Genesis 2:16-25: A Helper Fit For Him

Prayer of Adoration

O Lord our God,

We come before You in awe of Your wisdom. You are the God who knows all things, sees all things, and plans all things according to the counsel of Your perfect will.

In the beginning, You formed the world with precision and purpose. You shaped the mountains, carved the oceans, and filled the skies with stars—all by Your word, all with a wisdom that outshines the brightest sun.

We praise You for the wisdom that did not leave man alone, but formed woman from his side—equal in dignity, different in design, glorious in purpose. You gave marriage as a gift and a picture, a covenant of companionship and a reflection of Christ’s love for the Church.

Lord, we marvel that You are never surprised, never lacking in insight, never needing counsel. All Your ways are just. All Your commands are good. And even when we do not understand, we know that You are wise—and we trust You.

Receive our worship today, not because we are wise, but because You are.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Pastoral Prayer

Our gracious and holy God,

We praise You for Your perfect wisdom and loving design. You made us, not for confusion, but with purpose and beauty. You set boundaries not to burden us but to bless us. You created man and woman, calling us into relationships that reflect Your glory. You designed marriage as a covenant of joy, a picture of Christ and His Church, a place of safety and sacrificial love.

Thank You, Father, for sending Christ—our true Bridegroom. Thank You for the cross, where He laid down His life to purify a people for Himself. Thank You for the Spirit who comforts us, convicts us, and empowers us to walk in newness of life.

We pray today for those among us who are lonely, who long for deep companionship, who are hurting from broken relationships, who carry regrets, or who feel stuck in sin. Let them hear today not just a law, but an invitation. Let them see Your grace.

We pray for husbands and wives—that they would delight in one another, forgive quickly, and mirror Christ’s love.

We pray for our children, that they would grow up not confused by the world’s lies, but rooted in the truth of Your design.

We pray for our church—that we would not only believe in Your design for marriage and community, but that we would embody it. That we would be a people of hospitality, purity, faithfulness, and joy.

We pray for our nation, where confusion and rebellion often reign. Have mercy. Let Your truth go forth. Let the Church shine like light in the darkness.

We pray for the reading and proclamation of Your Word, that you would move through it convicting us of our sin and moving us to follow Christ in repentance and faith that we may worship before Your presence at the end of the age.

And we pray, Lord, come soon. Until then, help us to love what You love, obey what You’ve commanded, and rest in Your grace.

In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Sermon Title: A Helper Fit for Him

Scripture Reading

Genesis 2:15–25 ESV

15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” 18 Then 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. 20 The 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. 21 So 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. 22 And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 Then 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. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

Intro

Illustration

You may have seen it in the headlines this week—at a Coldplay concert of all places. The CEO of the data company Astronomer was caught on video… cheating. Not just cheating in private, but right there in a crowd, hands on someone who wasn’t his wife. Outed by the kiss cam, their own hubris, and online sleuths, they were caught in their sin.

The video blew up and social media lit up with two types of people: the indignant and the mocking. People who were angry, and people who just made jokes. Virtually everyone condemned it though.

But why does that story provoke so much reaction? Why do people care so deeply—even if they don’t know him or his wife? Why is it not just a private failing—but something we instinctively feel is wrong?

It’s because whether we admit it or not, we believe some relationships ought to be protected. We believe that some promises should never be broken. We believe in covenant.

Now, our culture may not use that word much anymore, but we still feel it when covenant is broken. That’s because we were made for covenant. Covenant with God. Covenant with one another. And nowhere is that more clearly seen than in the first marriage, in Genesis 2.

Intro

We’re in the fourth sermon of our series through Genesis 1–11—a foundational section of Scripture that shows us who God is: sovereign, eternal, good, creating by His Word. We’ve seen who we are—creatures formed from dust, humble yet honored in God’s image.

Now Genesis 2 zooms in. After the repeated “It is good” of creation, we hear something startling: “It is not good that the man should be alone.”

Not good? In perfect paradise? God declares that isolation—even without sin—is wrong. We were made for relationship—covenant relationship—with God and with one another.

