Marriage is often the brunt of jokes
Denoting our causal approach to union
I often wondered if God had actually made an error in making man without also making woman simultaneously. Genesis chapter one gives a general synopsis of God making only man (Ge 1:27-28). Yet, in Genesis chapter two God seems to have remembered that He made only man who was now lonely (Ge 2:7-8, 15-18). Then God dawdles before making woman as man names all the animals he encounters. To the Western mind this section of Scriptures appears disjointed with God appearing confused and indecisive. Yet, upon closer introspection a different picture emerges that shapes the Gospel for the remained of the Bible.
The Bible makes frequent use of numbers and the student of the Bible would do well to gain a biblical understanding of the meaning of certain number repeatedly used. For instance, God made a man; just one. One carries the connotation of completeness in itself without the need for anything else. However, this does not seem to be the case with solitary man. God makes the observation that man should not be alone; i.e., that man alone is not complete and will never be complete while alone. In fact, God is not alone. It is true that the godhead is a solitary unit but it is comprised of three persons: Father, Son and Spirit who compliment and complete each other in the mission of the Gospel. God is making a point in creating man alone in the midst of the creatures of creation who are not alone but are in pairs: male and female.
God has Man name all the pairs of animals
Teaching man the need for his own mate
However, before Jesus creates woman He has man name all the beasts of the field and birds of the air which arrive in pairs. Jesus is giving both man and us an object lesson: man is not designed to live alone. God wanted man to understand that man cannot stand alone. The myth of the rugged individual taming the frontier was never a practice in America. One would not long survive alone in the wilderness nor even in a community. There was a pop song in my youth that sang about one being the loneliest number in relation to people. By having man name the animals in pairs, God was instructing man that he was not designed to live alone. Thus, man was prepared to accept a helpmate.
God caused a deep sleep to come upon man, today we would call this anesthesia, and took a rib from man to clone a helpmate, woman. When Jesus was finished he woke man and presented woman to him. So, why did Jesus not create woman when He created man? This issue is one of salvation. Christ would come to be the sin goat sacrifice for sin. He would die once. To demand that He die twice would be to put God to an open shame; i.e., that Christ’s sacrifice was not efficacious for everyone’s sin (He 6:4-6). All other creatures of creation could be simultaneously created. They were amoral and there would be no eternal life for them. They fulfill their function, die and that is the end of them. However, man was created in God’s image with the Spirit of God breathed into him. Man is a moral being who requires a sinless sacrifice for personal sin to have a restored relationship with Christ for eternity. If woman was created separately then Christ would have died for either women or men but not both. Since woman came from man she was not a separate creation but was from the same line as man. The sacrifice of Christ would be efficacious for both since both sinned. But, before they sinned they were two separate persons similar in nature which brings us to the second number to be discussed.
Christ practices anesthesia and
Develops Woman from Man
The number two represents separation. This separation may represent two similar or two dissimilar entities. In the beginning of creation the material was in darkness; then God created Light. The Light and the Dark are two dissimilar entities that cannot coexist (Ge 1:3-5; Jo 1:1-5). Next, God creates an expanse that separates into two bodies of waters. These are similar in nature; one is above and one is below {Hebrew word for heaven is dual waters {שָׁמַיִם}}. This principle holds true for the relationship between man and woman. Though they were two separate entities, together they would form a unity complimenting each other; not unlike the Trinity I would add (Ge 2:21-24). But, this harmonious duality of unity was not to last.
Woman and Man Compliment each other
This is the basis of family relationships
Satan entered the scene to bring disunity. He would bring disunity between God and people and between man and woman. Satan began by splitting the two apart and tempting the woman to be as god by eating of the forbidden tree of knowledge. Woman failed by attempting to stand alone rather than avail herself of her helpmate to resist this onslaught (Ge 3:1-7). Woman was deceived, sinned and then enticed man to follow her into sin; which he happily accomplished (1Ti 2:14). From this moment onward the similar but separate couple became dissimilar. Each became isolated from each other and from God while becoming intimately entwined with Satan who only enforces isolation making one dependent totally on him. It was at this moment that man exchanged the truth of God for a lie and began to worship and serve the creature rather than the Creator who is blessed forever (Ro 1:24-25). This quickly becomes evident as man throws woman under the bus blaming her for his sin (Ge 3:12). In fact, man not only blames the woman but he also blames God who gave him the woman! God told them that the unintended consequence of their sin would be an ever inharmonious relationship, a struggle for power between man and woman; a struggle that continues to this day (Ge 3:16). Yet, this physical relationship was a mirror representing a spiritual relationship that would come when New Covenant salvation began (2Co 5:17).
The Pleasure of Sin Quickly Gives Way
To Consequences of Sin and Loneliness
This rent between man and woman also represented the rent between mankind and Christ (Ep 5:22-33). Paul describes this metaphor of husband and wife as it illustrates the relationship between Christ and His church; i.e., believers. People were never made to be apart from God. God did not separate Himself from man; indeed, He came searching from man and woman and graciously clothed and protected them; especially from living eternally in their sinful flesh which would have precluded them from His salvation (1Co 1:29). God does not require human sacrifice, which would avail nothing, but provided Himself as the sacrifice for sin for all who call on the name of the Lord (Jo 3:16). It is sinful man who rejects God, wanting nothing to do with God (Ro 1:21-23). Neither does God punish mankind for rejecting Him; indeed, He allows mankind to build his own future and enjoy the unintended consequences of sin (Ro 1:26-27). Thus, sin produces degradation and violence following in the footsteps of their father, the Devil (Jo 8:44). Yet, even suffering these consequences of sin sinful people embrace their sin, blaspheme God and substitute their own philosophies for God’s truths which reduces them to the level of cattle. And such were all of us until Jesus came and saved each believer against his, or her, own will (Ro 3:10-18).
Sinners embrace their sin while
Struggling for power over others
Such is the state of the world today, as it has always been since the first sin of the first couple. Each of us are born in sin, reject any truth that points to God and seclude ourselves in boulders of loneliness. Yet, that loneliness follows us wherever we go. Only Christ can take the loneliness of sin away and give the blessedness of peace that fills the longing heart with love. We were designed to be a duality with Christ and all who are saved carry His nature within waiting until the redemption of our bodies upon His return. Christian marriages are to mirror this truth before the world rather than copy the discord and violence so inherent in the world. This we will do if we mature in Christ and live in true love as mirrored in the Beatitudes through His strength (Mt 5:2-12; 1Co 13:4-7; Ga 2:20).