In last month’s article we saw Genesis 1-3 gives a pattern for the new creation in Christ. In this article we continue to focus on the spiritual lessons underlying the creation and fall of man and how these lessons are drawn out in the New Testament.
Marriage
On the sixth day, God created man, male and female created He them. He formed the man, Adam, of the dust of the ground and breathed life into him. Adam was alone; there was no companion for him. So God formed the woman from one of Adam’s ribs. Adam recognized that this woman was bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh. God told them to cleave to one another, that the two of them should become one flesh.
And so God instituted marriage.
The story is fascinating for its apparent simplicity, but we learn from the New Testament that there are deep lessons to be learned therefrom.
Christ and the church
Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, reveals a great mystery to us (Eph. 5:22-33). We are spiritual members of Christ’s body, his flesh and bones. Just as the woman, who was bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh, was wedded to the man, so Christ will be wedded to the church.
Paul exhorts both husbands and wives. “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands…Husbands, love your wives…Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband” (5:22,25,33).
The exhortations are impressive. Note Paul’s logic. He aligns three pairs: Christ and the church; a husband and wife; and a man and his own body.
“Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church…Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it…So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: for we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones…Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.”
Paul draws powerful lessons from these parallels. As Christ is the head of the ecclesia, even so the husband is the head of his wife. As the ecclesia is subject to Christ, even so wives must be subject to their husbands. As Christ loved the ecclesia, and gave himself for it, even so, husbands must love their wives. As Christ loved his own body the ecclesia, nourishing and cherishing it as his own flesh and bones, even so must a husband love his wife. And as the ecclesia has a godly fear of Christ, even so must the wife have a godly fear of her husband.
The reasoning is filled with first principles.
- Christ is the head of the ecclesia. Earlier in this letter, Paul writes, “The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory…gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all” (Eph. 1:17,23).
- The husband is the head of his wife (cp. I Cor. 11:3).
- The church is subject unto Christ.
- Wives must be subject to their husbands.
- “[Christ] is the saviour of the body…Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word.”
This parallels what Paul writes to Titus, “After that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Spirit, which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour” (Tit. 3:4-6). Christ cleanses us with the washing of baptism, by which we are regenerated. By hearing the spoken words of exhortation, our minds are renewed. We are made holy by God’s mercy, and our remembrance of Christ, who has saved us by his love in giving himself for us.
- “That [Christ] might present [his body] to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but it should be holy and without blemish” (cp. Jude 24; II Cor. 11:2).
- Husbands must love their wives.
- We are members of his body, of his flesh and of his bones. This is a clear allusion to Genesis 2:23. Paul is teaching us that the formation of the woman out of Adam’s side is a prophecy of the formation of the church out of Christ’s side.
This connection between the body of Christ and the church is found elsewhere in Paul’s letters. Besides Ephesians 1:23 quoted above, there is also: “Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular” (I Cor. 12:27); “For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:12); and “For his body’s sake, which is the church” (Col. 1:24).
- “For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh” (Eph. 5:31). The next verse, “This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church,” shows that Paul is applying these words from Genesis 2:24 to Christ and the church.
To summarize, Adam and Eve are a type of Christ and the church. God intended us to see this type in each marriage. Consequently, the relationship between a man and his wife should be patterned after the relationship between Christ and the church. Keeping this pattern in mind should make it easier for husbands to love their wives and for wives to submit to their husbands.
The marriage supper of the Lamb
John describes the symbolic marriage ceremony of Christ to the church.
“Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God…And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (Rev. 19:7-9; 21:2).
Note the spiritual language. The wife has prepared herself. She has been given fine linen. The linen, clean and white, represents righteousness. They are blessed that are called to the marriage supper. This is indeed the true fulfillment of Genesis 2 — the immortalized saints will not be literally married in the Kingdom age (Mk. 12:25). The holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven, is the ecclesia, called out to be the bride of Christ.
The desire of every marriage, of every husband and wife, should be that they attend, together, the marriage supper of the Lamb, arrayed with righteousness, prepared for Christ.
No divorce
Jesus explains God’s original view of marriage, His view from the beginning, His view before He made provision for the hardness of men’s hearts by tolerating divorce. In particular, when the Pharisees tempt Jesus, asking him for what reasons divorce is permitted, Jesus directs them to Genesis (Mt. 19:3-6). He makes two points. First, in the beginning, God had made one man and one woman. The two of them were made for each other. Who else could they turn to if they were to divorce?
Second, they were to cleave to one another, the two of them were to become one flesh. So, they were no longer two individuals, but one. God created them specially for each other, so they could share their lives together as companions. They were to stick together like glue, cemented for life.
To God, a man and his wife should be like a well-balanced team of oxen, working together to the glory of God. We, in the hardness of our hearts, should not separate that which God has united.
