Sunday, November 27, 2016

THE WOMEN OF CHRISTMAS - Eve - Man from dust, Woman from rib

EVE – Man from Dust and Woman from Rib

Genesis 2:7 (KJV) And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

God spoke the animals into being, but He carefully molded Adam out of clay and breathed His very life into him. I wonder if the person who developed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation got the idea from this verse? God created the animals at arm’s length but had to get up close and personal in order to breathe life into the man. He put vitality into the man with His own breath. This reminds me of the giving of the Holy Spirit recorded in Acts chapter 2 when the Spirit came upon them like a rushing wind.

Acts 2:2 (KJV) And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

In Acts, God breathed spiritual life into the disciples.

Genesis 2:20-25 (KJV) And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.

Man did not find his equal among the animals. Man needed a “helper.” The Hebrew word is ezer-kanegdo which means a helper suitable and and complementary to him in every way. The word ezer also referred to God as the Helper of Israel. The term implies a role of equality and not subordination. The man needed someone like himself, created in the image of God. The fullness of the image of God is found in the man and woman together. In fact, El Shaddai literally means “many breasted” because God completely provides for His own, He is the fullness of all that we need, an endless supply. He is like a mother nursing her infant. A friend of ours described the need for both men and women as the couple standing back to back. Each using their peripheral vision can see 180°, but if they stand back to back, together they can see the entire 360° picture. As separate and unique expressions of the image of God, man and woman were products of the plurality of God and reflections of His unity and His nature. Together, a man and a woman have the potential to be a picture of the relationship between Jesus and His bride, the church, the oneness of a believer and his/her Savior.

Genesis 2:21 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; 22 And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

Woman was created from a piece of man, his rib, so it takes both men and women to fully express who God is. The way Eve was created shows that we need both aspects to fully express the Godhead, the relationship. Jesus was the fullness of God but completely human. He even expressed the mothering nature in this verse:

Matthew 23:37 (KJV) O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!

Genesis 2:23 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. 24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. 25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language

WOMAN, noun plural women. [a compound of womb and man.]

1. The female of the human race, grown to adult years.

The man and the woman were to be sewn together in their hearts and minds. They were to have that relationship of equality and unity as exhibited by the Father, Son, and Spirit. The man and woman had no clothing and were not embarrassed at all. Their relationship with God and each other was such that they could be completely naked and feel no vulnerability. But then – enter the serpent.

How does this apply to me?

God breathed life into the first man. However, sin sucked the life right out of us. We are dead, incapable of relationship with God, until by His grace we believe and trust in what Jesus accomplished by being born as a man in order to become the perfect sacrifice for all people who believe.

Colossians 2:13-15 (KJV) And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; 14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; 15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.


Colossians 2:13-14 (MSG)When you were stuck in your old sin-dead life, you were incapable of responding to God. God brought you alive—right along with Christ! Think of it! All sins forgiven, the slate wiped clean, that old arrest warrant canceled and nailed to Christ’s cross. He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their sham authority at the Cross and marched them naked through the streets.

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