A Bride For Her Husband

TITLE: A Bride For Her HusbandTEXT: Ephesians 5:25-32 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." For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh (Genesis 2:18-24). 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. 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. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church (Ephesians 5:25-32). (Prayer) She was very tired, and she had the house to herself, her husband, Colonel Archibald Gracie, being on a trip. But she couldn’t sleep. An oppressive fear came over her, for she suddenly felt that her husband was in peril. She began to pray, and with great earnestness she prayed through the night, seeking release from her prayer vigil, seeking assurance. But none came until 5 o’clock in the morning. At that point, a deep sense of peace came over her, and she fell asleep. The date was April 14, 1912. Her husband, Colonel Archibald Gracie, was sailing from Europe to America—aboard the Titanic. The ship on its maiden voyage had struck an iceberg, and Colonel Gracie was among the terrified passengers who had given up all hope of being saved. He did all he could to save the women and children, and then as the ship slipped beneath the waters he cried out to his wife, "Goodbye, my darling,” and he was sucked beneath the sea. Instinctive he began to swim upward through the ice-cold water, crying in his heart, "Goodbye, my darling, until we meet again." Then he came to the surface and found himself near an overturned lifeboat. Along with several others, he climbed aboard. He found himself cold and terrified, but out of danger, at about 5 o’clock in the morning, the very time peace came to his praying wife. There is, in good, growing Christian marriages, a bond of friendship and love that transcends physical dimensions. There is, in good, growing Christian marriages, a spiritual dynamic that only Christ can impart, a cord that only Christ can weave. We see it in the very 1st human marriage, when God brought together Adam and Eve, he said, For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. One of the reasons God wants us to have spiritually dynamic marriages, is because they witness to the very special relationship between Jesus Christ and his bride, the church. Nowhere is this better seen than in the relationship between Adam and Eve. We are in a series of messages entitled First Impressions: Glimpses of Jesus in Genesis. The old Bible teacher M. R. DeHaan once said, "The primary purpose of Genesis is to introduce us to the Lord Jesus." And so, we are taking that approach in this series. Our first three messages dealt with the three fountainheads of Messianic prophecy found in Genesis: Genesis 3:15, Genesis 12:3, and Genesis 49:10. Now we are dealing with Jesus Christ as seen in the types (or the prototypes of him) given in Genesis. Last time, we looked at Adam. Romans 5:14 says that Adam was a type, a tupos, a pattern of him who was to come, meaning Jesus Christ. Both Adam and Jesus came into the world differently than any other man. Both were sinless and pure. Both were tempted by the devil. Both became the heads of races. But the 1st Adam committed an act of disobedience, resulting in condemnation for the world. The 2nd Adam committed an act of obedience resulting in justification for the world.But the parallels between the 1st and 2nd Adam go even deeper, and today I would like share with you 6 points of amazing comparison by which God was teaching us about Christ and his church. The passage in Ephesians that we read speaks of the church as a bride to the Lord Jesus Christ, just as a woman might be to a man in human marriage. There’s a correspondence or a parallel there. When Jesus spoke about his second coming, he used the figure of speech of a bridegroom coming back for his bride. John the Baptist referred to himself as the best man or the friend of the bridegroom who had come to announce his arrival. And the book of Revelation speaks several times of the church as being the bride of Christ. So here’s our question. Are there any parallels between God’s preparing a bride for the 1st Adam, and God’s preparing a bride for the 2nd Adam? Yes. There are 5. A Deep SleepFirst, there was a deep sleep. Genesis 2:21 says, "So the Lord God caused the man (Adam) to fall into a deep sleep, and while he was sleeping" God performed this remarkable surgery. Now, this is a very important verse in medical history. If you had grown ill in mid-19th century Scotland, you would have wanted to search out Sir James Young Simpson, the most respected doctor in Edinburgh. He became Senior President of the Royal Medical Society at the astonishing age of 24. As time passed, he racked up one honor after another until he became the most far-famed doctor of his day.Simpson was a compassionate doctor, and he was deeply troubled at the suffering and pain involved in surgery. At that time, there were no anesthetics. If someone needed a leg amputated, it was only possible by strapping the patient to the table and cutting through bone and tissue with no painkiller. Troubled by this, Simpson periodically gathered together in his home, usually on Monday evenings, a group of doctors. They would take various chemicals, powers, crystals, and so forth, place them over a burner, and inhale the fumes. Nothing seemed to work. And then one night, a guest produced a substance he had purchased in Paris. It was called chloroform. They put it over the flames, and presently