Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Neibert. I want to speak this morning
on the first marriage. The first marriage. Now marriage is not a man-made
institution. The first marriage was before
the fall of our first father Adam when God brought Eve to
Adam. The first marriage. Now, the
things I'm going to be saying are not coming from myths. These are things that actually
took place in the creation account. We read in Genesis 1, verse 27,
so God created man in his own image. In the image of God created
he, him, male and female created he them. Now, God did not create them
at the same time. When he created man, he created
man by himself, but Eve was in him. Eve was one of his ribs
that the Lord took out. But in Genesis chapter two, verse
seven, 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. Now we read in verse 18 of chapter
two, and the Lord God said, It is
not good that man should dwell alone. I will make a help meet
for him. Now up to this point, everything
had been good. God saw everything that he did
in creation. The end of each of the six days
of creation are like this. God saw that it was good. God
saw that it was good. At the end, he said God saw that
it was very good. Nothing but good, but now when
he speaks of Adam being alone, the Lord God said it is not good.
that the man should be alone. Now, man, I've already read this
scripture, was created in the image of God. Now, the Bible is the Word of
God, and the Bible reveals to us who God is, and God is one
God in three distinct persons. Let us make man in our own image. Who's the us? God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Now, that can only be
known by revelation. The revelation of Scripture. This is not something you can
figure out. You couldn't think, well, wonder what God's like.
He must be one God in three distinct persons. No, we'd never come
up with anything like that. But this is who He is. One God. Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy
God is one God in three distinct persons. God the Father, God
the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Now, before creation, before
creation, before there was any sun, or star, or universe, or
man, or animal, or plant, when all there was was God. God the Father loved God the
Son and had a relationship with God the Son. God the Father loved
God the Spirit. There was a relationship between
the three persons of the Godhead, a relationship of love. Now,
the three persons are equal. You know, it said of the Lord
that he thought it not robbery to be equal with God. All three
persons are the Godhead are equal. There's not one greater than
the other. God, the Father, God, the Son,
and God, the Holy Spirit, they all love one another. They worship one another. They
have communion and fellowship with one another. Somebody says,
explain that to me. I wouldn't dare. I don't know
how. I know it's just what the Bible
reveals concerning him. Now, Adam was created in the
image of God. He was made to love. He was made
to have a relationship. And here he was by himself. Now look in verse 19 of Genesis
chapter two. 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 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.
For Adam, there was not found and help meet for him. He looked at these animals, gave
them names, and I have no doubt they were presented to him male
and female, but there was no female with Adam. There was not
a help meet for him. And then we read in verse 21,
and once again, somebody says, is this a myth? No, it's not
a myth, this really happened. And the Lord God caused a deep
sleep to fall upon Adam. And this is the first anesthesia. He went into a coma. I don't
know what took place, but God performed a surgery on him. He
caused him to fall into a deep sleep and he took one of his
ribs and closed up the flesh instead thereof. And I feel quite
sure there was no scar when God closed the flesh. Verse 22, and
the rib which the Lord God had taken from man made he, and that
is literally, builded he, a woman. He made a woman and brought her
unto the man. Now God, in his creative, infinite
genius, from the rib of Adam, from Adam's body, he made, he
built a woman. And he presented this woman to
Adam, I don't know that this is the case, but I suspect it.
I suspect that Adam was the best looking man to ever live. Sin
had not yet marred the creation. I suspect that Eve was the best
looking woman to ever live. Sin had not yet marred the creation. And the Lord brought this woman
that he built to Adam. Oh, he presented her to Adam. I think that this could even
represent the marriage ceremony. I've heard people speak against
the marriage ceremony. They say Adam and Eve didn't
have a marriage ceremony. I mean, as long as you love one
another, do you have to go through that ceremony? Yes, yes. If you refuse to go through that
ceremony, there's a lack of commitment involved. And the Lord, what
does he do? He presents this woman to Adam. And we read in verse 23, and
Adam said, this is now bone of my bones. And he meant that literally,
she came out of me. This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because
she was taken out of man. And no doubt the Lord had told
Adam what had taken place. I took a rib out of you and I
built this woman and here she is for you, a companion to love
and to cherish. And he said in verse 24, therefore
shall a man leave his father and his mother. Now, Adam didn't
have a physical father and a physical mother, but the Lord told him
that this is what takes place now in this thing of marriage,
this God-ordained institution of marriage. A man shall leave
his father and mother. The most important person to
him now is his wife. It doesn't mean he'll mistreat
his father and mother, but he will leave them. His main allegiance
now is to be to his wife. There's a real problem in a marriage
when somebody's parents are calling the shots. That never works.
