Genesis chapter 2. I want to
talk about the first marriage. First marriage. It says down in verse 18, And the Lord God said, It is
not good that the man should be alone. I will make and help
me for him. Then down in verse 21 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
and 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 they shall cleave
unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh." There's one thing
God Himself presided over the very first marriage that ever
took place. And this marriage was done, this union was done
in the Garden of Eden before either sin had entered into the
Garden. God was the one who did this and also marriage, if you
read Ephesians 5, is a picture, this marriage here that takes
place in the Garden, is a picture also of our relationship to the
Lord Jesus Christ. He's the bride, we're the bridegroom. And we're going to have, it's
going to be a marriage supper of the Lamb. But it's a glorious picture.
In fact, that's what Paul said in Ephesians 5.32. I'll read
it to you. This is a grand mystery, but
I speak concerning Christ and the church when he talked about
marriage. And that's why marriage is such
a wonderful, blessed institute. God himself was the one who made
it. God instituted it himself. And
our Lord Jesus Christ, we have the first man Adam here, created
in the garden. God made him in his image. And
our Lord Jesus Christ is the last Adam or the second man from
heaven. Adam came from the earth. He's
earthy. Our Lord Jesus Christ came from heaven. He's spiritual. He's a spiritual man. He came
from heaven. And Eve, she came from Adam. And Eve may represent the relationship
that the redeemed of the Lord has with the Lord Jesus Christ
himself. But first, here's the declaration.
This is what God said about this business. God said in verse 18,
and the Lord God said, God's speaking. And this is what he
said, it's not good that man should be alone. It's not good
that man should be alone. And you know, up until this time,
everything was good. Everything was good. God said
it's all that what he made and it was good. It was good. And here's the first time we
said something's not good. And he said it's not good that
man should be alone. Man wasn't created to be alone. God didn't make man to be alone.
You know, he made him a social creature. He made him a person
who, a man to be socialized, to have interaction with other
people. And he made man to have a responsibility. When he put Adam in the garden,
he says, now you keep it and you dress it. He gave him something
to do. He made him a responsible creature.
And not only responsible to God, and responsible to do what God
told him to do, but also responsible to others, and responsible for
others. God made man to be productive,
to be a responsible person, and to be responsible for people,
and be responsible for other people. God made man that way. And that's the way He meant for
him to be. And then he says being alone is not good. Being alone
is not good. Now I know every once in a while
it's good to be by yourself. But God made man and woman to
be put together. And being alone is not good for
man. And I know this about man. I'm going to quit preaching and
tell you what I do know about man. If a man didn't have a woman,
could you imagine how awful he'd be? He wouldn't brush his teeth. He wouldn't shave. He wouldn't
comb his hair. That's the truth. I know people that didn't have
to and that's the way it is. Dishes would never get washed. That's the way it would be. It's
not good for man to be alone. Left to himself, man would be
off of what he'd been. And so God said it's not good
for man to be alone. Now I'll tell you something,
God was never alone. Now God's solitary. And solitary
in the sense that there's no other one like Him. He's solitary
in His being. He's solitary in His grace. He's
solitary in His righteousness. Solitary in His being. And then
everything started with God. He's solitary. The God is solitary. No one is like Him. I mean, they
stand separate from anything else. Solitary in power and might
and creation. Everything about God is solitary.
But God was never alone. You know, we've read it so many
times in Proverbs chapter 8. When God said, the Lord Jesus
Christ said, I was brought up before him. I was brought up
daily with him. I was daily his delight. I was
there before he called the hills. I was there before he created
the earth. I was there before he made man. He said, I was there
and always his delight. So He always, God was never alone. He had His Son and the Holy Spirit. And He always delighted in the
Son of His love. He rejoiced in the presence of
the Son of His love. And our Lord Jesus Christ Because
He has so many sons, lots and lots of sons, as God was never
alone, God has purposed in His sovereign grace and mercy to
populate Heaven with people just like His Son. He predestinated
us to be conformed to the image of His Son. And one of these
days, the Scripture says that Christ will bring many sons unto
glory. And so you see that's what God's
gonna do. And so God, Christ, God was not
alone. And when we get to glory, He
has a whole family. Like His Son. A multitude, in
fact so multitude that no man can number them. Ten thousand
times, ten thousands, thousands and thousands. That's what He
said. And then there's a new creation
here that happens. Something never happened before.
