Prepared for a Help Meet

And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam 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. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. (Genesis 2:21-25)

God did not create the woman immediately after he created Adam

There was a period of time between the creation of the two. During that time God prepared Adam to have a wife, and to live with other people. Adam learned language and acquired the ability to communicate his thoughts and feelings. God gave Adam a job and a purpose, which was to dress and keep the garden. Before God made the woman He made all the animals to pass before Adam so that Adam met and was acquainted with his inferior. God made himself known to Adam, so that Adam met and knew his Superior in his Creator. This gave Adam bearings on his own position so that he was prepared to meet his equal. Before God made the woman He instilled in Adam his moral character, which is the most important quality for a being who is going to live with and have dominion over other creatures. God made Adam to understand that there was right and wrong, good and evil, and to distinguish between the two.

The command to not eat of the tree was given to Adam before Eve was made.

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. (Genesis 2:16-17)

God commanded the man, and since He is his Creator He has that right. Since God is the One who made him God has every right to grant him rights or forbid him rights, and God is the only One who has the understanding and wisdom to know what to grant and what to forbid. It is the "Lord God" who makes a distinction between "good and evil" and establishes a reward of life or death as the consequence of man's choice.

Before Adam was ready to have a wife he had to learn to submit to God himself.

He had to recognize and submit to his rightful place in God's divine order. He had to recognize God as his Creator and Lord, and therefore as his superior - this is the basis of morality. Anything else is simply an individual setting himself up as a little god and defining his own morals according to his own lusts and imagination.

Adam had to learn that although he was given dominion over all the earth he was not the lawgiver. He did not have the right to make the rules. It was not his to decide what was right or wrong, but to choose whether to obey or not. The whole issue with the forbidden tree is God's authority over the man and the man's faith in God's goodness toward him. With nothing forbidden there is no concept of right or wrong, or good and evil. With no boundaries and nothing forbidden we would trample on the rights and property of others, thus morality requires that there be things forbidden. If there were only one man in the whole world he could do as he pleases in everything and not transgress against anyone, but since there are others in the world there must be boundaries for every man's behavior.

Remember, the whole creation is set up in opposing elements and principles without which we could not even survive. Our reasoning is designed to choose between two things at a time and approve or reject one or the other. In our mixed up world everyone has been brainwashed into being "tolerant." In other words, to agree with both sides of every issue, and reject all moral absolutes. With such foolish philosophy we have completely lost our way, and the world is more polarized and divided than ever. There ARE absolutes and they are established by the Lord God, they are forever, and they are meant to make it possible for all of us to live together in harmony and peace. Rejecting these God-ordained absolutes of morality is what brings chaos and violence and war.

Adam was free to eat of all the trees of the garden …but one.

Most people overlook the overwhelming benevolence of God and accuse Him of injustice because of the one tree that the man was forbidden to eat from. By the command of God NOT to eat of a certain tree Adam was made to understand that there was right and wrong, good and evil. Life was complete and full and wonderful without that one tree - everything else was given to Adam to do with as he pleased. There was only one exception to the complete indulgence of all his desires.

If Adam is going to live with others like himself, then any rights given to him must be given with a reserve to protect the rights of others. Adam must learn that he is not the center of the universe in spite of his exalted status as head of the race and ruler of the world. He must be made to realize concern for the rights and welfare of others, both those superior to him and those inferior to him before he is ready to live with someone his equal. All other creatures are not there simply to serve him and for him to take advantage of and use at his pleasure.

No man is ready for a companion until he is more concerned about pleasing God and others than himself. The tree was merely the thing reserved to mark boundaries and cause Adam to recognize God's rights in preparation for recognizing the rights of another like himself. There was nothing about that tree that was poison or magical and we have no reason to believe that some physical element in the fruit of that tree introduced sin into the world. It was good for food, pleasant to the eyes, and to be desired to make one wise - but God had said not to eat of it. The sin was disobeying God and failing to trust Him. That is where they obtained the knowledge of evil - experimental knowledge of disregarding God's clear command.

The shallow-minded infidel argues that God did evil in placing the tree in the garden to tempt the man. But even if there had been no forbidden tree, Adam would still have had to acknowledge the rights and authority of God at some point and in some way, because Adam was created in the image and likeness of God as a moral being. Adam would still have been capable of transgressing against God or another person by putting his own selfish interests first and disregarding the rights and welfare of others. The tree was the simplest way for God to teach Adam this important lesson and establish the basis of moral responsibility in his heart. Adam was made to have dominion with his wife over all the earth, but before he is qualified to be a just overseer he must have a proper sense of right and wrong, and his place in God's order. Without a moral sense he would be on the same level of existence as the animals.

Morality is about recognizing the rights of others.