We're to leave that and be joined to our wife. Therefore shall
a man leave his father and mother and shall cleave unto his wife. Be joined to his wife. And the
two shall be one flesh. This speaks of the act of intimacy
between a husband and a wife. Leave cleave and be one flesh. Now there's an old Puritan commentator
by the name of Matthew Henry who made this comment about this. He said, Eve was not taken from
Adam's head for her to rule over him. Eve was not taken from Adam's
feet for him to trample on, but Eve was taken from out of his
side. to walk with him as his equal.
Now, if somebody thinks of man's headship as means I'm better
than her, you've missed it. Man is not better than woman.
They're to walk by side by side as equal from under his heart
to love her, under his arm to nourish, protect, and cherish
her. Now, Somebody says, well, what
about the stuff about the woman submitting to the man and being
subordinate to the man? Now in the Trinity, this is so
mysterious, it's so glorious, but did you know that there's
a subordination in the Trinity? Even though they're equal, the
son subordinates himself to the father. He said, my father is
greater than I. Now they're equal, but he subordinates
himself. Let this mind be in you, which
was in Christ Jesus, who thought it not robbery, being in the
form of God, thought it not robbery, thought it not a thing to be
grasped for, to be equal with God, because he was equal with
God, because he is God. But he made himself of no reputation,
and he took upon himself the form of a servant." How glorious
this is, that he subordinated himself to his father. We don't
look at this as bad, it's glorious. The Spirit subordinates Himself
to the Son. The Lord said concerning the
Spirit, He shall glorify Me. He shall not speak of Himself,
but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak. There is
a subordination in the persons of the Trinity. That doesn't
mean one's better than the other. They're all equal, but there's
this glorious subordination. And in the marriage relationship,
there is a subordination in that sense. The wife is to subordinate
herself to her husband. The Scripture says that. Ephesians
chapter 5. You can read about it. But he
tells us, Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother,
and shall cleave unto his wife, and they too shall be one flesh.
And they were both naked, the man and the woman, and were not
ashamed. You see, they did not have a
sinful nature. There wasn't anything that would
cause them to be ashamed. It totally was not an issue with
them because they didn't have a fallen nature the way you and
I do. The fall had not yet taken place.
So here we have in paradise the Garden of Eden, the perfect marriage,
the perfect man, the perfect woman without sin to spoil it.
But alas, it will not last. The fall is in the next chapter. But at any rate, here we have them and I want
to I want to read a passage of scripture from Ephesians chapter
5 where Paul quotes this. He says in verse 31 of Ephesians
chapter 5, for this cause, shall a man leave his father and mother
and shall be joined unto his wife and they too shall be one
flesh. Now this is a great mystery,
but I speak concerning Christ and the church. All these things
I've said about marriage, here's the purpose. I speak concerning
Christ and the church. The purpose of marriage. And marriage is a beautiful thing.
I'm so thankful the Lord has given us this great blessing.
I'm so blessed to be married to my wife, and I'm so thankful
for it. And remember this before I get
into this part about the gospel, we're to be helpmates one to
another. You know, some marriages seem
like almost codependent relationships. It seems like they enable each
other to go on in bad behavior, and that's never right. No, be
helpmates one to another. You'll have faults that your
wife can speak to you about that nobody else can. Listen to her.
The same thing with the wives. Listen to what your husband says.
Be helpmates one to another. Make each other better people.
That's the goal of marriage, to be a helpmate one to another. May the Lord enable our marriages
to be that way. But remember this. The main purpose
of marriage is to teach us something of the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And in this passage of scripture,
we have such a type, such a picture of the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now remember, the church is called the bride of Christ.
The church is called the Lamb's Wife. Ephesians 5.25, Husbands,
love your wives as Christ loved the church, and gave himself
for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing
of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a
glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing.
but that it should be holy and without blemish. That's what
the Lord does for his church. Now, the first thing that I would
point out is that Eve was in Adam prior to her creation. Eve was in Adam. before she became a living soul
and a woman. And in like manner, the church
has always been in the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's a great mystery,
but God's elect have always been eternally united to and in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1, 4, according as
he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world. He said, before I formed thee
in the belly, I knew thee. Now, before my creation, Before
he formed me in the belly, before I had any physical being, I had
personality before God and he knew me. And that's true of every
believer. They've always been in the Lord
Jesus Christ, this union. And the scripture gives several
illustrations of this union. You know, the Lord gives the
illustration of the vine and the branches. Now the same stem,
that runs through the vine, runs through the branches. Same stem,
there's not a connecting point. The elect have always been in,
united to the Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrews 2.11 says, both he that
sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one, for
the which cause he's not ashamed to call them brethren. They're
one. They're one. In Hebrews chapter 7, we read
of Levi paying tithes in Abraham. It doesn't say it's as if he
paid tithes, it says he paid those tithes. When Abraham paid
tithes to Melchizedek, everybody in him, everybody he represented,
everyone in his loins paid tithes. Whatever Christ did, I did because
I'm in him. This is speaking of the eternal
union. Eve was in Adam before. She had any physical existence. Now, the next thing I would point
out in Genesis chapter 2, let's read verse 21. And the Lord God
caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam. Now, what that is a reference
to is the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. God caused a deep sleep
to fall upon Adam. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ died. And the reason for his death
is his father. God caused this deep sleep to
fall. Now, the fact of the matter is,
the Lord Jesus Christ, who is life, died. Why did he die? The wages of sin is death. There's
one reason for death. Sin. The sins of God's people
he willingly took upon himself. Now, I can't take somebody's
sins on myself because I'm a sinner. It wouldn't do them any good.
