WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.240 All right, we're gonna read together from the Old Testament, 00:00:03.240 --> 00:00:08.240 from Genesis chapter two, verses 18 to 25. 00:00:09.320 --> 00:00:11.880 And this is God's holy word to us this morning. 00:00:13.000 --> 00:00:14.160 Then the Lord God said, 00:00:14.160 --> 00:00:17.760 "'It is not good that man should be alone. 00:00:17.760 --> 00:00:20.280 "'I will make him a helper fit for him.' 00:00:20.280 --> 00:00:22.400 "'Now out of the ground, the Lord God had formed 00:00:22.400 --> 00:00:24.780 "'every beast to the field and every bird of the heavens 00:00:24.780 --> 00:00:28.240 "'and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. 00:00:28.239 --> 00:00:30.639 "'And whatever the man called every living creature, 00:00:30.639 --> 00:00:32.079 "'that was its name. 00:00:32.079 --> 00:00:34.420 "'The man gave names to all livestock 00:00:34.420 --> 00:00:36.519 "'and to the birds of the heavens 00:00:36.519 --> 00:00:39.879 "'and to every beast of the field, but for Adam. 00:00:39.879 --> 00:00:42.799 "'There was not found a helper fit for him.' 00:00:42.799 --> 00:00:46.640 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, 00:00:46.640 --> 00:00:50.679 and while he slept, he took one of his ribs 00:00:50.679 --> 00:00:53.599 and closed up its place with flesh. 00:00:53.599 --> 00:00:55.939 And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man 00:00:55.939 --> 00:00:59.119 he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 00:00:59.119 --> 00:01:00.879 And then the man said, 00:01:00.879 --> 00:01:04.599 "'This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. 00:01:04.599 --> 00:01:08.679 "'She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. 00:01:08.679 --> 00:01:11.560 "'Therefore, a man shall leave his father and his mother 00:01:11.560 --> 00:01:13.759 "'and hold fast to his wife, 00:01:13.759 --> 00:01:16.120 "'and they shall become one flesh. 00:01:16.120 --> 00:01:18.599 "'And the man and his wife were both naked 00:01:18.599 --> 00:01:20.060 "'and were not ashamed.'" 00:01:20.060 --> 00:01:21.659 This is God's holy word. 00:01:23.200 --> 00:01:25.280 We are working our way through a series 00:01:25.280 --> 00:01:27.439 on Genesis one and two, 00:01:27.439 --> 00:01:31.640 and we're at the very end today of Genesis chapter two. 00:01:31.640 --> 00:01:34.159 And when we came to Genesis two, 00:01:34.159 --> 00:01:36.480 we started looking at it through the lens 00:01:36.480 --> 00:01:39.240 of Genesis one, 26 to 28, 00:01:39.240 --> 00:01:41.240 where it says that every single human 00:01:41.240 --> 00:01:42.700 was made in God's image. 00:01:43.799 --> 00:01:45.560 And so we were all made in the image of God, 00:01:45.560 --> 00:01:46.840 and we have dignity. 00:01:46.840 --> 00:01:49.359 We bear dignity being made in God's image. 00:01:49.359 --> 00:01:50.760 No matter what you believe in, 00:01:50.760 --> 00:01:52.879 no matter your socioeconomic background, 00:01:52.879 --> 00:01:55.060 your race, your cultural background, 00:01:55.060 --> 00:01:56.960 no matter what you've done in this life, 00:01:56.960 --> 00:01:58.840 you are made in God's image. 00:01:58.840 --> 00:02:01.079 You have dignity and value because of that. 00:02:01.079 --> 00:02:05.240 And in chapter two, really chapter two in some sense, 00:02:05.240 --> 00:02:09.199 just explains what it means to be made in God's image. 