one after another, the doctors slipped from their chairs, under the table, unconscious.Simpson pioneered the use of chloroform in surgery. But he had tremendous opposition, and if you can believe it, much of the opposition was philosophical and theological. People said that pain was a God-given ingredient in life and we should not try to circumvent it.But Sir James Young Simpson was a dedicated Christian and a great student of the Bible. He was very disturbed that some insisted that pain was ordained by God and that any artificial means to alleviate it was outside his will. So he plunged into this Bible, seeking answers. In his Bible reading, on just the first or second page, he came to this story and to this verse, that God caused a deep sleep to fall over Adam before the flesh was opened. He studied the passage very carefully and wrote a paper for the journal of medicine of Edinburgh. It was titled, "Answer to the Religious Objections Advanced Against the Employment of Anesthetic Agents in Midwifery and Surgery."And a new age of medicine had begun. One of the things Sir James discovered is that the Hebrew word used here for sleep is not the normal word that typically occurs in the Old Testament when it refers to someone falling asleep. It is a word that implies a deep state of total insensibility and complete unconsciousness, more like a coma.Henry Morris says in his commentary on Genesis, "It seems almost as though Adam ‘died’ when as yet there was no death in the world, in order that he might obtain a bride to share his life." Can you see the symbolic significance of that? But there’s more. A Wounded SideThere is a wounded side. Genesis 2:21 says, "So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was still sleeping he took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh."Here again, let me quote from Henry Morris’ commentary on Genesis. He writes, "It is very likely that the word ‘rib’ is a poor translation. The Hebrew word appears 35 times in the OT and this is the only time it was translated ‘rib.’ Most of the time it is simply translated ‘side.’" In other words, God cut open Adam’s side and somehow from the bone and blood and flesh, he created a bride so that Adam could literally say, "This is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh."One commentator that I consulted said this: "I believe that in the creation of Eve, Adam gave his literal blood. God opened his side and this implies a wound and blood-shedding."I hardly need to point out John 19:34: One of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. Rock of Ages, cleft for me,Let me hide myself in thee;Let the water and the blood,From thy wounded side which flowed,Be of sin the double cure, Save from wrath and make me pure.Genesis 2:22 says that from Adam’s side God made a woman. The Hebrew word is not translated here as well as it should be. It occurs scores of times in the Old Testament, but only twice is it translated "made." In all the other places, it is translated "built." God built a wife. In a literal sense, we can say that Eve was the only really well-built woman in history. And the Bible says that God is building his church from the wounded side of the second Adam. A Reciprocal RelationshipThere is more. In the story of Adam and Eve, you have a deep sleep, a wounded side, and, third, a reciprocal relationship. They were made for each other. In Genesis 2:18, The Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." But then, as the passage unfolds, God brought all the animals one by one to Adam. 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 of the 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."And God placed them in a relationship called marriage, and in this relationship, we are told in the Bible, that the man and the woman have slightly different needs. While both husband and wife in a marriage need love and respect and affection and a sense of self-worth, there is a special sense in which the man needs his wife’s respect and a wife needs her husband’s affection. Ephesians 5 has been greatly attacked over the years for say, "Wives, submit to your husbands and husbands love your wives as Christ loves the church." But if you really want to correctly interpret what the Lord is saying about marriage, you have to remember the last verse of the chapter. We read it earlier, but here it is again: Each one of you must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.One of the most widely-read books in recent years on the subject of marriage is John Gray’s Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus. In a nutshell, this book says that there are certain gender differences between men and women. Both men and women are motivated by love. But Martians (men) typically feel loved when they are needed. Venusians feel love when they are cared for. A man need’s his wife’s respect, and a wife needs her husband’s affection—just as Romans 5 says.And just as we see in the relationship between Christ and his bride. He is the head of his body, the church. He is to be respected and obeyed and revered. But we, his bride, need to feel his love. Many times, I have shared the testimony of Agnes Frazier, her story about her devotions after her husband Emmett died. They had enjoyed their morning devotions together for over 50 years. Now, the morning after his passing, she didn’t think she could sit at the breakfast table and read the Bible. But she did, and the text she came to was Isaiah 54:4 and 5—You will...remember no more