Genesis 2:18-25
The First Marriage
God was doing something here more than just creating a woman. He was
creating the first marriage and the home. There is a branch of Bible
study called the Principal of First Mention. I do not know if it is
always true, but I do see it being true enough that it is worth
consideration.
In a nutshell, the Principal of First Mention says that you should
look at the first time a topic is mentioned in the Scripture to find
it’s inherent meaning or intended purpose. If we apply that principal
to the topic of the home and marriage, we would have to say that this
is how God intended a marriage to be.
We all know that sin has marred marriage and the home. Many of us
came from broken homes. In some cases, one or more of our parents
died. In some cases, one or more of our parents abandoned us. Is
some cases, we may not even know who are parents are. Marriage has
become so marred that some have no idea what a good marriage is or
is supposed to be.
I believe this Bible passage gives us that description. This may
not be where we came from but it is what we should want for us and
for our children. Let’s spend a few moments considering "the first
marriage."
I. The First Marriage Was Determined By God.
A. God determined that there was going to be marriage BEFORE
there was a marriage. In fact, God determined there was
going to be a marriage before there was even a woman to
marry.
B. Why did God make that determination?
Ge 2:18 …It is not good that the man should be
alone….
1. "Good" is a comparison word. It means that it is not
the best thing for man to be by himself, alone.
2. God the Creator is telling us something about the man
and maybe life itself.
a. God is saying loneness is not good.
b. God did not say man was incapable of being alone or
of functioning in life alone.
c. He just said it is not good for man to be alone.
d. I suspect that is true of the woman too.
e. God designed man to be a socially interactive being
and when God created the man, he had no one like
himself to interact with.
3. It is interesting that woman tend to outlive men.
a. A girl child born in 2012 can, on average, outlive
a boy child born in 2012 by almost 5 years.
http://www.health.com/mind-body/why-do-women-live-longer-than-men
b. No one know for certain why that is.
(1) One man told me it was because they did not
have to be married to a woman.
(2) Some think it is because men tend to over focus
on work too much and relationships too little.
(3) That notion has Biblical merits.
(4) By the way, ladies. If that is true God created
the woman to take the man’s mind off of work
and to give him someone to interact with. Don’t
you be the cause for the man wanting to go to
work just to get out of the house.
II. The First Marriage Was Divine in Nature.
A. That means that God created marriage with a plan, His plan.
We need to sift out that plan and follow it.
B. What can we learn about God's marriage plan?
1. Marriage is between a man and a woman.
a. At the point God determined there to be marriage, God
could have created anything for Adam to mate with.
b. It is obvious that God did not want Adam to mate with
any of the other species for God formed all of the
other animals \\#19-20\\ and no suitable mate was
there.
c. It is also obvious that God did not want Adam to mate
with another man for had God wanted that, He would
have created another of the same.
d. But God created a woman.
(1) That should tell us something.
(2) I do not to turn this sermon into a sermon on
the sin of homosexuality, but the Bible makes it
clear that marriage was God’s idea and design,
not man’s.
2. God brought the woman to the man.
Ge 2:22 And the rib, which the LORD God had
taken from man, made he a woman, and brought
her unto the man.
a. I do not want to read into the Scripture what is not
there, but I still believe that God needs to be the
One who gives you your mate.
b. You do not necessarily have to meet in church, but you
should meet them with Christ.
(1) You should be in the right places.
(2) You should be doing the right things.
(3) You should be holding to the right standards.
c. If these are right, it does not matter whether you
meet them on a blind date, an online dating service,
or in what we might call an happenstance meeting.
d. And if anyone of these is wrong, it does not matter
if you meet them on the altar at church.
e. Having Christ with you does two important things:
(1) It attracts the right people to you.
(2) It repels the wrong people from you.
3. Marriage is to be permanent, till death do us part.
Ge 2:24 Therefore shall a man leave his father
and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife:
and THEY SHALL BE ONE FLESH.
a. God joined the two into one flesh because He desired
them to be permanently bonded.
b. That is a very difficult task to accomplish in the
best of conditions.
(1) Every marriage starts with two powerful enemies:
the world and the devil.
(2) But you also start with one strong Supporter:
God.
(a) God is the Almighty and could easily
overcome the world and the devil, but He
will not do that for you.
(b) Why? Because He gave you a freewill so you
get to decide if you want your marriage to
succeed or not.
(3) So you and your flesh and your mate and your
mate's flesh get to have the deciding vote.
c. If you chose to do so, God will back you with His
great power.
4. Marriage is important.
a. Marriage is so important that it changes the
relationship between parents and children.
b. \\#24\\ God told the man to leave his parent’s home
and to establish a new one with his wife.
c. I find it interesting that God should insert that
into the Scripture here.
(1) Neither Adam nor Eve had any parents to separate
from.
(2) Perhaps God included because they would one day
BE THE PARENTS.
(3) Perhaps it is the parents that need to read and
accept this truth MORE THAN the children.
III. The First Marriage Was Destroyed by Sin.
A. I don’t mean that it ended in divorce.
1. Perhaps it was a good thing that there were no more people
on the earth at that time or it might have….
2. Divorce is a destruction of the home but some homes that
never experience a divorce are just as destroyed.
3. As a result of sin, this home…
a. Produced the first murderer.
b. Produced the first murdered.
c. And produced a race that God would have to nearly
wipe off the earth in a relatively short period of
time.
B. How did the devil get into that marriage?
1. It was a divinely ordained, planned and put together by God
Himself.
2. It was placed into the Garden of Eden, a perfect
environment.
3. There was no stress, no debt, no sickness, no
miscommunication, no nothing.
4. Still, the devil got in! How?
a. On that day, they were a couple separated.
(1) I don’t want to throw stones. I know Adam had a
good reason for NOT being with his wife.
(2) Perhaps this was the first time they had been
separated.
(3) Still, I believe things would have been vastly
different if they had been together rather than
separate.
(4) I know married couples cannot and should not be
together all of the time, but you need to note
that the devil got in when this couple was not
together.
b. On that day, Eve was near the forbidden tree.
(1) Again, that sounds a little petty. I don’t know
where the tree was or how large the Garden of
Eden was. Perhaps she had a justifiable reason
for being there alone.
(2) But I note that many people seem to want to get
as close to sin as they possibly can without
getting hurt.
(3) It should be the goal of every person to stay as
far from sin as they possibly can.
(4) Let me tell you about sin’s boundaries.
(a) They move.
(b) What you were strong enough to withstand
yesterday you may not be able to withstand
today.
c. On that day, Eve did not communicate with her husband.
(1) Where is a cell phone when you need it?
(2) How would things have been if Eve had just said,
"Let me check with my husband on that."
(3) Couples, you need to talk together.
d. Until that time, both Adam and Eve were ignorant of
their enemy.
(1) I don’t know that either of them had ever meet
the devil before that day.
(2) They may not have known that the devil even
existed.
(3) They had no Bible, no church, no friends, no
history.
IV. The First Marriage Was Delivered By God.
A. I have no evidence of that. All I have is one verse.
Ge 3:21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the
LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
1. I know God took care of their sin problem.
2. i know God took care of their clothing problem.
3. I believe God did what was necessary to help them with
their first marriage and its problems too.
a. That does not mean that they did not have problems.
b. It does not mean that they did not have to do for
themselves.
c. But I believe God provided them with what they could
not do for themselves.
B. That is what God does for us too.
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