Jesus expressed it as doing unto others as you would have them do unto you.

And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. (Luke 6:31)

These words of Jesus prove that the moral law of God is written in the hearts all men. We know what is right and wrong simply by how our own heart responds to what other people do when we are on the receiving end. Since man is a moral being, not only his own rights, but the rights of all creatures must be defined, and they are defined by God, who wrote his moral law the heart of every man. The command concerning the trees of the garden show that our rights are granted by and derived from God - not inherited simply because we are born, or given to us by our government.

By understanding these things and being submitted to God there arose in Adam's living soul a sense of responsibility, of right and wrong, and of duty. He understood God's order and God's plan for life to have peace and harmony and joy. The man must first have these qualities before he can live in harmony with another like himself. Before he can have a wife to love, fellowship, commune, and live with intimately he must be the kind of being that desires to love and do good to others without putting his own selfish interests before theirs.

Thus, the entire moral law of God is reduced to two simple truths by Jesus Christ:

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:37-40)

This was what God taught Adam before he made a woman to be his companion. This is still the only preparation that will bring peace and harmony to marriages, homes, churches, and nations.

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Male and Female Created He Them - Part 2

Male and Female - Reference Points for Life

 

This is such an important matter because the God-designed distinctions between male and female are reference points for us in understanding life, direction, purpose and God himself. Male and female are opposites, just as is everything else in God's creation. As we brought out in a previous message from Genesis 1 the basis of our power of reasoning is simply the discerning and choosing between two things at a time that are opposed to one another. There is hot and cold, up and down, right and left, north and south, east and west, positive and negative, light and dark, day and night, good and evil, right and wrong, clean and dirty, and there is no end to it - everything in God's creation is set over against its opposite - or its image. An image is the opposite of its source. Two right hands do not match when placed together face to face - it must be a left and right. God made man male and female and this is God's divine order and design - this is the foundation and a firm constant for living life here on earth and understanding God.

This principle of opposites is what creates order and literally holds God's Creation together. If the atom was not made of opposing parts it would fly apart, but the protons and electrons having opposite charges attract one another and hold the basic component of all matter together. To blow them apart creates an nuclear explosion. This principle of opposites is what makes it possible for us to navigate through life. Consequently, it is the basis from which all the forces of evil begin in their attempts to destroy the works of God. Their goal is to create confusion by blurring the distinctions between the clear markers God has established for us. Confusion is the opposite of order and God is not the author of confusion. (1 Cor 14:33) For sure, God is not the author of confusion in the hearts and lives of those who obey him. So the most basic goal of Satan is to cause confusion, which by definition is:

In a general sense, a mixture of several things promiscuously; hence, disorder; irregularity.

A blending or confounding; indistinct combination; opposed to distinctness or perspicuity.

Want of order in a society.

So it is very clear that Satan works to cause confusion, or the blurring of the distinctions that God established when He set everything in perfect order in his work of Creation. One of the most obvious results of sin is that it always causes confusion, and confusion always leads to more sin, especially for the next generation.

But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. Mark 10:6

Confusion is the breaking down of absolutes and order. Satan always begins his attack right here with male and female - this is the distinction that he works on the hardest to break down and confuse. The decline and decay of every civilized society begins right here with this matter. Because of the sinfulness of mankind it is the most vulnerable point where he can begin his destructive work. Rebellious, self-seeking, and lustful hearts are actually looking for any way to cast off God's boundaries between male and female.

When the God ordained distinctions are blurred or erased between male and female then the God ordained relationship between the two has no guides or boundaries and no place to take our bearings from. God made great distinctions between male and female and they are much more than physical. These distinctions are divine attributes assigned to male and female by nature itself. They are not choices to be made by the individual. They are not subject to "rights" of an individual. We have a world now that is attempting to make it a matter of choice whether a person is a male or a female. That fact alone should startle any sane person into waking up to the depravity of our society.

A feminine man and a masculine female are unnatural and ungodly.

Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, (1 Corinthians 6:9)

"Effeminate" refers to a feminine man and this verse from the Scripture clearly states that they do not know God and will not go to heaven. Abusers of themselves with mankind refers to sodomites (Webster's 1828 Dictionary) and also makes it very clear that they are not going to enter into heaven. A godly person will desire to be what God has made them to be and will not be kicking and fighting against God's order and design for their life.