God, He's the one that said it's not good for man to be alone.
And I'm grateful He said that. It's not good for me to be alone.
It's not good. And so here's what He said in
verse 18 also. It's going to be a new creation
here. He says, I will make. I will make. You know everything
that happens to man in this world from creation to the time that
God takes him to glory, God does it all. You never hear about
man doing anything but what God tells him to do. And 99% of the
time man says, I ain't gonna do that. But here he says, I
will make. I'm gonna make it. I made man. I created man. Now I'm going
to make a woman. And I'm going to make her. I'll
create her. And this is a creation that God
made. I'll make a helpmate for Him. And what it means, look
what it says in the margin, that they're about a helpmate. It
says, As before him, a help me, and
a help me means someone, a helper suited to him. Someone suited
to him. Someone like him. Someone in
his image. And as a helper, as a counterpart. And so he said, I'm going to
make a woman. And I'll tell you something else here about this
was, is that God said, I'll make it. Eve just as Adam was come
from the hand of God and didn't have a life until God breathed
into his nostrils the breath of life and he became a living
soul. Eve came straight from Adam's side as a living creature
and God made her. God made her. Eve was the workmanship
of God. And what is the scripture says
that we are created in Christ Jesus? A workmanship? The workmanship
of God created in Christ Jesus? We're God's workmanship. And
He created this woman. This woman, Eve. And that's what
she's called, Eve. His gift was to give the man
someone in his own image. Someone compatible to him. Someone
in his own image. Someone that come directly from
Him. And ain't that what God did for
us? Ain't that what God did for us? That He created us? We're
new creatures in Christ? That He made us new creatures?
We didn't make ourselves. We're the sheep of His pasture.
We didn't make ourselves. It's Him that made us. And God
made the church. And God gave the church to His
Son. And God gave His Son for us. And just like Eve was in Adam,
We were in Christ. And just like Eve was made in
the image of Adam, we're going to be made in the image of God's
blessed Son. Just like Him one of these days.
And our Lord Jesus Christ, when He prayed, He said, I'm not even
praying for the world. And when Eve was made, she was
not made, she was made for one man. One man. And then look how God did this.
down in verse 21 look how he did this and the Lord God caused
the first cause of everything I just said that he makes and
the Lord God caused caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and he
slept you know the only other place in here says that you know
that Jacob slept, was sleeping when the Lord got a hold of him.
And sleep in the scriptures is a figure of death. You remember
when our Lord Jesus Christ was going over to raise Lazarus.
He told his disciples he waited two days before he even started
going over there. And then he says, our friend
Lazarus sleepeth. He said, well, if he's asleep,
Lord, he's doing well. He said, he said he spake that
he was dead. And he finally said he is dead.
And why they call it sleep. And it's not so sleep. It's not
this idea that soul sleeps until Christ comes and gets it. No,
no, sleep means you're through with your day and through with
your life. It's through with your work.
It's time to rest. It's time to come to the end.
And that's why sleep is called resting. It's being done. And
sleep is a figure of death. And then as he was put in sleep,
as if he was dead. And God took him and out he did. He took life out of that man
as he lay there as if he was dead. And our Lord Jesus Christ,
He took us out of Christ because through the death of Christ,
that's how we were made accepted. and the Blessed Beloved. Our
Lord Jesus Christ said, as a corn of wheat falls into the ground,
except if it biteth alone, it dies. But if it dies, it'll break
forth much fruit. And he said, I must suffer and
I must die. And as life came out of this
man, Adam, life came out of our Lord Jesus Christ through his
blessed death and through him suffering for us. Life come out
of him. And they come out of his death.
That's one of the things I wish God had said this morning. A
couple different people mentioned it. When we talk about the witnesses,
the witness of Christ, one of the great witnesses of Christ
was His cross. God bore witness to Him on His
cross. God put Him in to please the
Lord to bruise Him. And oh, what glory and what a
witness to our Lord Jesus Christ and what He accomplished on His
cross. And while Adam was in this state,
while Adam was in this deep sleep, and God caused this to come upon
him. Just like God caused death to come upon his blessed son.
