and these seven or eight verses
here in Genesis 2, our subject would be glimpses of Christ in
Old Testament motherhood. Glimpses of Christ in Old Testament
motherhood. I repeat, this being Mother's
Day, you know, At the same time, we don't worship mother or motherhood,
but we honor, give honor in our worship of the Lord. And so that's
what we want to do this morning. Twice in this passage, we read
the two words, help me. That's not help me one word where
people say that No, it's two words help me and the word me
meaning appropriate in verse 18 The Lord God said, I will
make him, referring to Adam, and help me or and help appropriate
for him. Again in verse 20, for Adam there
was not found and help me or appropriate for him. Now, in
naming the animals, as we read here in the passage, it's as
if the Lord had said to Adam, that every kind of animal that
I've created, I'm going to march them all by in front of you,
and you give them names. Whatever you call them, that's
what their name will be. Can you imagine that big old
thing with a big old nose and head that came walking by? How
on earth did Adam decide to call that a hippopotamus? Huh? It's amazing when you think about
these things. Giraffe. Elephant. All of them. All of
them. And so Adam named animals. And
it's as if the Lord said to him, now when you tell me when you
think you have found what you need for a companion, for a mate,
for a help, me, are appropriate for you. And we read here that
after all the animals had passed by, she was not found. Adam said, well, Lord, none of
these is really what I need. And then the Lord God himself
was the first anesthesiologist. And the first surgeon. And he put Adam to sleep. He didn't just fall asleep. This
was no ordinary sleep. You couldn't have somebody cut
one of your ribs out and not wake up. It's just ordinary sleep. Verse 21 says, the Lord God caused
a deep sleep to fall on Adam. God performed the first surgery,
took one of Adam's ribs, closed up the flesh thereof. This was
the first surgery. And the recovery time was zero. And with the rib God took from
the man, He made the woman, and brought her to heaven. The moment
Adam saw her, he said, this is the woman. Soul of my bones,
flesh of my flesh, she is a help. Meet for me, appropriate for
me. And I don't know really if Adam fell in chapter 3, or if
he fell here in chapter 2, when his attitude toward Eve was,
she's all I'll ever need. I'm fixed. Well, we know that Paradise was
short-lived, moving from chapter 2 to chapter 3 in Genesis. Immediately, the serpent is on
the scene. and he has no problem persuading
Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit, and she has no problem persuading
Adam. And because of this disobedience
to God, they are expelled from the garden, and in verse 15 of
chapter 3, Please understand, Genesis 3.15
is spoken by God to the serpent. Let me read that verse. Thou
wilt put enmity between thee, he's talking to the serpent,
and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise
thy head, thou shalt bruise his heel. God is not dependent on
Adam. And he does not speak this to
Adam. God is not dependent on Eve so far as her ability to
make this happen on her own. This is God's promise. It's about what God will do.
And the verse we read there in Genesis 3.15. He, that is, the seed of the
woman, Thou shalt bruise thy head, talking
to the serpent. Thou shalt bruise his heel. A
wound to the heel is not fatal. And though that's a reference
to the crucifixion, the crucifixion was not final. Thy war rose from
the grave. But a head wound is fatal. And
the promise is that the seed of the woman will bruise the
head. fatally destroyed that old church
to death. Now Adam and Eve did not see
what you and I see. They did not see a 6,000-year-old
engraved human race that you and I see every day. They were
looking for this Redeemer. They were looking for this seed
that would bruised the serpent's head. They were looking for him
in their immediate offspring. In chapter 4, in verse 1, Eve
said, when Cain was born, her firstborn son, I have gotten
a man from the Lord. Well, now the literal rendering
of that is, I have gotten a man-child, even the Lord. Sometime later, when Cain slew
his brother Abel, Eve had the idea, well, Abel must have been
the promised seed instead of Cain. Because when her third
son, Seth, was born, in chapter 4, verse 25, she said this, God hath appointed me another
seed instead of Abel. So she's looking for this woman.
And so then the parade began. And for 4,000 long years, everyone
had a hope of being the mother of the Messiah. What about that? That's Old Testament history.