Here we see God’s good boundaries—“You may eat of every tree but one”—and the relationships we were made for: covenant companionship, rooted in God’s design and worship.

This passage speaks to all of us—married or single—living in a world eager to redefine what is good. God reminds us: He is the Designer, the one who defines good, and His design is beautiful.

So today, we focus on two things:

Humanity’s Boundaries

Humanity’s Need.

Look with me at verses 16 and 17.

I. Humanity’s Boundaries: God Declares What Is Good (Genesis 2:16–17, 18)

Before we focus on the relationship between the man and the woman, we need to look carefully at the verses that set the context.

In these verses is the first command in the Bible.

It's also the first time God says something is not good.

Both are pretty significant.

Before any command was ever given, God created paradise for His image-bearers to live in.

Before there was human responsibility, God had already provided all that was needed for life.

A Garden of Abundance and Order

The Garden of Eden is described as a place of unimaginable beauty and harmony. Everything in it is designed for life to flourish.

God formed the man, placed him in this garden, and gave him meaningful work to do (v.15).

It’s paradise—perfect, ordered, purposeful, and joyful.

And in this garden, God gave the man freedom. “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden” (v.16).

He’s not a stingy God trying to keep most of the good stuff for himself.

There was a time, probably 6 or 7 years ago now, where I was given some really nice leather bound journals just for attending a free luncheon.

When I came back, a friend saw that I had two of them, admired them and asked if he could have one.

Though I had no money or time invested in these journals, I felt a twinge of possessiveness and said, “No.”

And, I will have you know that I have far from filled out even one of those journals in the past 6 or 7 years. They’ve just sat on my shelf.

God is not like me, and he is not like you. He is not stingy with what He has,

He’s a generous, overflowing Creator.

And we often miss something important in this story, there was a second named tree.

Genesis 2:9 ESV

9 ...The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

“The tree of life” was there and was not mentioned in the boundary God had set for humanity.

—life eternal was available to the man.

God, in His grace offered life freely. God gave abundant freedom in the garden.

But alongside freedom, God also gave boundaries: “but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat” (v.17).

Why does God place boundaries? Because God alone has the right to define what is good and what is evil (or said another way what is “not good”). And God alone knows how His creation will flourish.

That is something that only the Creator can determine. It is not something created beings can declare for themselves.

“You Will Surely Die”

The boundary isn’t arbitrary. In a very real sense, God has said that this tree is “not good” for the man! God is the very author of life, and He is the one with the right to declare what is good and what is not good.

So rejecting God’s word, even in the case of a fruit on a single tree, is to reject life itself.

That’s the warning: “in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

This is foundational for understanding sin—not just in Genesis 3, but throughout the Bible. Sin is not merely breaking rules—it’s the claim to have the right to determine and interpret the rules. It’s what we do when we say, “I will decide for myself what is good for me. I can pick and choose what I think is right, and God is going to agree with me.”

Our Problem: We Think We Know Better

And we do this all the time, don’t we?

God says marriage, and sexual relationships, are to be between one man and one woman, in covenant faithfulness and relationship—but we call that outdated and choose for ourselves what is right. God says to forgive—but we think our situation is an exception and we have the right to hold onto unforgiveness, bitterness, and hatred. God says we’re made in His image—so we elevate ourselves until we forget we’re made of dust thinking we have the right to pride and self-seeking.

And that’s the tension of Eden: humanity is honored with the breath of life and the image of God, yet still humble—formed from the ground.

Dust and dignity. Authority and limitation.

The “Not Good” in Paradise

And now, as we look at verse 18, let’s slow down and feel the shock of this verse.

In chapter 1, everything God made was good. “it was good, it was good, it was good” Over and over again like a drumbeat—until the very end, when He steps back and looks at the completed work of creation and says, “It was very good.”

But here, in Genesis 2:18, for the first time in the Bible, God explicitly says something is not good.

“Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.’”

This is before sin. Before the Fall. Before shame, pain, or rebellion enter the story. Eden is a paradise filled with beauty, peace, and fellowship with God. And yet… even in perfection, something is not good.

And Adam doesn’t say this, God does. Adam doesn’t complain or mope around.

