Marriage – A Good Thing Made by God

Genesis 2:18-24
18Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” 19 Now out of the ground the LORD God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. 21So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23Then the man said,

“This at last is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman,
because she was taken out of Man.”
24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

What a fascinating text! God notes that it is not good for the man to be alone and He states His intention to make a helper suitable to Adam. The next thing we would expect to happen would be the creation of Eve. But it is not. First God brings the animals to see what Adam will name them.

The last phrase of verse 20 is striking “…there was not found a helper suitable for him.” Not found? Who was looking? Adam was. The purpose behind having Adam naming the animals was to produce loneliness in Adam, to cause him to want a partner answering to his needs like the other animals had. Adam would have noticed the pairing up of the animals and he felt the need for a companion like him. Note what Adam said in verse 23 as soon as he saw her. “This at last…” Those words tell us that he was missing having a companion.

The first word of verse 21 is “so”. There was not a suitable helper fit for Adam SO God made Eve for Him. God knew Adam needed a companion (He made him with the need built in) and had already intended to make Eve, but He did not make her until Adam saw the need as well. Marriage is God’s creation and it is a good thing. It answers a need.

There is hardly any other thing in all the earth so distorted by mankind than God’s original intention for marriage. Today, if you are married, think about the fact that marriage is a good thing made by God. Commit yourself to making yours a reflection of the original intention God had for it. There is little else that is as powerful a testimony of the grace of God at work than a marriage that has produced two people who are happier with each other than they would have been alone. Let us remember too, that the solution to a troubled marriage is found in the One who made it and knows best how they all ought to be run.