Woman...Wow!

This morning, we want to look at three things. First of all, we want to look at the motivation. For woman, what motivated God to create woman? Number two, we want to look specifically at the making of that woman.

How did God make her and why did God make her? And then we want to look at the marriage of man to that woman.

That's in Genesis chapter 2. And we'll begin the narrative in verse number 18. It says, Then the Lord God said, It is not good. We'll stop right there. The motivation for a woman, two things I want you to notice.

First of all, it is the statement. God says for the very first time, something is not. Good. Up to this point, there had been some things that were good. Remember, we're in day six of creation. It's at the end of that day that everything now becomes very good. It's not very good until woman is created. So, those of you who have a bad marriage, understand that it's never very good without the opposite sex, without the woman being there. When God finished day six, Now he says it is very good. But before he says that, up to this point, it's been good.

But for the very first time, God says something that looks kind of strange. He says, it's not good that man. Be alone. The aloneness of man, this aloneness of man is not a good thing. Now There are many of us who would like to think that being alone is a great thing. We would like to sell everything we own and buy an island someplace, live on that island by ourselves with no phones, no faxes, no comput. No newspapers, no nothing, just us, and kind of relax and take it easy. But you need to understand that from the very beginning, God sets up something that's unique.

Isolation is not a good thing. In fact, Proverbs 18:1 records these words: He who separates himself seeks his own desire. He quarrels or rages against all s wisdom. God says: if you're an individual who seeks to be alone, who likes to isolate himself, Two things are true of you.

One, you're self-centered, you seek your own desire, and number two, you're just not very sm. Because you rage against what is sound wisdom. That sound wisdom is rooted in Genesis chapter 2. It is not good for man to be alone. Now, you must understand that at the outset, God is saying that He doesn't want you to be alone. If you're a widow this morning, God doesn't want you to be alone. If you are single this morning, God doesn't want you to be alone. Now, are you saying, Lance, that God now wants me to be married?

No, I'm not saying that. What I'm saying is, it's not good to be alone. That does not mean you have to get married. Paul would say that in 1 Corinthians 7, right? There are some people with the gift of celibacy. I don't have that gift. Maybe you had that gift. But there are some people who have devoted themselves to God and do not have a desire to be married, don't want to be married, and have committed themselves to the service of the king. There's nothing wrong with that. God has gifted them that way.

But that does not mean that they isolate themselves from the body or isolate themselves from other people. God doesn't want People al. And let me magnify that just a little bit for you.

For those of you who are married. I would say to a certain degree, the married couple sometimes feel more lonely than the unmarried people. The wife who's married to the man who comes home from work and throws his keys on the counter and sits down in front of the boob tube or sits down in front of his computer or in front of the newspaper or some magazine and ignores his wife and ignores his kids. Sometimes she feels like she is the loneliest person in the world. She can't seem to get her husband's attention no matter what she does, no matter how she dresses.

God wants you to understand something. Isolation is not good. God says from the very beginning. There needs to be friendship. There needs to be companionship. There needs to be some kind of partnership for the man to have. He needs to have a suitable helper. In fact, it says over in Genesis 1:2 about The man and the woman, when he created male and female, God blessed them. He said, Be fruitful and multiply. The reason you get married is not to have children. That's one of the reasons to get married, but it's not the reason to get married.

Because before God ever said, be fruitful and multiply, He said, It's not good for man to be alone. Therefore, I'm going to make him a suitable helper. I'm going to have a solution to man's problem. And that is, I'm going to give him a companion. I'm going to give him a partner. Because before you ever get married to someone, you must understand that friendship is at the basis of that relationship. You must become compan. Together. So please understand that God wants you to be friends with your wife, friends, companions together.

That statement, it's not good for man to be alone, leads us to the solution. God says, I will make for him a hel suitable.

For him. I'm going to make for him a helper that's comp to him, that's just right. For him. If you go on to verse number 24, it says, For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother. What's the cause? The cause is verse 18. It's not good that it be alone. So therefore I will make that individual a suitable helper, a companion. I will make him. God made this statement: it's not good to be alone. His solution: I'm going to make for this man a suitable helper. Someone that will come alongside him, be exactly to him what he needs, which leads us to main point number two, and that is the making of woman.

Four things I want you to see: the plan, the process, the presentation, and the proclamation. First of all, the plan.

The plan. Was for man. Write that down. The plan was for man. Look at verse number 19. And out of the ground, the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called the living creature, that was its name. And the men gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper suitable. What did it say? For him. God had a plan.

The plan was for man. Now, note at the very outset: Adam was not an evolutionist, he was not. Because as he looked at all these different animals that walked before him, none of them would be compatible with him. He was not comparing himself to any of those animals. He could not find any animal that was suitable for him. If he had come from those species. If he had come from those animals, he could have found a compatible partner with those animals. But because he did not come from them, because he is made in the image of God and they are not, there was not a compat partner.

