Home Sweet Home Series

Intro:

1. There was a conversation between God and Adam. Adam asked, "Lord why did you make Eve with such long, beautiful silky hair?" The Lord said, "So you would like her."

"Lord why did you make her so soft and shapely." The Lord said, "So you would her."

Adam said, "Lord, she is very beautiful, but why did you made her so dumb?" The Lord said, "So she would like you!"

2. We have been looking at the Home in our study - Nobody Home; Home Alone; No Place like Home; and Home on the Range. Now...

3. Home Sweet Home...equipped with a Help-Meet.

Trans: Gen. 2:18-25

I. FIRST, THE ONE WHO COMPREHENDED ADAM’S NEED FOR A HELPER. 18a

And the LORD God said, "It is not good that man should be alone; - "This may be rendered "For the man to remain alone is not good for him." [A Handbook of Genesis by Reyburn and Fry].

"The meaning of "good" must be defined contextually. Within the context of creation, in which God instructs humankind to be fruitful and multiply, the man alone cannot comply. Being alone prevents the man from fulfilling the design of creation and therefore is not good." NET Bible.

One-fourth of households consists of an individual living alone. Loneliness is a struggle for some single adults, divorcees, and for those whose spouse has died It often derives from the lack of parental acceptance in childhood, lack of peer approval, and situations of loss such as the death of a spouse, divorce, retirement, or physical disability.

Sometimes we can identify with the man who went to a psychiatrist and requested the psychiatrist to give him a multiple personality. "Why do you want a multiple personality?" the psychiatrist asked. "At least I’d have someone to keep me company," was his reply.

The point is, God alone knows what is good for human beings and God alone knows what is not good for them. To enjoy "good" comes not from man’s reasoning or activity but from trusting God!

Adam needed no tree of the knowledge of good and evil, He had God and as long as He looked to God, God Himself would provide all He needed. A good example of God’s knowledge of good is seen in the creation of woman.

"Before Adam was aware of his incompleteness without a wife, God anticipated his need and planned for it. God set out to create a partner for Adam, one exactly suited to him. Adam’s wife was in the mind of God long before she was ever in the arms of Adam." [John Phillips]

Only God knows what is ultimately good for us!

Tim Quinn, "I was stumped. My old Macintosh laptop simply would not run the MacBible software anymore. Though I had worked with it for hours, nothing I did would help. My wife, wise woman that she is, had suggested that I call the owners of the software for help, but no, I knew what I was doing.

That morning, after having exhausted every last idea, I gave in and called the MacBible Corporation. After speaking to a friendly voice, I was assured that the person to whom I was being referred would know exactly what to do. I wasn’t convinced, but I called him anyway.

The name I had been given sounded familiar, and I soon learned why. The person on the other end of the line was none other than the man who wrote the MacBible software. He gave me a brief set of instructions; I took them down and hung up the phone. In minutes, my computer software program was up and running. I just had to go to the man who wrote the program."

The creator alone knows what’s best for man!

II. FURTHERMORE, THE COMPARABLE HELPER. 18

I will make him a helper comparable to him." - Lest any imagine that "helper" is a diminishing or servile term, it must be understood that (1) it is the name used to describe God as the helper of Israel (cf. Exodus 18:4; Deuteronomy 33:7; 1 Samuel 7:12).

(2) Often "helper" was used to reference God’s aid against Israel’s enemies (cf. Psalm 20:2; 121:1, 2; 124:8). (3) Moses referred to God as his "helper" who delivered him from Pharaoh (cf. Exodus 18:4).

"In the Bible God is frequently described as the "helper," the one who does for us what we cannot do for ourselves, the one who meets our needs. In this context the word seems to express the idea of an "indispensable companion." The woman would supply what the man was lacking in the design of creation." NET Bible.

Philips, "The function of the helper would be complementary to the man’s—"a helper fit for him"—literally, "like opposite him" or "according to his opposite." The woman would be a corresponding counterpart. As a counterpart she would share in his nature. Male and female were created in the image of God (cf. 1:27). And as his matching opposite, she would supply what was lacking in him.