Sermons from the Book of Genesis
A GARDEN WEDDING
Genesis 2:18-25
Through the years I have heard of some unusual weddings. There is Jim Garner and Ann Smith from Little Rock, Arkansas. They were married atop a telephone pole. They were both telephone linemen. The wedding took place on a gravel road with about 40 people present. The couple, wearing jeans, instead of the customary wedding dress, hitched on climbing gear and ascended to a gaily decorated cross bar where a bucket of champagne and goblets awaited. The Justice of the Peace stood on the ground and shouted out to them their wedding vows.
I also read about a Mary Campbell of Elgin, Illinois that had to say "I do" three times at three different weddings before she finally became Mrs. Randy Peterson. The couple took out their wedding license in Kane County and made all the arrangements for their wedding at the Smyrna Freewill Baptist Church in Ontarioville. It was a beautiful wedding but the Church was in Du Page County, not Kane County, and they were told the ceremony didn't count. They packed up their wedding party and moved on to Lord's Park on the eastern edge of Elgin. They were married the second time in the shaded park with its quaint bridge over a quiet lagoon. However, a sharp-eyed copy editor at the Elgin Daily Courier-News was reading a report on the wedding when he noticed another problem. The park they were married in the second time was in Cook County, about 200 feet from the Kane County line. The third ceremony took place in the newsroom of the Courier-News, a good mile inside the Kane county line. They were finally married in the eyes of the law.
I heard about a young preacher that was performing his first wedding. He was more nervous than the bride and groom. He did all right until he got to the end and said, "It is kisstomary to cuss the bride."
Our text tells us about the most unique wedding ever performed. It is unique in that it was the first wedding ever held. It is unique in that it was performed personally by God and the best man was the Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit was the attendant. It is a beautiful garden wedding that sets the precedence for all other weddings. In this wedding and marriage we see principles that were established for every marriage that was to follow.
Let’s notice this garden wedding and glean some principles that will be helpful for every couple and every home. First, we see:
1. THE SEARCH BY ADAM FOR A MATE
God first created man. Shortly thereafter God created the woman. But there was a time when Adam was without a companion. He was not alone in one sense for he had all of God's creation around him. But he was alone in the sense that he did not have a companion to share that creation. Notice the story.
First, we see:
A) The Lack of a Mate for Adam
We read in Genesis 2:19-20, “And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.” God gave Adam a wonderful privilege and an awesome responsibility. He was given the honor and task of naming all the creatures God had created. Two little birds flew down and landed on a tree limb, and Adam looked at them and said, "I believe I will call you Doves.” Two big animals came pounding through the garden and Adam said, "I'm going to call you Elephants.” Adam looked into the stream and saw swimming beautifully colored creatures and said, "I'm going to call you Rainbow Trout.”
Yet, as Adam named all the creatures, he noticed something. There were a Mr. Dove and a Mrs. Dove; a Mr. Dog and Mrs. Dog; A Mr. Horse and Mrs. Horse, but there was no Mrs. Adam. He realized that of all God had created each had a companion except himself. This led to:
B) The Longing for a Mate by Adam
Notice Genesis 2:20, “And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.” The word "found" suggests that Adam longed and looked for a companion. He longed for someone of his kind. Until this time, it had never bothered Adam that he did not have a girl friend. He had never worried about if he would have a date on Saturday night. He never wondered if he was popular with the girls. But when he realized that he was alone, there grew within his heart an itch he couldn't scratch. He began longing for a companion. There was a desire for someone he could spend his life with.
Now think with me about the naturalness of Adam's desire. I believe his desire for a mate was a desire that God had formed in Adam when He created him. God has put something in each of our hearts that produces an attraction and affection for the opposite sex. Boys go through a stage in their life where they "hate girls." The same is true for girls. I remember when I was in the second grade. During the annual school program we had to do a dance. The dancing part was terrible, but what made it so awful, we had to do it with a girl. To add insult to injury, we had to hold her hand. It was such horrible experience. Then even to make matters worse my Mom and Dad were there. I felt like saying to them, "I'm sorry. I know I have shamed you. But the teacher made me do it."
But then there comes a time when something happens. Boys find themselves struggling to keep the vow they made to the other guys never to talk to girls. They begin finding themselves attracted to girls. Now the boys say, "Would you dance with me, and would you please, pretty please; I'll give you my favorite marble if you will let me hold your hand." It is that thing that happens that causes 5th grade boys to send notes in class that reads: "I love you. Will you marry me?" It is a desire that is natural. It is a desire that was instilled in us by our Creator.
I want you also to think with me about the needfulness of Adam's design. You notice that the companion Adam desired was first called a "helpmeet." He needed a helper, a completer, a counterpart. God had designed Adam to have a need for a companion. We read in Genesis 2:18, “And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.” Up to this point all that God had created was called "good." Now we see the first thing in God's creation that is said was "not good." It was not that God's creation was imperfect; it was incomplete. God had put in Adam a two-fold need: a need for a Heavenly Father and a need for an earthly female.
