Take your Bible turn this morning, as you probably could have guessed, to Genesis chapter two. As you're turning there, I just want you to be thinking about those words that come from the book of Isaiah. The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the word of God endures, stands, lasts forever. You don't get past Genesis. Genesis doesn't get to a point where it's irrelevant. And I hope last week pointed towards that direction, and I hope this week does much the same. Last week, you'll remember, as we turned to Genesis chapter 2, we were there in the garden, and we considered that that was a place that you wanted to be. Not only did you want to go there, but you would want to stay there and you would want to never leave there because of all that was there. That in some sense, the way that we were made is that our hearts are hardwired to long for such a place as we saw there in Genesis chapter 2. And the four features that we consider within this pristine creation, showing us what leads to life and satisfies souls and brings glory to God, were number one, you'll remember the relational God there in verses four through six. Number two, the living man in verse seven, who is alive both physically and spiritually. The lavish garden, number three, and the good command, number four, there in verses 16 and 17. towards the end of our time, we consider how all of those were affected when sin came into the world in Genesis chapter three, and how Jesus is the one and the only one who deals with that when he comes. That was a reminder to us of what sin does, that it has devastating consequences when it comes into the world. Sin twists the truth. Sin takes what God has said and what God has done, and sin is begging you and urging you to believe exactly the opposite of what God has said and what God has done. In the verses that we're gonna be looking at this morning there, verse 18 through 25, They're going to again reveal, I think to us, what a sinful world that we live in and how God's Word that endures forever and does not change, how God's Word brings clarity and it teaches all of us what's best. This is the world that we live in. Paul was alluding to that and praying about that just a moment ago. Sin has not only taken us far from the garden, it has brought us confusion in the day and age in which we live. The most highly educated people, you know this, cannot answer the question of what is a woman? That's the consequences of sin in the world in which we live, that we can't provide an answer to that. We can't define exactly what is marriage, and we keep redefining what is marriage, and we can't answer, how do I know that a woman has dignity and worth? And we can't answer, why even are there women? And depending on who you ask, you're going to get a whole range of answers for all of those questions. And you hear that coming from the highest levels. You hear that coming from the people who have microphones and are on TV. How do you answer those questions? Genesis 2. It's right here in Genesis 2. Somebody said a few weeks ago, whenever we considered who am I from Genesis 1, they said, that's going to be taken down. And I think the same thing today, because we're looking at Genesis 2 and we're calling this defining a woman. And defining a woman, not based on what I think or what you think, but on what God's Word says. Defining a woman from God's Word, look at verse 18. Then the Lord God said, it is not good for the man to be alone. I will make him a helper suitable for him. Out of the ground, the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all the cattle and to the birds of the sky and to every beast of the field. But for Adam, there was not found a helper suitable for him." So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man and he slept. Then he took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which he had taken from the man and brought her to the man. The man 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. For this reason, a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed." Verse 18 through 25 that we just read, the Lord God custom makes the woman for the man. And I say that word thoughtfully custom. Because she is made, by the very definition of what you get with the word custom, she's made according to the specifications of a particular need that nothing else in all of creation could meet. That says something about women. But it also says something about men. If he has a need that nothing else in all of creation can meet, and she alone meets that need, then they are made for each other. I want you to have this on your mind as we go from here, that your definition of a woman and womanhood must come from the Word of God. God alone here defines women because God alone fashions women. and his definition and his purpose for women is best. It's best for women and it's best for men to be settled in your mind with this because this is true. Forsaking this definition, you know this, forsaking this definition leads to confusion and frustration and heartache and destruction. You know this because you live in that world. Embracing this definition leads to fulfillment, joy, brings glory to God. Eight defining characteristics of the woman. What does God's word say? Number one, God's word says she is a relational being. A relational being there in verse 18. The woman, would you note there in verse 18, completes what is missing and necessary for there to be a relationship. And this binding connection, this relationship with another image bearer is very clear here. This is essential to man. 18 says, then the Lord God said, it is not good for the man to be alone. As we've gone through Genesis, we paused at those