Partner for him. That's important to note. Adam was not an evolutionist. But God had a great plan, didn't he? You say, well, how come God just didn't tell him? Adam, you know what? You need somebody else. Adam would have said, What do I need somebody else for? This is great. I got the Garden of Eden. I got the tree of life. I got the rivers that run through it. I got everything I need. What do you want to give me somebody else for? I don need anybody else. I don't need anybody. God had a marvelous plan, and that plan was to bring all these animals to him and have him name them.

And as they would pass before him, and evidently they were in pairs, male and female, because he saw them, the Mr. and Mrs. Horse, he named the horse, Mr. and Mrs. Cow and Mr. and Mrs. P And Mr. and Mrs. Bird, nice wings, by the way. I like those things. And they'd go on and name all these different creatures. And when it was all done, he realized that they all had partners, but he had no partner. He was al. There was no one suitable for him. God had a marvelous plan. I get asked all the time, you know, if God would just speak to me.

If God would just come down and say to me what He needed me to do, I would know exactly what He needed me to do. Folks, I want to tell you something. He did that. He used to commune with man, He used to speak to man all the time. You know what? Nobody listened. So he put it in writing so you wouldn't forget it. All right? God still speaks to us through his word. But he put it in 66 books so that you'll get an understanding of what he wants to say. You can go back and read it over and over and over again.

But God had a marvelous plan. And that was somehow to get Adam to see his own need. You know what? God's got a plan for you, and that plan includes helping you see your own need. Now, God can come down and say, You've got a need, you've got a problem. I'm going tell you what that problem is. He didn't do that. He allows things to happen, he allows events to come your way. He orchestrates the events to come your way so that you will see the needs that you have. And there, when he provides for you the answer, you are more ready to accept it.

So, God had a plan. And that plan was good. But as perfect as Adam was, as intelligent as Adam was, he still needed to be taught something, didn't he? Goes to show you that no matter how smart you think you are, God's got a lot to teach you. The plan was for man. The process, write it down, was from man. The process was from man. Verse number 21. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept. Then he took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at the place. And the Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which he had taken from the man and brought her to The man.

Note the words: God caused, God took, God fashioned, and God brought. The process involved God al. But it was for man. But God was involved in the whole process. That he might give to man a suitable helper. She wasn't taken from his head that she might exhibit superiority. She wasn't taken from his feet that she might exhibit inferiority. She was taken from his side that they might exhibit equality. For they are equal, one to another. And this woman, uniquely designed by God, became the perfect helpmeat for Adam.

God told them to be fruitful. God told them to subdue the earth. God told them to rule over the earth. They were co-equal. They were co-regents together. They functioned together in perfect harmony, man and woman, doing what God had created them to do from the very beginning. And to live in mutual submission to one another, in mutual harmony with each other, doing what God had commanded them to do from the very beginning. And therefore, man did not lord it over her, but he would share with her. You know, Peter tells us in 1 Peter 3, verse number 7, that our wives are co of the grace of life.

In fact, we are to honor them because they are co-heirs of the grace of life. I'm afraid that in the church of Jesus Christ today, there's a lot of unanswered prayer. Because there are men who do not honor their wives as co-equal and co-heirs together of the grace of life. The creation account helps us understand how that relationship is supposed to operate, how it's supposed to function. It makes no difference what culture you're from, it makes no difference what land you're from. It makes no difference about your background.

It makes all the difference as to whether or not we obey the Word of God or disobey the Word of God. Then look with me at the presentation. The plan, number one, was for man.

The process was from man. The presentation was to Man. The text says at the end of verse number 22, and God brought her to the man. Listen very carefully. When God has designed for you a marriage partner, He has fashioned one woman for you. One. God did not make several women so Adam could choose from them and decide which one he would like best. God made him one woman. Now there are many theologians who will tell you, and I am in the minority here. But there are many theolog who tell you that you can marry any woman you want as long as she is a believer, any woman you want, and that will be within the realm of the will of God.

Just choose. God's given you the capacity to choose. And therefore, no matter what woman you choose, it will be the will of God as long as she is a believer. Well, the reason I don't believe that is because of Genesis chapter 2 and Psalm 139. If God has fashioned every day of my life before there was even yet one of them, map them all out for me. God has designed for me one person. If God is sovereign, he is. God controls all things, he does. And God is concerned about me, and he is. God is concerned about who I marry, is he not?

Sure he is. If God is concerned about if God numbers a hair on your head, he knows how many there are or how many you're losing each day, you can bet he is concerned about who you hitch up with for the rest of your life. The pl was for man. The process was from man. The presentation was to man. And the proclamation was wow, man. Look what it says in verse number 23. And the man said, This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. This was incredible.

Outside the fact that Adam had never seen another human being, let alone another female, he was ecstatic. The proclamation was, wow, man, this is fantastic. I can't believe I missed this. So not only are we physically related, but we are personally respons to one another. Adam says that she shall be called woman because she is the feminine side of me. She is taken from me. She's exactly what I need. What's these point number three?

The marriage. To the woman. Verse number 24. For this cause, a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ash. Two things I want you to see: number one is the vow, number two is the virtue.

