Creation: Adam and Eve

Answers Bible Curriculum Second Edition Unit 2 Lesson 15

This week in Sunday school, we examine the more specific account of man’s and woman’s creation in Genesis 2. What genre is the Genesis 2 account? Does the account contradict Genesis 1? What are the implications from Adam and Eve’s creation for gender, marriage, and our understanding of God?

Our text for the lesson is Genesis 2:4-25.

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all right well good morning welcome to Sunday school May Christmas in case I forget to say that later since I won’t be seeing you next week or the week after but we continue on in our study of Genesis by this point we walk through each of the six days of creation and we’ve seen what our glorious greater God did but God wants us to know more about one aspect of creation in particular though we’ve over viewed all of creation there’s something more God wants us know about man’s creation the fundamental summary of creation ends in Genesis 2:3 but Moses then goes back and Genesis 2:4 to 25 to tell us more about man’s creation and the second description excuse me it’s not an alternative to the first one but it is a complementary description and an expansion of what is said generally in Chapter 1 how Genesis 2 is just so incredibly rich with information and application for our lives today it is truly a foundational text and in Genesis one is certainly as well but just as I prepared and as I stated through Genesis 2 there is so much to say we’re only going to be able to scratch the surface as we look at that passage this morning but I hope that you will take time to reread and time to discuss and meditate on this passage because there is a there’s a lot here here’s what we’re gonna look to accomplish in today’s class I didn’t have a slide for it today but just listen we’re gonna examine the genesis to account we’re to consider whether this account can fit with an evolutionary view we’re gonna answer whether the Genesis account in chapter 2 truly contradicts Genesis account in chapter 1 or the creation account chapter 1 rather and we’ll discuss some implications just some of the implications of this chapter for how we must think and live now let’s pray before we continue a Great Creator god this is such profound truth Lord we know it has implications for the world and some of issues that we see going on in it and but also implications for our lives personally individually especially God when it comes to how we regard someone of the opposite gender how we regard our own gender and sexuality and how we regard marriage and even things like work god they’re all here so I pick ups you help me to be able to explain it help me help the people to be able to listen and understand and I pray God that we would be changed by your spirit in Jesus name Amen all right please open your Bibles and let’s take a look at the passage Genesis chapter 2 verses 4 to 25 let’s see what further details God one of the Israelites as they are going into the Promised Land and us today to know about the creation of man and woman now I’ll read the passage starting in verse 4 this is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created in the day that the Lord God that is Yahweh God made earth and heaven now no shrub of the field was yet in the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprouted for Yahweh God had not sent rain upon the earth and there was no man to cultivate the ground but a mist used to rise from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground then Yahweh God formed man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living being Yahweh God planted a garden toward the east in Eden and there he placed the man whom he had formed out of the ground Yahweh God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food The Tree of Life also in the midst of the garden and the tree of knowledge of the knowledge of good and evil no river flowed out of Eden to water the garden and from there it divided and became four rivers the name of the first is Bashan it flows around the whole land of havilah where there is gold the gold of that land is good the bdellium and the Onyx stone are there the name of the second river is Gahan if fly it flows around the whole land of cush name the third river is Tigris it flows east of Assyria and the fourth River is the Euphrates then Yahweh God took the man and put him into the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it Yahweh God commanded the man saying from any tree of the garden you may eat freely but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die then Yahweh God said it is not good for the man to be alone I will make him a helper suitable for him out of the ground Yahweh God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky and brought them to the man to see what he would call them now whatever the man called a living creature that was its name the man gave names to all the cattle and to the birds of the sky and to every beast of the field but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him so Yahweh God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man and he slept then he took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place Yahweh God fashioned into a woman the rib which he had taken from the man and brought her to the man the man 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 this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife and they shall become one flesh and the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed all right as always let’s start our study of this passage with basic observations noticed how verse 4 reinforces what we’re looking at in this passage we see the phrase this is the account of now what genre of literature does this phrase suggest this is suggestive of historical narrative that’s what an account is an account of what happened the word translated account literally means the descent or the family or the generations so the phrase that more literally read together these are the generations of this phrase actually is a literary feature of the book of Genesis it appears 10 times and just to