Like God took life out of this man. God took life out of his
son. Our life comes from the Lord
Jesus Christ. Bless his name. Oh, there ain't
no life outside of him. It ain't no life outside of Him.
And people, you know, they want to act like it's the most important
thing. It's not the most important thing. This is the only thing. There ain't nothing worth living
for other than Christ. I'm telling you, we enjoy life.
But I tell you, we ain't got no life if Christ don't give
it to us. And while Adam was in this state,
the hand of God came down and God started to work. And when Christ came, God, he
said, I come to do a work. And the hand of God was on my
father. I work in here too with my father.
And God began to operate on Adam while he was in this state. And
when he was in this state, he took and brought forth out of
that man a full grown woman. That's what it said. And then he said, that rib which
is taken from man made thee a woman, a full grown woman. And she had
life. Because you know why she had
life? Adam had life. And he brought
life out of Adam. And oh beloved, and he brought
forth a helper after his own likeness. And Eve was in Adam's
likeness. And I'll tell you what our Lord
Jesus Christ did. Our Lord Jesus Christ was made
in our likeness. in our likeness that we could
be made in his likeness one of these blessed days Adam Eve was
made in Adam's likeness Christ was made in our likeness that
we might take and be in his likeness one of these days and it was
God who sent his son to sleep it was God who sent his son to
die And that's why said our Lord Jesus Christ, he gave up the
ghost. He gave up the ghost and he said,
it pleased the Lord to bruise him. And God took a rib from
that first man. He took one of his ribs and closed
up the flesh thereof. And you'd think there'd be a
scar somewhere. No, God's Word's perfect. You
can't add nothing to it and you can't take nothing from it. And
God took a rib from that first man and made life out of it. But
you know what it took to give life from Christ? He took a rib
from Adam. It took blood from his blessed
son. It took blood. It took dying. It took suffering. It took shame. It took guilt. It took the shedding
of blood to satisfy God. For us to be made in the likeness
of Christ, to be conformed to the image of Christ, it just
took a rib. for Adam but it took the blood
of Christ for us to be saved for us to be for God to be satisfied
and for us as a bride to be given to him. Paul when he was fixing
to leave the Ephesians church he said this he said I'm going
to commend you to God here you here you are said I'm fixing
to leave And he says, now you oversee the church. You watch
over the Holy Ghost and you all oversee the church. And this
is what he said, which he hath purchased, which he hath purchased
with his own blood. Purchased with his blood. Adam
got a rib, one made out of rib. If we have life, we have to be
washed in the blood. Without the shedding of blood,
no remission of sin. No remission of sin. And I tell
you, beloved, let's look over here in Ephesians 5.30. I want
you to see this. It's talking about, you know,
she's made in the likeness of Eve and come out, you know, and
workmanship of God and He brought the church with His own blood. And look what it said here in
Ephesians 5.30. Talking about being one with Christ. Talking
about the union that they have with Christ. Oh my, look what he said here.
For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. Oh my, what a presentation. Now look back over here again
in Genesis. Let me see if I can say another thing or two about
this. But oh, she is made in Adam's likeness, we're made in
Christ's likeness. And then look what it says. In
verse 22, and the rib which the Lord God had taken from man made
he a woman and brought her to the man. Adam's there, God woke him up,
he's standing there. God brings this, and I'm telling
you, Adam was the most handsome man that ever lived on the earth,
and he was no doubt the most beautiful woman that's ever been.
Because they were unpainted by sin. They were fresh from the
hand of their makers. They were the smartest, most
intelligent two people that's ever been on the planet. I know
Einstein was a genius. And there's lots of people that's
genius. They call this Hawking fellow a genius. All these geniuses
in the world. They wouldn't hold a light to
what Adam and Eve was before the fall. from God, from the hand of God,
what would God, what kind of being would God make and what
they would be like before there was ever any sin in this world?