The longing for a mate is a desire that is natural which results from a design that is needful. It is these two God given causes that draw a man and woman together. It is this that puts the dream in a female's heart for a husband and the craving in a male's heart for a wife. It is this that causes the search for a mate.
A preacher preached one Sunday on God’s plan is one man for one woman. After the service a young lady walked up to him and said, "I want to talk to you about your message.” The preacher asked, "Is there something about the message you didn't agree with?" She replied, "Oh, no! I agree with everything you said. I just want to get in on it."
Secondly, think with me of:
2. THE SENDING TO ADAM OF A MATE
Notice Genesis 2:21-23, “And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Apart from ones salvation, there is probably no greater decision one can make than the person they will marry. There is no way I can emphasize strongly enough the importance of marrying the right person.
One of the greatest lessons a person can ever learn concerning marriage is that the right person for one to marry is the one God brings into their life. There have been many that married a person based on physical attraction who later regretted it. I think about one fellow who went to the opera to hear a lady sing that everyone was talking about. When she walked out on stage he thought to himself that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life. Then she started singing. He had never heard a more beautiful voice in his life. He said to himself, “This is most beautiful woman I have ever seen and the most beautiful voice I have ever heard. I have got to have her as my wife."
He went backstage as soon as the opera was over to meet her and in 3 weeks they were married. On their wedding night they checked into a beautiful bridal suite. To his surprise, his new wife reached up and pulled off her long, beautiful hair. She was wearing a wig. What surprised him even more was that she was almost bald-headed. He was even more shocked when she took out her false teeth and placed them in a glass on the night stand. You can only imagine his shock when she popped out her glass eye and un-strapped an artificial leg. He sat there looking at her for a few minutes and then said, "Sing, honey, sing!"
Marriage must be built on more than physical attraction. It must be a spiritual attachment. As we look at God sending Adam a mate, we see:
A) God's Work in the Provision of a Mate
We read in verse 22 that God "made” a woman. The word means "to build." God put Adam under a divine anesthetic performed divine surgery, and from a rib taken from Adam's side, He fashioned, formed, built Adam a companion. Someone has said that God created man, took a good look at him and said, "I believe I can do better than that," and created a woman.
I love the way Augustine described this procedure. He said, “When God created man he made him out of the dust of the ground. When He created woman he took her from man. He did not take her from his head in order that he might Lord over her. He did not take her from his feet that he might trample over her. But he took her from his side, close to his heart, that he might love and care for her.”
Adam had a desire and a need for a companion. God met that need by creating a woman. I don’t think I have heard it said any better than the way Stephen Olford put it: "The first man ever created slept in the will of God while a beneficent Creator prepared a partner for him." I believe with all my heart that there is a special person that God prepares for each of us. There is that someone that God has planned just for each of us. Wise is the person that recognizes this and foolish the person that ignores it.
Not only do you see God's provision for a mate, but we also see:
B) God's Will in the Presentation of a Mate
Notice Genesis 2:22, “And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.” Notice carefully that it was God that “brought” to Adam his companion. Eve was God's gift to Adam. She was God's will for Adam's life. This was indeed a marriage made in heaven! Their marriage was the first wedding in history and the only bride ever given away by God Himself. It was all a work of God and in the will of God from beginning to end. Adam had looked for a mate and longed for a mate. I can imagine that one day Adam said, "God, I have noticed that everyone has a companion but me. Would you give me a companion?" Adam submitted to God's will and allowed God to work and God gave him the perfect mate.
Notice Genesis 2:23, “And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” It was love at first sight. Adam looked at Eve and said, "You are the only woman in the world for me.” I'm sure Adam felt like the person who had fallen in love that wrote:
I climbed up the door, and I shut the stairs,
I said my shoes and took off my prayers.
I shut off my bed and I climbed into the light,
And all because she kissed me good night.
If a person will seek the will of God and submit to the will of God, God in His time will send them the right person. There have been many that didn't seek God's will and submit to God's will that ended up marrying the devil's choice instead of God's choice. This is one reason why it is so important that Christians only date Christians. I assure you, that if you marry a child of the devil instead of a child of God you will always have trouble with your father-in-law.
Lastly, think with me of:
3. THE SATISFYING OF ADAM IN A MATE
Notice Genesis 2:24-25,“Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.” God has now brought a man and woman together and given them a relationship intended to be the greatest and most fulfilling relationship known to the human race.
A little girl had learned the story of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." She was telling the story to her mother. When she got down to the place where the prince kissed the Snow White and awakened her from her sleep, the little girl said, "Mother, do you know what happened then?" The mother knowing how the storied ended said, "They lived happily ever after." The little girl said, “Oh no, they got married."