give you three of those other appearances so you get a flavor Genesis 5:1 says this is the book of the generations of Adam Genesis Genesis 6:9 these are the records of the generations of Noah at Genesis 11 27 these are the records of the generations of Terah and so forth through Genesis now what genre of material what genre is the material in these other passages and in the rest of Genesis historical narrative therefore from the words itself and for how it’s used in Genesis sorry I have a little something in my throat coming down a little something so please pardon that but because of that phrase itself and because how we see it using the rest of Genesis which is the story or narrative book we have all the more reason to understand Genesis 2 to be historical narrative as well you see and this is commonly said by those who have a have a sound hermeneutic you cannot divide Genesis 2 or Genesis 1 for that matter from the rest of the book of Genesis or from the rest of Torah and say this parts not historical narrative because Moses treats the accounts just like the ones that come later it’s not like we have myth the beginning and then the history starts no Moses treats at all as history and we see that even in this race so that’s important from verse 4 notice the timing also though of this account in Genesis 2 when is this taking place the first actual happening in our passage is the creation of man in verse 7 now what day was man created day 6 it’s the last thing that God creates last part of creation look back at verses five and six these verses don’t describe anything happening but they do give us some info related to the narrative verse five notice tells us what is missing from the earth it’s kind of a background there are no plants or at least there are not too certain types of plants the shrub of the field and the plants of the field now right after we’re told about these missing plants verse five uses the word for indicating that the author is about to give us a reason why why there are no plants why are there not these plants and the two reasons given notice there’s no rain and no man to cultivate the grass then verse 6 gives a contrast with a word but what’s the contrast although there’s no rain and there’s no man what is there well there’s this mist or it can be translated and probably better translated spring there’s a mist or spring coming up from the ground this terrestrial source is set to water the whole face of the ground so even though there’s no rain the plants of the earth have a mechanism for gaining their necessary water then verse seven says God creates man hmm now you might be to give yourself verse five if you don’t have plants that sounds like we’re starting on day three because that’s when plants were created but verse seven sounds like we’re starting on day six when man was created are these two days being conflated how can we reconcile this Oh we’ll come back to that question the interpretation step but just notice these details and notice that the narrative sequence actually starts in verse seven with man’s creation let’s observe more notice how the first man is created out of the dust the dirt the soil of the ground God forms him God fashioned sin and you’ve probably heard this before but this word for forming it’s the same word that would be used to describe a pond or shaping a vessel so God shaped a man and then it says God breathed the breath of life into man stas rose and this is a very interesting phrase because well let me say this first he breathed the breath of life into man’s nostrils and then it says man became a living being or a living creature or a living soul that’s that word nephesh that we mentioned briefly last time now as I began to say at the end of last class nephesh is not unique to man I double-check this but anytime you see the phrase living creature in Genesis 1 that’s actually the word for life and then nephesh the word that’s often translated soul and both animals and man have nephesh and other words for life essence are applied in the Bible to both man and animals you might say hmm does that mean that man is really no different than an animal well don’t forget what we saw last time then only man is made in the image of God and only man is given dominion over the creation but there is something else here in verse 7 that word for breath or says God breathed the breath of life into him this is a unique word if you care to know what it is is neshama in Hebrew this word does mean breath but what’s unique about it that is that it’s only used in the Bible to describe God’s breath and man’s breath but never an animal there’s another word for breath breath in Hebrew there are other words they can be translated breath but this one is only used of man and God so there is indeed something different about man’s life essence his breath his soul as compared to an animals both man and animal received the breath of life from God but there’s something different about the breath and man as compared to the breath of an animal so it’s not that man is merely an animal or that somehow animals have souls the same way that we do no that’s that’s not true and we can see that even in the language here in verse 7 but let’s keep reserving notice how the garden in the land of Eden came to be and what was in it God Himself plants the garden and he puts the first man in it and he puts a whole bunch of trees in it and includes the Tree of Life and a tree of knowledge of the knowledge of good and evil well more say about those trees a little bit later by the way entering interesting sidenote the name Eden is also the Hebrew word for bliss so the name could be translated the land of bliss I think we can understand why it’d be called that notice man’s role in the garden he is told to cultivate it or he is told his role is to we are told his role is to cultivate and keep it notice the specific command however that God gives to Adam and this is the first time the word command is used in the Bible God tells Adam the Adam can eat of every tree in this garden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and Adam is warned that the penalty for doing so is death