He doesn’t even know what he’s missing. He has a task to do, a world to enjoy, and communion with the Lord.

But God says it: “It is not good for man to be alone.”

That tells us two things.

First: We do not get to decide what is good for us. God does.

Adam wouldn’t have known to ask. But God knew. He knew that Adam was made for something more than productivity. He was made for relationship.

He was made to give and receive love, to enjoy covenant community, to know the joy of another who is like him—and yet wonderfully distinct. God defines the good. And the good, in this case, required more than one.

Second: It is not weakness to need others—it is design.

God designed us to need others.

You can hear echoes of the Trinity here. God is not a lonely deity. From eternity, He has existed in the fellowship of Father, Son, and Spirit.

And now He creates a world of image-bearers who are not meant to walk alone.

And this isn’t just about marriage.

If you are single, divorced, widowed—this verse is not declaring you incomplete. You bear the image of God in full. But what it is saying is that human flourishing is not a solo project. God saved us into a family—His Church. And we are called to walk in deep, covenant community, not isolation.

So whether you’re married or not, the “not good” of being alone still applies. And God’s answer is not just marriage—it’s relationship. Covenant. Community. Shared life.

And that brings us to the answer God gives: the creation of a helper fit for him.

II. Humanity’s Longings: Covenant Relationship (Genesis 2:18–25)

Not Just Any Helper

Now, when God says in verse 18, “I will make him a helper fit for him,” we should be careful not to read that through modern ears. We often hear the word helper and start thinking more along the lines of a kid helping dad out in the garage by holding the light, and running back and forth to grab the necessary tools. It sounds patronizing and demeaning to us.

So a lot of women, and men, bristle at the thought of women being created as the helper to man.

However, biblically, the word helper does not mean subordinate or less-than.

In fact, the same Hebrew word (ezer) is used regularly for God Himself in the Old Testament. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). The Greek Word in the New Testament that Jesus uses for the Holy Spirit is also “helper.”

So if our understanding of a “helper” is someone who is less valuable, then something’s wrong. Because God is not less valuable than we are, is He?

Being a helper does not imply weakness—it implies partnership.

But this isn’t just about finding a helper. God says, “a helper fit for him.” The phrase literally means “according to the opposite of him”—someone who corresponds to him, complements him, fits him in ways that nothing else in creation does.

This is not just about Adam having someone to hang out with. This isn’t mere companionship for its own sake. It’s mission-oriented. When God says, “a helper fit for him,” He’s pointing us back to the mission He gave in Genesis 1:28: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion…”

That command wasn’t given to Adam alone — it couldn’t be. He couldn’t multiply by himself. He couldn’t display God’s image in its fullness by himself. He needed someone like him, yet different from him — someone who corresponded to him — to fulfill what God had called humanity to do.

So Eve is not an afterthought. She’s essential to the mission. The woman is not a footnote in the story of man’s purpose — she is central to it. The man and woman are called together into covenant, into complementarity, and into commission.

And that pattern of complementary calling doesn’t stop in Eden. It echoes forward into the church — the bride of Christ — where every member is gifted differently, yet no one is optional. Just like Eve was made “fit for” Adam, the church is designed to be fit together in Christ. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12 that we’re many parts, but one body, and that “God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as He chose.”

In marriage, man and woman are called together for a shared mission. In the church, we are saved into a body where every part is necessary for the mission of Christ.

You weren’t made to go it alone. You were made to fit. To serve. To build. Together — under the headship of Jesus — we were made to multiply disciples, steward creation, and bring glory to our Creator.

Just as it was “not good” for Adam to be alone, it is also not good for you to try to live the Christian life alone.

And you could come to church every single week and still be living life alone because you refuse to get involved with other people or let them get involved with your life.

Because it’s messy and uncomfortable. It requires work, commitment, love, and sacrifice to not be alone, but it’s worth it, and it’s necessary for everyone who follows Jesus.

There is no such thing as a lone-wolf or free-agent Christian.

Now, let’s continue in verse 21.