Oh my goodness, perfection, perfection. And oh listen, and then he brought
this, there's the man, he said, he comes to her and this is,
you know, this is, you know, men stand down here and they
bring their daughters down the aisle and they present her to
the man. Well, here's God. And here's
Adam. And God said, here Adam. And that's what the Lord is going
to do to us when we get to glory. He's going to present us faultless,
without blemish, without blame. And oh my, he brought her to
the man. And I tell you what, I'm telling
you what, Adam fell immediately in love. Oh, he said, oh, this is it. Oh, thank you, Lord. Blessing
your name. But oh, he said, but why did
he make her for and present her to, brought her to the man for?
Why did he do it? So he could be her Lord? No. To be a slave? No. No, no. No, no, no, no, no. You know,
that's just one thing. Somebody told me here a while
back, I forget who it was, that the husband for years, all they
said was, from Ephesians 5, the Bible says that you're to obey
me. The Bible says you're to obey me. But the next verse says,
Husbands, love your wives even as Christ loved the church and
gave himself for it. But all he was interested in
was obey, obey, obey. But that's not the first thing
Adam didn't say. Now listen honey, I'm running this show. That's
not what happened. That's not what happened. No,
no, he made them. He made her and presented her
to Adam. And oh, he says, now here. And
now you're all going to share love. You're all going to enjoy
fellowship. And oh, you're going to partake
of the blessings that God's going to give you. God's blessed you
and brought you together and made you one. And you're going
to enjoy the blessings that God's going to give you. And He's going
to give you great blessings. Oh my! He told us about over
in 1 Peter, you know. Husbands, love your wives and
regard them as the weaker vessels that your prayers be not hindered.
And all He gave her to God. God gave her to Him to be a joy,
to be a comfort, and to be a help to Him. And all, listen, that's
what the Holy Spirit does to us. The Holy Spirit brings us
to Christ, not to help Him. For Him to do for us just the
opposite. And everything that we get, we
get from Him. And everything we have, we have
from Him. And all she was taken from Him.
And let me tell you something. Where was she taken from? She
was taken from His side. So she'd be right there. Didn't
take Him from a bone from His foot so He could walk on her.
Nor speak that she'd be inferior in any way. Nor from His head
that she'd be superior. but out of his side, teaching
companionship and equality and enjoyment of one another. What
a blessing God gave us for this. Oh, this is a blessing. And then
look what Adam said. Look what Adam said now. In verse
23. And that's why I got ahead of
myself. I don't know how I've done that.
I do that all the time. I either get behind or behind. I've done
this about this. But Adam said, Adam said, this
is now bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh. And oh my, bone
of my bone, flesh of my flesh. And a woman, she should be called
a woman because she's taken out a man. And oh my, he acknowledged
Eve. Eve, the gift of God. What did he acknowledge? She's
part and parcel of me. She's part and parcel of me.
She's come out of my bone. She come out of my flesh. Bone
of my bone, flesh of my flesh. And that's the way we are with
Christ. We're bone of his bone, flesh
of his flesh. And then look what he says in
verse 24. Therefore shall a man And boy,
I tell you what, this has to happen. If this don't happen,
a marriage... You know why a lot of marriages
don't make it? They have too many people involved in the marriage.
Too many people involved in it. It ought to be the man and the
woman. And that's what he said here. Therefore shall a man leave
his father and his mother. It's God speaking now. and shall
cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh." And Adam
never thought for a second, I don't want her, I don't need her, and
never thought of refusing her. Boy, he said, oh my, this is
now bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh, God gave her to me.
God gave her to me. Oh my. And that's why He said,
and know how close this union is that we have with Christ.
Bone of His bone. And I tell you what, one of these
days, God's going to present us just like He presented Eve. God's going to present us to
His blessed Son. And you know, it says over in
Revelation that there was quietness in heaven for the space of 30
minutes. Now, I don't know if it's a 30
minutes like we'd have here, or how long it actually is. I
don't know. I'd have to go back and look at it. But it says there'll
be quietness in the space of heaven for 30 minutes. And I'm
going to quit preaching and tell you what I think that is. I think
that when God calls all the saints of God home, and all the saints
of God gather, when Christ comes and the dead rise, and we which
are alive and remain are changed and caught up to meet the Lord
in the air and forever be with Him, I think that when we enter
into glory, at that one time, that all the angels are in utter
and absolute amazement, That God would save such miserable
That's what Christ went down, that's what the Son of God went
down there for Them? And Christ will be there in His
splendor and Christ will be there in His glory and Christ will
be there in His wedding garment And we'll be there clothed in
white linen as a bridegroom prepared for the bride And we'll go down through there
and everything's quiet. Because heaven is utterly astonished
other than God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit,
that here we come. Look. Look what the blood of
Christ brought here. Look at these people. They had
everything wrong with them. Now they're there. They're perfect. What they had here, they'll have
in reality there. What we have here in hope and
blessedness, there we'll have it, hope, we'll have in reality.