I’m down to verse 18 notice what God identifies as not good that the man is alone and this is a striking observation because up to now in Genesis every pronouncement from God about his creation has been good good very good now God sees something that is not good and this should get the attention of the audience I should get our attention what is this not good thing in the middle of God’s very good creation it’s that man is alone not literally alone there are animals around and God is there but he’s without a suitable helper or companion and this is not good to God in response to this observation notice that God brings some animals for Adam to name them and notice that these animals too are said to be formed out of the ground just like man Adam does name these animals but no not all of the animals are brought to Adam it says only the cattle flying creatures and the beasts of the field are brought to him but among these animals at Adams are not fine to help her comparable to him that’s when God creates the first woman notice how she is created God puts Adam into a deep sleep and he does some reconstructive surgery takes one of Adam’s ribs or you could also translate a piece of Adam’s side and out of Adam’s own flesh and bone God builds a woman what does God do with the woman once he has finished creating her he brings her to Adam and notice Adam’s response you see the word now in verse 23 it has the idea of at last finally here’s what I’ve been looking for I think do you think God gladden Adams heart in this I think so this by the way is also the first section of poetry in the Bible which I think I was also informative about Adams state of mind and seeing woman Adam instantly recognizes that the woman came from him and is like him he says she is his own flesh and bone he calls her woman that why we’re told him text because she was taken out of man now this relationship between the her origin and her name is very evident even in English we have the word woman which has the word man inside of it and so it is actually in the Hebrew through most of this passage the word used for the man is a Dom which is also where his name comes from Adam but in verse 23 it’s a different word it’s the word ish which means man or husband but the word for woman is a sha and it means woman or wife and so the Hebrew does the same thing that the English does a rather weakest hit English does the same thing that the Hebrew does the name for man in Hebrew is contained in the name for woman and so both of these languages they’re actually testimonies to how God created man and woman or how God created woman from man we can see it even in the terms man and woman or ish Anisha one more thing to notice notice how verse 25s mention of nakedness compares with the understanding of nakedness and the rest of the Bible first man and woman were naked and unashamed they had no reason to hide from each other what from God what from any part of creation while on the rest of the Bible and today nakedness is often associated with vulnerability shame and the reminder of sin and that will become an important detail in chapter 3 of Genesis so as you can see there is much to observe you see out of adopting a somewhat brisk pace because there’s so much here but there’s also so many implications from what’s here and we’re going to begin to explore those as we move to the second step now always in our study we consider interpretation or some questions of interpretation that we can answer well first let’s ask this do the details of this passage fit with an evolutionary understanding of human origins hopefully you can say the answer with me not at all no not at all right that you’re right man is said here to be made directly from dust from dirt something nonliving not Apes not lesser life-forms and women this woman is said to be made directly from man’s body she did not evolve alongside him mophir the text says that woman was made while man was sleeping so that couldn’t have taken a very long time she didn’t have millions of thousands of years of millions of years to evolve this account then pretty plainly rules out evolution as a means of God making man but someone will say well this passage is just figurative this is a figure of evolution you ready our original audience would have understood that such details not to be taken literally I’ve already seen how this passage claims to be the actual accounts of how God created in line would arrest the books of the generation that are given in Genesis the passage purports to be historical narrative it’s written like historical and it’s confirmed with the New Testament to be literally accurate just listen to some of the words of Paul regarding the account of manna woman’s creation 1st Corinthians 11 verses 7 to first Corinthians 11 verses 7 to 10 in the context Paul is making an argument about hair and head coverings from the church has symbols of authority and he says this for a man ought to know not to have his head covered since he is the image and glory of God but the woman is the glory of man the man does not originate from woman but woman from man sir indeed man was not created for the woman’s sake but woman often the man say therefore the women ought to have the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head because of the angels that’s an interesting passage in itself and we’re gonna set aside Paul’s main argument for now but notice what paul states about men and women’s creation woman originated from man which is what Genesis 2 says we’re considered first Corinthians 15 1st Corinthians 15 verses 47 to 49 in this context Paul’s talking about the resurrection and the difference between Adam and Christ as Representative heads of their people and Paul says this first Corinthians 15 verses 47 to 49 the first man is from the earth earthy the second man is from heaven as is the earthy so also are those who are earthy and as is the heavenly so also are those who are heavenly just as we have borne the image of the earthy we will also bear the image of the heavenly again sidestepping the discussion about the resurrection here notice what Paul affirms about Adam Adam was the first