The First Marriage

    "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."

    On the sixth day of creation the Lord God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” (Gen. 1:26), and he did. In chapter two, verse seven we read, “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.” Then, in verses 16 and 17, we read that “the Lord God commanded the man.” He did not command men, but “the man”. He did not command the man and the woman. The woman was not around. He commanded “the man”, Adam. The commandment was given to one man because one man was representative of all men.

    There was a reason for this. God had ordained the salvation of his elect by another Man, the last Adam, who is our Lord Jesus Christ. As we all fell by the act of one representative man, Adam, God ordained that all his elect be saved by the work of another representative Man, the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:12-19).

    “The Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone” (v. 18). Why was it not good for man to live alone? He had no one to love. Being created in the image of God, Adam was full of love and affection. That love and affection must have an object. He had no one to talk to. There was no one like himself with whom he could converse, no one with whom he could discuss the beauties of the garden, no one with whom he could share his thoughts. He had no one to touch and embrace. Companionship, togetherness is essential to those who love. We need to touch and be touched. We need to embrace and be embraced. He had no one to help. There was no one who needed Adam’s help, and no one to help Adam with his needs, as a man living in the world. The Lord God graciously took care to provide help for fallen, needy man, even before he fell and became needy. There was no one for him, with whom the man could share his blessings. Love must give and delights to give; but Adam had no one to whom he could give what God had given him, no one to whom he could give himself. He had no one to comfort, --no one for him to comfort and no one to comfort him, --no one for him to admire and no one to admire him. He was alone. Adam had no one with whom to produce others like himself. All the animals of the garden had their mates and their little ones; but Adam was alone. He had neither wife, nor sons, nor daughters (vv. 19-20). Eve was created by God specifically to be “a help meet” for Adam.

    We are first told what the Lord God did for Adam (vv. 21-22). “The Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam.” This was more than a normal rest, or sleep. God himself put Adam into a coma. No one else could do this to Adam. While Adam slept, God took one of Adam’s ribs out of his side and closed up the flesh, so that there was no scar. From that rib which he took from Adam, God made a woman. Then he brought her to the man.

    God did not create the woman as he did the man, but made the woman from the man. Woman was not the beginning of a new order and a new race. She was the continuation of the race. Adam was the sole head and representative. That is God’s order. She is called “Ishshah”, woman, because she was taken from “Ish”, man. The Lord did not take the woman from the man’s head to reign over him, nor did he take her from man’s foot to be trampled upon by him, but from his side as one who is his equal. God took woman from the rib of man, from under his arm, to be protected by him, from near his heart, to be loved by him. Then the Lord God brought the woman to the man. She was the gift of God to man. This is God’s order. It cannot be changed (1 Cor. 11:8-9).

    Verses 23 and 24 tell us what Adam did. “Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh.” He was saying, --This woman is part of me. She is to be loved and cherished by me, as I would love and cherish myself. We are one person. “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” Adam understood from the beginning what very few men understand today. The man who has a wife is the one responsible for the household. He is the head of the house, prophet, priest, and king. He is the provider for the household. He is the ruler of the house and the protector of the house. And the woman who has such a man can rest in his care and love (1 Pet. 3:7).

    “And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed” (v. 25). They were, as God had created them, holy and upright. They needed no clothes to protect them. They needed no clothes to conceal any part of their bodies which God had made. And they were not ashamed, because they had nothing to be ashamed of. There was no sin in their nature, no guilt in their consciences, and no wickedness in their actions. But they did not remain in this blessed condition. As soon as they sinned, they were under the curse. And as soon as they sinned they were ashamed (Gen. 3:1-7). We are all inheritors of their shame, because we have all inherited their guilt (Rom. 5:12).

    Without question, there is much to be learned about true womanhood in these verses. Blessed is that woman who receives and bows the Word of the Lord and teach your daughters to do so (Titus 2:3-5). Blessed is her family. She alone is a truly virtuous woman (Pro. 31:10-31). But there is something far more glorious here. The marriage performed by God in the garden of Eden, the marriage of Adam and Eve, is a picture of the marriage performed by God in grace, the marriage of Christ and his church.

    There is a second representative man - Christ our Savior (1 Cor. 15:21-22, 45-49). He is not just the second Adam. Christ is the last Adam, the last representative man. The first Adam sinned. The last Adam obeyed God perfectly for his people. The first Adam brought death to all his race. The last Adam brought life, eternal life to all who were represented by him. As we have born the image of the first man Adam, so all God’s elect must and shall bear the image of the last man, the Lord from heaven, our great Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

    This last Adam shall not be alone in his kingdom. God has declared that he shall have a people to love and by whom he shall be loved, --a people made after his likeness (Rom. 8:29-30), --a people with whom he can be in fellowship, --a people with whom he can walk, --a people to serve him, whom he can serve, --a people to admire him, whom he can admire, a people with whom he can share everything, --a people to reign with him forever.

    The Lord God made a body of flesh for his dear Son (Gal. 4:4-5; Heb. 2:17; 10:5). Woman was made of man; but here is a man who was made of woman by the hand of God, that he might redeem and save fallen men.

    God caused a deep sleep to come upon his Son. His sleep was death, death for sin. None but God could do this. At the cross, God put his Son to death for us, that we might live by his death. Yet, as Adam, knowing full well what he was doing (Gen. 3:6; 1 Tim. 2:14), died for Eve, so Christ freely, voluntarily laid down his life for his bride. From the side of our crucified Redeemer there flowed out blood to justify and water to sanctify his chosen bride (John 19:34; Eph. 5:22-27).

    In the fulness of time the Lord God will bring the chosen bride to Christ, by the effectual, irresistible grace and power of his Spirit (Psa. 65:4; 110:3). He will make her submissive to him, cause her to adore him, and unite her to him. Christ left all for her and cleaves unto her; and she leaves all for him and cleaves unto him (Eph. 5:30-32).

    They are not ashamed (1 John 2:28-29). “He that believeth shall not be ashamed!” Adam and Eve had no outward clothing and they were not ashamed. The righteousness of Christ is a garment to cover us, the garment of God’s salvation, which makes believers unashamed before God. Our Savior’s death has put away our sin and our guilt. His Spirit has given us his nature. By faith in him, we have confidence before God and are not ashamed, for in Christ we are holy and unblamable. Yes, we still have this outward body of flesh that must be covered because of its corruption. But soon we shall lay it aside and rise in his likeness. In that last great day, we shall stand before the bar of God in the perfection of Christ, robed in white garments, clean and white, and shall not be ashamed.