00:02:09.199 --> 00:02:11.240 And so to be made in God's image first means 00:02:11.240 --> 00:02:13.060 that we were made for deep, 00:02:13.060 --> 00:02:15.400 abiding relationship with God. 00:02:15.400 --> 00:02:17.199 And so the very first part of Genesis two 00:02:17.199 --> 00:02:20.759 is that we were made to enter into God's Sabbath rest. 00:02:20.759 --> 00:02:22.319 Deep relationship, that's the first thing. 00:02:22.319 --> 00:02:25.239 The second thing is that we're also made by God 00:02:25.239 --> 00:02:27.879 in his image to work, to take dominion, 00:02:27.879 --> 00:02:31.439 the text tells us over land and sea and sky 00:02:31.439 --> 00:02:33.039 and the other creatures to make things. 00:02:33.039 --> 00:02:35.639 We talked about last week being culture makers 00:02:35.639 --> 00:02:38.539 that were made to make things like God's subcreators 00:02:38.539 --> 00:02:41.299 as Tolkien put it. 00:02:41.299 --> 00:02:45.000 And we can lack fulfillment in that 00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:48.120 by either underworking or overworking 00:02:48.120 --> 00:02:51.259 in either direction, depending on self, 00:02:51.259 --> 00:02:54.479 not looking to God as the ultimate boss in our lives. 00:02:54.479 --> 00:02:56.599 And then this week, the final piece, 00:02:56.599 --> 00:02:58.319 what does it mean to be made in God's image? 00:02:58.319 --> 00:03:00.799 It means that you're created for relationships. 00:03:00.799 --> 00:03:04.319 And so right there in the heart of Genesis one, 26 to 28, 00:03:05.280 --> 00:03:07.359 one of the very first things we're told is that 00:03:07.359 --> 00:03:09.719 as soon as we're told God made us in his image, 00:03:09.719 --> 00:03:14.719 it then says, comma, male and female, he created them. 00:03:14.840 --> 00:03:19.639 So the image of God is upon every person, male and female, 00:03:19.639 --> 00:03:21.839 men and women, boys and girls, 00:03:21.839 --> 00:03:24.159 from the very beginning as soon as we're told image of God 00:03:24.159 --> 00:03:28.439 we're immediately told people collectively, 00:03:28.439 --> 00:03:32.319 not just one, but community, 00:03:32.319 --> 00:03:35.000 that the image of God is a collective image, 00:03:35.000 --> 00:03:37.719 that not a single one of us can ever bear the weight 00:03:37.719 --> 00:03:39.199 of being the fullness of God's image. 00:03:39.199 --> 00:03:40.399 Of course not, no. 00:03:40.399 --> 00:03:43.039 Instead, we need everybody to do that together, 00:03:43.039 --> 00:03:45.759 men and women, both genders, 00:03:45.759 --> 00:03:48.039 we are collectively made in God's image 00:03:48.039 --> 00:03:49.560 and that means that we're made for community. 00:03:49.560 --> 00:03:51.840 We see that right out of the gate. 00:03:51.840 --> 00:03:53.560 And that's what we're gonna think about today. 00:03:53.560 --> 00:03:56.479 Ultimately Genesis two is indeed about marriage, 00:03:56.479 --> 00:03:58.500 absolutely couldn't be clearer. 00:03:59.439 --> 00:04:03.039 But I want to, we, if you've been around Sancti's 00:04:03.039 --> 00:04:05.960 for a while in the spring on Mark chapter 10, 00:04:05.960 --> 00:04:08.680 we looked at marriage pretty closely. 00:04:08.680 --> 00:04:10.759 So you can go back and have a look at that if you want. 00:04:10.759 --> 00:04:13.400 And I think probably in the near future 00:04:13.400 --> 00:04:15.199 we will do a series on marriage. 