Created for Relationship: Eve, Marriage, and God's Love

Listen, the greatest marriage is the marriage between Christ and his church. And if you're not pursuing Jesus, if you're just taking him for granted, you're missing it. You're missing the point. God wants you to be in an authentic relationship with Jesus Christ. Don't settle for anything else. And here's here's what I know. There's some who are here today. You're watching in a hangar or you're watching online or you're here for some reason, and it's really just because your mom wanted to go to church. [01:00:35] (29 seconds)  #ChristAndChurchMarriage

And that's what ultimate marriage should be. It should be two people saying we can glorify God more together than apart. Not just like, hey, I'm gonna make sure that I have my soul mate, but rather I'm gonna have somebody who will glorify Jesus with me to magnify the Lord together. Now, one thing that's so interesting is that after you see God doing this, God creates Eve for a purpose and that purpose in many ways is for Adam to know who he really is. [00:50:11] (28 seconds)  #GlorifyGodTogether

So I know that we may just gloss right past this verse, but it's really significant. God says for the first time in history that something isn't good. So up to this point, God's been creating everything. He created the heavens and the earth, saw that it was good. Created the animals, saw that they were good. Created man, said this is very good. But now here, god says, it is not good for him to be alone. [00:43:03] (24 seconds)  #NotGoodToBeAlone

So here's the thing. Like, if you're feeling a longing for that, you're like, my marriage isn't that or my marriage wasn't that, it's over now, or maybe I I I'm I'm in a marriage right now and I wish that it could be that. Listen. All of these feelings point us to the fact that God is offering us a perfect relationship with Jesus. The bible says the greatest picture of Jesus Christ and people is this one. [00:57:30] (27 seconds)  #LongingPointsToJesus

That God is giving himself to us like a bridegroom to a bride. And history ends. So like begins here with this relationship. Human history begins. Human history comes to the end with the marriage celebration of Christ and his church. So this is this is where it's all going. And when we when we find deep community, whether it's like a the true friend or it's with a spouse or even with a child that we love so much or with a parent, all of that love from the mother love we have from our mother or father, the love that we feel for our children, all these relationships that start right here with this first one, they all point us to the relationship that God longs to have with you and me. [00:57:57] (45 seconds)  #BridegroomToBride

And if you don't have a relationship with Jesus like that, just know that all of the the greatest love songs and all the greatest moments and all the greatest feelings we have about our mom, all those things are just a taste of what God is offering us in Christ Jesus. Because we were sinners and we were far from God, but God said, no. I'm coming in the form of Jesus to come give you a hope and a life that you can never imagine because it's not good for you to be alone. [00:58:41] (31 seconds)  #TasteOfChristsLove

So what God is looking to do is not create two separate groups of people or two separate creations, but he's saying, your lives are intertwined in oneness. That's why Adam says, this is the moment we're gonna become one flesh because she was created out of the rib. So there's this returning to oneness, this this being one that is foundational when it comes to marriage. [00:51:54] (24 seconds)  #OneFleshOneness

It goes on to say that they leave their father and mother, and there's nothing more beautiful than two young people standing together and saying, hey. Listen. We've had these great families, but right now what we're doing is we're creating a new family. We're leaving our parents behind and forging something new together. And so Adam and Eve, in the beginning, because she's taken out of Adam and then they become one, is this idea of being one flesh, one person, wholeness and completeness. [00:52:18] (29 seconds)  #LeaveAndBuildNewFamily

Keep in mind that sin has not entered into the world yet, so there is a category of things that are not good. They're not ideal, but they're not sinful. Like, it's not optimal. Here, the words in Hebrew carry with it this emphatic force that is like not just, hey. This isn't just like not okay. This is not right for Adam to be alone, which means that God created people for relationship. [00:43:28] (32 seconds)  #NotSinButNotGood

What Adam and Eve have in the garden is something really special where they have no shame for who they are. First thing that they do when they sin, what do they do? They cover up. They hide themselves. But before sin entered, they they were just okay with being who they were. And they were both seen by each other and they were loved. [00:55:45] (26 seconds)  #NakedAndSeen

But here's what you find Adam and Eve experiencing. The bible says that after they, like, met, that they were naked and unashamed. Now listen. Any sixth grade boys in this room, you guys are, like, giggling. Right? You're, oh, they're naked. And I think that there's this thing you read it in church, can we even say that? Well, it's in the bible, so yes. Okay? [00:55:03] (24 seconds)  #NakedAndUnashamed

He says, this one will be called woman for she was taken from man. There's something interesting. Adam knows who he is because of who he's with. And so you find him naming all the animals, and then Eve comes and he names her. And he says, this is woman, calls her Isa, and says, she's Isa because she's from Is, which is his own name. [00:53:49] (26 seconds)  #NamedAndKnown

So there's this, like, oneness and beauty even in god's creation of Adam and Eve. And you find Eve being brought to Adam. God brings her. He's like, hey. Guess what, Adam? I've got somebody for you to meet. He brings her to him and Adam says, at last. At last. I've been looking. I found you. At last. And he is overwhelmed. And what he says is this, he names her. [00:53:21] (27 seconds)  #AtLastFoundYou

And and you you may have been gone from God for a long time and and here's the thing, you may be like struggling in your walk with God or you may not have one at all or it's been so long since you've had one. Here's what you need to know. God loves you and sees you and he's crazy about you. And he's seen all the things you've done and and he's seen this shame and the loneliness and the sorrow and he said, I'm I'm willing to get in the middle of that with you. [01:01:12] (34 seconds)  #GodSeesAndLovesYou

So you find god creating Eve, and he doesn't just create her like he created Adam, like, by creating from the dust. He doesn't create her like he created the birds of the sky by simply speaking her into existence. He makes Adam go to sleep and takes a rib from his side and then crafts her. There's this, like, loving craftsmanship in the way that god creates Eve. Now you may be asking the question like, why a rib? [00:51:02] (26 seconds)  #CraftedWithCare

I've always asked that question. Like, that seems painful. And also, why? Like, why why why the rib? And and the reality is, like, we don't fully know. Although, there are parts of the reason why that we do know. So I would just simply put in front of you a couple reasons. Number one, the reason he chose the rib is because God is creating oneness with Adam and Eve from the very beginning. [00:51:28] (26 seconds)  #RibSignifiesOneness

And you know what it was? It was one of those COVID ones. Right? And I was like, oh, I started, like, having all these flashbacks because during COVID, what happened? Like, you couldn't hug people. You couldn't see people. You had to wear masks. You weren't even sure some people were. You're like, who are you underneath that thing? Right? It was actually interesting. I met a bunch of people during COVID that I had no idea what they looked like. [00:45:47] (19 seconds)  #MasksHidOurConnections

But I also believe that the location of that, like, it could have been like a foot or, like, out of, you know, part of his jawbone or something else. I think there's something to this idea of walking alongside one another as partners. [00:52:48] (15 seconds)  #WalkAlongsidePartner

And if you're willing, God will change your life. So if you're feeling disconnected to God, pursue Jesus Christ. Pursue that relationship. Everything else stems from that. [01:01:46] (18 seconds)  #PursueJesusFirst

He names her and himself in this moment as they find one another. There's something interesting about finding somebody that is the one that God has for you. There's this sense of knowing, of just being known and being seen that is unique. [00:54:14] (20 seconds)  #KnownAndSeen