moments where we've come across something that we haven't come across before, something unusual and something different, and you have that here where God is rendering a different judgment. The word good that you have there in verse 18 showed up seven times in Genesis 1. Listen to some of those. Verse 4 of Genesis 1, the light is good. Verse 10, the earth and the seas are good. Verse 12, the vegetation, plants, and trees are good. Verse 18, the objects in the heavens are good. Verse 21, the sea creatures and winged creatures are good. Verse 25, the beasts, the cattle, and the creeping things are good. Verse 31, God saw all that he made and he said that it was good. Now in a pristine creation where sin has yet to enter, a good God is rendering a judgment unheard of to this point. It's found there in verse 18. It is not good for the man to be alone. This is coming from the one true and living God who is good. He defines good. He knows what good is because he is good and he also then knows what's not good. And he concludes it's not good for man to be by himself. to be isolated, to be solitary, to be companionless. And some may be sitting here going, well, it doesn't seem that bad. Well, he seems like he's not exactly alone in this creation. This creation is filled with all sorts of creatures, and oh, don't forget, pastor, that God himself is there. Friend, that proves God's analysis of the situation in verse 18, that man is alone in the sense there is no one in all of creation who is like him. Because there's no other image bearer. There is no other creature like him to have a relationship with in all of creation. And think about what that word relationship means. To connect with, to associate with, to cooperate with, to work with, to share experiences with, to interact with, to worship with. There's no bird that he's going to have a relationship with, and no dog that he's going to have a relationship with. He's not like them. And although he's an image-bearer of God, he is not God. Because there is no other, God determines here, this is not good. Friend, take this from this text. Isolation is not good for God's people. Isolation is not good for God's people. Why? Because we are created in God's image. That should be settled in your mind from Genesis 1. And the God in whose image we are created is not isolated, he is not a lonely God. He is the one true and living God, an infinite all-knowing spirit, perfect in his attributes, one in essence, yes, and eternally existing in three persons. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each equally deserving worship, each equally deserving obedience. That's whose image you bear. Does that relationship then within the Trinity show up? It does. John 17, 24, Jesus praying, Father, I desire that they also whom you have given me be with me where I am so that they may see my glory which you have given me. And then he says this, for you loved me before the foundation of the world. Before Genesis chapter one, The father loved the son. That's what the son is saying there in John 17, 24. Peter reminded me on Tuesday morning in the men's group that meets during that time about some of the things that Michael Reeves wrote in his book, Delighting the Trinity, and it connects to this. Reeves notes that this is one of the many ways in which the triune God of the Bible is different from Allah, noting that one of Allah's 99 names, all of which are meant to describe him, one of those names that's meant to describe him is the loving. And Reeves rightfully asks, how could Allah be eternally loving before creation if there is no other in eternity past to love? And that would mean then that he's dependent on creation to have someone to love and something to love. And one of the cardinal beliefs of Islam is Allah is not dependent upon anyone. You have a problem there with this sort of a God. Friend, your doctrine of God makes a difference, and it makes a difference right here. Christian, it is not good for man to be alone because you are made in the image and the likeness of the triune God of the Bible. A God-rejecting world is going to embrace isolation because any little g God of the people is going to be inferior and isolated and very selfish in this way, including those people who say, oh, there's no God at all. And that ideology, whether you embrace it or you're just influenced by it, is going to direct you towards isolation and self-centeredness. You can sit here this morning and say, but I'm an introvert. but consistently submitting to the temptation of your heart to withdraw while providing you an immediate sense of pleasure, it's eventually going to lead you further down this path of depression and anxiety and frustration. Why? Because you're not made to be this way. You're made to be around people. So when you're tempted to withdraw from your spouse and your family and your church, Look to Genesis 2.18. It is not good for man to be alone. Why? You were made in the image of the triune God. The creation here of the woman is a reminder you were created with a relational need, and you were created to meet a relational need, and all image bearers are relational beings. Woman is a relational being. Number two. Again, verse 18. The woman is a suitable helper. The woman is a suitable helper. She fills a specific role in creation and in relation here to the man. Verse 18 says, I will make him a helper suitable for him. God is going to act. Do you see that? He's going to meet what surely at this moment must have been man's greatest need. Man is not here at this moment in need of salvation. He's sinless. He's living in the garden. He hasn't been expelled from the garden. What's his greatest need? It seems