man and he came from the ground he was earthy and we became earthy along with him and on this first Timothy 2:13 just as another example first Timothy 2:13 in the middle of making an argument about how men are to be spiritual authorities and teachers in the church only men Paul says this for it was Adam who was first created and then he’s and that’s exactly what Genesis 2 says Adam was the first human formed and he was created afterwards so all these words from Paul as he’s being led by the Holy Spirit they indicate that he took the details of Genesis 2 as historical fact he even makes arguments for necessary life behavior on the basis of those details so the fact of the matter is that the details of the genesis to account and the corroborating statements of the New Testament do not fit with evolutionary ideas therefore again we ought to reject all efforts to unite evolutionary theory with creation so no Adam and Eve were not imaginary people or mere symbols of evolutionary processes no Adam and Eve were not too early spiritless hominids that God breathed his spirit into and thus turned them into humans yes now it’s not what the account says rather Adam was the first human created not from another creature but from dirt and woman was created from another creature but not evolved she was supernaturally fashioned into a woman out of the first man’s side but someone might say well what about the fossil evidence what about all the ape human transition creatures that exist in the fossil record well first need to remember that we have to start with the Bible before we assess any data because the trustworthy Word of God shows us how to interpret data even fossil data I think you get this idea as I tried emphasized before but remember data itself says nothing you see evidence you see something in the world it doesn’t say anything none of the skeletons the fossil records say hey I’m an evolutionary transition the presuppositions or assumptions that we bring to the data they cause us to interpret the data as we do we can’t help this we all have to bring presuppositions or assumptions to how we interpret the world but we need to make sure that we have the right presuppositions if we’re gonna interpret the data correctly most accurately then we won’t unless we start with the Bible omocha the assertion that these skeletons some these bones and things that we have in the fossil record are from ape human transition creatures is not provable only seems logical based on evolutionary assumptions such fossils could be easily explained if you have different presuppositions the different presuppositions as merely the skeletons or bones of extinct varieties of ape or early varieties of human beings by the way we might have the impression that there’s just so much fossil data out there but we really according to Answers in Genesis 95 percent of the fossils we have today are shallow water organisms like coral and shellfish and then less than 0.25 percent of all fossils are vertebrates let alone human or ape and then of that of that point two five percent less than one percent of it consists of more than a single bone so a vertebrates less than one percent consists of more than one bone so when someone says hey we found this transition creature no what they found was that one bone or a couple of bones usually and they reconstruct an entire skeleton from that talk about relying on assumptions that’s why I say it’s important that we have the right piece of positions if you have more if you’re interested in learning more about these suppose that hominids then there are many excellent videos and articles and the Answers in Genesis website you can visit that Answers in Genesis org but someone else still may say but one about the contradictions what about the contradictions between Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 if the Bible cannot have errors in it doesn’t this mean that we have to take Genesis 1 and/or Genesis 2 figuratively well these supposed contradictions are based on three details in the Genesis to account the mention of missing plants in verse 5 the mention of animals being created in verse 19 and the supposed inability of all the events given in the account to fit on one 24-hour day especially naming the animals I couldn’t possibly have happened this must be figured it let’s examine each issue in turn the two main explanations for what we hear in verse 5 that seemingly conflates that brings together overlaps day three and day six of creation and the genesis to account but there are ways to explain this the first option is to say that the narratives strict chronology does not resume until verse 7 that is to say that verses 5 and 6 describe two issues from earlier in the creation week that God was going to address later in the week there was no water for days threes plants through the form of rain so God created a watering source through the ground sometime in the creation week there’s a problem there’s a solution there’s another problem and that there was no man to take care of the plants from day 3 so God decided later in the week to make man day 6 to take care of the earth so there’s not a strict chronology there at st. these are the palms that exist in beginning and then here the solutions and there’s an expanded explanation of how God made man that’s one option that’s possible second option is to say that there are only certain plants that are meant in verse 5 as John MacArthur and Tim Chaffee from Answers in Genesis explain rather than interpreting verse 5 to mean all of the plants that have that were created and appeared on day 3 Genesis 2:5 is only talking about two specific types of play that did not appear until after a man’s creation or after the fall that needs to be the shrub of the field and the planted the field you say what’s so special about those plants the shrub of the field is likely describing according to this explanation weeds and thorn bushes and it actually is used that way in parallel to and description of weeds and thorn bushes in the book of Joe that that word translated shrub of the field these plants thrive in intermittent watering conditions such