Sermon #3 Genesis Sermons

Title: The First Marriage - A Picture Of Grace

Text: Genesis 2:18-25

Reading:

Subject:

Date: Tuesday Evening - May 7, 1991

Tape #

Introduction:

My subject tonight is The First Marriage - A Picture Of Grace. I want us to read Genesis 2:18-25. 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.

· 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 Second 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 one representative Man, the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:12-19).

Illustration: The Lady at Naraweena.

Now look at Genesis 2:18 - “The Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone.” Why?

1. He had no one to love - Being created in the image of God, Adam was full of love and affection. And that love and affection must have an object.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. He had no one to help - There was no one who needed Adam’s help. And there was no one to help Adam with his needs, as a man living in the world. NOTE: God took care to provide help for fallen, needy man.

5. 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.

6. He had no one to comfort - No one for him to comfort. No one to comfort him. No one for him to admire. No one to admire him. He was alone.

7. He had no one with whom to produce others like himself - All the animals had their mates and their little ones. But Adam was alone. He had neither wife, nor sons, nor daughters (vv. 19-20).

Let’s read on, verses 21 and 22. This is what God did for Adam. This is how God made the first woman, Eve. This is the first marriage,, the first wedding. It took place in the garden of Eden, in the beginning of time. And it was performed by God himself.

1. “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.

2. 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. And from that rib he took from Adam, God made a woman! Then he brought her to the man.

NOTE: God still brings men and women together!

a. 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!

b. God 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, 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.

c. And God brought the woman unto the man. She is the gift of God to man! This is God’s order. It cannot be changed (1 Cor. 11:8-9). I have shown you what God did. Now I want you to see what Adam did. Read verses 23-24.

1. “Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh.” This woman is now part of me. She is to be loved and cherished by me, as I would my ownself. We are one person.

2. “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”

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).

Now look at verse 25 - “And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.”

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!

· No sin in their nature.

· No guilt in their conscience.

· 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). And we are all inheritors of their shame, because we have all inherited their guilt (Rom. 5:12).

Can you dear ladies receive the Word of the Lord and teach your daughters to do so? (See Titus 2:3-5). Can you bow to the Word of God? Can you receive and accept the truth of God regarding your beginning, your present state and place of service and glory? If you can, it may be that by God’s grace, you can enter into a far greater, more glorious and eternal state of which your whole experience is a type and picture. I am talking about the marriage of your souls to Christ!

Proposition:

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.

Let me show you seven things:

I. THERE IS A SECOND REPRESENTATIVE MAN - CHRIST OUR SAVIOR (1 Cor. 15:21-22, 45-49).

· The first Adam sinned - The Second obeyed!

· The first Adam brought death - The Second brought life!

· As we have born the image of the first - So we must bear the image of the Second!

II. THIS SECOND 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!

III. THE LORD GOD MADE A BODY OF FLESH FOR HIS 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. A child born! A son given!”

IV. THE LORD GOD CAUSED A DEEP SLEEP TO COME UPON HIS SON.

His sleep was death, death for sin. This none but God could do. At the cross, God put his Son to death for us, that we might live by his death. ILLUSTRATION: As Adam died for Eve, so Christ died for us!

V. 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).

VI. IN THE FULNESS OF TIME THE LORD GOD BRING THE CHOSEN BRIDE TO CHRIST (Psa. 65:4; 110:3).

· She is submissive to him.

· She adores him.

· She is one with him.

NOTE: Christ left all for her and cleaves unto her. And she leaves all for him and cleaves unto him (Eph. 5:30-32).

VII. AND THEY ARE NOT ASHAMED! (1 John 2:28-29).

“He that believeth shall not be ashamed!”

A. Adam and Eve had no outward clothing and they were not ashamed.

1. They had no sin in their nature.

2. They had no guilt in their consciences.

3. Their inward holiness made outward clothing unnecessary.

B. The righteousness of Christ is not an outward garment to cover evil, but an inward holiness, which makes believers unashamed before God.

NOTE: Omniscience is a terror to the hypocrite, but it is a comfort to the believer - “Lord, thou knowest all things.”

1. Christ’s death has put away our guilt.

2. His Spirit has given us his nature.

3. By faith in him, we have confidence before God and are not ashamed, for in Christ we are holy and unblameable!

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

Illustration: The robin’s eggs.

4. 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!

Application:

“All things are ready!” Come to the marriage. Be this very night wed to the Son of God by faith! (Hosea 2:16-23, 3:3).