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Genesis 2 – The Communion

 

 “Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them were finished.”

 

How wonderful to know that God is faithful to finish His work! Just as He was determined and faithful to complete His new creation, He is absolutely trustworthy regarding every life that has been turned over to Him. Our lives were (or are) tohu va bohu -- empty and meaningless, void and vain, but as we choose to surrender our will to His, we are ourselves recreated, transformed and filled with new life. The apostle Paul wrote to the Philippian church:

 

“I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,...being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;” Phil 1:3-6

 

And to the Corinthian believers, he wrote:

 

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” 2 Cor 5:17

 

This is so splendid because the faithfulness of God is as absolute as His goodness. This is in stark contrast to the entire history of man; you see, my tendency, along with most of you, is to flake-out, to take the easy route and give up when the task seems too demanding. Now, as I grow in the Lord, becoming more and more aware of my own wretchedness apart from Him, I am increasingly amazed that He doesn’t give up on me. I am thrilled that He is committed to completing the task of my recreation!

 

“And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.”

 

It’s important to note this principle of the shabat, God is not bound by anything yet He chose to take a day of rest as an example. Note that in all of His creation there are only two things which God blessed -- man and the sabbath. Man’s blessing involved fruitfulness and dominion over all living things. The Sabbath's blessing involved rest.

 

Now, why would God rest? He can’t get tired; He’s omnipotent. Certainly, being an example to man was one possible reason, but why didn’t the Lord simply command man here to take a day off as He commanded him not to eat of the fruit of the Tree later? Let me suggest that He made Himself a ‘visual aid’ because of the Sabbath's importance relevant to the central figure in all scripture -- Christ.

 

This rest was a foreshadowing of two things -- the reign of Christ in the heart of every true believer and of His millennial reign on earth. The former rest concerns our ceasing from our own works -- halting from our desperate attempts to earn salvation or to merit God’s blessing.

 

As we read in chapter one, all that God made was very good; it was a paradise. After it was created, He placed man in it and simply told him to tend it. In other words, man never had to earn or merit this paradise; he never had to work for it. He simply worked in it. And the same is true concerning our salvation - it’s Grace - an unearned, unmerited gift from God. We don’t work for it either; we just work in it. That is, we respond to the love and goodness of God with our own labors.

 

Now many religious systems embrace the doctrine of sabbath but they generally make it a ritualistic observance and miss the whole point behind it - that is, resting in God’s salvation, His goodness.

 

“This is the history (literally generations) of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,...”

 

Actually, I think verse three of chapter two should be the last verse of chapter one. Here the Lord begins a recap with a different angle so to speak - one that focuses in on man, the garden of Eden, and the manifested heart of God in wanting man to know the joy of intimacy and fellowship with Him.

 

“...before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground.”

 

Before man came on the scene, before the plants, the atmosphere of the earth was moist and misty. There was no rain, just a gentle mist that watered the whole earth. Now, this is fascinating from an agricultural and scientific view but more importantly, it pictures the pervasive presence of the Lord. Throughout scripture, the coming of God’s Word to earth is pictured as watering it:

 

“For as the rain comes down and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” Isa 55:10,11

 

Not only was the earth watered but the soul of man was to be blessed by a wonderful intimacy with his Creator. And one day soon it will be like that again:

 

“Behold, the days are coming says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah --... I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord.’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”         Jer 31:31-34

 

The whole earth shall be filled with the intimate, heartwarming knowledge of the Lord!

 

“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 being.”

 

You know, you’re pretty disgusting. Yes, that’s right - you. And me! We can be so ‘dusty’, that is, carnal and ‘earthy’. How thankful I am that God knows that:

 

“He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.”    Psa 103:14

 

That really frees us up in a sense. Oh, not to go and ‘flesh-out’, but rather to give our brothers ‘space’ so to speak, to love them in spite of their earthiness. God loves us despite our own. We don’t have to go around sin-sniffing and getting all up tight by their dustiness.

 

And when the devil tells me, “You are so earthy and sinful.” I can reply, “You don’t know the half of it -- I’m more sinful than you can imagine. But that just amplifies God’s graciousness. He knows my dustiness and still He loves me and died to cleanse me from all of it. And I’ve got an eternal, loving relationship with Him because of that!”

 

“The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed.”