as rainfall or it’s not constant just comes around every so often weeds thorn bushes they often thrive in these kinds of climates these kinds of watering situations while other plants dry up in a wither this is why we hate weeds all the plants we want they die but the ones that are more Hardy are the ones we don’t want and data once you can do well in rain and presumably the world did not see rain until after the fall after the fall or after the flood because rain is an unreliable watering source it’s better to have something constant from the ground so that’s why this shrub with the field is mentioned the plants of the field meanwhile is a phrase that’s used throughout the Old Testament to refer specifically to crops like grain we’re not time to look at it right now but you definitely see this in the book of Exodus talking about the plagues that God brings down on Egypt and it destroys the plants the plants of the field meaning the Egyptian crops of others have have noted man was not a farmer in the beginning but a gardener or tender of an orchard so he’s saying man’s not yet a farmer yes yet identified and cultivated certain plants so there was no plants in the field now rubber the field the bush no weed no thorn bush and no plants of a few now we could say a lot more about that option but the idea just to give you the overview is that the Moses is setting up the audience for how the world changes due to man’s sin and there are a number of details in chapter do that chapter 2 that do this and that are looking forward to chapter 3 so it’s like Moses is saying look before adamson there weren’t all these annoying while bushes thriving with rainfall and crowding out the other plants because everything was watered from the ground and before adamson man didn’t have to work hard to identify breed and cultivate crops because God gave man abundant fruit from the trees of the garden but notice how these two types of plants are mentioned specifically in Genesis 3 you could just look over on the other side of your Bible pages Genesis 3 verses 17 to 19 Genesis 3 17 and 19 God says to me and after man’s sins and God has confronted him cursed is the ground because of you in toil you will eat of it all the days of your life both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you and you will eat the plants of the field by the sweat of your face you will eat bread which comes from what the plants of the field till you return to the ground because from that you were taken for your dust and to dust you shall return so there – I think plausible explanations for why we get those details about plants in verses 5 and 6 I think both of these are good I probably lean a little bit more to explanation number 2 just because of how specific plants are highlighted and verse 5 but either way we don’t and we clearly don’t need to push the button on the nuclear option and just say passages figurative there are at least two plausible explanations as to how to fit Genesis 1 and 2 when it comes to talking about plants what about the issue of animals they said God created animals after God created man isn’t isn’t that contradictory to what God says in Genesis 1 well the solution here is actually pretty simple again it’s simple if we are willing to work with the text and not just go straight to the nuclear option we can translate the Hebrew verb in verse 19 for God formed out of the ground in the pluperfect that is to say out of the ground the Lord had formed every beast etc and this is the way that the ESV and the NIV both translate this verse on the ground the LORD hath four so rather than describing a new action from God verse 19 Moses would be referring back to how the animals had also been created out of the ground before man was created there’s a big emphasis on ground in Genesis 2 you may have noticed the plants come out of the ground man comes out of the ground animals too came out of the ground it just seems to be the way that God wanted to do it so Moses is drawing attention by going back and using that description the Hebrew by the way easily accommodates a pluperfect translation had created Pat formed unlike English first Hebrew and also Greek verbs are much more dependent on context for us to get the sense of their timing English very you know past present perfect present perfect etc future it’s a little bit more nuanced in Hebrew and Greek you create it much more dependent on context so this is justified this is not you’re just reading that into the text this is just about the context definitely supports a plea perfect translation so Pat form that greet it but what about the third issue how might we respond to the objection that too much is happening in one day to be taken literally especially all of that naming that seemed like an especially arduous activity how could Adam have named all the animals still had time the rest of what is described happening on day six but here again the answer is simpler than it may first appear the name II didn’t take as long as we might think because notice a number of details notice that the animals were brought to Adam by God Adam didn’t have to go looking for them so that saves some time notice also the only some of the animals are brought to God I’m brought to Adam just the cattle the land beasts and the flying creatures so if you notice who’s left out I guess the sea creatures and the creeping things wouldn’t have made for great companions so they didn’t even get an audition or / Adam would not have had to name every individual animal even every species of animal since those variations did not even exist yet and Adam would simply have had to name the animal kinds among the cattle to land beasts in the birds furthermore Adam was perfectly made and he was an uncorrupted man so his analytical and creative capacities were considerably sharper than any of ours if we had to name the animal kinds we would probably have some trouble we might get bored might get tired they might struggle to come up with a name but marry Adam this is not Adam after the fall it is Adam before the fall so we have a number of factors that make it so Adam didn’t have to name too many animals