to be that there would be a suitable helper. In this verse, even all by itself, ought to be teaching us man can trust God to provide for his greatest need. That ought to be lodged in Adam's mind from this moment as he goes through Genesis three then. Where's his greatest need for redemption gonna be found? It'll be found in the God who's already provided for my greatest need. We're going to see here in a moment, it must be God that acts because nothing and no one else in all of creation can meet this need. It must be God alone. God will make the helper suitable for Him. God will make a woman. Man is incapable of doing that. Don't let anybody convince you or cause you to believe the lie that man can make a woman, that a doctor can make a woman. God here is defining the woman, verse 18, a helper suitable for him. Helper is the Hebrew word ezer. And it can be translated as partner, associate, or support, and it expresses providing assistance. This is the role of the woman. Listen to a few other places. Just listen to this, that that word, helper, that's connected here to the woman, listen to a few other places it's used. Psalm 20, verse one and two. May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble. May the name of the God of Jacob set you securely on high. May he send you help, there's your word, help from the sanctuary. Who's the helper? In Psalm 20, it's God. Listen to Psalm 121. You know this verse. I will lift up my eyes to the mountains, from where shall my help come? My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. Who's the helper? Again, in Psalm 121, it's God. So, friend, why would any woman shy away from being identified as a helper? Why would you not embrace being a helper? God himself identifies his role with the same word throughout scripture. Exodus 18 verse 4, Moses even named his son after this Hebrew word, Eleazar. Because, Moses said, the God of my father was my help and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh. So this word help and helper, it doesn't mean the woman is inferior to the man. It means she has a God-ordained and designed role, a function and a purpose, and she will be an indispensable partner to man. If this is how she's made, and Genesis 2.18 is telling us this, then fulfillment and joy are related to embracing that role. Verse 18, look at those two words, helper, suitable. Both of those words are critical here. Suitable is a Hebrew word that in its most literal form means in front of. In the context of verse 18, and with the construct that it has here, it expresses corresponding to or exact correspondence. And the point is this. This is why he uses this word here. There is nothing like her among all the animals, all the creatures, all the things that are in the sky or in the water. There's nothing like who God is about to make apart from the man. She corresponds to him. She will be like the one in front of her in this sense, meaning she will be made in God's image and likeness just as Genesis 127 has already stated. She has to be an image-bearer if she's going to fit that description suitable. So then, to treat or to view any woman as anything less than or greater to the man in dignity and worth and equality is to take what God has said and to take what God has done and to believe the exact opposite. It's to sin. Is her role different than man? Yes, she's a helper. Is her essence and substance different than a man? No, she's a suitable helper. Number three, verse 19 and 20, the woman is a rare jewel. Verse 19 and 20, she's a rare jewel. There is no suitable helper among the creatures. Nothing is like her apart from the image bearer. Look at verse 19. Out of the ground, the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and keep in mind this word, brought them to the man. brought them to the man to see what he would call them, and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all the cattle, to the birds of the sky, every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him." So picture the scene. The Lord God is forming all of these different creatures, and he's bringing them to the man here, and the man's naming them. All of that means that things are functioning and operating as God purposefully designed them. When you go back to Genesis 1, verse 28, man is fulfilling his role and his purpose, doing what? Ruling over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth. The Lord is bringing here them to the man, the man is acting in his role as a representative of God by naming the creatures. Only God to this point has been naming the different components of creation. God called the light day, God called the darkness night, chapter one, verse five. God called the expanse heaven, chapter one, verse eight. God called the dry land earth and the gathering of the water seas, chapter one, verse 10. This is what God has been doing and you get to Genesis two and you see man doing this. Genesis 2, it's man naming the creatures, man acting in authority over them. And that is demonstrating for us this divine order within creation, an order of how God intended creation to operate and to function. And a breach of that order is going to open the door for sin to enter when you get to Genesis 3. We'll see that next week. But note here verse 20. As God brought each of these creatures to the man, what was clear was this, which you get there at the end of this section, there was not found a helper suitable for him. So here's the man, and he could gaze up into the marvels of the night sky, and be amazed at all the objects that are there in the heavens. And he could watch the sun racing across the sky, and he could look at the great expanse, and in that sea, there is no