“The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, for she was taken out of man. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife and they will become one flesh.”
Genesis 2:23-24 NIV
When I was a kid we often drove to Florida for March break. I remember one trip sitting in the back of the Country Squire Station Wagon with my cousin coloring with crayons, ’cause back then there weren’t portable DVD players to keep kids entertained. We stopped for lunch and without thinking, Angie and I left our crayons in the dipped spot along the window. While we ate, the hot Georgia sun melted our one source of entertainment. We got back to the car and found a lake of liquified crayons, all melted into each other. No longer distinct colors, just one color with streaks of the original colors showing.
Just like the crayons that were melted by the Georgia sun, God designed for men and women to become one. In Genesis 2:23 Adam speaks right after God made Eve from his own rib. Adam lets it be known that he and Eve are one, created from the same bones and flesh. Adam goes on to prophesy about God’s plans for all future relationships. Adam makes clear that In The Beginning God designed men and women to become one; distinct in design, one in purpose. I love how real scripture is. It doesn’t say that when a husband and wife get together they are one, but that they become one. In God’s perfect plan men and women leave their family homes, next they’re united together (sounds like marriage to me), and then the process of them becoming one begins. It’s not just a physical union, but a complete unity in relationship.
[tweetthis]In The Beginning there is no hint of one above or below the other. The two are one.[/tweetthis]
Paul reemphasizes this principle as he talks about the marriage relationship in Ephesians 5:21-33 and he explains how this is also displayed through the church. Matthew Henry, who wrote the most commonly used Commentary on the Bible said this:
“Women were created from the rib of man to be beside him, not from his head to top him, nor from his feet to be trampled by him, but from under his arm to be protected by him, near to his heart to be loved by him.”1
The imagery that God created through forming Eve out of Adam’s rib again reveals His desire for men and women, and the church to function as co-workers; moving as one flesh, so intertwined that it’s hard to tell where one starts and the other ends. All fulfilling their roles to be image-bearers of the ONE who created them!
Prayer
Father…I echo the words of the psalmist “your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”2 Your plans for relationships between men and women is perfect, yet so hard to live up to. Help me to do my part to become one and not live as a separate entity on my own. Help me to live in the unity you desire. In Jesus Name…Amen
1 An Exposition of the Old and New Testament by Matthew Henry, George Burder, Joseph Hughes (c) 2010
https://www.amazon.ca/Exposition-Old-New-Testament/dp/1149849584/178-3407432-0628554?ie=UTF8&camp=15121&creative=330641&linkCode=as2&redirect=true&ref_=x_gr_w_bb&tag=x_gr_w_bb_ca-20
2 Psalm 139:14
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