And I tell you, leave your father, leave your mother, and cleave
unto your wife. And let me show you something
in Matthew 23. Every relationship, excuse me,
Matthew 10. Every relationship that would
hinder us with our Lord Jesus, hinder us in cleaving to our
Lord Jesus Christ must be broken, must be. must be broken. And we know from experience that
people come and people go. People die and people pass on. But this relationship where we
have Christ, we cannot let anybody, a mother, a father, a brother,
a sister, a son, or a daughter, nobody hinder our relationship
with the Lord Jesus Christ from cleaving to Christ. If we have
a relationship trying to take us away from Christ, break that
relationship. And oh, look what happens here
in Matthew 10, 30, 34. Our Lord Jesus Christ says this,
Thank not that I am come to send peace on earth. I came not to
send peace on earth, but a sword. Listen to me now. He said, For
I am come to send a man at variance. against his father and the daughter
against her mother and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law and
a man's foe shall be they of his own household he that loveth
father or mother more than me leave your father and your mother
and cleave unto your wife he that loveth father or mother
more than me he's not worthy of me not worthy James loves
you Ruby I know he loves you Oh, and I know you love Him.
But your relationship with Christ is the most important relationship
you have. And look what He goes on to say. And He that loveth
son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Not worthy
of me. They didn't die for you. They
didn't shed their blood for you. They didn't go to the cross for
you. They didn't suffer for you. They didn't cry out from the
cross, my God, my God, why has thou forsaken me? They never
went into the garden and shed great drops, just wept and wept
and wept. No, no, I tell you anything,
that's what he's saying here, leave your father and your mother
and cleave unto your wife and any relationship that would hinder
our relationship with Christ, got to go. And he that taketh
not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of thee.
And let me show you another verse over in Acts 11.23 about cleaving. And I remember when our Lord
Jesus Christ, they come to get him in John. It was John chapter
7 if I'm not mistaken. But look here with me in Acts
11.23. They said, your mother and father,
I mean your mother and your brother stand outside and they want to
talk to you. And he looked at him and said,
who is my mother? Who is my brother? He that doeth
the will of my father which is he. Oh, and look what he said here. In verse 22, let's read this,
Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church
which was at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas, that he should
go as far as Anion, who, when he came, and had seen the grace
of God, was glad, and exhorted them all with purpose of heart,
that they would cleave unto the Lord. Purpose it in your heart
to cleave unto the Lord. Oh, we're to cleave to our wives.
How much more should we cleave to Christ? And to have a believing
wife or a believing husband, to cleave together, there's not
a greater blessing on this earth than to have them. God gave me
two wonderful women. He gave me a beautiful woman
here and she loves Christ. She loves the gospel. And that's
the most important relationship to her as it is to me. And to have a believing wife,
that you can come worship together with. My word. It's invaluable. Invaluable. Our Father, blessed name of Your
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, thank You, Lord Jesus, for loving us,
giving Yourself for us, washing us in Your blood, And Lord, enable
us to cleave to you. Enable us to love our wives and
honor our wives and cleave to one another. Enjoy one another,
our fellowship with Christ together. and the blessings of Christ together.
Lord, we thank you for this day. Thank you for this evening. And
our dear saints that's away from home, be traveling back home,
see them safely. Daryl and Joyce, Brad and Pam,
see them back with us. Lord Jesus, Joe and Eleanor,
Darren, God, see them safely back with us. Strengthen and
encourage your people. Continue to bless Fran. And Lord,
continue to bless Peggy. Lord, she's such a blessing.
We thank you for them in Christ's name. Amen. Amen. Let me tell you a true story.