Comes out many places in the Old Testament. Now, the man was
disqualified from having any part in bringing Christ in the
world. It's the seed of a woman. All Adam could do is produce
millions more of little Adams, which he had done. But the woman was not disqualified
by God. She is left capable of conceiving
miraculously of the Holy Ghost. So what was God saying to Adam
in Genesis 2.18? I'll make one meat appropriate
for you. Was God referring to the woman? who would win Adam's heart and
then plunge him and all his posterity into the depths of sin and shame
and alienation from God? Oh, no. Initially, yes, reference
to Eve. But when God said, I will make
thee and help meet, appropriate, wonder to thee what you need,
God was talking about his son. He's the help He's the only help
and he's a help me appropriate sufficient for man's need God
purpose to use the means of motherhood, childbirth, to bring his son
into the world. Now, Christ could have just walked
down the river just one day, like Elijah did, like John the
Baptist did, and stepped on the scene. But no, he was born. And
the scripture is careful to give us the record, the Timothy, Matthew,
and Luke, about Christ's birth. He was born. His body was made
of a woman, Paul said. He was born and had a mother
in the flesh. He had no mother in his deity
as God. He's eternal. But in being made
flesh, he had a mother. We could come through the Old
Testament and look at picture after picture after picture as
Christ is coming. He's been coming since the promise
was given in Genesis 3, 15. For 4,000 years, he was looked
for by true believers. Picture after picture, Christ
was to be, beginning in Genesis 11, God revealed himself in bits
and pieces to men. Christ was to be the seed of
Abraham. You remember Sarah, the wife
of Abraham, was far past the age of bearing children. The
Bible said her womb was dead. But God wrought a miracle in
her body. And there was a supernatural
birth of Isaac, projecting the supernatural virgin birth of
Christ. That's clear. Come on through
the scriptures. I think of the Abraham had a
nephew named Lot. You know the story of Lot's wife. She's history. But I think of
the daughters of Lot in Genesis 19. and what they did. They got their father drunk and
conceived by him. What they did was not for sexual
pleasure, not at all. But after the destruction of
Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities of the plain, they didn't know
what that bonfire was worldwide. And they didn't know, but what
they wouldn't know, only three people left on earth. These daughters felt like if
God's going to keep his promise, surely he means for us to be
involved. So they got their daddy drunk
and conceded by him. And from that came the Moabites
and the Ammonites. Nations in the Old Testament.
And then there's a woman named Tamar, Judah's daughter. Remember who Judah was? He was
that fourth of the twelve sons of Jacob, who was in the lineage
that Christ was to come, not only from the seed of Abraham,
but from the tribe of Judah. And so, Tamar is Judah's daughter-in-law. Read about this in Genesis 38,
one of the most neglected chapters in the Bible. Christ was to be
in the tribe of Judah. And this woman, Tamar, was willing
to do anything to be in this family of Judah and to bear a
child, a son, in the family of Judah. Well, the story was Judah
had three sons, and he took a wife for his firstborn son, and her
name was Tamar. Well, the Lord slew that eldest
boy, killed him. Then he slew the second son,
killed him. And Judah said to Tamar, You
go back to your father's house and you stay there until this
third son of mine gets grown, and I'll let you marry him."
Well, the time passed, but Judah didn't do that. He didn't keep
his word. Well, Tamar heard that Judah
was going up to Timnah for the sheep shearing, which was a festive
occasion every year, about a week long. drinking party for the
men, shearing the sheep. So Bamar put off her widow's
garments and disguised herself as a harlot and went and sat
by the side of the road where she knew Judah would be coming
back down that way on his way home. She knew he had been partying
all week and would be kind of out of it anyway. Judah came along and saw her.
And the scripture says he thought her to be a harlot. He desired
to go in as her, and he offered in payment to send her back one
of his flock when he got home. She said, well, I'll need a pledge
till I'm made. So Judah left her his signet,
which is very important to a man. and bracelets and his staff. Well, Judah kept his word this
time. He sent back a kid of his block and wanted the blades back. He wore his signet, he wore his
bracelets, he wore his staff back, but they couldn't find
the woman. And so they begin to ask, where
is the harlot that was here by the roadside the other day? Now listen to this line. They
said to her, they said to him, they said to the man searching
for her, they said, there was no harlot in this place. And they were right. St. Bartholomew's Harlot. She played
the harlot. Not for pleasure, not for profit,
but with a purpose. To bear the seed of Judah. and bear him a son. And her plan
worked, she conceived by Judah, and bore twins. The eldest was
named Berez and the youngest was named Zarephath. And nine
generations later from that union came the King in the life of Christ. Christ was to be born of the
house of David. All this is working toward David
now. Then there's the woman Rahab at Jericho. She was no Jew, but the woman
didn't have to be. It's the man. And Rahab was a
harlot. God knelt in her heart. She heard
how the Lord was with Israel. Enemies were falling before the
Lord. And she longed in her heart to belong to the family of Israel. And she demonstrated that faith
in Israel's God by hiding the spies that Joshua sent and lying
to her own people. And though Jericho was destroyed,
Rahab and her family are spared. Well, the story develops that
she married one of the spies, an Israelite named Salavar. And guess what? Four generations
later, comes David, the king. I think of Ruth, a Moabitess. a people from out of that union
between Lot and his daughters, the Moabites. And you know the
story, the little book of Ruth. Ruth had married into the family
of an Israelite named Elimelech. He and his wife Naomi had two
sons, and Ruth married one of them. Well, Elimelech, most of
his sons died. Ruth is left a widow. But she
would not let go of that family. She clung to Naomi. And she told
her, you know this scripture, where you go, I'll go. You'll
come. She'll be my God. No people,
my people. I'm not letting go. And she was
determined to return to Bethlehem, Judah with Naomi. Well, guess
what? God had a man named Boaz waiting
for her. They married. And Ruth gave birth
to a son. whose name was Obed, who is the father of Jesse, who
is the father of me. God's running around, I just
can't conceal it. Ruth, the Moabites, despised,
cursed people, was the great-grandmother of King David. What about that?