00:04:15.199 --> 00:04:17.639 And so what I wanna do today is talk about marriage 00:04:17.639 --> 00:04:20.079 to a degree but also broaden out 00:04:20.079 --> 00:04:22.639 and look at the fact that Genesis two also simply teaches us 00:04:22.639 --> 00:04:24.879 that we're made for relationships in general. 00:04:26.479 --> 00:04:29.839 Jean-Paul Sartre, a French philosopher 00:04:29.839 --> 00:04:31.439 from the mid 20th century, 00:04:31.439 --> 00:04:36.439 he wrote a play in 1944 titled No Exit 00:04:37.000 --> 00:04:41.360 and he's become famous for one quote from that play. 00:04:41.360 --> 00:04:46.360 He said, he writes in the play, hell is other people. 00:04:47.600 --> 00:04:50.920 And in it, since then Sartre has been labeled 00:04:50.920 --> 00:04:54.000 as a pessimist towards human relationships. 00:04:55.600 --> 00:04:57.120 What did he mean by hell is other people? 00:04:57.120 --> 00:04:58.879 People said well surely Sartre thought 00:04:59.879 --> 00:05:02.800 that human relationships are the worst part of life. 00:05:03.720 --> 00:05:05.319 And Sartre commented on that. 00:05:05.319 --> 00:05:08.520 He said, you know, most of our relationships 00:05:08.519 --> 00:05:11.439 are conflict and tension most of the time. 00:05:12.799 --> 00:05:15.159 And interviewed later after the fact 00:05:15.159 --> 00:05:17.439 that people were saying well Sartre is just a pessimist 00:05:17.439 --> 00:05:20.359 about relationships he came in, he writes this, 00:05:20.359 --> 00:05:23.719 this is a paraphrase, he says, if I situate myself 00:05:23.719 --> 00:05:27.560 if I situate myself in total dependence on other people 00:05:27.560 --> 00:05:29.399 my relationships will be bad. 00:05:30.439 --> 00:05:33.799 If I situate myself and make myself dependent 00:05:33.799 --> 00:05:36.439 on the judgment of other people, 00:05:36.439 --> 00:05:38.959 finding my identity and what everybody else says about me 00:05:38.959 --> 00:05:41.519 my relationships will always be bad. 00:05:41.519 --> 00:05:44.439 And he said I'm not negative about relationships 00:05:44.439 --> 00:05:46.959 but I'm trying to highlight the capital importance 00:05:46.959 --> 00:05:49.000 of getting them right. 00:05:49.000 --> 00:05:51.079 And this is what he writes, the difference 00:05:51.079 --> 00:05:53.279 in a bad relationship and a good relationship 00:05:53.279 --> 00:05:55.819 is the difference in enslavement and liberation. 00:05:57.000 --> 00:05:59.639 And now if you turn on the news this week, 00:05:59.639 --> 00:06:02.199 probably some of you did, you will have read stories 00:06:02.199 --> 00:06:04.519 about murder, you will have read stories 00:06:04.519 --> 00:06:09.079 about farmers protesting taxes on farmers, 00:06:09.079 --> 00:06:12.279 you will have read stories about 58 year old boxers 00:06:12.279 --> 00:06:14.539 fighting 27 year old YouTube stars. 00:06:17.079 --> 00:06:19.079 And that's all stuff that's happening around the world 00:06:19.079 --> 00:06:21.799 but you will have, you will not, you will definitely not 00:06:21.799 --> 00:06:24.279 have read the stories of the real stuff of life. 00:06:24.279 --> 00:06:25.959 And the stories of the real stuff of life 00:06:25.959 --> 00:06:28.039 are the stories of relationships. 00:06:28.039 --> 00:06:30.959 And you won't have read any stories that say, 00:06:30.959 --> 00:06:34.399 you know, John and Sally had a broken marriage 00:06:34.399 --> 00:06:37.000 and after two years of working through counseling together 00:06:37.000 --> 00:06:38.759 and a lot of tears, they are healing. 