"One Flesh"

Genesis 2:7–9 ESV

then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 2:15–25 ESV

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 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.” Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” 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. 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. 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. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 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.” Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

I want to begin my time by quickly clarifying something I said last week. I made the statement that, “God loves you just the way you are.” That statement I believe can be taken in the wrong way, and what I meant by saying that is that God loves you just the way he has designed you or created you. That would be either male or female. I was not making the statement in regards to how we are living, because God does love us but he desires for us to keep growing in our faith and follow Him. So, just a quick clarification. Sorry for any confusion there.

Now this morning I want to dive in and address what this statement One Flesh means, and is helping to understand. Have you ever heard the phrase used “Perfect Marriage?” When God designed the world he would make man too rule over the world or too subdue it. But, God realized that man was alone, and so he made a suitable partner for him. This was a wonderful picture of equality and complementarity. God took something out of man to create woman. In order to show their perfect fit, God told the man and woman to be fruitful and multiply. Eventually this couple would start a new family of their own. This was all part of God’s plan for the Perfect union or marriage.

For over 2,000 years the church has made it a priority to worship Christ Jesus who saves, forgives, and transforms lives. We believe that Christ convicts us of sin, converts us and is some day coming again. I want you to know that I whole heartedly believe this as well. I am a Christian, I have submitted my life to Christ, and I also treat the Bible as God’s inspired Word. It is my authority on every matter pertaining to this life. With that being said you may think that I have a narrow focus on certain views and especially the one we are going to look at this morning. Defending a traditional view of marriage. But from God’s Word I believe it to be the right and only view of marriage. Over the past several years be have seen a steady accepting of a different view on marriage even within the church. You may have heard this phrase used about a specific church. We are accepting and affirming of same sex relationships. Of course I would agree that we should accept anyone who desires to come to church and that even someone who is involved in this type of relationship sees it as wrong and desires forgiveness they can be forgiven. The problem however is that we have justified that it is ok and that there is nothing wrong with this type of behavior. Many folks say that we should not only be accepting but affirm this type of life style. So, where do we line up as a church and what does God’s Word have to say about this???

There are several reasons we are right to think that Genesis 1 and 2 establishes God’s design for marriage and that the design requires one man and one woman.

1. Woman was created to show us that she was man’s divine fit.

Genesis 2:21 ESV

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.

God takes one of Adam’s ribs in order to make this suitable helper for him. This is what verse 18 tells us here. Then notice verse 22.

Genesis 2:22 ESV

And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.

What we see here in verse 22 is that woman didn’t just appear out of thin air, or out of the dust of the ground. She actually came from the side of the man. What this shows us, or what makes woman so wonderful and unique is that she is like the man, because she is bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh, and yet she is also different from the man. So, the text here wants us to see the sameness and difference. Adam delights in the fact that Eve is a woman and not another animal or even man. Eve is exactly what Adam needs, which is a suitable helper, equal to him and yet also his opposite. The word for woman here is the Hebrew word (ishah) which is taken out of the Hebrew word for man (ish). This was a new creation that God designed from the side of man to be something other than man.

Genesis 2:23 ESV

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.”

God knew exactly what man needed and gave him just that. This was a divine fit.

2. This wonderful picture of the “One Flesh” union presumes two persons of the opposite sex.

Genesis 2:24 ESV

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

The language here used or described tells us that Adam and Eve are “One Flesh.” What this points to is sexual intimacy. That is why we see in verse 25 that the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. In fact, that is why Paul uses the language one flesh when warning the Corinthians against being joined to a prostitute. Look at this with me.

1 Corinthians 6:15–16 ESV

Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.”

The act of sexual intercourse brings a man and woman together as one relationally and organically. The sameness of parts does not allow for two people to become one in the same way. What I mean by that statement is just having physical contact with someone doesn’t bring them together. The example would be like someone holding hands or sticking your finger in someones ear. This is not a special union like that of sexual intimacy between a man and a woman. Also let me just say this it is not natural to have a same sex relationship.