The First Surgery, the First Song

After the declaration of the “not-goodness” of Adam’s uniqueness, God does something extraordinary. He puts the man into a deep sleep and then “He took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.” From that rib, “He made a woman and brought her to the man.” (vv.21–22)

This is the first marriage ceremony. God is the officiant. He is the one who brings the woman to the man.

And Adam, upon seeing her, bursts into the first recorded words of any human and channels his inner Etta James, singing “At last, my love has come along”:

“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.” (v.23)

This is the language of delight, of recognition, of covenant. The man doesn’t just grumble out, “Nice” and go on his way. He sings!

This isn’t just biology—it’s joy. This is the moment he finally sees someone like him—but not exactly like him. Equal, yet complementary.

Jesus and John Wayne

And brothers, if we’re honest—many of us have let the world disciple us into something a lot colder than this. Somewhere along the line, we traded the picture of biblical manhood for a picture of John Wayne. We bought into a lie that says real men are quiet, hardened, emotionally distant, and alone. That to express emotion is to be weak.

But Adam wasn’t stoic. He was stunned. He sang.

And you—husbands, fathers, single men, brothers in Christ—were not made to be stone-faced statues. You were made to feel deeply and to love openly and to sing loudly. You were made to rejoice in the good gifts of God, especially the ones standing right in front of you.

Now, this does not mean that our emotions should rule us. One of the things I am striving to teach my sons is that we rule our emotions, our emotions do not rule us, but that does not mean we are emotionless. It means we are rightly emotional over the things that deserve it.

And our wives, our children, our church family, and our King deserve our deepest affections: our love, our joy, our delight.

If you’re looking for a movie character to follow for an example of manhood, think less John Wayne and more Aragorn.

Aragorn, in The Lord of the Rings, didn’t grunt his way through middle-earth and then ride off into the sunset. He wept for friends. Though he was a king, he knelt in humility. He honored others above himself. He loved his bride. He led with strength and tenderness. He sang! He consistently put his life on the line to protect and help those he loved. And when he became king, he ruled with justice and joy.

Even more than we need more Aragorn in our men, we need more of Christ—the true and better King. The one who wept outside Lazarus’s tomb. Who welcomed little children. Who saw the crowds and was moved with compassion. Who feasted and celebrated, who sang, prayed, and taught. Who sought the Father’s will above all else. Who loved His bride so much He laid down His life for her.

Men,

Jesus Christ is your model. He is your call.

Sing over your wife. Delight in your children. Love the brothers and sisters in your church. Don’t be too proud to cry, or too manly to rejoice. You were not made to be stoic. You were made to feel, to weep over the effects of sin (in the world and in yourself), and to lead onward into the Kingdom of Christ with holy affection.

Let the world keep its caricatures of manhood. You follow the King.

A Call to Honorable Womanhood

Sisters in Christ, God has created you with incredible dignity, purpose, and design. You were not an afterthought in creation—you were the climax of it. Humanity was incomplete without you, and God called that incompleteness “not good.”

You were made to reflect the strength, wisdom, and beauty of God. You were made as a helper—not in the sense of inferiority, but as one who bears the very title God Himself takes: ezer, helper, strengthener. That is not small. That is sacred.

Honor in Scripture is not about platform, popularity, or power. It’s about faithfulness, character, and glory rooted in God.

Proverbs 31 celebrates a woman

who fears the Lord,

who works hard,

who nurtures,

who builds up,

who speaks with wisdom and kindness.

That is what God calls “praiseworthy.”

And the New Testament vision is the same:

Women who live “not for outward adornment, but for the hidden person of the heart” (1 Peter 3:3–4).

Women who disciple the younger (Titus 2),

who contend for the gospel (Philippians 4),

who practice hospitality,

train their children,

and walk in holiness with dignity and spiritual strength.

So, sisters, don’t settle for the world’s version of womanhood—whatever side of the cultural spectrum it comes from. Some would reduce you to silence and servitude. Others would tell you to throw off God’s design entirely. But God invites you to something far more glorious:

to walk in the good design He made you for,

as women who love Jesus,

love His Word,

and shine with His wisdom, courage, and grace.

You are essential to the church. You are honored in creation. And in Christ, you are co-heirs of glory (1 Peter 3:7).