and he was well equipped to do so and even if the naming took all day even if it took all day which I’m not saying it did the other events today need not take much time at all so then it is quite reasonable for us to simply believe what the text says that all these events took place in one 24 hour day and if we aren’t sure how God did it that’s okay because the text says it happened then text is written as such way to be taken as an accurate record of creation in light of these apologetic answers there is no reason for us to take Genesis to you in a different way than we take Genesis one over the rest of the chapters of Genesis Moses of God’s holy spirit they wrote these chapters as straightforward narratives that we can trust in all their details we should not seek a figurative interpretation of these of these words of this passage just to accommodate an Old Earth or evolutionary assumptions but let’s move on from the apologetic aspect of this passage to see if we can draw a few other interpretation conclusions what does this passage have to tell us about God and his character now this is something I hope you’ll meditate more on today I’m gonna give you some ideas it shows us that God is loving he cares about the aloneness of Adam this is a beautiful example of the tender kindness and generosity of God he says that’s not good I’m gonna do something about this is certainly be encouraging to the Israelites as they’re getting ready to follow God trust God seek God as they go into the Promised Land and God is still the same loving and generous God today because God does not change see also that God is relational I saw this in chapter 1 but we saw annex yet again in chapter 2 man is made in God’s image and yet it’s not good for man to be alone this goes back to what we’ve already said about God’s unity and diversity this goes back to the Trinity God creates for Adam someone from Adams own being yet who was distinct from Hammond like God we as humans are designed for relationships but not relationships with those who are completely like us sometimes we wish that right ah I wish even that person was just more like me which everybody thought like I did but it’s not the way we were designed we’re designed to relate to those who are both like us and not like us not completely unlike us as much as we live animals love dogs cats they’re not like us they can be they can be nice little addition to the household but they don’t compare to another human being God designed us for us to relate to both those who are both like us and not like this and this by the way I think has something to why God designed marriage to be heterosexual and not homosexual it’s a reflection of God God desires his great unity and diversity reflected especially in the marriage relationship with someone who is like you but not like you and not just physically so we see God’s loving we see God’s work relational we see that God is also highly exalted what is man made out of dust dirt far beneath God’s being God’s image and the spirit of life are what give our dust value not anything we produce in ourselves and so it’s like that verse that I’ve been displaying on the front slides at each lesson the psalmist says what is man he’s talking to God what does man that you take thought of him and the son of man that you care for him consider that all that God has done for man creating revealing himself to man saving man who is bound in sin but what is man we are but dust dirt from the ground but how gracious and powerful God was to make us and set us each of us as under rulers over his creation his grand creation he allowed us mere dust an exalted place in it especially if we are in Christ now another question Genesis is a book about origins and what origins do we see explained in this chapter a one of them is work we often think about work as being this terrible thing oh I can’t wait till I’m done working just retire start working and there is toil in work now and that’s part of the fall but it wasn’t originally like that work is not part of the curse it was something that God designed for man from the beginning you put him in the garden to cultivate it and keep it to work you know something that Adam would enjoy that’s why as Christians we are to have a redeemed view of work yes there’s trouble in Toyland work but we do it all for the glory of God we also take joy in our work as Ecclesiastes says because this is the gift from God work is itself is not a curse the toil in work the trouble in work that is part of the curse we also see the origin of marriage in this in this section and we see actually a number of things about oh before I get to marriage I didn’t want to say the origin we see the origin of male and female and this is certainly relevant to our culture isn’t it God in Crete human beings with one sex from which we evolved to conceive different senses of sex and gender from the very beginning God made two sexes that were distinct from one another and yet complementary to one the same but different not just in body but also in mind female human was going to be a perfect complement to a male human and vice versa both are important and together they would display the image of God God is gonna glorify himself in each male and each female as he designed from the beginning that’s I say we also see much here regarding marriage and it hits origin now the word man does not actually mentioned anywhere in the chapter but notice verse 24 again the end of chapter 2 for this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife and they shall become one flesh again this verse uses the terms ish and Isha talking about husband and wife and implicitly marriage now notice how verse 24 starts with for this reason was the reason because of how God created the first male and first female in marriage and how did God create that first marriage by literally making two people out of one body so when Adam says this is that bone in my bone and flesh my flesh it wasn’t just being poetic it was actually talking accurately and literally about the relationship he had to his wife but for this reason because of that the one body nasir by Adam and