suitable helper. And then he could look here on the earth, and he could be in awe of all the creatures that are parading there in front of him. These are creatures, think about this, that could run faster than him. These are creatures that were far stronger than him. They could reach places that he could not reach. They could pull down trees that he was incapable of pulling down. They could dig down to depths he could not dig. They could go to all sorts of places on the earth he could not go to because they have wings and they have hooves. The text says none of that mattered. None of that fits the need. He doesn't need that kind of a helper. There was not found a helper suitable for him. There's nothing like her in all of creation. His need for a helper wasn't based on speed. His need for a helper wasn't based on strength. He could have found that elsewhere. He could have went, there's an ox, they can pull a plow. If that's what I needed, I'll just get an ox. He'd never have that relationship. She's not to meet his speed. She's not to meet his strength. She will be unique. She will meet a unique need and a purpose, so she is a rare jewel in creation. And creation isn't complete till God fashions her. Christian, I want you to think about something. You know that throughout history, there have been societies that have treated women like they were just another one of those creatures that were paraded in front of man that he was to give a name to. And you might look at all that and conclude, well, that's just archaic and uncivilized. Truthfully, what it is is the very definition of sin. It's taking what God has said and believing just the opposite. Likewise, it's sin when a society perceiving itself to be enlightened determines men can fulfill the role of women and women can fulfill the role of men, and that a doctor can prescribe something or cut something and make a woman That's a devilish ideology, and it is as brutal and as destructive as the tribesman who treats women worse than livestock. In that biography on John Payton, he talks about the islands where he lived, and one of the challenges that he faced was when one of the male leaders in the tribe died, they put the women that were associated with him as wives to death. It didn't matter if they were healthy or not or young or old. He died, they die. That's brutal. That's hostile. Our world, friend, our world needs to be corrected by Genesis 2. You live in a world that is hostile to women and whose increasing hostility corresponds to its increasing godlessness. God has revealed in His Word that the woman is unique. And when you deny the existence of God and the authority of His Word and determine that man is the authority to define women, you have what you have today. Men mutilating themselves to be women, and men replacing women with men in relationships, and men dominating women in athletic competitions and even brutalizing them. Listen, I'm thankful that if women are brutalized in the house, you can still pick up the phone and call the police, and they'll come, hopefully, and help the woman. But if a man wants to brutalize a woman, all he needs to do is go to an athletic court and call himself a woman, and he can brutalize them there, and everybody will cheer for him. That's the world that you live in. And women who have attended the highest institutions of learning and then going to sit on the highest places of authority, they're unable to define what a woman is, and that allows this brutality to continue. This is a complete rejection of what you find here in Genesis 2. They have denied the Creator who purposefully formed women to be unique creatures in creation, like men in essence and substance, yet one of a kind, distinct and unique. They're not meant to be as strong as a man. They're not meant to be as fast as a man. Christian husbands, raise your hand if you're a Christian husband. I exhort you. to not be influenced by the world around you. Don't believe the lie. I exhort you, men, to look at your wife through the lens of Genesis 2, 19 and 20, completely convinced there is nothing like her in all of creation. She may not be as strong as you. I hope she's not as strong as you. That'd be embarrassing to you, right? But she meets a need that nothing else can meet. including other men. And it's God's grace that He made her, and it's God's grace that He gave her to you. You men who are not yet husbands, don't believe the lie. Understand the uniqueness of the woman and the necessity of the woman from Genesis chapter 2. And you women who are here, I pray that you'd be humbled by how a gracious God made you and took time at the beginning of the book to reveal it in his word. I exhort you women, we don't need you to be men. We need men to be men and we need women to be women. And clearly, Genesis 2 shows us that we need women. We need you to fill a role that no one else in creation can fill but you. Number four, the woman is a custom made image bearer. She is a custom-made image-bearer in verse 21 and 22. The way in which the woman is fashioned here is unlike anything else that was made in all of creation. Verse 21, so the Lord God, Yahweh Elohim, caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept. Then he took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which he had taken from the man. She is the first creature to come from a living thing. Look at that, the Lord God caused a sleep to fall upon the man. That shows up in other places in the Old Testament and it's related to significant events, one being Genesis 15, 12. This is the kind of sleep that's described coming upon Abraham when the Lord made a covenant with him. But here, the significant event is the Lord God