The Covenant of Marriage

Verse 24 gives us a divine commentary on everything we’ve just seen:

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”

This isn’t just about Adam and Eve. It’s the Bible’s foundational definition of marriage—affirmed by Jesus in Matthew 19 and by Paul in Ephesians 5. And it teaches us three vital things:

1. Marriage is a covenant. Not just a relationship, not just feelings. “To hold fast” is covenant language. It’s the same word used in Deuteronomy for Israel clinging to the Lord their God. Marriage isn’t just romantic—it’s binding. Public. Promissory. It's a vow made before God and witnessed by His people.

2. Marriage creates a new family unit. “A man shall leave his father and mother.” That doesn’t mean abandoning your parents, but it means your primary loyalty shifts. The marriage covenant becomes your most important human relationship. Not your parents, not your kids.

Now, here it says “a man shall leave his father and mother” but you have to understand that the woman is understood in this as well. In the ancient world it would be unimaginable for the woman to not leave her mother and father and join her husbands household. The man is the focus here, because the man was the one who needed to step out and leave his parent’s household, and not just bring his wife under his own father.

Both man and woman leave their father and mother and cleave to their spouse. It is not a casual merger of two lives—it is the beginning of one new life together.

3. Marriage is a one-flesh union. Body and soul joined together. This is more than sex—but not less. The physical union is the covenant’s sign and seal—like baptism is to church membership, or communion is to the gospel. That’s why sex outside of biblical marriage is so damaging: it declares a union without a covenant. It says with your body what you haven’t said with your life.

And that’s what makes verse 25 so beautiful:

“And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.”

This is a picture of purity and peace. Vulnerability without fear. Full exposure without rejection. No hiding. No shame. Just trust, intimacy, and joy in a world untouched by sin. This is the kind of covenant marriage was meant to reflect.

But friends—let’s be honest. We don’t live in that world anymore.

God’s design for marriage hasn’t just been forgotten. It’s been rejected.

Our culture has disconnected sex from covenant, reduced marriage to a contract, and blurred the lines between male and female beyond recognition. This is not a small disagreement—it’s rebellion against the God who made us.

Romans 1 says that when humanity turns from the Creator to worship the creature, one of the first places that rebellion shows up is in how we use our bodies—especially sexually. We trade truth for lies and call it freedom.

But sexual sin isn’t just “out there.” It’s in here. Among us. In our homes. In our hearts. And we have to talk about it.

Cohabitation—living together and sleeping together before marriage—is not God’s design.

Pornography is a plague. It dulls desire, twists love, and distorts our view of beauty and covenant.

Adultery, lust, same-sex intimacy, and all sexual immorality—these are not small issues. They are symptoms of a deeper rebellion against the God who made us for covenant love, not selfish consumption.

But hear this:

Jesus did not come for the pure. He came to purify the sick.

He died to cleanse the guilty. To redeem sexual sinners. To restore what sin has shattered.

There is no shame too deep. No past too dirty. No chain too strong for the blood of Christ.

If you are in Christ, you are not your sin. You are washed. You are new. And if you’re not in Christ—come to Him. There is mercy. There is grace. There is freedom.

Sex is not ultimate. But it’s not meaningless either. It was created to picture covenant—faithful, exclusive, self-giving love. When we treat it like recreation or redefine marriage around our desires, we aren’t just breaking rules—we’re rejecting God’s wisdom and distorting a picture of Christ and the Church.

So what’s the answer?

It’s not to hide in shame. It’s repentance and grace.

Every one of us has fallen short—whether in action, in desire, or in imagination. But the gospel is good news for sinners. Jesus came to redeem every part of us—including our sexuality. He restores. He forgives. He washes us clean and invites us into something better than what the world offers:

Purity. Covenant. Faithfulness. Joy.

So now—walk in that newness.

Repent. Turn from the darkness. Flee temptation. Cut off what entangles. Don’t flirt with sin—kill it.

You’ve been made holy—so live holy. Not to earn grace, but because you’ve received grace.

You are not alone. The Spirit empowers. The church surrounds. The Word lights the path. And in Christ—there is not just forgiveness… There is freedom.