Such strange prodigies. Only God could see what he was
doing. But he was right on schedule.
We could go on. There's Bathsheba and her story
in the Ledge of Pride. It's all one big story of reproduction
following these great men and mothers. The promise of Genesis
3.15 did not involve a man. The Redeemer was to me the seed
of the woman. Biologically, a woman does not
have a seed. The man does. He was first born,
Cain, was not the seed of the woman, it was the seed of Adam.
Abel, then Seth, was not the seed of the woman, they were
the seed of Adam. So it was for 4,000 years. Until, in the fullness of time,
Paul said, God the Spirit, the Holy Ghost, came down to the
lowly, despised village of Nazareth. Can any good thing come out of
Nazareth? It never had. But the Spirit of God overshadowed
a young virgin girl named Mary. She conceived. She said to the
angel, the Lord, how can this be? Seeing I know not a man. And the Lord said, no, we know
man this time. We don't need another little
Adam. We need a God man. And that holy thing which is
formed in thee shall be called the Son of God, and surprise
the Lord. And He's the fulfiller of Genesis
3. He's the seed of the woman. He's
the help meet appropriate for Adam's race. Christ is the seed of the woman
that brewed the serpent's head of Calvary. Now, just a moment
back in the book of Genesis, now we're through, Genesis 3.28,
that Adam called his wife's name Eve because she was the mother
of all living. Now, what does that verse mean? Adam was referring to Eve personally,
But the Holy Spirit is referring to motherhood. Through this means,
this channel of motherhood, shall come one who is the life of the
world. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. That will make her the mother
of all beings. John 1-4 does not say, in Mary
was life. It says, in him was life. All
life is in Him, the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 John 5, 12, He that
hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son of God
hath not life. He never said anything about
whatever else you may or may not have. He didn't say anything
about what you may possess in this life, what kind of reputation
you may have in this life. He simply said the bottom line
is, he that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son hath
not life. In 1 Timothy chapter 2, I want to read these words. The
Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 2. 13 to 15. For Adam was first formed,
then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but
the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Now verse
15 is the verse of Lutz, top of verse in misunderstanding.
Notwithstanding, she shall be saved in childbearing, They continue
to invade the charity of holiness with surprises. Notwithstanding,
she shall be saved in childbearing. That is not saying that any woman
is saved by becoming a mother. No. In the previous verses in
this chapter, Paul is instructing Timothy as the place of women
in subjection to men. And then he says womanhood is
not to seek her fulfillment by competing with men for authority. But her fulfillment is in that
God chose her and honored her to do what no man could do, and
that's to bring his son into the world. The real glory of motherhood is not in bringing more little
Adams into the world. You precious ladies this morning,
whether you're a mother or not, Some of you have a mother's heart
that don't have children. You share in this honor of having
a physical body like the one God used to bring his son into
the world. This whole business is about
God's son. And how he got here is where
you're at. No word in the Old Testament
that we have recorded the nativity scene of a girl child. Oh, lots of men, Cain, Abel,
Seth, have a whole chapter of Genesis 5 of begetting males. Have the stories of Ishmael and
Isaac. He saw in Jacob, Jacob's 12 sons, Judah's twins, Therese
and Zerah, Obed, Jesse, David, the house of David. And through
it all is the promise of Christ's coming. All about the men. What about the women? All gathered
here. Not withstanding. Not withstanding. That is, in spite of her subjection
to the man, she has an honor he don't have. What is it? She shall be saved in childbirth. She shall be honored in childbirth. Not just through bringing sons
of Adam into the world, But through bringing the Son of God into
the world. That's her honor. That's her
honor. Motherhood. Motherhood. As we see glimpses of it. Through
the Old Testament. God's purpose. God's ordained
way. bring his son, the Redeemer,
into this world. The one and only one who could
and would deal with Satan, deal with sin, deal with sinners,
deal with death, and give us eternal life. Motherhood is a
precious thing. in the Zordaic of God. You may look at that little one
of yours with pride and joy and love and
altitude, sure. What a blessing it is. But the
real issue, the real honor of Mother's Day is this. God brought
his passion in this world.