Genesis 6
Well we’re back in the book of Genesis tonight. If you remember the last time we were together we were looking at a more personal, detailed description of how the Lord created the universe. We saw how He fashioned the world and everything in it including man. We also saw how He gave Adam a home in the perfect Garden of Eden while also giving him purpose in life.
Everything was good, right? Well, good…yes. But complete…not really. The creation of a man wasn’t the final act of creation for the Lord. The creation of woman was. And some would say that the Lord saved the best for last. And all the ladies said?
So towards the end of the sixth day God created a woman.
As we’re going to see this woman will be joined to the man and will become one with him. The marital relationship was started right there in the Garden of Eden with the first ever man and woman.
[Newlyweds socks and brushing teeth story.]
This special and unique relationship between one man and one woman was God’s idea. God’s! It wasn’t an afterthought. It wasn’t as a result of anything or any circumstance. It was God’s idea from eternity past that marriage would be the foundation and the vehicle of human society. All civilization was to flourish through this special relationship.
But the ideal of marriage isn’t doing so well in the world any more.
- A divorce proceeding is now just as common as a wedding ceremony
- Instead of Adam and Eve getting married we now have Adam and Steve
- Self-centered
- Society has followed
I think that the main reason marriage has turned out like this is because people don’t
really care much about what the Lord thinks about this relationship. They think marriage is all about themselves. What can marriage do for me?
But remember, marriage is when you agree to spend the rest of your life sleeping in a room that’s too warm, beside someone who’s sleeping in a room that’s too cold.
Marriage isn’t primarily about ourselves. Marriage is primarily about God’s purpose for humanity through this unique relationship. So let’s go back to the Garden of Eden and find God’s purposes for the marriage relationship. The first purpose for marriage is to:
I. Mirror God’s image
[Read Genesis 1:26-27.]
Now we know the Lord created humanity to reflect His image in the world by the way we live. But we’re also to reflect His image as man and woman through our marriage relationship.
You see, man alone couldn’t fully reflect the image of God. But man and woman can. God wants to use marriages all over the world to be an expression of Him and His relationship with His followers.
You know many times when you go to a wedding you hear Ephesians chapter five read as a kind of an instructional manual for the marital roles. And it definitely can and should be used as such. But it’s so much more than that. Ephesians five reveals that the marriage relationship is really a reflection of the relationship with God and His people.
[Jason and Dayna’s wedding story.]
As I read this passage, try and catch all the ways in which the marriage relationship reflects God’s relationship with us.
[Read Ephesians 5:22-33.]
- Christ is our leader - We submit to Christ with our entire life
- Christ is our Savior - We’re joined to Christ as one, (mystery, Holy Spirit)
- Christ Loves us
- Christ sacrifices for us
- Christ sets us apart
- Christ forgives, cleanses us
- Christ provides for us
- Christ cherishes us
[Read John 17:22-23.]
When husbands and wives love each other with an unconditional, sacrificial, self-less love, God’s relationship with His children is reflected. That’s one purpose of the marriage relationship. Another purpose for marriage is to:
II. Mutually complete one another
[Read Genesis 2:18.]
Now for some people they can go through life and never be married. The Apostle Paul refers to that as a special gift from God for specific purposes. But Paul also alludes to the fact that most people need to be married. We need that deep level of companionship.
Now I realize that many of you might find yourself single again. And I know that it must be terribly difficult to lose a spouse to divorce or death, so I’ll try and be sensitive to that. But as we talk about how marriage is for two people to mutually complete one another, please don’t feel like I’m saying that you’re incomplete if you aren’t married. Not at all. God is the great provider for all our needs no matter our marital status.
But yes, God does use the marriage relationship to mutually complete one another. We just can’t do it alone.
A wife went with her friend to the police station to report that her husband was missing!
When the policeman asked for a description, she said, “He’s 6 foot 2, has deep blue eyes, dark
wavy hair, athletic build, well-groomed and sharply dressed, weighs 185 pounds. He’s soft-spoken, well-mannered and loves the children.” The friend spoke up and said. “But your husband is fat, 5 foot 3, rude, smokes cigars, bald, has a big mouth, never bathes,
dresses sloppy, his teeth is rotten and he is terribly mean to your children.” The wife replied, “Well true, but who wants that one back?”
