Sermon Notes;

God Created Us Out of Unity

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭1‬:‭26‬-‭27‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

“Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”

 

“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 being.”

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭2‬:‭7‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

 Hope in Marriage

God’s original intent was for us to be fruitful, multiply, enjoy, and have dominion over what he created and to commune unhindered in His presence. God desires to bring us to that resting place again if we choose to receive all that He has for us.

 

God chose to fulfill Adam’s heart’s desire and share Adam’s focus and heart with another by creating a Woman.

 

God Creates Female Out of Man(ish) = Woman (ishah)

Gen 2:18-25

“Out of the ground, the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam, there was not found a helper comparable to him.” 

 

Comparable – The perfect fitting of two – Complimentary for procreation

 

Helper – Help in daily work, mutual support through companionship 

 

“And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept, and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.”

 

A parent’s heart is to create an environment that fulfills their heart’s desires. Women were created as a helper comparable to men.

 

 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.”

 

Shared Rule –  Equal Authority to take dominion over all that was created.

Bone of my Bone,  Flesh of my Flesh – literally taken from his bones, physically one.

Leave and Join Another

 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” 

 

Who is Adam Leaving to cleave to his wife?  It is a heart direction that changes.  It created a new order where a man’s heart is shared or divided.  

Paul references this to the Corinthian Church;

‭‭I Corinthians‬ ‭7‬:‭32‬-‭33‬

“But I want you to be without care. He who is unmarried cares for the things of the Lord—how he may please the Lord. But he who is married cares about the things of the world—how he may please his wife.”

 

Be Joined
– Hebrew root ‘proskallao’ = to glue or cement together, faithfulness, loyalty, and permanency.  The meaning is intensified by adding ‘pros’ to ‘kallao’

 

One Flesh – Hebrew root ‘echa’= one, a unit; united; unity, to bring together, one made up of many. sexual union, child conception, spiritual and emotional intimacy Matt. 19:5, I Cor. 6:16, Eph. 5:31-33.

And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.”‭‭Genesis‬ ‭2‬:‭19‬-‭25‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

 

Vulnerability, Naked, and Unashamed – They were even unaware of feeling ashamed about anything.  It was complete safety and rest in who they were.

 

God desires to bring us back to His original intent.  Each of us longs for that safe haven of rest in others, where we are completely accepted and loved.

 

‭‭John‬ ‭17‬:‭‭20‬-‭22‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:” 

 

Self rule/sin entered the world = Doing what we want or desire over God’s righteous way of living.

 

When self rules, we are no longer submitted to each other or God. 

 

• Fellowship and communion are broken 
• The first feeling of shame and vulnerability 
• They hide from God  
• God pursued both of them  ( love example shown in hurt and disappointment )

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭3‬:‭8‬-‭9‬ ‭NKJV

“And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”

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The Curse 

Genesis 3:14- 19

So the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly, you shall go, And you shall eat dust
All the days of your life. And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”

Enmity

 “Declaring war between you and the woman, 

between your offspring and hers.” Gen 3:15 msg

Woman becomes the focus of the enemy’s attack to stop, divert, and pollute the Seed of the divinely begotten future Messiah.  The fall and redemption of man comes through a woman.

Gen 2:16

“ To the woman He said:  “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.”

God changes the order. Women are submitted to their husbands as their covering as (servant) leaders. They are the covering as Christ is the covering to the church. 

 ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭5‬:‭25‬-‭28‬ ‭NKJV

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself.”

‭‭I Peter‬ ‭3‬:‭7‬ ‭NKJV‬‬  “Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.”

‭‭Colossians‬ ‭3‬:‭18‬-‭19‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them.”

 

Woman’s Greatest Struggle in this Life, After the Fall of Mankind:

• becoming and being a good and honored mother

• our relationship with our husband

• Identity connected to relationships  

A Woman’s Biggest Fear is losing her husband’s heart and her children not prospering.  

thus her need to have her heart pursued and being prone to worry about her children. 

Gen 2:17- 19 “ Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you saying;  You shall not eat of it’ : “Cursed is the ground for you sake;  In toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground. For out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.” 

Man’s Greatest Struggle in this Life, After the Fall of Mankind:

• working to provide through many obstacles
• Choosing work over family 
• Identity connected to production and performance 

A Man’s Biggest Fear is a failure to provide for the family, being successful, and pleasing his wife. 

 

A man’s battle for the seed (truth/identity) is in trusting God as their ultimate provider and battling a fear of failure, thus their need for respect.

A woman’s battle for the seed (truth/identity) is in trusting God in conception and being equipped to mother well and capture her husband’s heartstrings, thus her need for her heart to be pursued. 

Gen 3: 20,21 “And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.” 

 

Adam renamed his wife prophetically to Eve (Mother of all Living).

God had named her Woman up to this point, Adam chooses to rename her Eve meaning ‘mother of all living’. Even though she had never experienced motherhood and both of them didn’t fully understand the judgment,  Adam brought hope and restoration in her name.

Adam declared life over her.  He spoke into her identity. This is the first example of a man washing his wife with the water of his word. 

 

“Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.”

God made a covering for both of them. 

 

Those married to an unbeliever are not forgotten.  May grace abound.

 

‭‭I Corinthians‬ ‭7‬:‭14‬ ‭NKJV

“For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy.”

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‭‭I Peter‬ ‭3‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

“Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives, when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear.”

 

Song of Solomon 8:6-7

Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame. Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away. If one were to give all the wealth of one’s house for love, it would be utterly scorned. 

 

Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. – Hebrews 13:4

He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord. – Proverbs 18:22

And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken. – Ecclesiastes 4:12

Directing Each Other to the Lord

“We have to stop asking of marriage what God never designed it to give — perfect happiness, conflict-free living, and idolatrous obsession. Instead, he says, we can appreciate what God designed marriage to provide: partnership, spiritual intimacy, and the ability to pursue God — together. “Finding a ‘soul mate’ — someone who will complete us,” he says. “The problem with looking to another human to complete us is that spiritually speaking, it’s idolatry. We are to find our fulfillment and purpose in God. . . . If we expect our spouse to be ‘God’ to us, he or she will fail every day. No person can live up to such expectations. Everyone has bad days, yells at his or her spouse or is downright selfish. Despite these imperfections, God created the husband and wife to steer each other in His direction.

“When my wife forgives me . . . and accepts me, I learn to receive God’s forgiveness and acceptance as well. In that moment, she is modeling God to me, revealing God’s mercy to me, and helping me to see with my own eyes a very real spiritual reality.

If happiness is our primary goal, we’ll get a divorce as soon as happiness seems to wane.” “If receiving love is our primary goal, we’ll dump our spouse as soon as they seem to be less attentive. But if we marry for the glory of God, to model His love and commitment to our children, and to reveal His witness to the world, divorce makes no sense.”

Gary Thomas – Sacred Marriage