But he, the sinless one, The son of the father, the altogether
lovely one, took the sins of his people and made them his
very own, and that is why he died. And the Lord's justice
is so magnified in this. The Lord's no respecter of persons. Even when sin is found on his
son, he must die. Adam is such a type of Christ
here. In marrying Eve, Eve was already
in him, and God puts him to this sleep. 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, The church
came out of the side of the Lord Jesus Christ. When that spear
was pierced in his side, the scripture says, out came blood
and water. I think of Top Lady's song, be
of sin the double cure, save from wrath and make me pure. All of the salvation of the church
comes from the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. I think of the
man of transfiguration. John, when Elijah and Moses are
speaking together with the Lord in his glorified state, the scripture
says at that time they were speaking of the deceased, which he should
accomplish. The church was taken from the
side of Christ, from the death of Christ. That's how the church
was made holy and unblameable and unreprovable, because Christ
put away their sins. The life of the church comes
out of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, Christ dying
is the most God-like thing God ever did, that he would willingly
take upon himself the sins of his people and die for them and
put away their sins, glorifying God, glorifying every attribute
of God and saving the church completely. Eve was brought out
of his side. He took one of his ribs and closed
up the flesh and stayed thereof. And the rib, which the Lord God
had taken from man, made he a woman. He built a woman. Now understand this. A believer
is someone that God created and God built. We are his workmanship. created in Christ Jesus unto
good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk
in them." Now, a creative work of God. Eve was
built by God. A creative work of God. Now,
I hear preachers speak a whole lot about changed lives. Your changed life is the evidence
that you're saved. You're not the way you used to
be. You act different. You talk different. You think
different. Your life has been changed. Now, I'm all for a changed
life. Don't get me wrong. I'm all for
a changed life. If you have a life that's bringing
other people into misery because of your conduct, may you change. I'm all for changed lives. But
the believer's life is not a changed life. It's a new life. It's a life that was not there
before. It's not your old life change. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creation. He's a new creature. Old things
are passed away. Behold, all things become new.
Now you still have the old nature. That's why you still sin. If
you're a believer, you still have the old nature. But you've
got a new nature, the building of God, a new life, the life
of God in the soul, a new life. Now let's go on reading. And the rib which the Lord God
had taken for man made he a woman. and he brought her unto the man. Here we have this glorious presentation. He brings this woman to the man. Now, the scripture I thought
of is the presentation Christ makes where he presents his bride
holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. He says concerning
his bride, thou art all fair, my love. There is no spot in
thee. This is what the Lord does for
his bride. He makes his bride without fault,
perfect in his sight. And how God sees things is the
way they really are. Me and you, we don't see things
the way they really are. We think this, we think that,
and we're always wrong. He's always right. He sees things
exactly as they are. And because of the work of the
Lord Jesus Christ, because of his death, every believer is
perfect in his sight. Holy, unblameable, unreprovable. The scripture says faultless. Verse 23, and Adam said, this
is now bone of my bones. Literally, literally. and flesh of my flesh. And that's
literally the church was taken out of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he says regarding those bones,
it would not be broken. Remember a bone of him should
not be broken. It's because that's his body. That's his church,
the fullness of him that filleth all in all. 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 too shall be one flesh." You think of what the Lord Jesus
Christ left for His church. He left the presence of His Father
to come here and be made sin out of love to His church, out
of obedience to His Father, but out of love to His church. And let me tell you something
about the Lord Jesus. He does not believe in divorce. He says
to his bride, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee, so that
we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper. I shall not fear what
man shall do unto me. He left the praise of angels
to come to this earth to be made sin out of love to his wife. Truly, he cleaves to her. He leaves, he cleaves, and he's
one with her. This is speaking of the union
of Christ with his people. They are one as he is, John says
in 1 John 4, 17. As he is, so are we in this world. Now, marriage is a blessing. No doubt. Nothing like a happy
marriage. Nothing more miserable than a
miserable marriage. But marriage is given to teach
us the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, we have this message
on DVD and CD. If you call the church right
or email, we'll send you a copy. This is Todd Kniberg praying
God will be pleased to make himself known to you. To receive a copy
of the sermon you have just heard, send your request to todd.neibert
at gmail.com, or you may write or call the church at the information
provided on the screen.