“Where do I even start?” That was the question that ran through my mind as I started to write this sermon. Having spent time studying Genesis 2 which you heard as our first lesson for this morning, I looked at the computer screen and thought, where do I even start? There are so many different ways that these words intersect with our lives. So many different topics, situations and decisions that these words speak to. But instead of running chaotically all over the place, like a little child bursting through the gates of Disney World and thinking that they need to see every attraction within the first 30 minutes, I would invite you to take a walk with me today. Take a walk with me through the Garden of Eden, through the pages of Scripture and with the Holy Spirit’s guidance, let’s see what the Lord has for us to see in Genesis 2.
Just one week – seven days – before the words of Genesis 2, the only thing that had existed was God himself. Then suddenly out of the infinite darkness, sprung an entire universe with the words, “Let there be…” Within six days, the eternal and all-powerful God called into existence the world and everything in it – well almost everything. Genesis 2 takes us to the middle of day 6 of creation, the day on which God created the animals and the first man, Adam. God made an announcement on that day that must have stunned the angels. God said, “It is not good…” There must have been a collective gasp by all of creation when God said those words. Up until this point, God closed each day with the declaration, “It is good.” But on this day there was something different, incomplete, something still missing. What was it? God tells us, “It is not good for the man to be alone” (Genesis 2:18).
While God knew this, God wanted Adam to realize it. So less than 24 hours after Adam had been created, God put Adam to work. We’re told, “Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name” (Genesis 2:19). God had created Adam with intelligence and creativity and God now provided opportunity for Adam to use those gifts. But as Adam went to work naming the animals he quickly realized something, “But for Adam no suitable helper was found” (Genesis 2:20). Adam realized something that God already knew – Adam was not part of the animal kingdom – that no animal was a suitable partner for Adam. That word for “suitable” is kind of a neat one. It has the idea of “corresponding to.” Adam realized that nothing in the animal kingdom corresponded him, that no animal could complete him. Yes, there was still something not good, something missing – so God made it good.
We’re told, “So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man” (Genesis 2:21,22). Just as God had demonstrated that Adam was a special creation, fashioned by God’s own hands out of the ground, and breathing into Adam the breath of life, so God demonstrated that Eve was an equally special creation. God fashioned that first female around the rib that he had taken from Adam.
God then presented his newest creation to Adam and what is Adam’s reaction? Adam takes one look at Eve and realizes that God has given him someone just like him, but different from him, someone who corresponded to and fit him perfectly. Adam looks at Eve and erupts, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man” (Genesis 2:23). Can you sense Adam’s joy and excitement? He looks at Eve and says that Eve is a special creation just LIKE him, and just FOR him. The name that Adam gives to Eve shows that connection he felt with her. Even in our English words of “man” and “woman” we see the two names intertwined with one another.
But the bringing together of these two individuals was much more than God providing someone for Adam to talk to. This was God giving the world a special relationship between a man and woman which God describes with these words, “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). With these words God describes his design for the relationship we call marriage. It’s the formation of family, a man and woman (two people who physically correspond and fit with one another) who publicly commit themselves to being one for the remainder of their lives. God says that by this commitment this man and woman now become one. Their living together and having sex with one another are expressions of that oneness of marriage.
Thousands of years later, when Jesus was questioned about marriage, Jesus repeated the words of Genesis 2, demonstrating that God’s design for marriage has not changed. Jesus said, “Haven’t you read that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?” (Matthew 19:4,5). With this relationship of marriage, God intends to bring great blessing to his world. He gave a relationship in which a man and woman become one, share their lives with one another and support one another. Marriage is a relationship that provides a stable environment for spouses and children. Marriage is a relationship in which sexual desire can be met in God-pleasing ways, as physical expressions of the oneness that marriage creates.
But now keep on walking and see what too quickly happened to this gift of marriage. You soon see Adam’s love song replaced with finger pointing and blame at the wife that God had given to him, as if she was more of a liability than a gift. Walk through the pages of the Old Testament and you see God’s gift of marriage and sexuality abused and corrupted. We find polygamy, rape, homosexuality, abuse, lust and incest. Corruption of God’s gift of marriage and sex stain the pages of Scripture and the lives of countless individuals, families and societies. Sadly, the same is true today.
Difficult marriages are quickly discarded in the name of happiness. Sex before marriage is not only accepted, but encouraged and expected. Homosexuality is championed as heroic behavior. Internet pornography continues to grow by leaps and bounds – according to a 2013 survey, more people visit pornographic websites each month than Netflix, Amazon and Twitter combined! Broken marriages leave spouses hurting, angry, and skeptical, and children wondering if marriage is worthwhile. What a mess! A mess that infiltrates our own hearts, minds and lives. The angry words and complaints about the spouse God gave you, the sexual desires for someone other than your spouse, a lax attitude towards sex before marriage. What a mess people have made of God’s gift!
Dear friends, now it’s time to run. When we see how we have failed to honor God’s gift of marriage, abused our sexuality and that of others, allowing our minds to wander into places that God says are off limits – run, don’t walk, run to the cross of Christ because there and only there do we find the cleansing for hearts, minds and lives that have been stained by sin. In Christ we find perfection – perfection in the perfect life of Christ lived for us – perfection that completely covers every sin that we have ever committed. In Christ find payment – payment for the sins that we have committed and for which Jesus suffered and died will on the cross. In Christ find power – power to fight temptation as we recall the forgiveness that is ours through faith in Christ, power in the love of Christ that compels us to walk with Jesus, to learn from Jesus, to trust in Jesus.
Dear friends, in a world that views God’s design for marriage and sex as outdated, restrictive, and unrealistic, where marriage is often thoughtlessly entered and selfishly broken, where so many people are left hurt, disappointed and confused, we might think, “Where do we even start?” Dear friends, how about we simply stat by walking with Jesus, each and every day. Asking him in prayer and through the study of the Bible to guide our lives, guard our hearts and make us witnesses of what he says is good. If you are married, make Jesus a primary member of your marriage, that your relationship with your spouse may be reflective of your relationship with Christ. Not putting a façade of a perfect and problem-free marriage. No! By showing the special blessings of a Christian marriage, where there is real forgiveness, self-sacrificing love, and divine guidance. If you are married to a person who is not yet a Christian, see your marriage as an opportunity to honor and serve your Savior by witnessing the love of Christ to that person you care about deeply. If you have experienced a broken marriage, know that your Savior’s love for you will never fail, and that he will give you the strength to endure the heartache that has entered your life. Whether married or not, we need to encourage those who are married to keep working at their marriage because the devil is going to keep working on them. We need to encourage people NOT to give up when their marriage is difficult or seems hopeless, but instead to give their marriage to God, to seek God’s guidance that he would give humility, patience and healing. And finally, we need to talk to our children about the blessings of finding a Christian spouse – something that my grandmother did every time my daughters went to visit her in the nursing home. We need to share with them God’s purpose for sex, and to show them what a Christian husband, wife, marriage and family looks like.
Simply put, walk with Jesus – daily see his love for, seek his guidance, trust his blessing, and pray that the Lord would use us to bring others walk with us in Christian faith and love. Amen.