First of all, the vow for this cause. A man shall leave and a man shall cleave. This v includes two things. Once they leave and cleave, they become one flesh. Marital fidelity and sexual un. The vow that you make Centers around loyalty. The vow that you make centers on loyalty. And loyalty includes two things, marital fidelity, they shall leave and they shall cleave, and sexual unity, they shall become one fl. That's the vow in the marriage. They become one physically, emotionally, mentally. Socially, spiritually, they leave, that is, they leave other ties that they are associated with.

Mother and father, and others, I believe, and then they cleave, they become glued to one individual. There are many marriages that fail today because we forget about the leaving and cleaving. God says, I'm joining you together.

I'm bringing you together. And because I'm bringing you together, let no man separate. Now some people always ask the question at this point: well, what about divorce? Doesn't the Bible say that divorce Can happen? Let me answer that two ways.

Number one is why is it that people are always asking or looking for a way out instead of finding out how to glorify God within?

You ever asked that question? I mean, we're quick to boot, we're quick to get out, we're quick to leave it behind. But how many people are quick to say, how can I glorify God within this marriage relationship? Second of all, yes, God does give biblical grounds for divorce, but listen very carefully.

Because he's given biblical grounds for divorce, nowhere does he say you have to take it. Forgiveness is always, always the better way. The vow that we make is a vow of loyalty. It includes number one, marital fidelity, and number two, sexual unity.

They shall become one flesh. Folks, listen very carefully. God has designed sex for one place. And that is in the marriage relationship, and that is it. Every sin has a spiritual effect. Every sin has an emotional effect. There's only one sin that has a physical effect. And that's a sex sin. That's the only one. If the vow is loyalty, the virtue is intimacy. The virtue is intimacy. It says, and the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. And that falls into two realms. Number one, total transparency.

And number two, person purity. How do we know that? The word naked means transparency. They both were naked. They both were. Completely open. Within the marriage realm, there has to be transparency. There has to be total transparency in order for you to have intimacy. Without that transparency, there is no intimacy. Sex never produces intimacy. Let me say it to you again.

Sex never produces intimacy. Sex is the result of an intimate relationship. If sex produced intimacy, nobody would get married. No need for it. But intimacy is that which gives you a fulfilled sex life in your marriage. Now, I know some of you are probably upset that I'm talking about sex from the pulpit, but I you know something, folks. It's in the Bible. And God speaks of it. And better you hear about it from your pastor than from people on the streets. Better from the scriptures than your school.

What does God's word say about the marriage relationship? And a lot of us don't like it to hear about it from the pulpit because we're probably living immoral lives anyway, to some degree. See? So you've got to understand the truth of God's holy word. What does God's word say? And God says there is to be a virtue that's manifested, and that is intimacy.

It comes because, number one, there is total transparency. They both were naked. They both were open. They both were honest. You've got to be honest with your spouse. You got to make sure that all the air is cleared with your spouse. Do you keep secrets from your spouse? Do you tell other people something, but don't tell your wife or your husband? Folks, that's wrong. Don't do that. You're one flesh with your spouse. You're not one flesh with anybody else. Just your spouse. And from total transparency, person purity.

They both are naked and they were not what? Ashamed. There was no shame. None whatsoever. You'll notice that once they sinned, there was what?

There was shame. They hid themselves. Why? Because they were no longer personally pure. That's why. Now, let me say this.

Whatever has happened in your past, God will take care of. God will deal with. You can't change the past, but you can begin today. You can begin today by renewing that vow that you made. That vow of loyalty. That will include number one, marital fidelity and sexual unity.

I will be devoted to one man or one woman. For the rest of my life, that's what I want to do. And on top of that, on top of that, I will manifest the greatest of all virtues. And that is intimacy. Intimacy that everyone else can see because we are transparent with one another and we are pure with each other. Why are we transparent? Because we have sin. We hide our sin. Therefore, we can't be honest with our spouse. We don't want them to know what we have done. And therefore, you need to confess your sin.

Get right with God. So you can get right with your wife once again on day six. God gave us what I would say the greatest of his creation, female. Gave him to us as men, males. And as you look at the bride that God has given to you, the companion, the partner that God has given to you, we should praise and rejoice in our God for what he's done.

Because he made a suitable helper, fashioned that woman just for you as a man, specifically for you. And what God has joined together, meaning that God has brought you together, let no man divorce, let no man separate. This is so important. And people will come back and say to me, Well, Pastor, you're telling me this, or you're a pastor, you're telling me that. And I come back to them and say, No, no, I'm not telling you anything. God is telling you what you need to do. I'm just reading to you what God's Word says.

These are the words of God. And I say, if you have a beef, it's not with me. It's with God. With God. God designed the marriage institution. God designed the female. God designed the male. And God brings them together. And you can have an incredible marriage. You can have an intimate relationship that far surpasses any other relationship you've ever been involved in. You can have that if you make the proper vow. And you maintain the proper virtue. Being intimate with that one individual. And God will bless your life.

You say, but what happened? How did everything so good with Adam and Eve get so bad? In Genesis chapter 3. You come next week, and I'll tell you how it got so bad. Let's pray.