Part A
A. Genesis: 1- 2 –creation of man and woman and the
building of relationship
Scripture
tells us that after surveying and naming all the animals and living creature,
Adam could not find a suitable helper. So God put him to sleep removed a rib
and made the woman, a suitable helper and he named her Eve.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of
God created he him; male and female created he them. 28 And
God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and
replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea,
and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the
earth. KJV
God has
purposely designed a void in Adam’s life which could be fulfilled only by a
wife. 18 And the Lord God said, It is not
good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him; KJV.
23 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.” 24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and
is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.
We observe here something very special;
God in His Omniscience withheld His blessing from Adam till He gave Eve to be
his wife, and this proves that God has ordained the family as His primary means
of blessing. It is reasonable to believe one need not have to be married with
children in order to be the recipient of God’s blessing. Single people and childless
couples are equally loved and accepted in God’s eyes. At the same time there is
something about family unity because every single individual has a longing in
their heart for the safety and nurture only a family could offer. This longing
was put inside by the Creator and that is fulfilled initially in marriage
through the intimacy of the couples.
Problems at home affect an individual in
all areas and every facet of life. For example if there is problem between the
couples that would invariably affect the child especially in his or her
performance at school. Very often I have observed if the parents quarrel,
invariably the child tries to find the love outside home, and invariably gets
into some wrong relationship with some one, and this would dramatically affect
his or her grades at school. It is unfortunate that we can not run away
from problems in our lives but if family unit is the first Divine institution
God has planned, don’t you think He wanted to be very personally involved in
that unit?
Our family experiences can be very much
related to our spiritual lives. I have heard a saying, a family that prays
together will stay together and I believe there is truth in this saying. In a
very mysterious way, a healthy loving family points us to a far deeper
understanding of love shared between God the Father, God the Son and God the
Holy Spirit. 19Now therefore ye are no more strangers and
foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God”; written in the book of Ephesians chapter 2
points us that there is something called family to describe our membership in
the Kingdom of God
If one has an abusive earthly father this
can very much distort the perception of a loving heavenly Father. Our view of
as normal sibling relationship can very much colour the way we relate to our
relationship with our brothers and sisters in Christ. In general our family
relationships can provide the simple frame work by which we work out our
salvation, and for this prayer becomes the back bone in the family. Healthy
family relationships are important to God, and He want very much to be involved
in our earthly relationships. If there is an obstacle or a mountain this is important
to God and He wants that to be removed.
Simone Paget is a
freelance writer and she writes in Sun Life; and below is on e of her article
and I have given from related links as well.
Modern love: Is
monogamy really the best answer?
Are humans meant to be monogamous? This seems to be a question on everyone’s minds as we attempt to crack the code to modern romance. In her new book “Love Sense: The Revolutionary New Science of Modern Relationships” author Sue Johnson presents evidence that suggests that humans are in fact meant to mate for life.
Related Stories
Above are few
related links for further reading. From the above article, we infer that we are
in a world where people need love, and they would run and find that some how,
totally apart from God.
B. Genesis 3- fall and destruction of that beautiful
relationship
The Fall is explained in Genesis chapter 3 in the
following sub headings:
- The
serpent deceives Eve. (1-5)
- Adam and
Eve transgress the Divine command, and fall into sin and misery. (6-8) God
calls upon Adam and Eve to answer. (9-13)
- The serpent
cursed and the promised Seed. (14, 15)
- The
punishment of mankind. (16-19)
- The
first clothing of mankind. (20,21)
- Adam and Eve are driven out from paradise. (22-24).
If we read carefully Genesis Chapter 3, we notice that
Satan was a murderer, liar and thief from the very beginning. When Eve was
alone he tempted her, assaulted her, and drew her, enticed her into sin. She took and it was her own
act and deed. Satan puts a seed of doubt in her heart, and made her doubt the Words of
God, and made her to believe what he is saying as truth. He told her a mixture
of truth and lies. She fell into his trap and this became fatal to humanity. By eating of the tree of
knowledge, which was forbidden, Adam plainly showed contempt of what God had
bestowed on him, and a desire for what God did not see fit to give him. The tempter was the devil from the beginning,
though he is in the shape of a serpent, and is scheme was to entice and allure
our first parents into sin, and separate them from the Living God, and their
communion with God. We wonder why the devil is so much of a mischief maker from
the beginning! It makes reasonable sense to believe that male and female were
wired in the likeness and image of God, and God enjoyed communing with our
first parents in the cool of the day before the Fall.
14 And the Lord God said unto the
serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and
above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt
thou eat all the days of thy life:
15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman,
and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt
bruise his heel. Gen: 3:14-15; KJV.