 

I love this because it exemplifies our Father’s heart again. Adam’s resting, he’s not on some quest, or tracking down his destiny, yet God places him in paradise. How can we doubt the goodness of God? There was no union contract or binding arbitration on Him -- it was His desire and His idea to make this perfect place and then to pop Adam down in the midst of it. I’m convinced that if we’ll follow Him, God continues to put us in the perfect place.

 

Now, you might say, “that’s not my experience! I’ve tried to follow God’s leadings and look where I am! It’s not a paradise; it’s a den of vice!” or, “If you knew my situation and how much I’ve tried to follow the Lord...if you knew my wife or my husband or my boss or...”

 

Well, if you’ve turned left and you knew God said, “Go right.” and you find yourself in a precarious position, then you can know God did not place you there. But you can also know that where ever you are, you can still turn to him and find yourself back on track. Jonah the prophet was such a man. God told him to ‘go right’ and speak a warning message to the people of Ninevah. But Jonah headed left to Joppa just as fast as he could. There he hitched a ride to the furthest part of the earth he knew about -- it wasn’t just ‘left’ but ‘left field’, in fact the ‘left field bleachers’! Oh, but God is faithful with His children.

 

You may remember the story, Jonah went down to Joppa, then down to the ship, then down into the hold of the ship, then down into the stormy sea as the crew threw him overboard, and finally down into the belly of the great fish. Jonah thought he was as far from God as any man could be. Nevertheless, the Bible says, “the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah.”  And even as he was trying to hide from God, God had prepared his own ‘Eden’ - his own perfect place, that is, the perfect place for Jonah, the place Jonah needed to be.

 

You see, it was there amongst the gastric juices that Jonah discovered the salvation of God and that God was committed to him even in spite of his rebellion:

 

“Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish’s belly. And he said:

            I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction. And He answered me. Out of the belly of Sheol (the grave) I cried, and You heard my voice.” Jonah 2:1,2

 

So Jonah, probably bleached and putrid from head to toe, cried out to the Lord, and up and out he went -- vomited onto the beach. You see, even though we may stray, our God loves us and is absolutely committed to us. And nothing in all of creation is stronger than His grace.

 

How much better, though, to be obedient to the voice of the Lord! There’s a wonderful peace of mind when you’re trusting that where you are is where you’re meant to be; even if it doesn’t seem tropical and ideal, your ‘garden’ is the perfect place for you.

 

“And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”

 

Isn’t it interesting that He placed both of these important trees right in the middle of the garden. As we’ll soon see, Adam was told not to eat from one of them - the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. As such, these continually represented to he and Eve the choice to do God’s will or not. Likewise, in our own ‘garden’ we continually have the same choice, we’re ever confronted with it. The old saying is so true - real love demands a choice.

 

My daughter, when she was little, had a doll on which you could pull a little string and it would say different phrases like, “You’re so cute.” or, “Let’s have tea.” You know, I could sit down with this little doll and pull the ring and hear it say, “You’re so cute” and somehow it just wasn’t believable. But to hear someone who doesn’t have to say it speak those three wonderful words, “I love you” brings just incredible joy.

 

So in this paradise were planted all these beautiful, fruitful trees - lovely in appearance with many bearing some sort of good food. And how poetic it is, in a sense, that the tree God ‘planted’ in the midst of every believer’s garden (that is, the heart) is also “pleasant to the sight” and “good for food” -- the cross of Calvary. Peter the apostle, referring to Jesus, wrote, “who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness--by whose stripes you were healed.”  1Pet2:24

 

Now you might say, “The cross was a cruel instrument of death. It was not a pleasant sight.” and of course, that’s right. But in realizing and believing what Christ’s death on the cross means, that instrument of death became the most beautiful tree of all and its fruit the source of life.

 

“Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads.”

 

The number four in scripture signifies the world - you have the four seasons, the ‘four corners of the earth’, and such. Here, the river that watered the paradise of Eden also flowed out and watered the world around it. In like manner, the water of God’s word (Eph 5:26) that blesses the heart of the believer is intended to also overflow into the world around.

 

“The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which runs through the whole land of Havilah where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and the onyx stone are there.”

 

In the Bible, names are very important. Unlike today, where we name someone or something a name that just sounds nice, these people or places were named names that were descriptive of them in a present or prophetic sense. Names were powerful and meaningful. In fact, the ancients believed that if you knew someone’s name, you held a kind of power or influence over them. This is fascinating when you consider that we do not know how to pronounce the Name of God spoken to Moses from the burning bush (Ex 3:14).