Romans 1:26–27 ESV

For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

Paul tells us here that this same sex relationship is contrary to nature. Ok we need to move on.

Genesis 2:24 ESV

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

Verse 24 begins here with Therefore. Anytime we see a therefore in scripture we have to ask what is is there for. This word can also mean for or for this reason. It is connecting the intimacy of becoming one flesh. This was a very special union that God designed and he made both for each other.

3. Only two people from the opposite sex can fulfill God’s procreative design for marriage.

Genesis 2:18 ESV

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

One of the reasons that it was not good for man to be alone is because by himself he could not reflect one of God’s good designs for the world. The vegetation, trees, birds, fish, and animals could multiply on their own, but how would Adam be able to do this without a helper suitable for him? So, God created the man and the woman deliberately so that they could be fruitful and multiply. Check out Genesis 1:28.

Genesis 1:28 ESV

And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Clearly we are meant to see offspring from the union between a man and a woman. Sometimes however married men and women are unable to have children because of biological reasons, a sickness, or even old age. We see this happen throughout Scripture. Sarah, Rachel, Leah and even Hannah were not able to have children. Marriage is, by definition, if everything is working properly, a wonderful union in which a man and wife can conceive children. Homosexual unions by their very nature do not fulfill this, or cannot produce children on their own without the help of a male figure or adoption, or other means.

Having Children is the natural out workings of a marriage covenant between a husband and his wife.

Malachi 2:15 ESV

Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth.

Malachi is rebuking the men of Judah for treating their wives faithlessly. God desires that as the man and woman come together as one flesh, that they might produce godly offspring. Parents I understand that some of you today have some difficult children running around, and they at times can be a handful, but they really are gifts from the Lord. We can thank God for blessing us with children.

4. Jesus himself reinforces the normal nature of the Genesis account.

When Jesus shows up and begins his earthly ministry some of the religious leaders have some questions on divorce and whether it was allowable or not?

Matthew 19:4–6 ESV

He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

Jesus of course helps them understand that divorce should not happen for any reason except on the grounds of sexual immorality. To make his point Jesus reminds those that were gathered around that God from the very beginning made them male and female and then he quotes directly from Genesis 2:24.

-Genesis 2:24. Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

We also see a similar account of this in the gospel of Mark.

-Mark 10:6-9. God created only two humans, not a group of males or females. God did not create groups who could configure as they wanted or switch partners if that suited them. He only created 2, and one was male and the other female. The world translated here in Mark for “to join” literally means to glue, helping us see the strength of the marriage bond. God looks at a marriage as one flesh or one union. The plan or design is that the two stay together for a lifetime. Because God has ordained marriage, he tells us here in Mark let this bond not be broken by man.

Closing: Here in Genesis one and two we see an amazing redemptive and historical significance of marriage. We see it because marriage was designed as a complementary pair.

-Think about creation itself. Genesis 1:1 tells us that In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. They complement each other.

-Then there is the sun and moon.

-Morning and Evening.

-How about the sea and the dry land.

-Plants and animals.

-And finally at the top of everything God brings man his wife.

What I want you to see today is that in all of these pairing each belongs to the other. Heaven and earth were created to be together. In fact, that is how the whole story of the Bible ends. There is this coming together of heaven and earth in-Revelation 21-22. And then we see something truly amazing. In Revelation chapter 19 we see this Marriage Supper of the Lamb.Marriage is a picture of how the heavens and earth fit together because it shows us how Christ and His bride the church come together.

Ephesians 5:31–32 ESV

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.

This special bond between a husband and wife is a wonderful thing, because it is what God has designed. When a husband and wife come together they are one flesh.

Homosexuality cannot fit with the wonderful creative order in Genesis 1 and 2.

Yes, God created mankind and our bodies.

But, He designed us differently in the fact that some our created male and some are created female.

He also has a good plan for our lives when we follow him and are obedient to His Word. My prayer for our church is that we we know what His word says and stick to His good plans.

(Close in Prayer and Lead into Communion)