The Creation Of man - Part VI
January 2019 |
Rejecting The Cross
One thing is certain: For all who reject the Cross, even though they are truly saved, there will be no spiritual growth, and failure and defeat in some way will ever be the lot of their spiritual lives. It’s impossible for it to be otherwise. The Holy Spirit through Paul plainly stated, “I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain” (Gal. 2:21).
In other words, if we can walk in righteousness, and I speak of the righteousness that comes exclusively from the Lord, by any method other than trusting in Christ and what He did at the Cross, then Jesus didn’t need to come down here and die on a Cross. So, by the very fact that He had to die on a Cross, it plainly tells us that this is the way, and there is no other. Righteousness cannot come by the law, by our own efforts, our own abilities, or by anything that man may devise. It can only come by and through what Christ did for us at the Cross and our faith in that finished work, which then guarantees the help of the Holy Spirit.
Helpmate
The phrase, “But for Adam there was not found an help meet for him,” was meant to show the first man that the animal kingdom, as beautiful and helpful as some of them were, would be of no help to Adam, at least the help he needed.
To be sure, the Lord already knew all of this, but He wanted Adam to know this as well. Ellicott said, “But while he could tame many, and make them share his dwelling, he found among them (the animals) no counterpart of himself, capable of answering his thoughts and of holding with him rational discourse.”
The Lord knew all the time what He would do, for, in fact, it had been planned from before the foundation of the world (I Pet. 1:18–20).
I think one can say without any fear of contradiction that the Lord always creates a desire in our hearts for something that He proposes to give, although we may understand little about it to begin with.
Adam had no way of knowing what the Lord would do, but he did know that there was a deep longing within his heart for companionship—but yet, a type of companionship that would be completely compatible with himself but would not be exactly the same as himself. That’s the reason he inspected the animal kingdom very closely.
Extremely Important
Other than his personal relationship with the Lord, there is nothing more important than a proper helpmate for a man. In fact, he can never really know all that the helpmate can be until he fully knows the Lord as he should.
I thank God every day of my life that He was gracious enough to give me Frances. Truly, she has filled this role and continues to fill this role to its utmost. In other words, as far as I’m concerned, it would not be possible for the Lord to have given me anything better.
When the Lord said “helpmate,” He meant exactly that. A woman has intuition that a man just doesn’t have. She has greater sensitivity to things than the man has and, thereby, is able to discern, I think, to a greater extent.
In view of this, the Holy Spirit through Paul said, “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord” (Eph. 5:22).
This means that the husband is to act and conduct himself as the Lord; consequently, it would not be hard for any woman to submit herself to a man of that particular character and kindness.
He then said, “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it” (Eph. 5:25).
Christ loved the church enough to die for it. The husband is to love his wife accordingly.
An Ideal Marriage
One of the great problems in marriage, and perhaps the greatest problem, is for the husband or wife, or both, to demand of their partner what only Christ can provide. I am persuaded that this is the cause of most marriage problems, even with Christians.
The human being can only be properly satisfied and fulfilled in Christ, but if the husband tries to make the wife meet this spiritual need or vice versa, there will be burnout. Regrettably, that is the problem with many, if not most.
Addressing Christians: One cannot really know Christ fully unless one knows and understands the Cross.
Otherwise, he is serving and trusting “another Jesus” (II Cor. 11:4), which means that Christ cannot truly and properly be to that person what He wants to be because his faith is misplaced.
Let’s say it in a stronger way: No believer can know Christ exactly as he should unless he knows Him in relationship to the Cross. Only there can he find more abundant life (Jn. 10:10).
In truth, every single Christian in the world has more abundant life. One cannot be saved without having this particular life; however, most Christians never enjoy this life because they do not understand the Cross (Col. 2:14–15). Then, not really enjoying this life because they don’t understand the Cross, they look to their mates to meet the needs in their hearts, which no human being can possibly do.
Deep Sleep
“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” (Gen. 2:21).
This verse records the first anesthesia. The word rib here actually means “side.” This means the woman is not merely of a rib, but actually, of one side of man.
The phrase, “And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept,” records, as stated, the first anesthesia.
Quite obviously, the Lord explained all of this to Adam after it was done. To be sure, He, no doubt, explained every facet of His creation to the first man exactly as it is recorded here.
Even though this information, even word for word, was passed down from generation to generation, it was not until Moses, some 2,500 years after Adam, that a complete record was made in that which we now know as the book of Genesis.
Incidentally, in the Hebrew, the term “LORD God” is actually “Yahweh God.”
The Rib
The phrase, “And He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof,” indicates in the Hebrew far more than a rib. It speaks of the rib with the accompanying flesh, which included the blood, the nerves, etc. This means that woman is one side of man; and though he may have several sides to his nature and character, yet without woman, one integral portion of him is wanting.
In a sense, in this procedure Adam was a figure of Him who was to come. Out of the side of Christ, the last Adam and the second man, His spouse—the church—was formed when He slept the deep sleep of death upon the Cross. In this, His side was opened, and there came out blood and water. Blood was to purchase His church, and water was to purify it to Himself (I Jn. 5:6).
Built A Woman!
“And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made He a woman, and brought her unto the man” (Gen. 2:22).
The word brought insinuates a formal presentation, i.e., a wedding. God was the best man, so to speak!
The phrase, “And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made He a woman,” in the Hebrew actually says, “built He a woman.”
Horton says, “When God created the man, the word ‘form’ was used, which is the same word used of a potter forming a clay jar. But the word ‘build’ here seems to mean God paid even more attention to the creation of the woman.”
This article is an excerpt from the book 'The Fall Of Man' by Jimmy Swaggart.
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