 

But in the names of these rivers, we get a picture of Christ. The first is Pishon which means a “great effusion”, that is, a fountain or great overflowing. Consider that Jesus said, “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart (his garden) will flow rivers (literally torrents or great effusions) of living water.” John 7:38

 

In addition, the name Havilah means “one that suffers pain”. How appropriate that is when you consider that this is exactly what the love and life of Christ does -- it overflows from the heart of the believer and winds its way throughout the places of pain and suffering all around. And, I like the fact that it says that there is gold in those places - good gold. For it is in our deepest difficulties that we discover the riches of faith, hope, and trust in our God - eternal riches, not just temporal.

 

“The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which goes throughout the whole land of Cush.”

 

Now Gihon has two meanings and they are both important - ‘great eruption of waters’ and ‘the valley of grace’. Where in the life of Christ do we witness a great eruption or breaking out of water and does it have anything to do with grace?

 

Look to the cross; there, we find the answer for as He hung, having died, John the apostle records: “Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.” John 19:32-34

 

In piercing the pericardium, that sack which surrounds the heart, they released the water. We now know that in times of extreme grief and sorrow, the pericardium will fill with water. I think it has been accurately said that though Christ did not die from a broken heart, He died with a broken heart.

 

Here is the breaking forth of water that was the perfect expression of God’s grace. God’s gift of salvation to us. The death of His precious Son to atone for all of our sins - a gift we did not merit in any way. And that flow has been winding its way for nearly two thousand years throughout this place named Cush.

 

Cush means ‘blackness’, and Cush was the father of Nimrod who we will see later became the legendary rebel against God, initiating what many scholars believe to be the original post-diluvian false religious system. But indeed, that’s where grace penetrates and abounds - places of rebellion and darkness: “For where iniquity abounds, there does grace much more abound.” Rom 5:20

 

“The name of the third river is Hiddekel (or Tigris); it is the one which borders the east of Assyria (or Ashshur).”

 

Hiddekel means a ‘sharp voice’ and indeed, Christ’s voice (though He did not shout) was sharp as a sword for He spoke the Word of God. In fact, He is the Word of God. It was said of Him prophetically, “Listen, O coastlands, to Me, and take heed, you peoples from afar! The Lord has called Me from the womb; from the matrix of My mother He has made mention of My name. And He has made My mouth like a sharp sword;” Isa 49:1,2

 

In concert, the writer of the book of Hebrews says, “For the Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Heb 4:12

 

The fact that this river borders Assyria is great, for Assyria means ‘one who is happy and walks on prosperously’. You see, as we take heed to what Jesus said, to the Word of God, and make it the border or parameter of our life, we find the happiness and prosperity God intends. Now, some today would have us believe that this prosperity and happiness are just material-based but I firmly believe that they are primarily spiritual and thus eternal.

 

“The fourth river is the Euphrates.”

 

Now, Euphrates has two meanings as well – ‘fertilizing’ and ‘fruitful’. Unlike today where we have all sorts of chemicals to put into the soil, fertilizing was historically the result of mixing with the soil some animal or plant life that had died. The result, of course was increased fruitfulness. Again, this is the Lord Jesus. His death and burial brought forth the fruit of the Kingdom - eternal life.

 

Note that this is the only river for which there is no described course. To me, that’s right on because Christ died for the sins of the whole world. The gift of eternal life is for anyone who will receive it. It’s not limited to any people or nation or church or ‘political party’. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

 

“Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 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.””

 

Man was placed in paradise to enjoy it but he was also to tend and keep it. That reminds me of the story of the farmer who, as he was showing his farm to a visiting pastor was a little perturbed when the clergyman said, “This place is beautiful. You must feel just really blessed when you look at what God gave to you.” The old farmer stuck out his lower lip and shook his head. His terse response was, “Preacher, you should have seen it when God had it!”

 

Of course, his perspective was funny in its distortion. Nevertheless, God did ordain man for labor - believe it or not, it’s one of the more spiritual things you can do - IN BALANCE. A good day’s work is good for the soul. Indeed, one of the reasons man is presently plagued with so many problems is his penchant for idleness. Now, for some, it’s just the opposite and work can become a consuming thing - that’s not God’s intent; He said to both enjoy and work - a balanced harmony.