Eve in their creation it becomes the pattern for all marriages all marriages are gonna be based off of this pattern they must conform to this pattern verse 24 says a husband a wife become one flesh just like Adam and Eve were one flesh now understand that does not merely refer to sexual intercourse the one flesh Ness of Adam and Eve was more than that because remember at the impetus for marriage itself as given in Genesis 2 God did not say it is not good for man to lack a sexual partner or even is not good for man to be unable to reproduce but what did God say it is not good for man to lack a suitable companion a pair of facing a little bit there God created marriage with several purposes the primary purpose stated here in Genesis 2 by God even before he blessed the couple by telling them be fruitful multiply what’s the supply companionship I think this is the primary sense of being one flesh it is being in such an intimate companionship relationship than another know there’s blessings and others troubles now there’s problems and other struggles of their whole being their whole lives it becomes part of your own it’s like you become one person thus for Adam to care for Eve was really to care for himself and to care for himself was to care for Eve there would be no separating the benefit for Adam and the benefit for Eve just so there’d be no separation for the loss for Adam in the lost readings this is what needs to be one flesh and isn’t this exactly what Paul says in Ephesians 5 seasons 5 verses 28 to 31 I’ll quote it for you so husband’s ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies he who loves his own wife loves himself for no one ever hated his own flesh but nourishes and cherishes it just as Christ also does the church because we are members of his body for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh Paul even quotes Genesis 2 in explaining that the pattern of one body is literally shared by Adam and Eve it becomes the standard of care and affection and concern for all who enter into marriage so if you’re May that includes you and if you’re going to get married that includes you there are even more implications about marriage in Genesis 2 some of them have already alluded to into class some of them are explained more x+ later in the Bible we see that man is the leader in a marriage relationship he was created as such this is the pattern from Genesis to Adam was created first Eve came from Adam when she was created she was brought to Adam it’s doesn’t this doesn’t point to an inherent superiority in Adam but it does point to Adams headship in the marriage relationship man and women are equal after all they’re actually composed of the same flesh and bone literally for Adam and Eve but God had given the leadership role in marriage to the man the New Testament clarifies that this leadership role also extends to the church and this is again on the basis of Genesis 2 and Genesis 3 what happens during the fall Paul goes back to these historical accounts to give us principles for all of life we also see here the longevity of marriage if Adam and Eve are the pattern for marriage and marriage must be between first of all between one man and one woman but also it is for life man this is consistent with the one flesh one body manna for your body cannot separate from itself if it does if your body separates from itself what normally happens you’re done a body never seeks to separate from itself this is the opposite of every single impulse that the body has it’s trying to preserve itself and preserve all its parts this is why God hates divorce divorce is the slicing of the one body of marriage it makes no sense it destroys there’s any wonder then that when Jesus is asked about whether divorce is lawful in mark chapter 10 verses 1 and 9 he goes back to the one flesh of Adam and Eve and a pattern statement of Genesis 2:24 what God has joined together let no man tear asunder only God has the right to end the one flee the one flesh relationship via the death of one spouse and yes there are those caveats in the New Testament about an abandoned spouse and a spouse who suffer under sexual unfaithfulness but God’s design is for no no divorce no cutting of the one flesh Union and it’s established in Genesis 2 all in the same lines according to this pattern in Genesis two sexual pursuits outside one spouse are forbidden they make no sense now adulteresses body is not the body that your Lord joined you to or will join you – if you’re not marriage by going outside God’s design of the one body of marriage give yourself and your future spouse injury you cannot go against God’s design and win Jesus 1st Corinthians 6:18 says risk ridden 6:18 flee immorality every other sin that a man commits is outside the body but the immoral man sins against his own body and then there’s the lair above all of this explain the diffusions 5 another place in the New Testament at marriage first exemplified and given a pattern in Adam and Eve it is ultimately a picture of Christ and the church all these wonderful realities were describing are ultimately pointed something about our relationship with God through Christ we have become one body with our Lord Jesus he is our intimate companion and helped his blessings are ours our troubles are his because we become one this is why Jesus had to pay for all our sins on the cross that he might have us his church as his heavenly bride and know how the Lord Jesus loves his bride and is committed to her purity and her blessing his own love and the faithful submission of his church is the model for each by marriages beyond the pattern that we see of pre-fall and Adam and Eve there is the model of Christ in the church because all marriages are ultimately meant should be a picture of the Lord’s relationship with us his people so as you can see there are many many doctrinal implications practical life behavior implications just based off of the narrative of Genesis – I’ve tried to hit most of them but I’m sure there’s more we could say Genesis – that is a perfect example of that warning that we’ve heard from Answers in Genesis and others that if you undermine the