So What Ramblings: Man gets Woman and he's very happy about it.


Mmmmmmm, Krisy Kreme.

So last week we met my imaginary producer and, more importantly, talked about the importance of the Bible. Sadly, I was informed by one of my readers, that Charlton Heston and Moses are not one and same persons. I kind of knew this was true, but to hear it confirmed was a hard blow to my emotional psyche. It took me several donuts to get over this information. Nevertheless, I will carry on...somehow.

This blog series, which is rapidly rising in popularity among the blogosphere, (now only slightly behind the "Why I love my Curly Hair" blog), is intended to show you, oh faithful reader, the overall story of the Bible. Ergo, my writing comes from the belief in the trustworthiness and inerrancy, (lack of error), of the Bible itself. That being said, I now turn to God creating man and more importantly, (if you're a guy), God creating woman. If you're reading along, I'd read through Genesis 2 at this point. It's the first book of the Bible, second chapter. (I'll pause now while you read).

(Still waiting).

(Geez, what's wrong with you?)

(Ready now? Good).

So God creates man out of the dust of the ground and breathes into him the breath of life. Pretty cool, huh? I know we kind of covered this a few weeks ago, but there are a few other things worth pointing out here:

1) Man is not the center of the Bible story, God is. We live in a culture that puts man in the center of all things, that values man as the most important thing in creation. However, there's a problem with that sort of thinking. Man is made from the dust and dies. God is eternal. Man has to grow, learn, develop, eat, sleep, and protect himself from the elements. God knows all things, is all-powerful, needs no food, needs to sleep, needs no protection, and has no rival. God is the creator. Man is created. Man has to be potty trained. God...not so much. Man is subject to disease, decay, and death. God is immortal and eternal. He has no beginning and no end. So um...God wins on that one.
(If you're a very self absorbed and prideful person, you probably find this point to be a real downer. Sorry).

Side note: Man was not made because God was lonely. There is no deficiency in God. There is no indication here or anywhere else in the Bible to suggest some social inadequacy, loneliness, or boredom on the Lord's part. God has existed eternally within the personhood of the Trinity. I don't want to get ahead of where we are in the Bible, but it is an important point to make. The Creator of all life needs nothing from men, does not get bored, and does not get lonely. This means we do not have a God who is pitiful, needy, or lacking. (No one can stand those people anyways). We worship God who is completely satisfied in himself, who has no needs, and is worthy of our praise.

2) On the other hand, man does have incredible greatness and significance based on his relationship before his Creator. God breathed life into man. There is no other creature that can say the same. God gave commands to man and gave him a job to do. No other creature was given specific work and commands like man. Only man was given a command of what to do and not to do. Man was also given the privilege to name all the creatures of the earth, thereby putting him in a position of authority and lordship over the created world. Man IS significant, but only as he stays in the right position before his Creator. When man steps out of that correct position, (as unfortunately we'll see very soon), everything goes wrong. When man doesn't listen to God and stay within the bounds provided by Him for his good and protection then he gets in big trouble, both with the Lord and with himself. (Pay attention to that last sentence as it will come up again and again throughout the rest of the Bible).

So God makes man, puts him in the garden, and gives him a job to do. Also, there was given a consequence for disobedience = death. There are no laws to obey, no complex structure to follow, no dietary commands to keep. Man has one clear command to follow: Don't eat from that tree. The consequences could hardly be clearer. If you eat from one specific tree you will die. God wanted man to obey him and trust him in this one thing. We'll get to this later in chapter 3, but unfortunately, if you have or ever dealt with children, you know that telling them what they CAN'T do never ends well.

There is a problem in the created world at this point. There is something that was "not good". And you say, 'How can that be?' Everything God made was good. He says so. God looked over creation and said, "It was very good". So how can we have something in God's created world that is not good? You wonder if there is some inadequacy with God so that he was unable to meet a need in man's life? No, there is nothing in Genesis 1 that would lead you to think God was inadequate some way. What then? Man, as created, is not made to be alone. Man needs fellowship. Man needs a companion and a helper. And so we have the creation of woman, or as Mike Myers said in So I Married an Axe Murderer, "Whoa-Man". If you're reading this blog and you're a man, let's stop a moment and say "Hallelujah" that God made women. (I'm serious).

HALLELUJAH!!!

(I'd put in a picture here of a beautiful woman, but if I Googled "beautiful woman" I'd probably get some sort of pornography, which isn't cool. I also wanted to put a picture of my wife up, but she really doesn't want to be seen by the millions, (ahem), who read my blog).

So what's the problem? There is not a helper "suitable for", "corresponding to", "fit for", "a helper, his compliment" for Adam, (the quotations are from different translations). There wasn't found a being who matched up with Adam, like peanut butter matches up with jelly. There was no "fit" for Adam. Adam needed a helper who would compliment and match up to him. He needed someone different, yet similar enough to correspond to who he was. The problem is there was nothing and no one in creation at this time who "fit" Adam.

Therefore God, being good, loving, wise, and kind, since there is no compliment to Adam, makes one for him. God puts Adam to sleep and takes a rib from his side and from the rib he makes Eve. Then, (v22), God brings the woman to the man. Can you imagine the first man meeting the first woman for the very first time? How cool! Adam apparently thought it was pretty cool too because he responds with praise and rejoicing.

"This one, at last, is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh;

this one will be called “woman,” for she was taken from man," (V23).

The "at last" here in the verse is significant. The man had looked at everything in creation and found nothing that was suitable, nothing that was a good fit with him. But now, WOMAN! Here he sees a match. Here he sees someone that is like him, yet unlike him. Here is someone who will be a good fit and correspond to who he is as a man. Adam basically responds like this.

Here we see the incredible significance of the sexes. Each sex is unique and special before God. There is also an order to creation. God created man first, then the woman. This implies no superiority in being, but it does imply a significance in order before God. It was man who was made first, given the command to tend the garden, and given the responsibility of naming the animals of creation. It was women who was made second and made as a helpmate to correspond to the man. God has established and order in creation, just as there is an order in a dance, numbers, and the alphabet. There is no superiority in the the order, but there is order and authority. (Obviously a divisive subject, but the challenge as always is to make sure we're Biblical in our thinking).

Finally, at the end of chapter 2, we see the first marriage before God between man and woman. God has created the woman and brought her to the man. Man is VERY excited to see the woman and all of her...womanness, (Curves, Holla!). Now the writer notes how this sets a precedent for every future marriage between man and woman.

"Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh," (V24). Marriage then, was instituted in creation, by God. It was made by God at the very beginning and it is meant to reflect the image of God and be something wonderful. Granted, it may not always be that way, but it is what God intended. Marriage is meant, by God, to be something very unique, sacred, and special. There is meant to be a oneness between man and woman. It is so much more sacred and holy than our society portrays it in movies, television, and magazines. It is a divine creation that is intended to glorify and honor God. Pretty cool, huh?