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“I was chosen to explain to everyone this mysterious plan that God, the Creator of all things, had kept secret from the beginning.”
Ephesians 3:9 New Living translation
In the beginning God spoke, and it happened, he created, and it came to life.
In the Old Testament book Genesis, speaking as the triune Godhead, God said,
“God spoke: ‘Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the cattle, And, yes, Earth itself, and every animal that moves on the face of Earth.’
God created human beings; he created them godlike, Reflecting God’s nature. He created them male and female.”
Genesis 1:26-27 The Message
The second chapter of Genesis describes how God created Man—the male of the species. It explains how they spent time together talking about Earth and all things created in it.
The chapter concludes with the creation of Woman—the female of the species.
God then used the rib that he had taken from the Man to make Woman and presented her to the Man.
The Man said, “Finally! Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh! Name her Woman for she was made from Man.”
Therefore a man leaves his father and mother and embraces his wife. They become one flesh.
Genesis 2:22-24 The Message
The Apostle Paul addresses this matter in the New Testament book of Ephesians.
“This is a huge mystery, and I don’t pretend to understand it all. What is clearest to me is the way Christ treats the church.
And this provides a good picture of how each husband is to treat his wife, loving himself in loving her, and how each wife is to honor her husband.”
Ephesians 5:32-33 The Message
These three scripture references provide the initial understanding of the mystery of God.
- Man—the species comprised of male and female—is different from all of God’s other creations.
- Man—the species—spends time with God.
- The bond between males and females serves as a continual reminder of the bond between God and Man—the species.
(I write this way to silence any critics who would think women are subservient to men.)
The book of Genesis says God created animals, mammals, fish, birds, reptiles, creepy crawly things, and humans.
However, unlike God in Evan Almighty, he did not hang out with trees. Instead, he hung out with humans.
God walked and talked with them. He showed them things and had deep conversations about Earth.
God gave them specific instructions about life, telling them everything they could do and the two things they could not do.
God enjoyed his human creations and had plans for them.
Before the Woman was created, God had a unique task for the Man. He had him name every animal, mammal, fish, bird, reptile, and creepy crawly thing.
God did this to show Man that he was different from all creation and that nothing was compatible with him.
Once Man had this realization, God created Woman.
The Man said, “Finally! Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh! Name her Woman for she was made from Man.”
Therefore a man leaves his father and mother and embraces his wife. They become one flesh.
Genesis 2:22-24 The Message
How did the Man have any knowledge that the Woman came from him?
Perhaps before showing him the Woman, God explained what he had done.
How did he understand fathers and mothers when they had not come along?
Perhaps he knew because he and God talked about it.
How did he understand becoming one flesh when he clearly understood his flesh was different from every other thing created by God?
Perhaps he and God were talking about it as the animals strolled by?
The relationship between a man and a woman provides a continual picture of humanity’s relationship with God.
This is why heterosexual marriage is under attack. It is designed to destroy the image God created of a close personal relationship with him.
The element of time
Do you know how much time passed between Genesis 1:1 and the end of chapter two?
“First this: God created the Heavens and Earth – all you see, all you don’t see.
Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God’s Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss.”
Genesis 1:1-2 The Message
How long did God the Holy Spirit “brood” above the watery abyss?
No one can say because it isn’t recorded.
The Apostle Peter refers to a day being like one thousand years to the Lord, but this is only a reference.
From this perspective, who is to say the Earth is not millions or billions of years old?
Yes, the Bible says God created the Earth in six days, but who is to say they were 24-hour days, one-thousand-year days, or longer?
The point is, in the scope of eternity, time is not relevant.
However, time is of the essence in the temporal or temporary scope.
The Apostle Paul tells us,
“Companions as we are in this work with you, we beg you, please don’t squander one bit of this marvelous life God has given us.
God reminds us, I heard your call in the nick of time; The day you needed me, I was there to help.
Don’t put it off; don’t frustrate God’s work by showing up late, throwing a question mark over everything we’re doing.”
II Corinthians 6:1-2 The Message
The honor of marriage is not extended to eternity
One day, Jesus answered a hypothetical question about marriage from religious leaders.
“Jesus answered, “You’re off base on two counts: You don’t know your Bibles, and you don’t know how God works.
At the resurrection we’re beyond marriage. As with the angels, all our ecstasies and intimacies then will be with God.”
Matthew 22:29-30 The Message
Therefore, the Man leaving father and mother to be joined to the Woman only has earthly value.
In other words, the picture of the close bond between husband and wife is unnecessary in heaven or eternity.
When you think about it, it makes sense that God’s enemy—the devil—would attack the very thing that serves as a perpetual reminder of a close personal relationship with God.
Take a moment to reflect on this.
How does it make you feel when you see a man and Woman sitting at a table in a restaurant having an intimate moment?
How does it make you feel when you see a man and a woman holding a baby?
How do you feel when you see an older man and Woman quietly walking along, holding hands?
I believe your answers will be something like a warm, pleasant, enduring feeling.
I believe this is because it is innately embedded in humanity, given by God as a picture of a close personal relationship with him.
I believe it is under attack but will not succeed.
The second part of Jesus’s answer concerns the mystery of God, and we’ll discuss it next week.
A close personal relationship with the Godhead provides you a living hope. It is a living anticipation full of expectation of something good happening.
A close personal relationship with the Godhead is a journey. I invite you to follow along. As I learn, I will pass it along so you, too, can learn. I hope that as you learn, you can pass it along so that I (and others) might learn.
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