historical accounts of Genesis 1 2 and following you dismiss it you explain away parts but you just say it’s myth its figure it’s poetry then you undermine many if not all of the Bible’s other major doctrines I think you can still be a Christian and do that I think you’re doing yourself injuring your doing the church injury but if you explain it away you undermine so many crucial doctrines to summarize what we’ve discussed today the historic account of man and woman’s creation in Genesis 2 clearly does not fit with an evolutionary understanding of human origins nevertheless these historic accounts do have profound implications for men women gender marriage and much more today all marriage and one flesh relationships signified by sexual union must follow the pattern set by the first man and woman anything else will just bring injury and eventually the angry judgment of God on those whom are who misrepresent his very good design and pollute the marriage picture that points ultimately to Christ and His Church by way of application I urge you to consider and meditate on the following questions now hopefully you’ve already been seeing some application but here are some things just to draw your attention number one to you praise God for his generous heart and his gracious acts in creating man creating you creating man as male and female this was a great thing from God do you praise him do you think him for that are you marveling at that number two do you submit to God’s creation design because we are fallen man now because we are corrupted radically corrupted in heart we are inclined toward various forms of deviancy even in this area when it comes to our genders when it comes to our attractions when it comes to you marriage but when we pursue these things according to the flesh we not only are hurting ourselves but we dishonor God we sin against God but if we submit to God and to his creation design we experience the blessing if we let go of our corrupt desires we say no I want to embrace what God has for me that’s the way to bless me do you submit to God’s creation design and not Justin knows sexuality issues but also in how you view your spouse do you view her as your one body campaign that all her concerns all her troubles are your own are all his concerns and all his troubles are your at home or do you see your spouse as an enemy that goes against God’s design God didn’t design you for that do you submit to God’s to some third question what is the best way to contend against the assault on marriage in our culture I hope you’ll think through this but I want to give you a little bit of prodding in this area it might be tempted to go to scientific surveys other forms of scientific evidence but remember those things can be manipulated they’re dependent on presuppositions and assumptions do you want it rightly contend for marriage you’re gonna have to go to the scriptures this gives us a trustworthy understanding of what why marriage is so good what God’s design for marriage is but don’t forget also our goal is not to convince people in society of heterosexuality or not being transgender or being sexually faithful in marriage what is it about the gospel what do those who practice homosexuality with sexuality need they need Jesus Christ what is it that those who are interested in changing their genders need they need Jesus Christ not merely altered behavior so don’t forget that even as we we feel the need stand up for God’s design in our culture and then finally have you been joined to Christ via repentance and faith so that he cares for you as his own body I told you this is that that’s what all this is pointing to ultimately but are you included in that are you outside of Christ still an enemy of Christ no not receiving his care but only receiving his patients until the time of judgment I hope you think on those questions and the other things we talked about today but in a few minutes left any questions or comments on what you’ve heard today all right well if you think of anything please feel free to email me and I’ll do my best to answer that question so we’re taking a little bit of a hiatus from Sunday school because of the Christmas and New Year’s coming up so I won’t see you next week won’t see you the week after but when we do come back we’re coming back into the creation creation topic but we’re gonna do something maybe a little bit unexpected let me talk about dinosaurs and dragons do they fit with the Bible are they mentioned in the Bible I’ll talk about that next time let’s go to break o our great God what you have done and creation is so good but we when we’re thinking rightly we should echo Adams own heart and see at last God you have done a wonderful thing in creating both male and female – in all that you’ve done in creation it is indeed very good and you showed such concern for Adam and even really for all of us and how you made the world you made everything so good and yet God in our sin and our rebellion and our pride we we decided we didn’t want it we wanted our own way we suffered the consequences of sin oh how deceitful sin is how deceitful Satan is that we would cast aside your blessing to embrace a curse god I pray that we would not do that anymore that we would repent we repent of our pride and repent of our idols even when it comes to the areas of marriage sexuality gender our views of work our views of other people but I pray that we would submit to you that we would seek your forgiveness for all that we have done – to rebel and to pollute your design these were heinous things before you because you have been so good and you are so holy what I prayed you’d be so gracious to work by your spirit to convict to encourage to build such an appreciation in your people for what you have done not just in creation but in Christ and redeeming those who though merely dust still shook our fist at you forgive us our sins God but thank you for those of us who are in Christ that you have forgiven it help us to walk in your way and continually rejoice and all that you do in app done in Jesus name Amen thank you all Merry Christmas at the new year you’re welcome see you next time