Bible Passage: Genesis 2:18-24
Pastor: Michael Willitz
Sermon Date: October 10, 2021

Bulletin October 10, 2021

Genesis 2:18–24

¹⁸The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is a suitable partner for him.” ¹⁹Out of the soil the Lord God had formed every wild animal and every bird of the sky, and he brought them to the man to see what he would call them. Whatever the man called every living creature, that became its name. ²⁰The man gave names to all the livestock, and to the birds of the sky, and to every wild animal, but for Adam no helper was found who was a suitable partner for him. ²¹The Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. As the man slept, the Lord God took a rib and closed up the flesh where it had been. ²²The Lord God built a woman from the rib that he had taken from the man and brought her to the man.

²³The man said,

Now this one is bone of my bones

and flesh of my flesh.

She will be called “woman,”

because she was taken out of man.

²⁴For this reason a man will leave his father and his mother

and will remain united with his wife,

and they will become one flesh.

One Man, One Wife, One Flesh

Dear fellow redeemed in Jesus Christ our Lord,

The date was day 6 of creation; it was a Friday. The venue was a beautiful garden in Eden. The reception buffet included the fruit of every tree in the garden except for one. The officiant was the triune God. The groom was Adam, and the bride would be called Eve.

Perhaps you can recall the details of the day when you were joined in marriage. Or perhaps you have in mind many details for the day when you hope to be joined in marriage. Whatever the case, this first marriage that was established in Eden is worthy of our repeated attention and contemplation. With this first marriage, our merciful God gave the good gift of marriage. And with this first marriage, our merciful God established a set pattern for every subsequent marriage to follow: One Man, One Wife, One Flesh.

Now, we already know who the one man was. His name was Adam, and he had just been created earlier that day. Earlier in the chapter, we find the record of how the LORD very caringly formed the man out of the dust of the ground. Then the LORD breathed into the man’s nostrils the breath of life. He made man as the crowning jewel of all creation. Man was to have dominion over the earth and all that was in it. Nothing else that God created was like man because God made man in his image. And yet, there was something not good in regard to the man. It wasn’t a moral imperfection; the fall into sin had not yet occurred. It wasn’t a flaw in man’s design; the LORD had formed him perfectly. Yet something was not yet complete. Something was not yet fulfilled. It was not good for the man to be alone.

What was true of Adam is also true of us today. We are social creatures. We are created for human fellowship. We are created for human companionship, and most people have a need for that closest companionship of marriage. There are exceptions. There are people, like St. Paul, who have the God-given gift to remain unmarried and to maintain self-control. Paul says in 1 Corinthians, “I wish all people were like me, but each person has his own gift from God,” [7].

Those who have the God-given gift of celibacy are not alone, though. Those who desire marriage and are not married might be lonely, but they are not alone; not in the same way that Adam was alone. Before Adam was joined to his wife, he did not have a father and a mother to leave. Before Adam was joined to his wife, there was no one to have children to fill and to populate the earth. For a portion of day six of creation, Adam existed as a human population of one. He was entirely alone, and God caused Adam to recognize this in a very effective way.

The LORD brought before Adam all of the creatures he had made, and he gave Adam the task of naming each one. So Adam named the giraffes, and Adam named the eagles, he named the lions, and he named the llamas. As Adam saw all the animals, and as Adam gave to each animal a name, not one was found that was like him. Not one was found that could be a companion for him. Not one was found that could complete him and help him to fill the earth and subdue it. Adam was alone, and now Adam knew it. Now, the LORD God would fulfill Adam’s need and give him a suitable helper.

So we hear about the first recorded nap. It was more than just a nap, though. The LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. And as Adam slept, the LORD opened the one man’s side, and he brought forth a rib from which he built a woman. When Adam saw her, when the LORD God brought this woman the man, he rejoiced, and he spoke a love poem, the very first words recorded from man. Adam said, “Now this one is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken out of man,” [23].

The one man was no longer alone, because the LORD had added to him one wife, and this wife was just what he needed. Now, at last, there was a suitable helper for Adam. Now, at last, there was a helper who corresponded to him. She was made of the same flesh and bone. She was made in the image of God. Yet she was not identical to Adam. Another Adam would not have been the suitable helper Adam needed. God created a woman for the man. She was the helper who corresponded to him. She completed him, and together they could fill the earth and subdue it as God directed them to do. The woman was distinct from the man, and her distinctness was a glorious blessing for them and for all mankind.