But in reality, the marriage relationship should be a way that God uses another human being to complete you.
1. The woman was created to be a helper for the man.
[Read Genesis 2:18-20.]
Woman was created to be the counterpart to the man. Specifically designed to correspond to the needs of the man as they would together fulfill the mission of humanity. She was simply designed to be man’s helper.
Now sometimes when we think of a helper we think of someone lower than ourselves that’s only good enough to be a helper. Usually when someone asks you to help them do something it means they want to get you to do what they really don’t want to do.
Helpers are sometimes considered replaceable, or less intelligent, or unskilled. But that’s not the case here. Here, woman is created specifically to be the partner for the man as they journey through life.
And as far as that title ‘helper’ goes, the woman is in good company.
[Read Psalm 33:20, 70:5, 115:9.]
Just as many times only God can meet our needs and help us with life’s struggles, women were designed to help men through life as well.
And I tell you what, Adam was sure excited when God presented him with his helper.
[Read Genesis 2:21-23.]
Now when the English writers tried to translate Adam’s initial reaction to the Lord bringing him the woman they didn’t do such a good job. Actually, it should read, The Lord fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said, “Uhm, uhm, uhm!”
Well, not really. But you can sense Adam’s overwhelming joy as he has someone that compliments him perfectly.
[Read Genesis 2:23.]
2. The woman was named because of her origin in man.
- Ish = man, Isha = woman, (soft)
- Adam made from dirt, Eve made from Adam’s DNA
So, the woman was made as the helper for the man and was named woman because of
her origin in man. This sets the stage for their relationship to be so close, so complete that they become one unit instead of two people.
[Read Genesis 2:24-25.]
3. The woman and the man would have a shameless, completely unified relationship.
This is how God intended things to be. Man and woman, innocent and sinless, mutually
and selflessly completing each other as they journeyed through life.
This purpose is still alive and well today. Couples are meant to mutually complete each other. It’s not enough to just harmoniously exist together. We need to complete one another.
[Lisette and my relationship compliments illustration.]
So, the marriage relationship was created to mirror God’s image and mutually complete one another. But along with those two purposes for marriage, God also intended this special relationship to:
III. Multiply a godly legacy
[Read Genesis 1:28.]
Through the marriage relationship God set the context for having and raising children. It’s the ideal setting for humanity to flourish and to carry on a godly legacy.
Now again, we live in a world where it’s just as common for kids to grow up in single parent homes as grow up in homes where Mom and Dad are still together. Step-moms, step-dads, step-brothers and sisters, step-daughters and sons are common place today. And that’s something many people have to work through. But of course, with God’s help and power single parents and step-parents can raise godly, successful children.
But when God created marriage, one of its purposes was to create a framework that’s the best setting for Moms and Dads to multiply a godly legacy through their children. When parents have that oneness relationship with each other that we just talked about, they can as a team raise children that will grow up loving the Lord and carrying on a godly legacy.
I think that’s probably the heartbeat of most godly parents – to raise godly kids. We know that Jesus is real and we want our kids to know Him like we know Him. So we do our best to model our relationship with God and to teach them how then can know and grow in the Lord.
Of course, there’s no guarantees because of sin’s prescience in the world.
[Pastor’s kid rebellion story.]
But when God set up the relationship of marriage, He told Adam and Eve to be fruitful and fill the earth with a godly heritage. Marriage can still do that today.
And you know what’s amazing? When husbands and wives do their best to mutually complete one another, and when Mom’s and Dad’s work together as a team to raise godly children, fulfilling these two purposes of marriage actually cause the married couple to fulfill the first and most important purpose of the marriage relationship – to mirror the image of God.
We’ve got to remember, people aren’t just watching us as individuals to see if our faith is real. They’re watching the way we treat our spouse to see if our faith is real. I mean, if our faith doesn’t affect the way we treat our spouse, then what good is it? Our marriage is meant to reflect the image of God to the unbelieving world around us.
Make sure that it is. Make sure that when people see the way you treat your spouse, or the way you talk about your spouse, or the way you remember your spouse, they can see the image of God.
[Grandpa Caucutt and diseases story.]
And that’s what it’s all about, a relationship that reflects the image of God.
[Pray.]