00:06:39.799 --> 00:06:41.599 And you won't have read any stories in the news 00:06:41.599 --> 00:06:45.919 about Rebecca and Louise, a strange sisters, 00:06:45.919 --> 00:06:47.759 haven't spoken in 10 years. 00:06:47.759 --> 00:06:50.759 And Louise called Rebecca and asked forgiveness 00:06:50.759 --> 00:06:53.399 for that one thing she said that one time 00:06:53.399 --> 00:06:54.519 and they're having Christmas together 00:06:54.519 --> 00:06:56.639 for the first time in a decade. 00:06:56.639 --> 00:06:58.839 Now these are made up stories and names, okay? 00:06:58.839 --> 00:07:01.079 So don't, you know, I see some of you kind of looking 00:07:01.079 --> 00:07:03.719 around wondering who is this in here 00:07:03.720 --> 00:07:04.560 that he's talking about. 00:07:04.560 --> 00:07:06.520 No, these are all completely fictional. 00:07:07.440 --> 00:07:09.000 Though very real. 00:07:09.000 --> 00:07:10.960 You won't hear a story about Noah, 00:07:10.960 --> 00:07:12.960 the coolest kid at the high school, 00:07:12.960 --> 00:07:17.000 who befriended Leon, a kid who had no friends, 00:07:17.840 --> 00:07:20.440 whereby Leon, who was pulled out of depression, 00:07:20.440 --> 00:07:22.040 his whole life trajectory changed 00:07:22.040 --> 00:07:23.960 and Noah didn't even know about it. 00:07:23.960 --> 00:07:25.280 He was just kind to him. 00:07:26.840 --> 00:07:28.760 What we're being told here, what Sartre was pointing out, 00:07:28.760 --> 00:07:30.600 what Genesis one and two get out is that 00:07:30.600 --> 00:07:33.560 relationships are the real stuff of life. 00:07:33.560 --> 00:07:34.720 These are the real stories. 00:07:34.720 --> 00:07:36.920 They're the most important thing. 00:07:36.920 --> 00:07:39.360 And here in this passage, we've got 00:07:39.360 --> 00:07:43.000 this grand juxtaposition before us and that's, 00:07:43.000 --> 00:07:45.040 well, I'm sure for you, like for me, 00:07:45.040 --> 00:07:46.560 the best parts of life, when you think about 00:07:46.560 --> 00:07:49.360 the best parts of life, the deepest joys you have, 00:07:49.360 --> 00:07:52.360 it is in your relationships with particular people. 00:07:52.360 --> 00:07:54.879 And when you think about the most vulnerable you feel, 00:07:54.879 --> 00:07:57.480 the biggest wounds that you may carry, 00:07:57.480 --> 00:08:00.120 it is because of your relationships with particular people 00:08:00.120 --> 00:08:02.160 and often that's the same person 00:08:02.160 --> 00:08:06.439 that carries the power of both. 00:08:06.439 --> 00:08:09.680 And so let me point out to you three lines, 00:08:09.680 --> 00:08:12.840 three phrases in this passage, Genesis two, 00:08:12.840 --> 00:08:15.240 that I think open up for us the deeper meaning 00:08:15.240 --> 00:08:16.960 of relationships and here they are. 00:08:16.960 --> 00:08:20.800 The first one is God says it is not good. 00:08:20.800 --> 00:08:23.760 Secondly, Adam says at last, 00:08:23.760 --> 00:08:25.760 bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh. 00:08:25.760 --> 00:08:30.160 And then finally, they were naked and not ashamed. 00:08:30.160 --> 00:08:32.040 Those three elements, let's think about it. 00:08:32.039 --> 00:08:35.360 First, what were we made for? 