Genesis 2:18-25
The Perfect Marriage

We've seen God the problem solver at work in the first half
But not all the problems are solved yet.
In creating man to solve the problem of 2.5 (no man to till the ground), God creates another problem which now awaits its resolution.
This resolution is the grand triumph of chapter 2
If chapter 1 lead up to "man" (both male and female)
Then chapter 2 climaxes with woman, the ultimate solution, the one after whom it may be said creation is finally complete and God may rest.

1. The Story
   1. The Problem
      1. In the first chapter, God pronounced his work "good" 6 times during the creation week
      2. And at the end of it all, he pronounced his work "very good."
      3. This is the first time in Scripture he has pronounced something "not good."
      4. Understand where in the creation week this occurs
         1. This is before the end of Day 6
         2. because by the end of Day 6, God had created man male and female.
         3. And he had pronounced that situation "very good"
         4. So, here, we are unfolding in greater detail the process by which God created man male and female.
         5. And right in the middle of that, we're told something wasn't right. There's a problem in paradise.
      5. "Not good", of course, does not mean God had created an evil situation. But the situation needed resolving.
      6. Man was "alone"
         1. And that was not a good thing
         2. There was something about the man, rooted in his created nature, that demanded a companion.
         3. So God proposes to solve the problem by creating a "helper comparable to him"
      7. Man was inadequate
         1. Hear that again inadequate
         2. God speaks of creating a "helper" for him
         3. I.e. man cannot complete the task he was created to do without this companion
            1. He cannot tend the ground and guard the garden (v. 15)
            2. And he cannot "be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish... birds... every living thing...
         4. And the word "helper" does not imply that this creation will be a lesser being than Adam
         5. The word is used most often in Scripture to refer to God helping Israel
      8. Man was incomplete
         1. The helper must be "comparable to" him
         2. I.e. the helper must correspond
            1. must be like him
            2. must be body and soul as he is body and soul (with his spirit breathed into him by God himself
            3. must be just as much the image of God as he himself is
         3. Nothing less will be suitable
         4. Nothing less will rectify his alone-ness
   2. The Tension
      1. So we have the problem - man is alone
      2. We have the reason for the problem - he lacks a suitable helper
      3. Where is the solution?
         1. This is the way the first part of the chapter went
         2. No wild growth because no rain so God sent rain
         3. No cultivated growth because no man so God made man
      4. We're expecting the solution; instead we get a parade
      5. Instead, Scripture makes you wait
      6. Scripture unfolds its account and reveals its events in the way best calculated to get your attention and make a good story
         1. Make no mistake, this is history
         2. But it is artfully told history (and for divinely inspired Scripture there is no conflict between telling something artfully and telling it truly)
         3. So in chapter 1, the creation of the animals is mentioned first, so the acccount may climax with man
         4. Now, in chapter 2, the animal-creating events of Day 5 and 6 are state second to build dramatic tension and put you on the edge of your seat as you wait to see whether any of the animals will solve the problem being posed.
         5. In the 20th century we might call this inaccurate or misleading
            1. Let us be careful not to import that judgment back into Scripture
            2. We say the truth is in the order in which the events really occurred
            3. Scripture says the truth is in the proper interpretation of those events and presents them in the order most likely to produce that interpretation
            4. Scripture over and over tells events out of chronological order in order to make its thematic points more clear.
            5. See the Gospels, especially the temptations of Christ
      7. So God declares that man needs a helper and creates the animals and brings them to Adam
         1. Doesn't God know any better?
         2. Of course, but Adam needs to know better. And so do we.
         3. We don't know what names he gave and it's not important
            1. It's not as though all the animals out there have "real" names
            2. The point is that by naming the animals, Adam discerns their nature and their purposes
            3. And of none of them does he say, this is my helper. This one corresponds to me. This one completes me and enables me to fulfil the task for which I was created.
         4. So Adam gave names to all of them, starting with the cattle
            1. The cattle are the most likely candidates to help him till the ground. They can pull plows and bear heavy burdens
            2. If the cattle don't work, then it's downhill from there.
      8. Yet all these animals come to him as species that have both a male and a female.
         1. They are not incomplete
         2. They have created beings that correspond perfectly to them
      9. The conclusion "For Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him."
   3. The Solution
      1. God puts Adam under general anesthesia and performs a little surgery
         1. The sleep is so that we won't be repulsed by what is meant to be a warm and loving act
         2. Imagine if we were just told God stuck his hand in Adam's side and ripped out some flesh and a rib to make a woman.
         3. We'd be appalled
         4. For the same reason, Scripture is at pains to note that God closed up the flesh after he was done.
      2. Then God "built" a woman out of Adam's flesh and bone
      3. And he brought her to the man.
      4. Immediately, Adam recognizes, this is what I have been looking for.
         1. Here is someone comparable to me
         2. She is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh
      5. And so he names her with a name that reflects this fact
         1. She was not created separately from man, like the animals
         2. She was created out of man and for man.

The Sabbath is one great creation ordinance, Marriage is the other. So just like the Sabbath, this incident has implications that endure as long as creation endures.

Here we have set out for us what it means to be a woman and what it means to be married. Scripture itself draws a moral from this that we will consider in a moment.

