I am rereading, restudying Genesis. I’m moving very slowly, meditating on certain verses for long periods of time, and asking the Holy Spirit to speak His truths into my heart. It’s been very rewarding and revelatory.
In a time of gender and identity confusion through “woke” ideology, “progressive Christian” theology, and Marxist teaching, now more than ever we need to dig into God’s original plan of identity for men and women. In Genesis 2, the Lord gives us the details and original plan for man and woman.
The Rib
In Genesis 2:21-23 we are confronted with the reality that God created woman from man. “[God] took one of his ribs…Then the rib which the Lord had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.” It is fascinating to realize that woman is more like man than we know. When I realize how similar my wife Liz is to me, it forces me to realize how important she is to my life and our mutual purpose as a married couple.
As human beings, male and female, created in the image of God, we are together, in our being, commanded to have dominion, be fruitful, multiply, and exercise authority over all of creation. This command found in Genesis 1:26-29 (see my last blog) is not exclusively for the male gender, but given to the creation of humanity, both male and female.
Humankind is tied inextricably together at the unifying core of our being: we love, we forgive, we create, we long for freedom, and we recognize beauty. The entire universe of humankind understands, longs for, and believes all of this and so much more. We are uniquely tied together through a rib.
Oneness
“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” (Genesis 2:24) What is this, “joined to” and “one flesh”? Is it only about sex and procreation? No, it is more about a oneness of heart and purpose.
As you look at the preceding verses, we realize that when God presented woman to man, Adam immediately could recognize something of himself in her. He said it! “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh…” (vs 23). There is a joining together of a man and woman that is designed by God for a unity not unlike God Himself!
The word for “one” is echad, meaning one unit. It is the same word used to describe God in Deuteronomy 6:4, “The Lord our God, the Lord is one!” Not until sin entered the world was this unity broken. The original design of God was that our relationship in marriage would reflect a unity like the Triune God.
As believers in Christ, born again with a new heart and mind, we are called to be conformed to the original vision of unity between the husband and wife. We are to be “conformed to the image of God” (Romans 8:29), “heirs together of His grace” (1 Peter 3:7), and as a team, “more than conquerors” (Romans 8:37).
Pastor Steve