caused this sleep to come upon the man because in it, he would take from the man's side to fashion the woman, that word rib. is a word that in other places is translated simply as side. Describes the side or the shell of the Ark of the Covenant in Exodus 25 and Exodus 37. It even describes the side of a building in Exodus 26. So you could read this then, he took of his side. And what he took, we're told he fashioned into a woman. This is the first time that verb shows up. God built. He fashioned, He constructed, Yahweh Elohim, who this word is related to, builds the cities of Judah in Psalm 69, who builds His sanctuary in Psalm 78, who constructs His heavenly residence, same word, Amos 9, is the God who fashions and builds and constructs the woman in Genesis 2.22. So the man here, remember, Genesis 2.7 was formed, yetzer, from the ground, from the dirt. The woman is fashioned, banah, from the man. So certainly, if you're thinking about what's being described here, she must be equal to him. She's from him, from his body, she is like him. Yes, the order is different. He was made first. Yes, the roles are different. She is a helper, but they are the same in that they are both made in the image and likeness of their creator. Both of them have dignity and value. Both are distinct from everything else in creation. Only way that the helper could be suitable. Number five, woman is a cherished gift. Cherished gift. You look at the verse here in verse 22, she's honorably presented by her creator to the one she was fashioned for. The Lord God knows who this is he's bringing to the man. You think about the very definition of a gift, this man didn't earn her, he didn't deserve her, he needs her and God makes her and God brings him to her, verse 22, the Lord God brought her to the man. Do you see that conveying something special here? The Lord God, verse 19, remember back, has brought to the man every beast of the field, every bird of the sky, and what was clear, there's no suitable, one who's like him, helper, filling an essential role, none of that among any of them. Now the Lord God brings the suitable helper who's custom made by the master craftsman. If this verse calls forth to your mind countless weddings that you've been to where the glowing father is walking down the aisle with his precious daughter on his arm, bringing her to present his beloved daughter to her future husband, friend, it's meant to do that. That's meant to come to your mind when you read this. That's where this comes from in a wedding. All pointing here back to Genesis 2.22. When the dad brings his cherished daughter of inestimable value to the groom, we are to remember that the Lord God first brought his cherished creation here, the woman. He stopped to create her unique from everything else and then to bring her here to the man. Every father, and I heard this Friday night, I heard this Friday night from a father. Every father would easily say he has his best on his arm as he's walking down the aisle. You could say the same in Genesis 2.22. He brought man the best. He brought man one who is unique. He presented the man with what was honorable and good and special, this exceptionally built creature by the master builder designed to meet the need that man had. And guess what? The man recognizes it. God presents her as a gift. Man receives her. Number six, the woman is a treasured creature. He treasures her. Verse 23, the woman is a treasured creature. See this whole scene in your mind unfolding. The man has been asleep, and when he wakes up, God's not alone as he's coming. He's bringing something else that he's never brought before. He's looked at all the creatures and creations, and the one that God's coming with, he goes, that's some suitable helper. This scene takes us all the way back to the picture of a wedding and of a groom finally seeing his bride. There she is. Listen to verse 23. The man said, this is now bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. This is where understanding something about the language is incredibly helpful and insightful to understanding the man's response here. From sermon number one in Genesis 1-1 to this point, we've been talking about how Genesis fits within the genre of historical narrative, but guess what? When man wakes up here and he sees God bringing the woman to him in the garden, historical narrative becomes poetry Roses are red, violets are blue, I've seen a lot of creatures, but I've not seen nothing like you. Man sees woman coming, and the first recorded words out of man's mouth are poetry. And this is not just one element of Hebrew poetry in what he says, there are several. There's parallelism and wordplay and chiasmus and verbal repetition. Man sees woman, he becomes a romantic poet. First words recorded here, this is now. That is a Hebrew word that expresses something about time. The idea of time is found in your English translation in that rather boring word that says now. As one Hebrew scholar though notes, it actually, this part comes as a shout. He is exclaiming with strong emotion when he sees her something like this, at last. That's what he's saying. That's what this is now, you can translate it as, at last, God has brought creature after creature before this man, nothing suitable, but he sees her in the first words out of his mouth, when he sees her coming, at last. Verse 23, at last, this is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. He recognizes what makes her different from everything else. He recognizes what God has made. He recognizes this special creation crafted by the divine. He recognizes that she is like him and unlike everything else. He recognizes that she is like him and yet distinct