the reproach of your widowhood. For your Maker is your husband—the Lord Almighty is his name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer... She smiled and said, "Thank you, Lord." We are the bride of Christ. We give him our respect, or obedience, our adoration; and he gives us his everlasting, free-flowing love. A Mutual MissionFourth, there is a mutual mission. God didn’t place Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden just to lay on their backs and gaze into the clouds and eat grapes and pomegranates. Look at Genesis 1:28: 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..."Adam was to reign over the earth with Eve as his partner and helpmeet. And on this earth in this dispensation, Jesus Christ is building his kingdom, and we are his partner and his helpmeet. We aren’t here just to build fine houses and easy lives for ourselves. We are here to extend and strengthen the Kingdom for Christ and his glory. He said, "All authority has been given to me on earth and in heaven. Therefore, go and make disciples. And remember, I am with you always, even to the end of the world."I was deeply moved the other day by something that I read in an old, undated book of missionary stories that I found on the back shelf of a dusty, used book shop in London. The author told of a loathsome leper, old and dying, who came to the leprosarium operated by the Methodists in China. Someone had told him that he would find room there, and he had come there to die. He was in the final stages of the disease, clad in nothing more that a bit of burlap tied around him by a string. He had not a relative in the world. But in the leprosarium he settled down in the room given him and began talking with the Chinese chaplain. After hearing the Gospel, he was asked if he wanted to become a Christian. "No," he said."Why not?""Because," the poor man replied, "you say your Jesus died for me. He gave himself for me. I have nothing to give him in return for a gift like that.""Oh, he wants no gift except yourself.""But how could he possibly want an ill-smelling, rotten old leper like me? It can not be!"But eventually the old leper was convinced, and he humbly asked Jesus Christ to come into his life as Savior and Lord. Then what did he do? He started limping from patient to patient, telling the good news, urging them, too, to become part of the Bride of Christ.But he had less than two years to live. Soon both of his feet dropped off, both of his eyes decayed from his head, and his life ebbed away. As he was dying, the chaplain came to his bedside for a final conversation. The old man felt badly that he had been converted so late in life. He worried that he had not done more. And when the chaplain leaned over to speak with him, the old fellow said this: "When I reach Father’s house, will Jesus blame me for not getting any more, or will he remember that I was just a rotten old leper? I only got fourteen."What did he mean? He meant that during his two years, he had won only fourteen souls for Christ. Fourteen souls! He only had twenty-four months, but he had been about his mission, side-by-side with the Bridegroom, doing what he could where he was.Dangerous EnemyBut the devil wants to divert us, and that brings us to the final parallel—a dangerous enemy. Adam’s bride faced a dangerous enemy, the very same which is today faced by the bride of the second Adam. You cannot miss the parallel if you read it as stated in 2 Corinthians 11. The apostle Paul is very concerned with problems in the church at Corinth. They have been very careless morally and spiritually, and listen to the words Paul used in warning them:/I hope you will put up with a little of my foolishness; but you are already doing that. I am jealous for you with a godly jealously. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. (Christ wants his bride, his church, you and me to be pure and spotless and faithful to him). But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. Here, Eve is put side-by-side with the church, the one being the bride of the first Adam and the other being the bride of the second Adam. Eve is a type of the church. And the primary point the Lord here makes has to do with how vulnerable we are. How easily the devil can lead us astray. How cunningly he seeks to draw us away from Jesus Christ.I wonder if he has been successful with you. Has the devil drawn away your heart from Jesus Christ? Have you been led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ? Our are you about your Master’s business? Then it’s time to make some decisions. Time to return. Time to repent. Time to rediscover your first love.And who is our first love?Well, who is it that entered this world differently than any other man? He was sinless? He was tempted of the devil, and later became the head of a great race of humanity? He fell into a deep sleep? From whose wounded side came a Bride to be a helpmeet?‘Tis the Lord, the King of GloryThe Bible begins by giving us Adam and Eve as a prototype of Christ and his church. It gives us Song of Solomon, telling us how tenderly God loves us even as a husband loves his bride. Jesus told us he will return for us soon, as a bridegroom returning for his bride. Husbands are told to love their wives as Christ loves the church. The book of Revelation describes the return of Christ as the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. And the Bible ends with this final invitation: The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely.