CALL TO A LIFE OF IMPACT (7)

“And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him” – Genesis 2:15

The Divine Institution of Marriage was a CALL to a LIFE of IMPACT: “And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him” (Gen.2:18). Impact is seldom made in isolation. Making impact requires contact, personally or remotely. No living thing was created to be an island to itself. Marriage, the first institution God created, is His design for a lasting, intimate human relationship. God, not Man, conceived, designed, and instituted Marriage; hence it is central to His temporal and eternal purposes. Today’s scripture passage narrates why and how God instituted marriage and the relationship between a man and a woman. The story highlights: the purpose of Marriage; the creation of woman; the “one flesh relationship; and transparency in marriage.

God created the woman as a suitable counterpart to the first man, Adam, instead of an animal or an exact duplicate. Initially, Adam was had to conduct a name-giving roll call of the animal kingdom – cattle, birds of the air, and beasts of the field: “Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name” (v.19). Here, we seem Adam’s significant Impact on the animal kingdom! “But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him” (v.20b). Adam needed a closer companion for a more meaningful, intimate impact.

Marriage, like every other divinely ordained institution, is primarily meant for God’s Glory, but also for humanity’s good. God affirmed that aloneness, is not good! Marriage – lifelong partnership of a man and his woman – is good! Hebrews 13:4 also describes it as “honourable.” The woman was framed from one of Adam’s ribs, and brought to him (vv.21-22). The metaphor of the rib suggests her closeness to his heart; her need for a covering; equal, but functionally differentiated partnership; and her delicate mien. Eve was “custom-made” for her man, as his treasured “need-meeter.” Marriage is for companionship, co-workmanship, pro-creation, and the raising of godly children.

When a man and woman leave their parents and become "one flesh", they are creating a new family unit. On various levels, marriage is all about making impact: Between the couple, between parents and children, and that of the family or its members on other people. Having left the parents and cleaving to one another, the mutual impact between the couple is meant to be so strong and powerful that they are described as becoming “one flesh” (v.24). It is also such an intimate impact: “And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed” (v.25). Above all, marital and family institutions provide platforms for lifelong, rewarding, and eternally-relevant relationships.