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:38.000 God says at the beginning of this passage in chapter two, 00:08:38.000 --> 00:08:41.719 verse 18, that there is something not good. 00:08:41.719 --> 00:08:43.279 What is not good? 00:08:43.279 --> 00:08:45.639 If you've been with us through this Genesis series, 00:08:45.639 --> 00:08:49.719 chapter one and two, in Genesis one, six times, 00:08:49.719 --> 00:08:51.559 God says, let there be. 00:08:51.559 --> 00:08:54.079 And then he looks at what he made and it says, 00:08:54.079 --> 00:08:56.319 and it was good. 00:08:56.319 --> 00:08:59.319 And then the seventh time after he makes human beings, 00:08:59.319 --> 00:09:01.919 he looked at the whole of creation and he says, 00:09:01.919 --> 00:09:03.360 and it is very good. 00:09:04.199 --> 00:09:06.199 And then you come down to chapter two, verse 18, 00:09:06.199 --> 00:09:11.199 and realize there is one moment in an age of perfection, 00:09:11.399 --> 00:09:14.879 in an age without sin, in an age where there was no rebellion 00:09:14.879 --> 00:09:18.199 against God at all, God looks and says, 00:09:18.199 --> 00:09:20.479 but there's something not good here. 00:09:20.479 --> 00:09:22.319 And he says it is not good that a man, 00:09:22.319 --> 00:09:24.039 that a person should be alone. 00:09:25.120 --> 00:09:28.879 Wow, before anything was ever wrong with the world, 00:09:28.879 --> 00:09:31.120 there was one thing that was not okay. 00:09:31.120 --> 00:09:33.879 And that was that humans would be by themselves, 00:09:33.879 --> 00:09:35.720 that a man should be alone. 00:09:35.720 --> 00:09:37.560 There had to be more people. 00:09:37.560 --> 00:09:42.560 And it's astounding to note it's not just that Adam said, 00:09:44.279 --> 00:09:46.320 thank you Lord for all the things you've made, 00:09:46.320 --> 00:09:49.120 I really like Eden, it's pretty great. 00:09:49.120 --> 00:09:51.200 But I'm pretty lonely. 00:09:51.200 --> 00:09:52.200 And that's not what the text says. 00:09:52.200 --> 00:09:56.320 Instead it says that God looked at creation. 00:09:56.320 --> 00:10:00.279 And God said it is not good that man should be alone. 00:10:00.279 --> 00:10:02.319 Far before Adam ever even realized it. 00:10:03.519 --> 00:10:05.720 And that means something pretty astounding. 00:10:05.720 --> 00:10:08.319 It means that God is saying, 00:10:08.319 --> 00:10:10.279 God is saying, look, 00:10:10.279 --> 00:10:11.759 what does it mean to be met in the image of God? 00:10:11.759 --> 00:10:13.799 You cannot have a fulfilling life. 00:10:14.839 --> 00:10:17.000 Not truly, not ultimately, 00:10:17.000 --> 00:10:19.839 without pursuing the very thing you were made for. 00:10:19.839 --> 00:10:22.519 And that is a deep and lasting relationship 00:10:22.519 --> 00:10:23.439 with the living God. 00:10:25.120 --> 00:10:28.720 And the living God who made you for his eternal rest 00:10:28.720 --> 00:10:31.200 comes and says, and you need more. 00:10:32.560 --> 00:10:34.000 And you need something else. 00:10:34.000 --> 00:10:36.800 You need other humans, you need community. 00:10:36.800 --> 00:10:38.720 You need to find your ultimate rest in God 00:10:38.720 --> 00:10:41.360 and you need human community. 00:10:41.360 --> 00:10:43.600 You need deep, abiding, living, 00:10:43.600 --> 00:10:44.960 relational community in your life. 00:10:44.960 --> 00:10:46.560 You need both. 00:10:46.560 --> 00:10:48.800 And so we talked about a few weeks ago 00:10:48.800 --> 00:10:51.320 that in Genesis 1, 26 to 28, 00:10:51.320 --> 00:10:54.160 God says, let us make man in our image. 00:10:54.160 --> 00:10:57.960 And it's a reference to God's ultimate relationality. 00:10:57.960 --> 00:11:01.720 Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, relationship. 00:11:01.720 --> 00:11:04.160 God is relational from eternity. 00:11:04.160 --> 00:11:05.600 And then he makes us in his image 00:11:05.600 --> 00:11:07.600 and we turn and now he says to us, 00:11:07.600 --> 00:11:09.800 and you are relational. 00:11:09.800 --> 00:11:11.720 Everlasting, well, you have to be. 00:11:11.720 --> 00:11:12.920 You need community. 00:11:12.920 --> 00:11:14.860 He's made us to be like him. 00:11:14.860 --> 00:11:17.200 Now, let me give you three things, applications, 00:11:17.200 --> 00:11:18.800 and they're very fast. 00:11:18.800 --> 00:11:23.800 One, that means our relationships with other people 00:11:23.799 --> 00:11:28.039 are far more important than we act like. 00:11:28.039 --> 00:11:30.279 Far more important than we treat them. 00:11:31.279 --> 00:11:34.919 Secondly, it means that we probably 00:11:34.919 --> 00:11:38.240 are more isolationist than we think, 00:11:38.240 --> 00:11:40.120 than is good for us. 00:11:40.120 --> 00:11:44.519 We probably tend to isolate more than God made us to. 00:11:44.519 --> 00:11:47.399 And that means that you can be married 00:11:48.559 --> 00:11:51.359 and still be an isolationist, still be alone. 00:11:51.360 --> 00:11:54.000 Just like you can be single and be alone. 00:11:54.000 --> 00:11:57.399 And the way that happens is that isolationism is a product 00:11:57.399 --> 00:12:01.360 of our treating this life in self-sufficiency, 00:12:02.480 --> 00:12:03.840 self-rule. 00:12:04.600 --> 00:12:06.680 I can do it myself. 00:12:06.680 --> 00:12:09.080 Self-righteousness, I think you might subtly think 00:12:09.080 --> 00:12:10.320 in the bottom of your heart that you're better 00:12:10.320 --> 00:12:11.240 than other people. 00:12:11.240 --> 00:12:12.960 And so you've always kept your relationships 00:12:12.960 --> 00:12:13.919 at a distance. 00:12:14.919 --> 00:12:19.519 Any turn towards self is a turn towards isolationism. 00:12:19.519 --> 00:12:20.960 And in the modern culture that we live in, 00:12:20.960 --> 00:12:23.680 we all are probably a bit more isolationist 00:12:23.680 --> 00:12:24.879 than we think we are. 00:12:24.879 --> 00:12:28.639 You can be in what seems like a very healthy marriage, 00:12:28.639 --> 00:12:29.960 but still be distant. 00:12:30.879 --> 00:12:32.720 Not actually walking in deep community, 00:12:32.720 --> 00:12:34.400 not actually letting somebody else in your life 00:12:34.400 --> 00:12:35.480 truly know you. 00:12:36.680 --> 00:12:40.720 And so third, finally, that means that we are, 00:12:40.720 --> 00:12:42.879 in some sense, products of our culture. 00:12:42.879 --> 00:12:44.040 And we've gotta be aware of that. 00:12:44.040 --> 00:12:45.840 And in a city like Edinburgh, 00:12:45.840 --> 00:12:48.480 one of the great cities of the world, 00:12:48.480 --> 00:12:51.240 a place that has some of the highest educational standards 00:12:51.240 --> 00:12:53.879 in all the world, there are lots of people 00:12:53.879 --> 00:12:55.519 that come to this city, a lot of people in this room, 00:12:55.519 --> 00:12:58.080 and you move here because you want to earn, 00:12:58.080 --> 00:13:00.240 you want to gain marketable skills 00:13:00.240 --> 00:13:02.440 so that you can go out and get a great job. 00:13:02.440 --> 00:13:04.639 And if you go to university at a place like University 00:13:04.639 --> 00:13:08.039 of Edinburgh or anywhere else, for example, 00:13:08.039 --> 00:13:09.279 you know what they're gonna tell you? 00:13:09.279 --> 00:13:10.960 They're gonna tell you, listen, 00:13:10.960 --> 00:13:14.560 I know that calculus is important on day one of calculus, 00:13:14.560 --> 00:13:17.440 but they're gonna say, but the most important thing 00:13:17.440 --> 00:13:19.400 to remember no matter what your grade is 00:13:19.400 --> 00:13:22.320 in this calculus course is that your relationships 00:13:22.320 --> 00:13:25.960 are far more serious than calculus in your career. 