2. The Implications
   1. The Nature of Woman
      1. The image of God
      2. Of equal dignity with man
      3. Created for a purpose
         1. just as man was (to till [serve] the ground from which she was taken)
         2. so the woman is created to serve the man from whom she was taken.
   2. The Nature of Marriage
      1. One man one woman
      2. indissoluble
      3. creates a new tie as thick as blood kinship
         1. A man "forsakes" his parents and "cleaves" to his wife
         2. This is covenantal language
            1. Israel is spoken of as forsaking God (as a husband) and cleaving to foreign gods
            2. This means a man's covenantal obligations to his parents (to be under their authority) cease and he takes up new obligations with respect to his wife
         3. She is now "family", as much as if she were flesh and blood related.
         4. She is now his most important relative
         5. Let no one try to water down this sacred and indissoluble relationship
            1. Let parents fear to overstep their bounds and rule one who has left that family and begun his own. Let them fear even to side with one against the other
            2. Let children fear to be more important to their parents than their parents are to each other.
      4. Man - male and female - was created to have the perfect marriage. Without that, both sexes are incomplete.
   3. The Nature of the First Couple
      1. Complete
      2. Innocent
3. The Broader Context
   1. The Curse
      1. Oh how glorious it would be to be able to stop right here! To say, this is what marriage is, and isn't it glorious? How wonderful if our marriages were as innocent and perfect and untouched by sorrow. Instead, Husbands do not consistently love their wives and delight in them; and the wives sometimes grow impatient under their husbands' leadership and sin taints the whole experience. We have in the church widows and widowers - their marriages broken by the terrifying specter of death. Who will comfort them? And how frightening it is for husbands to think, this one, whom I need, may die and leave me again alone. And how terrifying for wives to think, this one, for whom I was created and to whom I am bound may die and leave me to care for and guard myself. Is there anyone on whom they may depend who will never be taken away? We have in the church those who have been divorced and that which should never have been broken has been cast aside. Who will repair this mess? We have singles who may never get married and yet don't feel they have the gift of singleness. Who will satisfy their yearning for one corresponding to them?
      2. The whole institution of marriage suffers under a curse
         1. The woman "desires" her husband
         2. The husband "rules over" the wife
      3. Where will we get this perfect marriage for which we were created and for which we yearn.
      4. So should we just give up on marriage? No more than we give up on the Sabbath.
   2. The Restoration
      1. Hear what God has done!
         1. You women who have no husbands, you men who have no wives - God himself is your husband and the strongest man among you will blush as a bride in the day of Christ Jesus, will receive his attention as Eve received Adam's, knowing she was perfect for him and he wanted nothing else. Christ looks at you that way and you will see it in his eyes when you see him face to face.
         2. The Bridegroom has pledged himself to us in marriage, a perfect marriage such as the world has not seen since Adam and his wife.
      2. Hear how he pledges himself to us (Isaiah 54:1-10)
      3. Hear Revelation 21
   3. The Christian Marriage
      1. Ephesians 5
      2. Husbands,
         1. Think of your wife constantly as the one created perfectly and providentially for you
         2. Recognize that you need her and are incomplete and inadequate without her
         3. Consider how Christ has loved you and take your courage from that
            1. This love is yours to give her
            2. Do not be afraid even to die for her, For Christ died for you and took away the sting of death
            3. And if you will do even that, how much more will you
               • care for her
               • be tender toward her
               • guard her from the lure of the world, the temptations of the flesh, and the attacks of the devil
            4. How little do you care to
               • Lord it over her taking exploiting her created purpose to your own ends
               • Abdicate your responsibility, forcing her to step into your shoes in disciplining the children or directing the spiritual life of your household. Do you not care for her enough not to tempt her to sin in this way.
               • take pity on your wives who are required to submit to you lest that submission be a burden (yet she can't just break away. She was made for this very purpose)
            5. This comes as the mildest of rebukes and the gentlest of pleadings
               • Do not be beaten down or made miserable
               • Come, and feast your eyes on Christ and believe that his character, his love, his selflessness are yours to present to your wife.
               • He has not merely set an impossible example for then you would despair
               • He has made it his purpose, by the power of his Spirit, to make you like him.
               • May your marriage be a reflection of that perfect marriage in the garden, and of the marriage of Christ to his church
               • Amen, Lord. Let it be so.
      3. Wives, submit to your husbands
         1. You were made for this, as Eve was made for Adam
         2. He cannot complete his calling without you
            1. Whatever work he is called to requires your love, your support, your encouragement
            2. And how will he raise a godly offspring for the both of you and for the Lord unless you feed them and dress them and are patient with them and turn their thoughts always to Christ?
            3. Take pity on him! Have mercy on the poor man who was created for a purpose he cannot fulfil without you! He depends upon you.
         3. Submit to him as the church to Christ
            1. Indeed, consider his requests as coming from Christ himself
            2. Your husband may make requests that are humanly unreasonable or just plain stupid
            3. But this does not mean God is out of control
            4. You may submit to any request that doesn't involve sin, confident that God has brought this request to you in his own sweet providence.
            5. So it is Christ himself speaking (Husbands! Be humbled and seek Christ that he may speak clearly through you)
            6. And you know how much you want to submit to Christ.
      4. Singles
         1. Preserve yourself for your mate
         2. The yearning goes deep for that mate, and you are tempted to take part of the joy of having a spouse before you can get the whole thing.
         3. Cry out to Christ, your husband!
         4. May he preserve you for himself and if he has a spouse on earth for you, may he present you unashamed to that spouse as Adam and Eve were unashamed.
      5. Divorced/Widowed
         1. Remarried: Thank God for the spouse you have and beg him that you may never desire to seek another.
         2. May God comfort you greatly. The curse is a terrible thing.
         3. Again, I urge you, yearn for Christ your husband and know that that great marriage will wipe away all your tears, satisfy your deepest longings, and restore all you have lost and more.

Ezekiel 16:1ff.
Isaiah 54:4ff., 61:10, 62:4,5
Hosea 2:16ff.
Revelation 19:7-9, 21:1ff.

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