Posted on 05/27/2018 12:59:11 PM PDT by pastorbillrandles
And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. (Genesis 2:7)
In all of the rest of Creation, the LORD God spoke and it was. Creation by Fiat, The Lord said…”Let there be Trees, fish, beasts, domestic animals, etc.” . But when He made man, The Most High got down in the clay, and formed with his own hands the marvelous body of the first man, Adam.
Then he did something completely intimate, something very close to ‘mouth to mouth’ , He breathed into his very nostrils the Spirit of Life. (Who do you let breath into your nostrils?).
Man is unique, He is different from all of the rest of Creation, which seems to have been brought into being to serve his needs and to make him comfortable in a suitable habitation, by the merciful Creator.
But if Man is unique, what is Woman? She is totally special, and was brought into being in an eve more intimate way.
And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam 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. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed (Genesis 2:18-25).
The first “not good” pronounced by the LORD God on any aspect of His creation, occurred before the Fall of man. Therefore, it had nothing to do with Satan, sin or evil. God’s plan was not yet complete, for the LORD God had purposed that man was not to be a solitary actor. It was not good that the man was alone. God would make for him a help meet (suitable and complimentary) for him.
This need for marital companionship was seemingly underscored by the divinely assigned task of naming all of the animals. Obviously, none of the beautiful creatures, as unique and interesting as they were, could possibly meet the need of the man for a life companion.
How does God turn a “not good” into a “Good”?
The LORD God did something about the problem that looks a lot like death and resurrection.
God put Adam into a deep sleep, that He might perform a kind of surgery upon him. The first human blood was shed here, for God removed from the first man a side, (not a rib as the KJV says), but a side in the Hebrew. He took a side out of Adam’s flesh, to form a woman from Adam’s side. Then the LORD God had to close up the flesh of Adam. (Was this the first scar?)
The woman, who came out of Adam’s side, was different from Adam, but she was complimentary to him. Both of them comprise the image of God, for it is written, “Male and female created He them in His Image . . .”. But the woman was fashioned in a different and more refined way than the man. Man was formed out of the “dust of the earth”, the soil. But woman was fashioned out of the side of man, refined and refashioned soil.
Even the order of Creation is significant. Man was created first, then woman. The woman was formed as a help suitable to the man. Centuries later when the apostle Paul was teaching the church, he referred to the order of Creation as a reason why leadership in the church should primarily be male.
But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve (1 Timothy 2:12-13).
Men and women are equal but different, according to the Word of God. Gender is not a mere human construct, as the spirit of this evil age insists. Male and female are, in fact, God assigned roles, based upon the mode and order of Creation. The deliberate repudiation of these roles is one of the ultimate expressions of the world’s final rebellion against God Himself.
As Adam came out of his deep sleep, he stood there before God, with the scar in his side, waiting to be presented by the LORD God, with the first woman–a creature of astonishing beauty and grace, no doubt.
This particular scene in the Scripture, foreshadows the final triumph, for the ultimate Groom also has a scar in His side, and awaits the time when the Father presents the Bride, the Lamb’s wife, the body of the Messiah, the church, purchased by His blood.
Adam 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. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed (Genesis 2:23-25).
There is a wedding at very near the beginning of the Bible, and a wedding at the end of it. The union of man and wife is the fundamental human relationship. Before any other relationship–father/son, brother/brother, or brother/sister, friend/friend, employer/employee–the fundamental and primal relationship is husband/wife.
This first wedding is of prophetic significance, because the original groom, who had a scar in his side, from which his wife was taken, foreshadows the ultimate Bridegroom, Jesus, out of whose side blood and water poured forth when they pierced Him, whilst He was paying the price for His bridal church, (which He purchased from sin with His own blood).
Centuries later the apostle Paul would reveal to us by divine revelation, something of what Adam had been given a glimpse of on that hopeful day,
For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church (Ephesians 5:31-32).
The mystery of marriage is that it is, in itself, a sign that points to a greater reality– the love of the Messiah for His church. The word that God used when He said that He formed the woman out of Adam’s side, is the same word that will be used to describe Cain building a city. We will see in Genesis chapter 4 that in rebellion against God, Cain built a city of rebellion. Enoch, (means “Inauguration”), a “New Start” without God, for all of those who wish to leave the presence of the Lord and to make their own life on their own terms.
But God has built a bride for Adam, and He has been building a bridal city for the Messiah, the Bride, the Lamb’s wife, which is a “bridal city” of God,
And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal (Revelation 21:9-11).
Funny now those “ignorant” folks got things a lot more correct a few thousand years ago than our supposedly eddikated marshmallow majors of today.
Oh well, that’s what the guillotine is for.
Oh well, that’s what the guillotine is for.
= = =
Not for transgendering????
Men and women are complementary. They complete each other.
Man was (is) made in God’s image: Spiritual (breath of God), to live in Community (marriage), and to live forever (if you eat of this, surely you will die).
God loved (loves) man, and looked for him to walk in the garden in the cool of the evening. But this community with God had been lost forever - until Jesus. Now the Son of God has paid the ultimate price of sin - as a gift to His creatures (man) and to His Father - the we could be fully re-united in with God, and God with his man - to walk in the cool of the evening together - to be in full Communion with Him.
The “world” constantly pulls us away from our true Spiritual nature back into our animal nature: survival of the fittest, revenge, greed, sex, etc. But God calls - He always does - to lift us above this to our true creature nature: Spirit, Community, and Eternity.
bookmark
WOW! Mind-boggling uniqueness.
Bump
To Read Later
LOL! Beatings will continue until morale increases...
That’s absolutely beautiful.
One of your best.
Thank you.
Thanks metmom,a needed antidote to today’s gender confusion
“This particular scene in the Scripture, foreshadows the final triumph, for the ultimate Groom also has a scar in His side, and awaits the time when the Father presents the Bride, the Lamb’s wife, the body of the Messiah, the church, purchased by His blood.”
Rich insight.
I do hope you are planned no to gather and publish your writings.
Absolutely.
Amen. I agree. I always read, but don’t always comment, but you are RIGHT! :-)
Gee, we don’t see that anywhere in the world, do we. Is there a sin, anywhere on earth, that is more celebrated and accepted, than the repudiation of these roles?
I believe Eve was probably the most beautiful woman that God ever created. Adam’s first reaction, was probably, my goodness, look 👀 at her. 😁
Genesis 13:13
Well; DUH!
I believe the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of the Son of God, was absolutely the most beautiful woman that God ever created.
In the Jewish tradition, Eve was Adam’s second wife. G_d first created for him a woman from the same dust of the earth as Adam and named her Lillith.
But they quarreled because LIllith insisted she, created from the same dust as he, should be Adam’s equal. She finally left, which prompted G_d to create Eve from Adam’s side, from under his arm, which was to be her rightful place.
Even if you think the Jewish tradition is bunk, it’s still interesting how they have used the story of Lillith — who now often is portrayed as a demon of the night — to show that man’s natural role is as the protector of woman.
Well Ebb, I suppose it’s possible that Mary’s natural born children, fathered by her husband, Joseph might agree. I don’t, however. Eve was created sinless, though became a sinner later. Mary was not created sinless. If you don’t agree, so be it. Doctrinally, you and I agree on VERY little. I am totally satisfied with that. 👍
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.