00:13:26.800 --> 00:13:27.640 Right? 00:13:29.360 --> 00:13:31.120 No, no, that was a joke. 00:13:31.120 --> 00:13:34.160 No, no, no, you will never hear that 00:13:34.160 --> 00:13:35.880 in the classroom at the University of Edinburgh, right? 00:13:35.880 --> 00:13:38.360 You will never hear that in the city. 00:13:38.360 --> 00:13:41.960 Nobody will ever tell you in a city like Edinburgh, 00:13:41.960 --> 00:13:44.400 hey, the most important thing for you to have a healthy life 00:13:44.399 --> 00:13:47.480 is to focus on your relationships more than your career. 00:13:48.720 --> 00:13:52.439 But the Bible says in human experience proves 00:13:52.439 --> 00:13:54.919 that that is exactly what's true. 00:13:54.919 --> 00:13:57.159 Relationships are the real stuff of life. 00:13:57.159 --> 00:13:59.879 Secondly, what were we made for? 00:13:59.879 --> 00:14:01.559 God said it's not good that we should be alone. 00:14:01.559 --> 00:14:05.799 Secondly, we read here the second phrase is, 00:14:05.799 --> 00:14:09.120 at last, bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh. 00:14:09.120 --> 00:14:11.759 Now, really the heartbeat of this passage 00:14:11.759 --> 00:14:15.159 is the focus on the creation of Eve. 00:14:15.159 --> 00:14:18.319 And we see that first it tells us that, 00:14:18.319 --> 00:14:19.399 we looked at this last week, 00:14:19.399 --> 00:14:22.360 but that all these animals were brought to Adam 00:14:22.360 --> 00:14:26.080 and he named them, he had a particular culture-making power 00:14:26.080 --> 00:14:31.080 in that, and yet none of them were found a helper fit for him. 00:14:32.080 --> 00:14:33.679 Now, one of the things we learned first, 00:14:33.679 --> 00:14:35.000 let's get straight to the application, 00:14:35.000 --> 00:14:37.000 pets are not enough, okay? 00:14:38.919 --> 00:14:40.919 You can love your pet, 00:14:40.919 --> 00:14:43.959 but humans are, you need real human community, 00:14:43.959 --> 00:14:45.399 pets are not enough, all right? 00:14:45.399 --> 00:14:47.559 That's the silly application, but it's true. 00:14:48.959 --> 00:14:52.079 God created Eve, and we read about that here. 00:14:52.079 --> 00:14:54.439 And in verse 19, it says that, 00:14:54.439 --> 00:14:58.279 out of the ground, every creature was formed. 00:14:58.279 --> 00:15:01.240 Now, God raised up in the beginning, 00:15:01.240 --> 00:15:04.799 creatures from material stuff, 00:15:04.799 --> 00:15:07.360 including Adam, Adam was made from the ground, 00:15:07.360 --> 00:15:09.679 we looked at that a couple weeks ago. 00:15:09.679 --> 00:15:13.719 But when it comes to the final moment of the creation act, 00:15:13.719 --> 00:15:16.279 Eve is not made from the ground. 00:15:17.199 --> 00:15:18.479 So Adam was made from the ground, 00:15:18.479 --> 00:15:19.919 all the creatures were made from the ground, 00:15:19.919 --> 00:15:20.919 we're told that very explicitly, 00:15:20.919 --> 00:15:25.759 but there was one creature that was not made from the ground 00:15:25.759 --> 00:15:27.679 but was made from something different, something greater. 