[God passes sentence; and he begins where the
sin began, with the serpent. The devil's instruments must share in the devil's
punishments. Under the cover of the serpent, the devil is sentenced to be
degraded and accursed of God; detested and abhorred of all mankind: also to be
destroyed and ruined at last by the great Redeemer, signified by the breaking
of his head. War is proclaimed between the Seed of the woman and the seed of
the serpent. It is the fruit of this enmity, that there is a continual warfare
between grace and corruption, in the hearts of God's people. Satan, by their
corruptions, buffets them, sifts them, and seeks to devour them. Heaven and
hell can never be reconciled, nor light and darkness; no more can Satan and a
sanctified soul. Also, there is a continual struggle between the wicked and the
godly in this world. A gracious promise is here made of Christ, as the
Deliverer of fallen man from the power of Satan. Here was the drawn of the
gospel day: no sooner was the wound given, than the remedy was provided and
revealed. This gracious revelation of a Savior came unasked, and unlooked for.
Without a revelation of mercy, giving some hope of forgiveness, the convinced
sinner would sink into despair, and be hardened. By faith in this promise, our
first parents, and the patriarchs before the flood, were justified and saved.
Notice is given concerning
Christ.
1. His incarnation, or coming
in the flesh. It speaks great encouragement to sinners, that their Savior is
the Seed of the woman, bone of our bone, Hebrews
2:11,14.
2. His sufferings and death;
pointed at in Satan's bruising his heel, that is, his human nature. And
Christ's sufferings are continued in the sufferings of the saints for his name.
The devil tempts them, persecutes and slays them; and so bruises the heel of
Christ, who is afflicted in their afflictions. But while the heel is bruised on
earth, the Head is in heaven.
3. His victory over Satan thereby.
Christ baffled Satan's temptations, rescued souls out of his hands. By his
death he gave a fatal blow to the devil's kingdom, a wound to the head of this
serpent that cannot be healed. As the gospel gains ground, Satan falls.]1
Mathew Henry Commentary on Genesis 3:14, 15.
This is what generally would
happen to some one when they sin, and refuse to confess before a Holy God
genuinely. They are more worried about their fame and credit before men rather
than with God so they will have a hard time confessing and their hearts are
hardened. They would try to give many excuses and try to lessen the effect of
their sin, and in their carnal mind they do not see that as vain and frivolous.
This is similar to the story at Genesis 3; they would rather love the aprons of
fig-leaves and they do not see that the matter is getting worse and not better.
This is a constant reminder to all of us that we in our fallnesses are capable
of covering our transgressions like Adam and Eve.
Before Adam and Eve sinned they
enjoyed communing with God, and now suddenly God has become a terror for them.
The effects of Fall has cut off communion with God, and they became a terror to
themselves and they are totally depraved in body, mind and Spirit and are
confused. Satan promised them they would be safe and this is a huge lie to
humanity, and he is robbed our parents and humanity of their thinking capacity.
Infact the perfect companionship between Adam and Eve is lost, and they became
miserable companion to each other. This shows the falsehood of the tempter, and the frauds
of his temptations continuously in this world to allure people away from God!
[God bid man go out; told him he should no longer
occupy and enjoy that garden: but man liked the place, and was unwilling to
leave it, therefore God made him go out. This signified the shutting out of
him, and all his guilty race, from that communion with God, which was the bliss
and glory of paradise. But man was only sent to till the ground out of which he
was taken. He was sent to a place of toil, not to a place of torment. Our first
parents were shut out from the privileges of their state of innocence, yet they
were not left to despair. The way to the tree of life was shut. It was
henceforward in vain for him and his to expect righteousness, life, and
happiness, by the covenant of works; for the command of that covenant being
broken, the curse of it is in full force: we are all undone, if we are judged
by that covenant. God revealed this to Adam, not to drive him to despair, but
to quicken him to look for life and happiness in the promised Seed, by whom a
new and living way into the holiest is laid open for us]2. Mathew Henry Commentary on Genesis 3:22-24.
End Notes:
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Book References:
1. Millard
J. Erickson. Christian Theology. Grand Rapids
2. R.T.
Kendall. Understanding Theology,
Developing a Healthy Church in the 21st Century, 1996, p. 357-364.
3. Jay E.
Adams. A Theology of Christian
Counseling, More than Redemption. Grand
Rapids
4. Louis
Berkhof. Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids
5. Robert P Lightner. Handbook
of Evangelical Theology, Historical, Biblical, and Contemporary Survey and
Review. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1986, p.527-544.
6. Charles
Ryrie. Basic Theology. Chicago
7. A. H. Strong. Systematic
Theology. New Jersey
8. Wayne Grudem. Systematic
Theology, An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. Grand Rapids
9. Steven
W. Waterhouse. Not By Bread Alone, An
Outlined Guide To Bible Doctrine. Amarillo: Westcliffe Press, 2007,
p.188-191.
10. John
Theodore Muller, Th.D. Christian
Dogmatics, A handbook of Doctrinal Theology for Pastors, Teachers, and
Laymen. St. Louis, Mo: Concordia Publishing House, 1934,
p.384-386.
11.
Prayers To Move Your Mountains. Nashville
12.
John White. Parables, the Greatest Stories ever Told. Illinois
13.
ESV Study Bible. English Standard Version. Crossway Bibles, Wheaton , Illinois
14.
The Matthew Henry Study Bible. King James Version. Iowa falls: World Bible
Publishers, Inc. 1990.
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