We maintain that the distinction between man and woman is a blessing, even as we live in an age that flat-out denies the distinction. We live in an age that insists that man and woman are interchangeable, that they are in all ways the same. It’s a lie, and there are a lot of terrible things that have exploded out of this lie. There are surgeries called “gender reassignment” surgeries, in which healthy, functional bodies are mutilated because people believe that man and woman are interchangeable. God calls homosexual relations unnatural and a perversion, but many today believe that there is nothing wrong with these relations because they believe that man and woman are interchangeable. One of the major arguments for abortion is that “Women should be the same as men.” And the same argument is also being used to propose that there is no difference between enlisting men for combat and enlisting women for combat. But we maintain that man and woman are distinct. The creation in Genesis shows us that man and woman are distinct, and this distinction is a good thing. God has made them for each other, not to be interchangeable, and not to be pitted against one another, but to be a blessing for each other. Eve was a blessing for Adam; Adam rejoiced in this blessing! And the LORD joined the one man and the one woman into one flesh.

This “one flesh” relationship is called marriage, and our text tells us that this gift enjoyed by Adam and Eve would be a gift that would continue among their descendants. It says, “For this reason a man will leave his father and his mother and will remain united with his wife, and they will become one flesh,” [24]. Marriage is a union established by the LORD. A man and a woman give consent; they willingly enter this union. Yet God is the one who joins them together, and no one apart from God has permission to divide them. This “one flesh” union of marriage includes sexual intimacy, and it is the only setting in which God has permitted this kind of intimacy. But the “one flesh” union includes much more than just sexual activity. A husband and a wife share a commitment to one another that is stronger than any other human relationship. They share their attention. They share a home. They share a future, and if God gives them the blessing of children, then they share the task of parenting. Additionally, the “one flesh” union of marriage is lived out in the God-given roles that husband and wife are called to fulfill. In Ephesians chapter 5, the Apostle Paul counsels husbands that they are to love their wives and care for them as their own bodies. He counsels wives that they are to submit to their husbands and respect their husbands as their own heads. This is what it looks like for a man and a woman to be one flesh: when the wife submits to her husband as her head and the husband loves his wife as his body. In this arrangement, Adam and Eve were tremendously blessed, and in this arrangement, men and women still enjoy many blessings from God even after the fall into sin.

Yet, we know that the fall into sin has also touched every marriage. Sin has torn many marriages apart. And even in those marriages that persevere for decades, sin still causes trouble and pain. It is because of sin that no earthly marriage lasts forever, because “The wages of sin is death,” [Romans 6:23]. Because of sin, death comes to all of Adam’s children. Death even came to Adam some 930 years after his wedding day. Yet through that marriage of Adam and Eve, God gave a blessing for the salvation of everyone: for the married, for the single, for the divorced, and for the widowed. God gave the Seed of the woman, a descendant of Adam and Eve, who came to carry away our sin and give us forgiveness and life instead.

This Seed of the woman, who was promised in the Garden of Eden, is our Savior Jesus, and the Scriptures describe him as a heavenly bridegroom. He left his home and his throne in heaven to come to earth to win his bride. The date was day 6 of Holy Week. The venue was Golgotha, and in that place there was a garden. The groom was Christ, and the bride was us. On that Friday, on a cross, the Man fell into the deep sleep of death. His side was opened, and from his side came forth a flow of water and blood. Now with water, in Holy Baptism, Christ cleanses his church. He washes sinners of adultery and divorce, of harsh words and selfish actions. He cleanses us of each and every sin so that we as his Church stand before him as a radiant bride without any wrinkle of stain. With his blood and with his body, in Holy Communion, Christ continues to feed and nourish his Church, so that we truly are one flesh with him. We are his bride; we are his body. He is our Bridegroom; he is our Head. He has saved us, he has redeemed us, he has bound us to himself in a faithful union that will never be divided. Though we wait for his appearing, when he does return at the end, he will take us to the glorious wedding feast that will never have an end.

One man, one wife, one flesh – It’s the pattern of marriage for Adam and Eve. It’s the pattern of marriage in our earthly marriages. It’s the pattern of Christ with us, his Church. To him be the glory, both now and forevermore. Amen.

Permission to podcast / stream the music in this service obtained from ONE LICENSE with license #A-716390. All rights reserved.

If you would like to give an offering after today’s worship, click here.