The Attribute of Creation

Before we move off of the creation of the marriage relationship by God, we should look at one more verse in Genesis 3.

Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living. (Gen. 3:20)

In this verse we read that it is Eve that holds the attribute of creation within the Oneness of marriage. Nowhere in the Bible does it say something similar for man. In fact, man is completely excluded from the birth of Christ! This is something that a man had no part in; it was God and the woman. We even see God speaking of this attribute of Creation in the woman when he pronounces the punishment on both the serpent and the woman:

And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children." (Gen. 3:15-16)

Although man has a part in the creation process, we see that God has associated the miracle of creation through child birth in the woman. This attribute of creation association with the woman is so important that we read:

For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. But women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety. (1Tim. 2:13-15)

If we remember that the creation of man and the creation of marriage was to be the image of God and the relationship within the Trinity, we see that this attribute of creation is mirroring the attribute of creation in Christ or the Son within the Trinity:

For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. (Col. 1:13-16)

God has placed different attributes within both men and women which become evident within the marriage relationship. We have a greater understanding of God and the Trinity through ourselves and our marriage relationship because of the attributes of God that He has placed within each of us. Each of these attributes point to Him and we must remember this.
Husbands, remember that the creation attribute is a gift given to your wife and an attribute that reflects rgw oneness within the Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit). It is something that should be reverenced, for it is a gift from God from which we have insight into the awesome God of creation.
Note:
To couples that do not have children or can’t; the attribute of creation through child bearing is a potential that God has put in all of women. It is knowledge of the fact that as a husband and wife we have the potential to create through child bearing. If we physically can’t have children for some medical reason, we still have the knowledge and will that comes from this creation attribute from God; it still has the power to give us an insight into God. By the way, even within medical issues, I still believe in miracles.

The Fall

In my previous blog entry we saw what God had intended for a man and a woman within a marriage before the fall. Let’s now take a look at the consequences of the fall and its impact on the relationship within a marriage.  Let start with the women.  If we fast forward to the New Testament we find the following:

Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. (Eph. 5:22-24)

Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. (Col. 3:18)

Most women are probably asking, “Why do I have to submit?” The answer to this is because she didn’t submit to the truth of God’s word which was, You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die (Gen. 2:17). Eve was probably told this truth by either God or Adam or maybe both, but she chose to ignore it and ate of the fruit. So now wives must submit to their husbands because Eve failed to.
Now let's look at the man:

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church—for we are members of his body. (Eph. 5:24-30)

Now let’s see how these verses refer back to Genesis. At the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, Adam was there with Eve when she fell.  He should have been her savior. Where was the love when Adam watched and listened to the temptation of Eve and her eventual fall?  He knew what would happen! So because Adam did not love and stand up for Eve and save her from her fall, he is now commanded to do both; he is to love her and be her savior when she needs saving. Even if she doesn’t submit and falls, he is still to be there to pick her up and love her, for this is what a savior does. If a person is about to fall into a river with a fast current you can save them before they fall in, but you can also save them if they have fallen into the river. So husbands love your wives and be ready to save them before and after they fall.

The Creation of Marriage

When it comes to marriage what better place to start then at the beginning.  If we open the Bible to Genesis 1, we find that marriage between a man and a women was in God’s plan from the beginning. Let us take a look at the verse that describes the creation of mankind:

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." (Gen. 1:26-28)

Similarly the following verse restates the creation of mankind:

This is the written account of Adam's line. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female and blessed them. And when they were created, he called them "man." (Gen. 5:1-2)

The verses above reference to "man" in the context of man as a species and not just the male gender, but the verses also indicates that there are two unique persons within mankind, and they are male and female. If we look closely at these verses we see that the creation of mankind was a two-step process. The first step was the creation of Adam; this is indicated by “in the image of God he created him” (Gen. 1:27) and “he made him in the likeness of God” (Gen. 5:1). The second step is described in Genesis 2:

The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he 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,' for she was taken out of man." (Gen. 2:18-23)

It is at this stage that God says that It is not good for the man to be alone (Gen. 2:18). I believe the Lord is saying that it wasn’t because Adam was flawed, but that he still lacked something. If Adam was created in God’s image what possibly could be missing? The answer is -- relationship and the ability to create.  God in the Trinity is part of a relationship between each of the members of the Trinity, and the Trinity created the universe. If we continue with the remainder of Genesis 2:18, we discover God’s solution, “I will make a helper suitable for him.” Webster defines helper as “One that furnishes or administers a remedy.” In Genesis 2:19-20, God and Adam went through creation to find a helper for Adam but none was to be found. Nothing in creation was at a level to which Adam could have a relationship near to the level within the Trinity. As well , God created all other life to interact “according to its kind” meaning that they could not join Adam within the process of creation. God created Eve from one of Adam’s rib, and at the same level within creation as Adam.  She was both physically and spiritually at the same level as Adam. She could join Adam in relationship similar to that of the Trinity, and also create children as the Trinity created man. Eve was a helper that fulfilled the Webster’s definition of “One that furnishes or administers a remedy,” and not a helper in terms of being a servant.
Finally, let us look at the final two verses of Genesis 2:

For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame. (Gen. 2:24-25)

Although these verses seem out of place in the context of the creation account, they do describe the similarities between mankind to the Trinity. Even though a man and a woman are two distinct entities, God says they are one flesh in the state of marriage just as the Trinity is one. They were naked and not ashamed, just as the three persons of the Trinity have no barriers between them.
How should the creation account of man impact our marriage?  Firstly, everything discussed so far came before the fall of man! So this was God’s perfect example of a marriage, a man and a woman coming together as one flesh in relationship with their God. If we start thinking in terms of us and not me and you, we are now one together with the Holy Spirit.
Second, at this point there is no mention of authority, headship or submission. These things did not come until after the fall. There is only the relationship between the man and the woman and God giving mankind the ability to create. The relationship is first and foremost in the relationship. God created authority and submission within the marriage to help protect that relationship within our sinful world.
Finally, God’s design was not that any one should be single. In the New Testament, Paul writes that it is good not to marry (see 1 Corinthians 7).  But here Paul is speaking in context of after the fall of man.  The original plan was that it was not good for the man to be alone. In Proverbs 18:22 God says, He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the LORD.  Even after the fall of man, marriage is still good in God’s eyes.
Marriage is the reflection of the oneness within the Trinity. It is the insight into the relationship between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. It is knowing the joy that the Trinity had when they created the universe. It is our view into who God is.