Conclusion: Come to the Bridegroom

The story of Genesis 2 is not just about Adam and Eve.

It’s about a God who gives covenant love to His people.

It’s about a God who saw that it was not good for us to be alone—and made a way for us to be brought into union. Not just with a spouse, but ultimately with Himself.

The first Adam was put into a deep sleep, and from his side, God formed a bride. The second Adam—Jesus Christ—was laid into the sleep of death, and from His pierced side, the church was born.

That’s the ultimate wedding this text is pointing us to.

Marriage is not the end goal—it’s a signpost. Sex is not the ultimate union—it’s a shadow. The true and better covenant is between Christ and His Church.

So whether you're married or single, divorced or widowed—if you are a Christian, this is for you:

Jesus is the Bridegroom who sees you, knows you, and loves you. He doesn’t just tolerate you. He sings over you, when you come to him in repentance. He left His Father, held fast to His bride, and gave Himself up for her—so that she might be cleansed, forgiven, and made radiant in glory.

So come to Him. Not cleaned up—just honest. Not perfect—just surrendered.

Lay the shame you have heaped upon yourself at His feet. Lay your rebellion aside and come before His mercy. Lay your life in His hands.

And Church, let’s live as a people who believe this is true. Let’s honor covenant. Let’s pursue holiness. Let’s rejoice in the design of our God.

Let’s be the kind of community where men don’t hide in silence, and women don’t feel forgotten. Where sexual sin is confronted, not covered up. Where grace runs deeper than guilt, and joy runs stronger than shame. Where marriage is honored, singleness is dignified, and Christ is treasured above all.

Jesus is the better Adam. He is the faithful Groom. And He is calling you into covenant—into relationship—into life.

Will you come?

Prayer of Response & Repentance

Father God, we come before You humbly, acknowledging that we have often failed to honor Your good design for our lives and relationships. We confess that we have sometimes lived as if we are self-sufficient, forgetting that You made us for covenant—with You and with one another. Forgive us for the ways we have broken Your boundaries, for the times we have turned from Your truth and embraced lies about who we are and how we should live.

Lord, we confess how far we have strayed. We confess our pride—how often we think we know better than You. We confess our rebellion—how often we push past Your boundaries, choosing what is right in our own eyes. We confess the sins of our generation: the normalization of cohabitation, the easy consumption of pornography, the cheapening of sex, and the neglect of covenant love. We confess our discontentment, our isolation, and our fear of sacrificial love.

But we do not come to You in despair. We come to You in hope, because You are a God who restores. You cover shame. You forgive sin. You cleanse the impure. You make whole what has been broken.

Thank You for the hope we have in Jesus Christ—who did not come for the pure, but to purify sinners like us. Thank You that through His death and resurrection, our sins are washed away by His blood. Thank You for the power of Your Spirit to enable us to walk in newness of life.

Help us to live as holy people, marked by covenant faithfulness, joy, and love. Empower us to flee temptation, to turn from darkness, and to cling to Christ alone. Surround us with Your church, the body where we find encouragement, accountability, and grace.

We trust in Your promise that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. May we walk forward not in shame, but in freedom, reflecting Your glory in all that we do.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Assurance of Pardon

Friends, hear the good news from God’s Word:

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

This means that when we come before God with humble and honest hearts, acknowledging our failures and turning from them, He does not hold our sins against us. Instead, He faithfully forgives and completely cleanses us.

So take heart! Your sin is not the final word. In Christ, you are forgiven. You are made new. You are welcomed back into covenant fellowship with God.

Thanks be to God for His amazing grace!

Now, as forgiven people—restored by grace, renewed in purpose—let’s join all creation in giving praise to our Maker. This final song is a call to every creature to lift their voice in worship. That includes you. That includes me. Let’s stand and sing together: "All Creatures That on Earth Do Dwell."

Benediction

Go now in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who restores what sin has broken, in the love of God the Father, who made you for Himself and called you into His design, and in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, who empowers you to walk in purity, in joy, and in truth.

May you delight in the good boundaries of your Maker, honor Him in your relationships, and live as a witness to His redeeming love.

Go in peace—you are sent.