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Text: Genesis 2:18-25

Summary:

The eternal God has created the world. He's created Man in His own image. He's given Adam a vocation, as well as authority to be exercised in view of God's exceeding charity, terrifying penalty, and communicated sovereignty. But for all that God intended him to be, Adam needed a human counterpart, a co-equal complement. Adam needed the divine goodness of a wife. Our text gives the historical account of this, but there's more than meets the eye at first. The divine institution of marriage, the true crown atop creation, is a profound and prophetic mystery revealed in the Gospel of Christ, His pursuit of His Bride, and her everlasting union to Him. Alas, we find a remedial revelation before the plague of sin takes over the world. Creation exists for the glory of God's grace in Christ, our Redeemer. He is the Lamb of God, slain before the foundation of the world.

Sermon Outline:

1. The prelude to creation's crowning moment. (2:18-22)
2. The poetry of creation's crowning moment. (2:23)
3. The principle in creation's crowning moment. (2:24-25)
4. The prophecy in creation's crowning moment. (Eph 5:29-32)

Prepare

Discussion Questions:

1. Read Genesis 2:18-25 and Ephesians 5:29-32.
2. What is the build-up to 2:18? What relationship does the text bear to its context? To creation? To the impending Fall? How does God create a sense of deepest need and appreciation in Adam? What is the need? How is she made? What is her most immediate purpose with respect to Adam?
3. How does Adam in respond to her in 2:23? What does he say? What do the words mean?
4. What commentary does Moses give upon Adam's celebratory words in 2:24-25? What does Jesus add in Matthew 19:6? Do you find a missional element? What of a new family? Any body imagery? What about their intimacy?
5. What does the Holy Spirit grant Paul to make of 2:24 in Ephesians 5:29-32? What is this marriage and every marriage ultimately meant to preach? What's the greater, more permanent reality behind the temporary model? What aspects of the Gospel are we to discern in the opening moments of the Bible?