"A Suitable Helper"

Survey of the OT
Gen.2:18-25

"We-just-don't-love-each-other-anymore" is the most common excuse for ending a marriage. But is a lack of love the primary reason for today's fragile state of marriage? I don’t think so. When God introduced the idea of marriage in Genesis, the word “love” was as scarce as clothes were. There were other ideas which formed the building blocks for a healthy marriage.

First, marriage is designed for companionship. At the conclusion of each day of creation, God wrote an epitaph: “And God saw that it was good. . . . And God saw that is was good. . . . And God saw that it was good.” But even before Adam and Eve’s rebellion, God declared that something was not good: “It is not good for the man to be alone.” Though Adam enjoyed intimate fellowship with his Creator in a perfect environment, he was still incomplete. God created us to be social beings who need other people. Marriage is probably our best opportunity to enjoy this companionship.

When Cathy and I were dating we were together constantly -- meeting between classes, sharing meals, attending sporting events, taking long walks, joining a campus Bible study, participating in retreats, etc. Unfortunately, as author Mike Mason points out, most married couples don’t maintain anything close to this type of commitment. Instead, “great amounts of energy are channeled into other concerns, into friendships and social life, into careers, into the raising of offspring, into every conceivable cause except the cause of marriage itself.”

A husband works at an insurance agency while his wife teaches at a public grade school. He hunts and fishes with his buddies while she participates in a book club with her girlfriends. He serves on the finance committee at church while she teaches a girls’ Sunday School class. With such disjointed lives many of these couples drift apart.

Knowing that relationship building takes time, God gave the following instructions to new husbands: “If a man has married, he must not be sent to war or have any other duty laid on him. For one year he is to be free to stay at home and bring happiness to his wife.” (Deut.24:5) If marriages are going to be strong and help fulfill our great need for companionship, then husbands and wives must lavish time on each other in significant ways. Cathy and I have cultivated our bond by sharing housework and yard work, reading books to each other, ministering to some of the same people, riding bikes together, entertaining in our home, and nurturing our grandchildren.

Next Sunday's assignment: Gen.3:1-24
1.Describe how Eve was tempted. Why did she give into the temptation? Where was Adam? What were the consequences of their sin?
2.How did sin effect the work God had given this couple? How would you define a Biblical view of work?

Sunday school class

Class,

The present debate between creationists and evolutionists is critically important.: “Unconverted man seeks to hide from God. Natural man wants to run his own life. He wants to make his own decisions. He wants to decide at what job to work, what person to marry, where to live, how to spend his money, how to spend his recreational time. He does not want to submit to outside authority. He wants to be independent and autonomous.” (Donald Chittick, The Controversy)

Pagan man needs evolution. It gives him an escape from conscious accountability before his Creator. Though it may be depressing to think that this life is all there is, at least he can choose to “eat, drink and be merry” in this life.

The Bible’s story of Creation should remind us to bow our knees before our Creator. We must not treat God as a hobby, as a spoke in the wheel of our lives. Rather, He is the hub around which everything else revolves. We must bow our whole selves before Him: “Lord how do you want me to worship you? How do you want me to treat my co-workers? my boss? How do you want me to reach out to my neighbors? How do you want me to parent my kids?” And on and on and on. We can’t do this all at once. But we can leave the door of each room in our house open so that He can enter and arrange each according to His design.

P.S. Don’t forget our Prayer/Potluck Sunday night at our house.
6-8 P.M. Kids are welcome. We will provide the main course and drinks. You bring the rest.

Sept.17 assignment: Gen.2:4—25
1.What were the benefits of living under God’s rule?
2.What were the requirements to enjoy these blessings?
3.What do we learn about God’s design for marriage?