In short, divorce was not a part of the original divine plan for marriage. It only came later, in an attempt to mitigate the evil that can arise because of man’s sinfulness.
Women not permitted to teach
Twice Paul argues that women are not allowed to teach in the church (I Tim. 2:11-15; I Cor. 14:34-36). In both cases, his inspired reasons are based on Genesis 2-3. Here we explore the first of these.
“Let a woman learn in quietness with all subjection. But I permit not a woman to teach, nor to have dominion over a man, but to be in quietness. For Adam was first formed, then Eve; and Adam was not beguiled, but the woman being beguiled hath fallen into transgression: but she shall be saved through the childbearing, if they continue in faith and love and sanctification with sobriety.
Faithful is the saying” (I Tim. 2:11-3:1 RVm).
When God put Adam in the garden, He taught him the law: he was to maintain the garden, and he could eat the fruit of any tree in the garden, except of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If he did eat of the forbidden fruit, he would die. After Eve was formed, Adam undoubtedly taught her God’s law. That’s how she was able to answer the serpent in Genesis 3:2-3.
So, in Genesis 2, God teaches Adam, who teaches Eve. In Genesis 3, “knowledge” passes along a different path: the serpent “teaches” Eve (Gen. 3:4-5) who “teaches” Adam (Gen. 3:6). In truth, however, the serpent beguiled Eve with a crafty lie.
How was it that “the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise” (3:6)? Actually, the first two of these can be explained by Genesis 2:9, “Out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food.” But how did Eve see that it was able to make one wise? Did the serpent eat of it? Is that how he became more subtle than the other beasts? Is that why he could talk? Is that what Eve “saw”? Did Eve think to herself, “If the tree did this to the serpent, what would it do for me?” Was that the serpent’s argument? “Ye will not surely die. Look at me. I ate of it and I’m still alive. In fact, God knows that when you eat of it, you will become like the angels, knowing good and evil. After all, look at what it has done for me. Imagine what it will do for you.”
Regardless, Eve was deceived and fell into temptation’s trap. She transgressed the law.
Now Adam, on the other hand, knew what he was doing when he partook of the fruit. He decided to identify with his wife, his companion, who was in the transgression, rather than turning to God for help with the predicament. He was not deceived. He sinned (Rom. 5:12). When Adam answered God, “The woman whom thou gayest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat” (Gen. 3:12), he was not passing the buck. Rather, he was giving a true confession of his sin.
“The childbearing” that will save us is a reference to the seed of the woman, who will bruise the head of the serpent. This promise is a faithful saying.
In short, Paul is saying we should follow the process of Genesis 2 rather than the process of Genesis 3. The spiritual pattern of God teaching Christ who teaches the ecclesia (John 14:26) is mimicked in the marriage of believers. Husbands and wives are encouraged to talk about scriptures in the home (cp. Deut. 6:4-9). A solid Bible-based home life is the beginning of a successful marriage.
A New Beginning
Last month’s article closed with a study of the word “creation” in the New Testament. We close this month’s article with a similar study of the word “beginning.”
The Bible opens with the arresting words, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1).
Frequently, the word “beginning” refers not to the very beginning, but to a new beginning, a starting over. For example, when God calls His people Israel out of Egypt, He institutes a new calendar, “This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you” (Ex. 12:2). This meaning is common in the New Testament.
- Christ is the beginning — “[Christ is] the beginning of the [new] creation” (Rev. 3:14). “He is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence” (Col. 1:18).
- The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ — All four gospels open with allusions to Genesis; three of them use the word “beginning.” Matthew begins, “The book of the generations [genesis, Gk.] of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Mt. 1:1).
Mark starts, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1).
Luke introduces his gospel by declaring his purpose, “Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus” (Luke 1:1-3).
John makes the most direct use of Genesis 1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (Jn. 1:1). We feel that, like the other gospel writers, John is referring to the beginning of the ministry of Jesus. His inspired commentary in I John proves this, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard [the teaching of Jesus], which we have seen with our eyes [the miracles of Jesus], which we have looked upon [Jesus on the cross], and our hands have handled [the resurrected Christ], of the Word of life” (I Jn. 1:1). By using the language of Genesis, John is encouraging us to see parallels between the old physical creation and the new spiritual creation (see Ch. 13 of Studies in the Gospels by Bro. Harry Whittaker).
Throughout John’s gospel — This use of “beginning” to mean the beginning of Jesus’ ministry and the new creation is a favorite of John’s. Here are a few examples of this idea in the rest of John’s gospel. “This beginning of his signs did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed him” (John 2:11). “Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him” (6:64). “Then said [the Jews] unto him, Who art thou? And Jesus saith unto them, Even the same that I said unto you from the beginning” (8:25). “Ye shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning” (15:27).
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One