from him, so she is able to meet his greatest need at last. How do we know he realizes this? Look at what he says in verse 23. She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. He names her with a name that's similar to his. She shall be called Isha because she was taken out of Ish. That is a name acknowledging what God has done. God has fashioned a creature that man can truly correspond with in a relationship, one who is like him because she is from him. She corresponds to him physically, emotionally, intellectually. So here is one who's finally able to correspond to him relationally. Christian men, a godly man recognizes this and eagerly cherishes his wife. recognizing here's a special treasure. Receiving her is a gracious gift from God that you don't deserve, you can never earn. Christian men appreciate and value women then vastly differently from how other men value and appreciate women. We know, you know, men, that women were divinely made. What does the secular man think? A secular man, evolutionist, has to think his wife was brought out of a pool of primordial sludge. Isn't that romantic? Doesn't that make you feel good, women? Single men, when your theology, let's take a moment, your theology's gonna give you an advantage, right? Your theology ought to give you an advantage. You know women were crafted by God himself. Tell her that. Tell her you know this. I suspect she's gonna be glad to hear it. And the godless man that maybe she once dated just thinks she came out of a pool of sludge. You're an advantage. That's your tip for the day. Number seven, the woman is an indispensable partner. The woman is an indispensable partner, verse 24. The woman is here an indispensable partner for the institution of marriage to enter and exist within creation. This man, friend, didn't have to wonder, is she right? Oh Lord, would you give me a sign to know that this is the woman I'm supposed to spend the rest of my life with and I'm supposed to marry? Right? She's the only woman. It's pretty clear. So, very quickly, you get to verse 24, and Genesis 2 is defining the covenant of marriage from the moment she shows up. This is it. She's the one. Verse 24, for this reason, a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife and they shall become one flesh. Friend, you don't need a court or a politician or a professor to define marriage. If you do that, that's probably only going to go in one demeaning direction. Marriage has already been defined. Marriage has already been defined and it's been defined by the highest authority and the one that created marriage. Obergefell versus Hodges doesn't define marriage, it defiles marriage because it takes God's word and demands that you believe just the opposite. It defines sin, that's what Obergefell does. Look at, this will be quick, seven defining characteristics of marriage from that verse, probably more than that. It's a covenant relationship created by God. It's a relationship between one man and one woman, not two men, not two women, not three. It's an exclusive relationship. It's a public relationship. He leaves his parents. This is no secret. It's a permanent relationship, he cleaves to his wife. It's a consummated relationship, they are one flesh. And it is, again, a covenant relationship, not only created by God, but before God, one flesh in solidarity. Look at those words, the man leaves his father and mother to be joined to his wife. His leaving his father and mother here shows us this is a new promise to his spouse and it supersedes all former commitments to his mother and his father and it's expressed in this form of a covenant. Those words leaving and then joining or clinging relate to covenant. One commentator notes, to leave father and mother and cling to one's wife means to sever one's loyalty and commence another. So already scripture is sounding the note that marriage is a covenant rather than an agreement. to be joined or to cling here. Those are words that are often found in the Old Testament that are related to covenant. Deuteronomy 4.4, but you who held fast, there's your word, to the Lord your God are alive today, every one of you. Deuteronomy 10.20, you shall fear the Lord your God, you shall serve Him and cling to Him. Deuteronomy 11, 22, for if you are careful to keep all this commandment, which I am commanding you to do, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, and to hold fast, there's your word to Him. In marriage then, man is covenantally committed, holding fast, joined to, clinging to his wife. It's a covenant commitment that must be honored. And it says they shall become one flesh. You think of that in one sense sexually, yes, but also think of it in solidarity. They're freed here from their parents. They're not independent. They are a new entity. This is a new relationship. They are dependent upon one another. They're responsible to one another. And now, now man can finally experience the blessing given to him in Genesis 128. Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. Christian, do you see why Proverbs 18.22 says, he who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord? This is blessing. This is a need that's being met. Just consider the blessing of marriage. Scripture shows you that you were made for this. This is a good thing. A covenant that ought to be prized above career, above finances, above the items on your bucket list. Man, Genesis 2 is correcting you. When you meet that woman, the right response is, at last, not wait till. No, this is God's favor. Do you recognize it? This is a gracious gift. Do you recognize it? Spurgeon called marriage. And I like this, the last relic of paradise left among men. The last relic of paradise left among men. And he notes that God, Jesus, honored it. His first miracle was where? Where did he turn water to wine? At a wedding. The Pharisees pressed him about divorce. Jesus pointed to Genesis 2.24 and added, what therefore God has joined together, let no man separate, in Matthew 19.6. Why? Because of Malachi 2.16, God hates divorce. Christian, here's the takeaway. It seems so simple in the past, but today, it's just that the woman is essential to marriage. She's indispensable for this relationship. She completes the union between the one man and the one woman. If there's no woman, there is no marriage, and that would be devastating because the Bible uses the illustration of marriage to point towards what the gospel looks like. Ephesians 5.25, husbands, love your wives just as Christ also loved the church, gave Himself up for her so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she would be holy and blameless. Paul is going to later then in Ephesians 5.31 cite Genesis 2.24. This whole picture of a marriage is going to point towards what's coming and what belongs to us in Christ. The woman is going to complete what makes for a perfect illustration of Christ in this church and is saving her and is washing her. So follow along here, the woman is a relational being, a suitable helper, a rare jewel, custom-made image-bearer, a cherished gift, a treasured creature, an indispensable partner. Number eight, this woman. This woman, verse 25, is a sinless woman. She's a sinless image-bearer, a sinless creature. Verse 25 is a verse of transition, connects to what's come before and it's cluing us into about where we're going. It expresses once again a sinless creation, and the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. Nakedness comes to be a sign of guilt and shame in chapter 3 verse 7 and the multiple other times the word's used in the Old Testament, but not here. There's no reason to be confused or embarrassed or dismayed in Genesis 2. There's no reason to be ashamed. There's no sin. In one sense, that doesn't describe you now. This is sort of foreign to us and it's a reminder we don't live in this world. It's a reminder you live in a fallen world. If you're in Christ, one day sin will be done away with. And if you're in Christ, even now, you can know that great weight of your sin and your shame being removed by your Savior placed as far away from you as the east is from the west. That sin is from rejecting what God's design is of a woman, either because you're a woman and you've rejected that, or you're a man. Your idea of a woman is something that only related to your lust, and your pride, and your idolatry. That can be forgiven. That can be forgiven and removed by your Savior. You can finally walk in faith and embrace this that you find here, God's definition of a woman. And friend, if you have marveled at all these other aspects of creation that have attested to the glory of God and the power of God and led us to worship God, then God fashioning a woman from the side of a man and demonstrating his grace in that and his ability to meet our needs in that, That, too, ought to lead you to be in awe of this God. God defines women because God fashioned women. And His definition and His purpose is best, best for women, best for men because it's true. Forsaking it, again, that directs you to confusion and frustration and heartache and destruction and death, both for men and both for women. And embracing it leads to purpose and fulfillment and joy and bringing glory to God. Friend, cling to the truth that you have in Genesis 2. As good as the garden was, as good as the garden was, this is just as equally a good of truth. So, friend, don't believe the lie. Don't believe what's opposite of what you find in God's word about women. And if you have, repent. There's hope found in Jesus Christ who offers forgiveness for you, forsaking God's design, not only in regard to women, but in regard to everything, because you've believed the lie. You've embraced the lie. Repent and trust Jesus to carry your transgression and your iniquity and your sin to the cross on your behalf, to stand there in your place and embrace righteousness. Embrace what's good and true because with it is joy, everlasting joy. Father, thank you for your kindness this morning, directing us to your word. The grass withers, the flower fades, but your word endures forever. And it is eternal and it stands forever in the heavens. Revive us, we pray, according to your word. Turn our understanding about women from what is filled with pride and lust and flesh and vanity and idolatry and cause Your Word to wash over us and correct us to what is good and true and virtuous and fulfilling. That will lead us to joy. That will lead us to glorifying you. I pray, Father, that you would correct and encourage the women of our church from Genesis 2. I pray that they would be humbled and in awe of the way that you have graciously made them and the role that you have designed them to fulfill. Father, we pray that the men of our church, that they would have a biblical understanding of women shaped by Genesis 2, and that this would help husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church, and that husbands would express thankfulness for the gracious gift you've given them in marriage. May all of the men and women of our church live in faith, believing Genesis 2, May they live in faith, believing Genesis 2 in a world that's urging them to deny truth and embrace lies. So soften our hearts to embrace this truth, we pray, because our hearts have so often been hardened by the world. Help us to live in faith. May our living in faith honor you, our Lord and our Creator God.