Gen. 2:15-25
Human Destiny and
Marriage
We are here to unveil both the destiny of human kind
and marriage between a man and a woman.
Genesis 2:7 says, “Then the Lord formed the man from
the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils,
and the man became a living person.”
Man’s body is a lifeless shell out of the dust of the
ground until God brings it alive with his ‘breath of life.’ Once God removes
his life-giving breath, our bodies will return to dust. Therefore, our life and
worth come from God’s Spirit.
Besides, Genesis 1:27 also says that, humans are created
in God’s image (1:27). Thus humans are unique creatures for they have the ability
to fellowship with their Creator,
and they have spiritual awareness and moral conscience.
Verses 8-14 say, “Then the Lord God planted a garden
in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man he had made. The Lord God made
all sorts of trees grow up from the ground—trees that were beautiful and that
produced delicious fruit. In the middle of the garden he placed the ‘tree of
life’ and the ‘tree of the knowledge of good and evil’. A river flowed from the
land of Eden, watering the garden and then dividing into four branches. The
garden was also filled with gold, beryllium, and onyx stones.”
The above scenery in the Garden of Eden—trees, river and
gemstone; also appears later in the design of tabernacle or temple (Exod.
25-27). This shows that the Garden of Eden is a sanctuary-garden because God
manifested his presence there in a special way with human beings.
After God had prepared all the good things and riches
that human beings desire in the Garden of Eden, again it is said that, the Lord
God ‘placed’ the man in the Garden of Eden ‘to tend and watch over it’” (v. 15).
This time the term, ‘place’ has a special connotation,
for it is reserved elsewhere for two special uses: God’s “rest” or “safety”
which he gives to human beings in the land (eg. Gen 19:16; Deut 3:20; 12:10;
25:19), and the “dedication” of something before the presence of the Lord (Exod
16:33-34; Lev 16:23; Num 17:4; Deut 26:4, 10).
It means the man was ‘placed’ in the Garden to “rest and
be safe” and very importantly, “in God’s presence” where he has fellowship with
God. (Gen3:8)
God also commanded that the man’s, or Adam’s,
responsibility in the Garden of Eden is ‘to tendעָבַד and watch overשָׁמַר it’. A more suitable translation of the Hebrew
text would be “to worship and obey” which is used to describe the work of the
priests in the Temple.
Therefore, Adam is effectively the keeper and the
priest of the Garden of Eden. His responsibility is to worship God, to have a
relationship with God and to upkeep Eden by obeying God’s command, for he is
not the master of the Garden of Eden but God is the master.
God then instructed the man, ‘You may freely eat the
fruit of every three in the garden; except the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die’. (vv. 16-17)
God created humans with a purpose to have fellowship
with them. Besides, 1:28 says, God blessed human beings so that human beings
will be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and govern it. He wants human
beings to have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air,
and all creatures that move on the earth.
But at this point in time, Adam did not have someone
that is of his kind to interact with and reproduce descendants. What shall be
done for Adam?
Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to
be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.’ (v.18)
God put Adam into a deep sleep and took one of his
ribs and closed up its place with flesh. God used that rib to create a woman
and brought her to Adam (vv. 21-22).
When Adam saw the woman, he exclaimed, “At last I
found her! She is created from the bone of my bones and from the flesh of my
flesh. She shall be called ‘woman’, because she was taken from ‘man’ ” (v. 23).
God could have made Eve from the dust of the ground.
However, he chose to make her from the man’s flesh and bone. In so doing, he
illustrated for us that in marriage man and woman symbolically are to be united
into one.
And they are equal in terms of substance and status. She
was not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be
trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm
to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved.
Wherever the man has a shortfall, the woman is able to
help him. The man cannot fulfil his created purpose alone. The two complement
each other.
Finally, God established the institution of marriage by
declaring: “A man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his
wife, and they shall become one flesh” (v. 24).
Marriage between a man and a woman is not just a human
social construct but is rooted in the God created order. Marriage forms a
physical and emotional bond. The relationship between husband and wife is the
most intimate relationship that is ordained by God. Marriage and its
commitments make it the most fundamental covenant relationship observed among
humans.
Verse 25 say, “At that time, the husband and wife were
both naked but they felt no shame.”
This indicates that the couple was open to each other.
They have a mutual trust for each other. There is nothing that comes in between
the two of them. They do not put up their guards against each other.
Conclusion
1:
God’s entire purpose of creation is to bless human
beings so that they will live happily and blissfully on earth. Human beings are
also to represent God, to govern the earth for the benefit of all creatures.
They are to maintain God’s order and purpose.
They also are to expand and enhance the potentials of
creation, which is to expand the harmony and blissfulness of the Garden of Eden
to the whole world, so that human beings with each other and human beings with
God are able to build a harmonious and intimate relationship.
However, as the creation story develops, Genesis 3
records how Adam and Eve did not manage Eden properly. Instead they fall for
the serpent’s temptation and ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
The tree of life represents God’s presence and
provision. The one who ate of it would have everlasting life. On the contrary,
eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil represents a
human grasp for autonomy and wisdom that were God’s alone. Humans
sidestepped God’s revelation as the means of moral discernment, flaunting their
independence rather than submitting to God’s will. This has been the nature of
sin ever since.
Choosing human wisdom over God’s instruction brings
death and destruction. Human’s close relationship with God was broken. They
were expelled from the Garden of Eden. They lost the blessings that were there
in the beginning. They suffered ‘spiritual death’ and ultimately also suffered
physical death.
Because of the sins of humankind, the world descends
into painful abyss: death becomes reality; violence and struggles abound; the
relationship between men and women and all human relationships is filled with
tension; there is confusion between the genders; we witness environmental harm
caused by unsustainable development; personal interests and lust for power
leads to political persecutions, corruption, and injustice.
However, God according to his salvation plan sent His
own Son, Jesus, the Second Adam, to become a human being and dwell among us.
Jesus overcame the temptation of the devil, reversing Adam’s failure; Jesus
bled and died on the cross to redeem the world and sinners. And Jesus resurrected
from the dead so that those who believe in Him will have a new life.
Jesus Christ is like that fruit of the tree of life,
broken for us, and given to us to eat. By faith we eat His flesh and drink His
blood. Through Jesus Christ, we have recovered our relationship with God. We
are now “resettled” again into God’s presence. The Garden of Eden reappears!
We can each freely receive the salvation given by
Jesus by confessing with our mouths and believing in our hearts that Jesus is
the Lord of our lives. He will forgive our sins. And bless us with life
abundantly.
Conclusion
2:
Marriage in God’s created order is designed as an
inseparable, exclusive relationship between a man and a woman. The family unit
it creates is the basic building block of human society. Married love is thus a
binding covenant commitment before God. Breaching that covenant is a crime
against persons and against God, who is a divine witness to and guarantor of
the marriage covenant.
Just as the first marriage took place in the
sanctuary-garden, every Christ-centred family is a re-establishment of Eden.
In this family who has Christ as the head, husband and wife will receive from God,
the empowerment and guidance to realize God’s purpose for the entire creation,
namely to attain ‘rest and safety’ in fellowship with God, the creator of the
universe.
