Religion & Spirituality
The Original Marriage Genesis 2 July 11, 2021 I. Introduction: A. We are living in a time when the very foundations of marriage are being questioned – questions like: who is marriage for, what is its purpose, how should it operate; then add to that so many different people speaking into it as if they are authorities on this. 1. Our culture no longer seeks to find truth but rather constructs its own subjective personal truth, which results in great confusion about marriage. 2. We as Christians believe there is an objective truth outside of ourselves regarding marriage that we discover in God and His Word. 3. So let me ask you right at the start – where or who do you look to in order to get your answers about marriage! B. So this morning I want to go back to the original marriage where this whole thing of marriage began with Adam and Eve, so we can see the original design and purpose for marriage. 1. A design and purpose that is still true today because it is built into the very nature of marriage! • So turn in your Bibles to … II. Genesis 2 A. In chapter 2, He goes back and gives us more detail about what happened on the sixth day when He created both man and woman and the institution of marriage! 1. Read Genesis 2:18a 2. As we go on in this section God comes up with the solution to this problem of man’s aloneness – being separated from others in isolation. B. So the structure to this passage is simple: 1. Problem: aloneness - v18a 2. God’s solution: suitable helper - v 18b a) Search for a suitable helper - v19-20 b) Creation of suitable helper - v21-23 3. Creation of institution of marriage – v24 C. Read – remember 1. V 19 – earlier in day 6 God had created the animals and now He was bringing them before Adam 2. V 23 – read this as my Hebrew professor taught us the way the Hebrew actually should read this – wow! I still have the wow! • So let’s start by looking at the III. Woman created as the suitable helper A. Reread v18 B. We learn in this passage that man and woman are the God created perfect fit and help to each other. C. That is what the word suitable means – something that fits another perfectly, the counter-part, the complement, the answer to what the other needs, the one who corresponds to, the one who is just right for, the one who harmonizes perfectly with the other! 1. So it is someone who is different enough to supply what the other lacks but is similar enough to fit smoothly! They are the perfect answer to what the other one needs 2. Illustrate with the hands D. Let’s take the cultural steroids out of the word helper as many have been jacked up feeling that the word helper means women are inferior to men and just are their sidekick helpers! 1. If that is your case, it shows you have been more influenced by the culture than you have been by the Scriptures. 2. Because this word for helper is often used in Scripture of God helping man and helping Israel, it clearly is not a position of inferiority, it is just a fact that man needs help! E. What does he need help for? We learn back in Genesis 1 that God gave man and woman together the responsibility to subdue the earth and rule over His creation. We also learn that in Genesis 2 he was to cultivate the garden. 1. Bottom line –marriage is God’s gift to man and woman to have someone to help them live out all the responsibilities, someone who is an equal who is similar enough to him yet different enough to provide the help needed. 2. What if you are single? God has given the gift others in the body of Christ to come along side of you with their differences to support you. Marriage is just a very unique way God does it. F. God created the woman to be man’s the suitable helper! 1. We learn in Genesis 1-2 that men and women are absolutely equal in their dignity and personhood but gloriously different on purpose in order to help each another. • All of this drives us into the very IV. Purpose of marriage A. Read v24 1. For this reason – that man and women are the perfect complement to each other and that woman was taken out of man. 2. For this reason... read rest B. Marriage is all about two absolutely equal but gloriously different people, a man and a woman, leaving their family of origin to form a brand new family unit, called “one flesh.” 1. Marriage is all about these two different people blending their entire life together into one harmonious unit. 2. Unity is not about being the same, or acting alike or even losing your individual identity. 3. It is quite the opposite. Unity is the blending together in perfect harmony that which is different. 4. The beautiful dance of two becoming one • I want to leave us with one key application today V. God designed our differences to be a blessing! A. Our differences as male, female and individual human beings are designed to bless and provide what is lacking for our mate. But Satan uses our differences to create conflict and separate us! B. We need to learn to appreciate and tap into our mate’s differences for our own good! 1. Kim and I are as different as they come! Learning to appreciate and be blessed by our differences was clearly a long slow difficult process. 2. One area in particular was in the way we think – I am very logical, analytical, theoretical and internal processor. Kim also is logical but she is more intuitive, practical, and an external processor. 3. Early on, I thought my way of thinking and processing was superior to Kim’s and that God wanted me to help her learn a better way to think! As you might imagine, this was a source of frustration and tension in our relationship. 4. Long story short - God humbled me many times by showing me often Kim way of thinking was in the end right and mine was not! a) I learned that Kim’s way was not inferior but different and I needed to learn how to gain value from her way of thinking. Learning how to bring together the two different thoughts and find the better thought, we can have together as we value and listen to one another! b) Now I recognize I need Kim’s perspective so I pursue and respect it before making major decisions C. Men and women are gloriously different in so many ways and while there are some generalities that are true of many in each of the two genders, it is not true of all. Our responsibility is to study and know our particular and unique husband and wife! 1. We have different personalities, different strengths and weaknesses, different energy levels and likes and dislikes. 2. We have personal histories that are different, as Kim said a few weeks ago we are all living a one of a kind story that has never been lived by anyone before! 3. Our families of origins have deeply affected the way we handle money, conflict resolution, attitudes towards sex, friendships, recreation, religious beliefs etc. 4. All of these differences can either bless or frustrate! D. The two becoming one can be like going on a rafting ride together. You get in the raft together and at the start, it’s just a lot of fun as you move with the current. But at some point two different and mighty rivers merge together 1. When they first merge, there is great turbulence and disturbance but once the two different rivers finally blend and run together it becomes one new mighty river. 2. The same is true of our marriages – once we learn to navigate and benefit from the great turbulence and disturbance that our differences bring our marriages can become a mighty force for God’s glory, blessing each other and blessing others! E. So if you are struggling with these differences or the two of you blending together as one let me encourage you with two things: 1. First, reframe the way you look at your differences, a) Change the way you think about your differences from something that is bad, inferior, wrong or needs to be changed, b) To something that is valuable, a blessing to appreciate and designed to make you even better! 2. Secondly, live by the truth of 1 Peter 2:25. Read a) Trust Jesus to point out, sort out and guide you through the hundreds of things deep within that must be addressed. So you can dance well the dance of two becoming one and so you can be a blessing to each other and those around you!