The breakdown always begins when the God-ordained roles of men and women begin to be portrayed as unsatisfying or unfulfilling. This happens as a result of losing sight of the purpose of life and God's role in it all. Soon after becoming dissatisfied and rebellious against their God-given gender assignment we see the physical appearance begin to change, with cross-dressing, swapping hairstyles, etc. It begins with the female becoming more masculine in her appearance, her actions, her language, her manners, her hair, her clothing, and it is accompanied immediately by her ambitions and desires to live in the role of a man instead of a woman. She believes she is liberated from her God-given role by her rebellion against God's authority and from there she rejects and rebels against all authority over her life. Immorality follows immediately because there are no rules, no boundaries, no guide, and no authority, and no order anymore. She thinks she is "liberated" and free from the bondage of being a woman, but she has reduced herself to nothing more than a toy for ungodly men. Ungodly men do not do much to resist this tendency of the female because it makes her much easier prey for him. She refuses to submit to a man, so he doesn't have to worry about submitting himself to her - he can have what he wants from her with no commitment and no strings. Love as the basis for the relationship is now out of the picture and the relationship is reduced to that of barnyard animals.

But man was not designed to live this way and confusion follows in every aspect of life. The children are desolate and have no purpose for living, and cannot find their way. Man needs a wife, and a wife needs a husband, and they cannot be happy and fulfilled under any other arrangement.

Knowing this we should resist anything that even resembles a breaking down of the distinction between God's divine design of male and female. We should be diligent to make clear the differences. We should honor the proper roles and teach our children and others by example. We need godly men and we need godly women. That is what it takes to have godly homes and churches and nations. That is what it takes to live a happy fulfilled life that has meaning and purpose. This is God's plan and God's design and those who resist and reject it do so at their own peril, but they also bring down the society in which the rest of us live. So the people of God need to set the proper example by ordering their lives, their marriages, their families, and their churches according to God's divine order established so clearly from the beginning of Creation.

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. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband. (Ephesians 5:31-33)

Next: It is not good for the man to be alone.

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Male and Female Created He Them

Male and Female - The Image of God

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (Genesis 1:27)

God repeats over and over the fact that He created man in his own image. He really wants us to understand this fact. It is a foundational fact that He wants us to work from in understanding the reason for our existence, and our purpose and role in life.

So the Bible teaches us that man is made in the image and likeness of God and is male and female. When He speaks of man He is not referring to mankind as males only, but as both male and female, because God has defined man as both male and female. All the attributes of God could not be completely expressed in the male alone - it takes both male and female to form the image of God. There are distinct attributes of God that are dominant in the nature of the male but much less manifested in the female (courage, strength, dominion). Likewise, there are attributes of God that are dominant in the very nature of the female that are much less visible in the male (tenderness, nurturing, embellishing). Only in the union of male and female is the image of God complete. Thus marriage is called "Holy Matrimony," because it is the intended completion of God's image. Where the man is lacking or weak, the woman fills the gap, and completes the image. Likewise, where the woman is lacking or weak, the man steps up, and together they make up the image of God. As they are united into one flesh over a lifetime they both are enriched and both become more well rounded in their character and soul. Together they present a powerful testimony about what life is supposed to be like. We have all seen older couples who have been married for 60 or 70 years and we have stood in wonder at a marriage that has survived that long in this wicked world. We are always impressed with the degree to which they have become one flesh and many times we see them die a few days, or even a few hours apart because they literally cannot live without one another. This is God's design and plan for man and life is not complete otherwise.

And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. (Genesis 2:18)

Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD. (Proverbs 18:22)

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. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband. (Ephesians 5:31-33)

The only exceptions are those very few who consecrate themselves to the service of God alone. Jesus said:

For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it. (Matthew 19:12)

It needs to be said here that by definition the word "eunuch" means that something had to be physically done to stop the desires and capabilities that are there by nature for the fulfillment of God's design for union of male and female. There are some who have a purpose in God's plan that sets them apart and their life is lived without husband or wife or children, but these are exceptions and not by any means the rule. If God does this in their life then it is the right thing for them, but it is not the standard for mankind.

…let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. (1 Corinthians 7:2)

Marriage is honorable in ALL. It is God's plan for man or He would never have made them male and female.

Next: Male and Female Created He Them - Reference Points for Living

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True and False Manliness

My wife gave me a book for Christmas that I have been wanting to get. It is "The Book of Man" by William J. Bennett. He is the man who published "The Book of Virtues" several years ago. This book is a collection of writings through the ages by all different kinds of people on the subject of manhood. This is an excellent article from that book that I think is worth sharing. It is something that is desperately needed by our young people who are rearing children in these confusing times. Please take the time to read it. You will be glad you did. Share it with someone else that it might help. Thanks for being here. - Bro. Mike

James Freeman Clarke was a nineteenth-century American preacher and author. He was a staunch abolitionist and fought against many of the social problems of his day. Back then too, boys had difficulty understanding manliness, so Clarke thought it expedient to describe his view of proper and improper manliness. This excellent essay clearly demarcates true manliness from false manliness.

