“And the Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “At last this is bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called ‘woman,’ Because she was taken out of man.” For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.”
This morning I’m considering the creation of male and female. God distinctly separates them from the creation of Heaven and Earth. In the book of Enoch it is said that God did this to clearly show that creation was done for man.
Years ago Ern Baxter taught us this truth: God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, are coequal but not cofunctional. In the same way, the creation of male and female are coequal but not cofunctional. This is God the Creator’s design and pattern for marriage. The word fashion is uniquely given concerning the woman. You can see it in the way she has been into fashion ever since.
The Creation of Adam, Michelangelo
The difference of how both came into being is very important. Man is dirt, breathed into by God. His beginning is, in relationship, connected to the earth. For the woman, being taken from the man’s side places her in a vital and strategic position. It has been said that Adam’s rib and Satan’s fib made way for woman’s lib. LOL.
Coming from and alongside, a picture of relational oneness and agreement. Much like our relationship to the Holy Ghost our Helper. She has been so positioned in God’s design that man has to be totally disobedient to not leave and cleave to her.
The making and keeping of vows to one another before God is holy and accountable to Him. When God woke up Adam and presented and brought Eve to him, He immediately related to her and named her woman. Not partner or significant other—woman. The cause of marriage was revealed instantly to him. He was leaving mother and father, in which he had none, and was to cleave to this glorious and wonderful creation. God’s gift to his loneliness, his need for relational help, and the place for his love to be given. This act of leaving and cleaving to one’s wife, for men, is the act of marriage.
Forsaking and actually divorcing himself from all others brings a continuing relational oneness that no man can put asunder. His eyes were to be only for her. His arms were to be only for her. His side reserved only for her. This is God’s design and she is fashioned for this place.
Tomorrow we will celebrate 50 years of Betsy receiving me—Hallelujah—and my leaving and cleaving to her and only her. He that finds a wife not only finds a good thing, but also finds God’s favor. What favor I was given and continued to have from Him. Thank you Holy Ghost for bringing us together on January 13, 1973. Eternal praise and thanksgiving forevermore.
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