God had put him in charge of everything. He had dominion over all of the creation. There was no need to climb the ladder, he was already at the top. No insecurities, no jealousies, no pressure to perform. Yet God looked at Adam and said this isn't good.
Adam had everything most modern people think is important. Yet, God knew that even with all that Adam would be lonely.
We live in a society that tries to con us into believing that a perfect environment, more possessions, and an exalted position, are what you need to live a happy and fulfilling life. The lesson we learn from Adam is that he had all of these things and yet it was “not good.”
2. What was God's solution to Adam's loneliness?
God states "I will make a helper suitable for him." Remember now that God completed His creation on the sixth day. We have already read where on the sixth day God created Mankind (Adam'). He created them Male and Female.
Verses 19 - 20
19 Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field.
But for Adam no suitable helper was found.
The New International Version, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House) 1984.
3. What does the above passage teach us about the relationship between man and animals?
The description in Genesis 2 of the origin of the woman Eve is preceded by Adam's naming of the animals. He was to study and analyze the thousands of kinds of animals God had made. He was to choose names that suited the characteristics of each of the animals. Adam's training was intended by God to show him his relationship to nature and help him in role of exercising dominion and stewardship over the earth. The animals were already divided into male and female animals, birds, fish, so sexuality did exist at this time. But, Adam found no counterpart to himself in the animal kingdom. There was no one there who "corresponded to him." For the first time, God declared that something in the creation was not good. "It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make a helper (''azer) corresponding to him." "Not good" does not imply that evil existed in the universe at that time. God is saying that further creative activity was now appropriate to bring the creation into its intended state of completeness.
Made in the Image of God
Lambert Dolphin
Verse 21 - 22
21 So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
The New International Version, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House) 1984.
4. How was Eve Created?
One Becomes Two
The originally one human being Adam/Eve was now to be separated into two---differentiated in two separate persons. Both Adam and Eve already existed as a single unit---as the word bara implies. Having already created (bara) the soul and spirit of Adam/Eve, and after having molded the body of the first man, God now makes a division of this one compound man into male and female. Placing Adam into a deep sleep, God took a rib from the side of Adam and made a woman. The Hebrew root (banah), translated made, described God's making of Eve by taking her out of Adam/Eve. Banah means to construct or build, as when one builds a house or constructs an Ark---this word implies creative artisanship by God. Adam was formed but Eve was made!
In summary, after God made "Adam/Eve" in His own image, He subsequently separated the man whom He had made into two---Adam and Eve. Thus, an original unity of "man" was replaced by a division into two complementary opposites. The image of God in our race is therefore carried by the man and the women in equal weight. Whatever other terms we may wish to associate with man being made in the image and likeness of God, the existence of two separate sexes is a very important part of the image of God which we, as men and women, jointly bear. It is as if half of life is to be understood and interpreted from a man's point of view and half from a woman's point of view. These two points of view are not identical, they are complementary!
Made in the Image of God
Lambert Dolphin
Not Quite Right
A small child came home from Sunday School and told his mother: "The teacher told us how God made the first man and the first woman. He made man first, but the man was very lonely with no one to talk to, so God put the man to sleep, and while he was asleep, God took out his brains and made a woman out of them.”
Verse 23
23 The man said,
“This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
for she was taken out of man.”
The New International Version, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House) 1984.
5. Can you imagine Adam's excitement when he first saw Eve?
The structure of the Hebrew in verse 23 suggest that it is poetry. In other words When Adam saw Eve he waxed poetic or possibly he broke into song.
Men I suggest to you that Eve was the model, the mold of the perfect woman. She was desirable beyond description. She was the most beautiful woman in the world. :) Adam was her equal opposite.
Eve was the perfect mate for Adam because in a sense she was Adam. That is what Adam said; "She is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh.
Verse 24
24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
The New International Version, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House) 1984.
6. What is the reason that a man and woman should be united?
When God created Eve he in effect divided Adam into two parts. Adam then became incomplete. In companionship we find completeness.
We are designed for Companionship and we are designed for intimacy.
A Sign of the Times
A sign in a jewelry store in Reno Navada reads;
"Wedding Rings for Rent"
7. Is marriage feasible in today's society?
Let's be honest. We live in a society where marriage seems not to work. More and more people are entering into relationships apart from the commitment to marriage. Those who do marry often divorce and those who stay married are often unhappy in the relationship. Someone asked; is it reasonable to ask a couple of 20 year olds to enter into a 50 - 60 year contract?
Yet with all this uncertainty there is still in each of us the longing for completeness. There is theidea of the perfect marriage. I have talked with hundreds of people before marriage all of them believe that they will find happiness in the relationship.
Marriage is a lifetime covenant commitment that is renewed every single day. Marriages like anything else must be built on strong foundations. The strength of a marriage is reflected in the character of the two people who comprise the marriage. When both possess a godly character then the marriage will be strong. Since God instituted marriage in the Garden of Eden He stands as the supreme authority. To attempt marriage without submission to God is like attempting to fly an airplane with no pilot. You may get it started you may even be able to get it airborne, however, the chances are slim to none that you will land it safely.
Summary
Remember, God created us for companionship. Companionship in the proper marriage relationship gives us completeness. Completeness brings happiness.
Marriage is God's way of letting us enjoy the very best that life has to offer.
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