Manliness means perfect manhood, as womanliness implies perfect womanhood. Manliness is the character of a man as he ought to be, as he was meant to be. It expresses the qualities which go to make a perfect man, - truth, courage, conscience, freedom, energy, self-possession, self-control. But it does not exclude gentleness, tenderness, compassion, modesty. A man is not less manly, but more so, because he is gentle. In fact, our word "gentleman" shows that a typical man must also be a gentle man.

By manly qualities the world is carried forward. The manly spirit shows itself in enterprise, the love of meeting difficulties and overcoming them, - the resolution which will not yield, which patiently perseveres, and does not admit the possibility of defeat. It enjoys hard toil, rejoices in stern labor, is ready to make sacrifice, to suffer and bear disaster patiently. It is generous, giving itself to a good cause not its own; it is public-spirited, devoting itself to the general good with no expectation of reward. It is ready to defend unpopular truth, to stand by those who are wronged, to uphold the weak. Having resolved, it does not go back, but holds on, through good report and evil, sure that the right must win at last. And so it causes truth to prevail, and keeps up the standard of a noble purpose in the world.

But as most good things have their counterfeits, so there is false manliness which imitates these great qualities, though at heart it is without them. Instead of strength of will, it is only willful; in place of courage, it has audacity. True manliness does what it believes right; false manliness, does what it chooses to do. Freedom, to one, means following his own convictions of truth; to the other it means thinking as he pleases, and doing as he likes. The one is reverent, the other rude; one is courteous, the other overbearing; one is brave, the other foolhardy; one is modest, the other self-asserting. False manliness is cynical, contemptuous, and tyrannical to inferiors. The true man has respect for all men, is tender to the sufferer, is modest and kind. The good type uses its strength to maintain good customs, to improve the social condition, to defend order. The other imagines it to be manly to defy law, to be independent of the opinions of the wise, to sneer at moral obligation, to consider itself superior to established principles of mankind.

A false notion of manliness leads boys astray. All boys wish to be manly; but they often try to become so by copying the vices of men rather than their virtues. They see men drinking, smoking, swearing; so these poor little fellows sedulously imitate such bad habits, thinking they are making themselves more like men. They mistake rudeness for strength, disrespect to parents for independence. They read wretched stories about boy brigands and boy detectives, and fancy themselves heroes when they break the laws, and become troublesome and mischievous. Out of such false influences the criminal classes are recruited. Many a little boy who only wishes to be manly, becomes corrupted and debased by the bad apples around him and the bad literature which he reads. The cure for this is to give him good books that show him truly noble examples from life and history, and make him understand how infinitely above this mock-manliness is the true courage which ennobles human nature.

In a recent awful disaster, amid the blackness and darkness and tempest, the implacable sea and the pitiless storm,-when men's hearts were failing them from terror, and women and children had no support but faith in a Divine Providence and a coming immortality,-the dreadful scene was illuminated by the courage and manly devotion of those who risked their own lives to save the lives of others. Such heroism is like a sunbeam breaking through the tempest. It shows us the real worth there is in man. No matter how selfish mankind may seem, whenever hours like these come, which try men's souls, they show that the age of chivalry has not gone; that though "The knights are dust, and their good swords rust," there are as high-hearted heroes now as ever. Firemen rush into a flaming house to save women and children. Sailors take their lives in their hands to rescue their fellow-men from a wreck. They save them at this great risk, not because they are friends or relatives, but because they are fellow-men.

Courage is an element of manliness. It is more than readiness to encounter danger and death, for we are not often called to meet such perils. It is every-day courage which is most needed,-that which shrinks from no duty because it is difficult; which makes one ready to say what he believes, when his opinions are unpopular; which does not allow him to postpone a duty, but makes him ready to encounter it at once; a courage which is not afraid of ridicule when one believes himself right; which not the slave of custom, the fool of fashion. Such courage as this, in man or woman or child, is true manliness. It is infinitely becoming in all persons. It does not seek display, it is often the courage of silence no less than speech; it is modest courage, unpretending though resolute. It holds fast to its convictions and principles, whether men hear or whether they forbear.

True manliness differs also from the false in its attitude to woman. Its knightly feeling makes it wish to defend her rights, to maintain her claims, to be her protector and advocate. False manliness wishes to show its superiority by treating women as inferiors. It flatters them, but it does not respect them. It fears their competition on equal levels, and wishes to keep them confined, not within walls, as in the Mohammedan regions, but behind the more subtle barriers of opinion, prejudice, and supposed feminine aptitudes. True manliness holds out the hand to woman, and says, "Do whatever you are able to do; whatever God meant you to do. Neither you nor I can tell what that is till all artificial barriers are removed, and you have full opportunity to try." Manly strength respects womanly purity, sympathy, and grace of heart. And this is the real chivalry of the present hour.

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