 

We should note also that in tasting of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, all man would ‘gain’ would be the knowledge of evil. He already knew God and His creation thus he was already thoroughly intimate with good. It’s possible that the attraction of knowing evil was part of what captivated Eve’s heart (as we’ll see later). And it’s the same way today especially with young people who have grown up in a loving home, knowing the goodness of God. Many are, like Eve attracted to know or experience evil.

 

We’ve got to understand that evil can be attractive - it’s one reason people are ‘glued’ to the TV or movie screens; evil - whether violence or sexual lewdness, or irreverence of some sort is, in a way, ‘attractive’ and pleasurable - but ONLY FOR A SEASON.

 

“By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin...” Heb 11:24,25

 

That’s why all of us, especially parents, need to be actively teaching why evil is evil - it brings death, it destroys, it separates us from intimacy with the source of all that is good - God. Satan’s mantra is, “If it feels good, do it.” He never encourages us to think of the consequences or truly examine whether or not something is good. His tactics include portraying good as evil and evil as good. It’s his grand delusion. However, the scripture says:

 

“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness...” Isa 5:20

 

“And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make a helper comparable to him.” Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam, there was not found a helper comparable to him.”

 

So again, we see pictured that God was/is consistently looking to do good for man. He knows the sweetness of intimate fellowship and He wanted Adam to have that as well. Now, along came all the birds and beasts, and Adam gave names to each one - Mr. and Mrs. Hippopotamus, Mr. and Mrs. Baboon, Mr. and Mrs. Swan - and at some point the ‘light’ probably went on, “Hey, wait a minute, there’s no Mr. and Mrs. Adam!”

 

Understand that this whole process was to put into Adam’s mind, that is, that he was lacking something or rather someone - someone comparable to him. None of this was for God’s benefit. He knew what He was going to do and what Adam would name each creature. This was for Adam, to make him aware of his need. And the Lord is still doing this, isn’t He? He’ll often put us in situations that compel us to comprehend our need, and then He provides it.

 

And “comparable” is the key word here. Different versions of the Bible translate this idea in a variety of ways: “helper meet” (suitable, adapted, completing) (Amplified); “a companion . . . a helper suited to his needs” (Living); “a helper such as he needs” (Beck); “a helper correspondent to himself” (Septuagint Bible); “a helper suitable” (NIV, NASB); “a help meet for him” (KJV). But the idea is the same in all of them.(Guzik)

 

It wasn’t a matter of Adam recognizing a creature with hands and feet walking upright. Remember, Adam was essentially, the most perfect man apart from Christ to ever live. He was the original handiwork of God and he was likely more intelligent than Einstein.

 

No, this comparableness was to be as deep as the heart. In fact, there is a beautiful Jewish tradition that says that God made woman, not out of man's foot to be under him, nor out of his head to be over him, but "She was taken from under his arm that he might protect her and from next to his heart that he might love her." (Barnhouse)

 

Secondly, we should note “helper” for indeed, Eve was made for that purpose. Nowhere is there a sense of inferiority or servitude but rather that being comparable to him, she would be capable of helping him. Recall that Jesus called the Holy Spirit our Helper:

 

“But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.”      John 15:26

 

And certainly, the Spirit of God is not our servant!

 

Perhaps the understanding of the role of helper can be gleaned from this testimony by Pastor Kent Hughes: “There was a time when I was going through some dark days, some of the darkest I have ever known in the ministry. I felt alone. I could not sense the presence or help of God. As I was sharing this late one night with my wife, her life-giving words to me were, “Hold on to my faith. I have enough faith for both of us.” God’s presence through her was an anchor to my soul.”

 

“And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept: and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. 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.””

 

There are a couple of lessons here for us; first, we should note the rest that God brought upon Adam. After revealing his need, God put him in the position of peace and receptivity. We don’t see Adam acting like ‘George of the Jungle’ swinging from tree to tree, peering through foliage, shouting out, “Yoo-hoo, Woman, where are you?” Rather, it was God who brought Eve to Adam. This again speaks of grace, beautiful grace.

 

Unfortunately, we are all too prone to search high and low when we’re lonely - sometimes, to even take the next ‘friendly animal’ we meet and try to make him or her our intimate. But truly, it’s when we are at rest, trusting in the Lord’s good will for us, that we discover His gracious provision - someone who’s just right for us.

