OPERATION RESTORE – 1 by Dr. Shah, Clearview Church, Henderson, NC
Introduction: Many years ago, Nicole and I took a trip to Charlottesville, Virginia, to see 3 Presidential homes in one day: Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, James Monroe’s Ash Lawn-Highland, and James Madison’s Montpelier. The last one was very interesting because there was a restoration project going on at the time. After the house was sold by Dolley Madison in 1844, various owners had made various changes to the house. In order to restore the house to what it was like when James Madison and his wife Dolley lived there, an 18-month long investigation was launched in 2001 and the project lasted from 2004-2009. We were there in 2008 on the day when a massive portion was going to be taken down. This was a big deal to me because this was the place where in his upstairs library Madison had drafted the Constitution of the United States. Today, we are doing a two-part series from Genesis titled OPERATION RESTORE. This is still part of the Contend Series on Apologetics. As we are answering various questions about creation and sexuality, we cannot ignore the passages regarding Adam and Eve. We are also launching an investigation into what happened to the first man and first woman. Main point: Marriage was God’s answer to man’s loneliness. It was meant to reflect the unity in the Godhead. Unfortunately, sin has corrupted it beyond recognition. Only the grace of God through Christ can restore the original picture.
Genesis 2 24 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.”
Genesis 3:7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.
How did we go from Genesis 2:25 to Genesis 3:7? How did innocence turn into shame? If you compare it to marriages today, how did something so good get so bad? To understand the answer, we have to begin OPERATION RESTORE:
Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let Us make man…” This is the first time in the work of creation that God used the plural form – “Let us make” (na aseh). So far, it was the impersonal “Let there be…” The Trinity had a divine counsel within itself before the creation of the man and the woman. Quick point here: Those who think that the Trinity was a later creation by the church councils, don’t take this seriously. If Moses, the Hebrew prophets, or the Jewish people after the exile had a problem with the plurality within the godhead, this would be the first verses they would take out! But they didn’t.
Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…” What does it mean to be made in the image of God? In a previous message, I explained the benefits of being “image bearers”: 1. God’s representatives in the world, called to rule over his creation; 2. special dignity above all other living creatures; and 3. special relationship with him, unlike anything the living creatures can ever experience. All that is true. They are all amazing benefits, but what exactly is the “image of God?”27 “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” Just like there is unity and role differences in the Godhead, there is unity and role differences between the man and the woman. Later, we will learn that God the Father and God the Son are equal in essence, but the Son is subordinate to the Father. We will return to what this looks like in the marriage a little later. However, a negative instance of this same principle also showed up in Genesis 11 6 And the LORD said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. 7 Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” Unlike the first relationship between the man and the woman which reflected the good unity and distinction within the Godhead, this was a demonstration of the evil unity of human beings, which did not reflect the unity within the Godhead.
Overall, we need to remember that to be made in the image of God is equality and yet role distinctions, just like between the Father and the Son in the Trinity. This was emphasized again in Genesis 5 1 “This is the book of the genealogy of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. 2 He created them male and female, and blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created.” Paul affirms this unity in Galatians 3:28 “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
What about the role distinctions? For that, we must go deeper in the text:
- Order and Source of Creation
Genesis 2 7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. 8 The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed.
The word for dust is “aphar,” which is not really clay but just a lump of dirt. So, we could call each other a “dirt bag” and be right! This dirt is coming from the ground or “Adamah.” This is lost in our English because that’s where Adam comes from! Paul acknowledged this in 1 Corinthians 15:47 “The first man was of the earth, made of dust…” Then God breathed into him “nishmath chayyim” = breath of life.
God places him in the Garden of Eden to tend it, but he is lonely. Genesis 2 18 And the LORD God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” 19 Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him. 21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22 Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman…” The Hebrew word is “tsela,” can mean rib or side. What is very important is that the woman was made from the man. Even though they are equal in the sight of God and are equally responsible to take care of the creation, there is a clear order and source here. Paul brought this up in 1 Timothy 2:13 “For Adam was formed first, then Eve.” Also, 1 Corinthians 11:7 “For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man. 8 For man is not from woman, but woman from man.” This was not just some cultural point from Corinth since Paul appealed to Genesis.
By the way, even scientifically speaking, this is so important. Male has both X chromosomes (for females) and Y chromosomes (for males). Imagine if Eve was created first, it would only be XX and only females could be reproduced.
Application: Prior to the fall, this order and source was understood and not fought against. If we are going to have a succesful Operation Restore, this is the first thing we have to understand, accept, and appreciate.
- Need and Reaction of Adam
Genesis 2 22 Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman and He brought her to the man. The Hebrew word for woman is “banah,” which means “to build,” “to construct,” or “to fashion.” There is a distinction between how Adam was made and how Eve was made. Eve was not made out of the dust but a rib of Adam was taken to make Eve. This is not just to remind the woman of her order in creation, but also to remind the man of his need of the woman. Listen to Adam’s response. 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.” Adam is exclaiming! In other words, God did an amazing job in creating Eve. This is not just about physical beauty, but also about partnership. The first recorded words in history are regarding the woman! He even names her “ishah” because she came from “ish” man. The name Eve does not come until after the Fall in Genesis 3:20 “And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.” Paul addressing a situation in Corinth said in 1 Corinthians 11 9 “Nor was man created for the woman, but woman for the man. 10 For this reason the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. 11 Nevertheless, neither is man independent of woman, nor woman independent of man, in the Lord. 12 For as woman came from man, even so man also comes through woman; but all things are from God.” 1 Peter 3:7 “Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.”
Both Adam and Eve knew their role distinctions being made in the image of God. 1 Corinthians 11:3 “But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.”
Application: Prior to the fall, there was jubilation at the sight of the woman. How is it now in your relationship? Do you understand the role distinctions?
- Ordinance of Marriage
Our culture doesn’t take it seriously, but God did and still does. Genesis 2 24Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
Jesus was the officiant at the first wedding. He is still the officiant at every wedding, saved or lost.
Mark 10 2 The Pharisees came and asked Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” testing Him. 3 And He answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?” 4 They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce, and to dismiss her.” 5 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Because of the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. 6 But from the beginning of the creation, God “made them male and female.’ 7 “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh’; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”
Application: How much do you value the ordinance of marriage, even the ceremony?
Are you saved? Is Christ in your life?
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