In reality, the traditional view of Genesis 2, believed by many Christians, distorts scripture by assuming facts not in evidence. Genesis is an explanation of origins. It is not a dissertation on marriage relationships. God asserts the importance of human relationships by observing:
“It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.” Genesis 2:18
Adam was a one of a kind original. The animals had compatible companions but Adam was all alone. Here was Adam, a perfect man, alone and lonely because no other human beings existed and Eve had not yet been created.
Adam, the original, perfect man in a perfect world, had God as his intimate companion yet God knew His companionship was not enough for Adam. In the midst of fellowship with God, Adam still needed someone like himself - an orientation compatible partner - for emotional, physical and spiritual companionship.
Just as God is the original community as Trinity, so we are humans are made in His image. Alvin Plantinga has written, “At the center of the universe, self-giving love is the dynamic currency of the Trinitarian life of God. The persons within God exalt each other, commune with each other, defer to one another. Each person, so to speak, makes room for the other.” Jesus began his public ministry hearing these words of affirmation from the Father, “You are my son, marked and chosen by my love, the pride of my life.” That same family love that the Father has for Jesus, includes us. It is into this love between the Father and the Son that Jesus invites us. The circle of the Trinity is opened and the warmth of the love between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit draws us in.
We reflect God made in His image in that we were created to be fulfilled and completed through relationships.
“It is not good to be alone…” goes straight to the greatest fear of human life. Loneliness or being cut off from others leaves the deepest wound.
We were made to be completed and fulfilled in our relationships with each other. Not even God is enough for Adam. Adam is created prior to Eve, has the entire garden to himself, with God as His companion, and yet “it is not good for man to be alone.” This should undermine the Jesus and me theology, that says I can live this Christian life by myself. No, as we shall see we were made for community and Jesus came to create a new humanity that is a restoration of our tarnished image.
The New Testament covenantal community birthed through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Not all of us married or have found that kind of intimacy. For all of us who have failed to keep our promises or have been victims of other broken promises there is a community of grace. We are all promise breakers in one form or another. None of us has ever fully kept our promises; we have violated God’s law and standards. So God looked beyond His original role as Creator to when He would pursue us as Redeemer all the way to sending His Son into this world to buy our sinful lives back through the cross.
The image of God in us that was tarnished through our promise breaking, would be restored by the One who bore the very image of God, Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul says of Jesus in Colossians 1:15, “He is the image of the invisible God...” The true image bearer, the God-man, came among us to restore the image of God in us and restore a community that bears His image. The church in God’s scheme is the restored community; the place where our isolation in sin that separates us from God and each other is overcome, because the ticket into this community is to admit our brokenness, receive forgiveness, and be reconciled to God and each other.
It is here that our loneliness is filled through the community in whom Jesus dwells, a new humanity infused by the life of the image bearer. This is to be true family that reflects that original family we know as the Triune God. At Christ Church what we long to be is that place where people can say, “I belong here and find my deepest longings fulfilled in the intimacy of relationship is the new humanity that Jesus is creating.”
.
“It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.” Genesis 2:18
Adam was a one of a kind original. The animals had compatible companions but Adam was all alone. Here was Adam, a perfect man, alone and lonely because no other human beings existed and Eve had not yet been created.
Adam, the original, perfect man in a perfect world, had God as his intimate companion yet God knew His companionship was not enough for Adam. In the midst of fellowship with God, Adam still needed someone like himself - an orientation compatible partner - for emotional, physical and spiritual companionship.
Just as God is the original community as Trinity, so we are humans are made in His image. Alvin Plantinga has written, “At the center of the universe, self-giving love is the dynamic currency of the Trinitarian life of God. The persons within God exalt each other, commune with each other, defer to one another. Each person, so to speak, makes room for the other.” Jesus began his public ministry hearing these words of affirmation from the Father, “You are my son, marked and chosen by my love, the pride of my life.” That same family love that the Father has for Jesus, includes us. It is into this love between the Father and the Son that Jesus invites us. The circle of the Trinity is opened and the warmth of the love between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit draws us in.
We reflect God made in His image in that we were created to be fulfilled and completed through relationships.
“It is not good to be alone…” goes straight to the greatest fear of human life. Loneliness or being cut off from others leaves the deepest wound.
We were made to be completed and fulfilled in our relationships with each other. Not even God is enough for Adam. Adam is created prior to Eve, has the entire garden to himself, with God as His companion, and yet “it is not good for man to be alone.” This should undermine the Jesus and me theology, that says I can live this Christian life by myself. No, as we shall see we were made for community and Jesus came to create a new humanity that is a restoration of our tarnished image.
The New Testament covenantal community birthed through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Not all of us married or have found that kind of intimacy. For all of us who have failed to keep our promises or have been victims of other broken promises there is a community of grace. We are all promise breakers in one form or another. None of us has ever fully kept our promises; we have violated God’s law and standards. So God looked beyond His original role as Creator to when He would pursue us as Redeemer all the way to sending His Son into this world to buy our sinful lives back through the cross.
The image of God in us that was tarnished through our promise breaking, would be restored by the One who bore the very image of God, Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul says of Jesus in Colossians 1:15, “He is the image of the invisible God...” The true image bearer, the God-man, came among us to restore the image of God in us and restore a community that bears His image. The church in God’s scheme is the restored community; the place where our isolation in sin that separates us from God and each other is overcome, because the ticket into this community is to admit our brokenness, receive forgiveness, and be reconciled to God and each other.
It is here that our loneliness is filled through the community in whom Jesus dwells, a new humanity infused by the life of the image bearer. This is to be true family that reflects that original family we know as the Triune God. At Christ Church what we long to be is that place where people can say, “I belong here and find my deepest longings fulfilled in the intimacy of relationship is the new humanity that Jesus is creating.”
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