 

Second, God made a bride from his side, and the same is true for the One the Bible calls the “last Adam”. When He hung upon the cross, He did not fight death for He trusted in the Father. In a sense, He also was laid to rest, looking forward to His resurrection. And because He had this peace, He died earlier than the other two who were being crucified with Him. In fact, the normal custom was to break the victim’s legs so that he could no longer aspirate by pushing himself up on the spike driven through his feet. So when the soldier came to Jesus, finding Him already dead, he shoved a spear through His side, and John the apostle, who was nearby, records that out of His side flowed blood and water.

 

This is beautiful for blood and water are the fluids of birth. Something was being birthed in His death - the church, His bride. Redeemed by His atoning Blood (1Pet 1:18,19), washed by the water of His Word (Eph 5:25-27), He is indeed making His bride “comparable” to Himself:

 

“Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” 1John 3:2

 

“For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.” 1Cor 13:12

 

This, of course, does not mean that we will be omnipotent or omniscient but rather comparable - a bride fit for intimacy with Him throughout eternity.

 

So when Adam was ‘resurrected’ from the rest God placed him in, he beheld his bride and POW!, Ignition, Blast-off! He was really impressed! Now, this is great, because the apostle Paul wrote in his epistle to the church in Rome that Adam was a type or symbol of Christ (Rom 5:14). I often struggle with this because the longer I’m a Christian, the more aware I am of my own failings and sinful nature. Like Paul, I want to exclaim, “I am the chiefest of sinners!” (1Tim 1:15) I don’t see anything in the mirror that I think would be attractive to Him.

 

But this tells me that when Christ sees His church, just like Adam, He is impressed with His bride - now THAT’S a wonderful mystery!

 

“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.”

 

Let’s return to this idea of comparable for a moment. Again, it was not implying just a physical similarity but really a relatability, an understanding and empathy - “I’ve been there. I know how it is and I can relate personally.” Thus, such a one can be helpful.

 

 

With Adam as a type of Christ, Eve is then a type of His bride, the church. You may have heard it preached that God sent His Son to earth so He would understand us. But I don’t think that’s the case. The writer of Hebrews says, “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are yet without sin.” Heb 4:15   Jesus indeed can sympathize with us because of His being with us, but He already understood us completely - He’s God. He didn’t need to come as a man, suffer the cross (and much more) to gain understanding - but we needed to gain an understanding of God. It’s only when we are ‘comparable’ with Jesus in the sense of relating to Him that we are ‘helpful’ or useful in His hands.

 

So how do we relate to the Lord? When one of my children went to be with the Lord, some people said, “I know how you feel.” and they meant well, but I knew they really didn’t know. They just couldn’t relate. But one day, a pastor friend of mine tragically lost his child in a car accident. And I could honestly say, “I know some of what you’re going through.”

 

Now the apostle Paul found himself relating to Christ in a similar way. He recorded, “what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him...that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”          Phi 3:7-10

 

You see, we increasingly relate to the Lord as we follow in His footsteps. It may mean the loss of certain things in our lives, but even then we will be drawn closer to Him.

 

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined (cling) to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”

 

This is a parenthetical statement. Certainly, there are many lessons for marriage here, but again, we note the allusion to Christ Who left heaven and, in a sense, His Father and the motherly comfort of the Spirit - that perfect unity of fellowship He’d enjoyed since eternity past. He left it to become one with His bride - to bring His church together and into unity with God.

 

Speaking to the Father of His disciples, He said, “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us...” John 17

 

Also, it is written: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”      Gal 3:28

 

“For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.” Eph 5:30-32

 

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

 

Now I mean this reverently - Jesus was indeed naked before us. He bared Himself in two ways - He bared His heart and soul as He taught us the truth and ministered, as He revealed the character of Father God. He also bared His body on the cross of Calvary - He laid His life down. Today, as much as ever, it is sin that causes us to hide our hearts from our spiritual Husband, to be less than honest with Him and others, and to keep our life covered rather than ‘bare’ it and lay it down.

 

You might think, ‘I’m ashamed of my life, the way I’ve thought and acted’, but the beauty of the mystery of God is that in covering your sins with His atoning blood, He set you free from sin’s shame and you can be ‘naked’ (completely open and honest) before Him as He is before you.