00:15:27.679 --> 00:15:30.199 And we read about that here in verse 19 and 20. 00:15:30.199 --> 00:15:33.599 So Adam was looking for a helper fit for him. 00:15:33.599 --> 00:15:38.199 And this language of helper is a relational term. 00:15:38.200 --> 00:15:40.640 I really like a couple of the commentators, 00:15:40.640 --> 00:15:41.879 the scholars that talk about this, 00:15:41.879 --> 00:15:45.160 they say that another way to translate the word helper here 00:15:45.160 --> 00:15:47.840 is Adam could not find one that was quote, 00:15:47.840 --> 00:15:51.840 suitable for the task of companionship. 00:15:51.840 --> 00:15:54.320 Or another way to say it is Adam could not find one 00:15:54.320 --> 00:15:56.960 that was a corresponding companion 00:15:58.000 --> 00:16:01.280 that could truly offer to him a relationship 00:16:01.280 --> 00:16:04.759 that would make him whole, that would fulfill him. 00:16:04.759 --> 00:16:08.080 So there is not a single sense in Hebrew of this word being, 00:16:08.080 --> 00:16:11.800 anything like subordinate or anything else 00:16:11.800 --> 00:16:13.680 that's not what the word refers to. 00:16:13.680 --> 00:16:17.600 It's here used to say, Adam could not find one 00:16:17.600 --> 00:16:21.440 that was fit for him, another human being. 00:16:21.440 --> 00:16:22.360 And that's what the word means. 00:16:22.360 --> 00:16:24.879 And the word helper actually most often 00:16:24.879 --> 00:16:27.040 in the Old Testament is used of God. 00:16:27.040 --> 00:16:30.639 That's the one who helper is most often ascribed to. 00:16:30.639 --> 00:16:34.360 And so in Psalm 33 we read, God my helper, 00:16:34.360 --> 00:16:37.440 or we often translate it, God my help, same word, 00:16:37.440 --> 00:16:39.000 my help and my shield. 00:16:39.000 --> 00:16:41.240 The one who I am most suitable for 00:16:41.240 --> 00:16:42.400 and is most suitable to me, 00:16:42.400 --> 00:16:44.840 the one whose relationship I need the most. 00:16:44.840 --> 00:16:46.880 That's the concept of helper here. 00:16:46.880 --> 00:16:49.960 And so in verse 21, to find the helper, 00:16:49.960 --> 00:16:53.880 the one who would fulfill Adam and whom Adam could fulfill, 00:16:53.880 --> 00:16:58.120 a true companion, God put Adam to sleep. 00:16:58.120 --> 00:17:01.200 And then the text says that he took one of his ribs. 00:17:01.200 --> 00:17:04.080 The Hebrew word there just means side, 00:17:04.080 --> 00:17:05.680 often translated as rib, 00:17:05.680 --> 00:17:09.039 but it is often used this word for a building. 00:17:09.039 --> 00:17:10.240 It's an architectural term. 00:17:10.240 --> 00:17:12.960 So it's used in other places in the Old Testament 00:17:12.960 --> 00:17:15.279 to talk about the side of a building. 00:17:15.279 --> 00:17:17.519 In other words, took part of him. 00:17:19.039 --> 00:17:24.039 God took part of Adam and formed Eve. 00:17:24.039 --> 00:17:26.360 And that means that we're being told here 00:17:26.360 --> 00:17:29.039 a couple of things that are really important. 00:17:29.039 --> 00:17:32.680 One is that Adam came from the dust. 00:17:32.680 --> 00:17:33.519 He came from the ground, 00:17:33.519 --> 00:17:36.039 like all the other creatures, but Eve, 00:17:36.039 --> 00:17:38.559 she was formed from the greater substance. 00:17:38.559 --> 00:17:41.000 She came from a human being. 00:17:41.920 --> 00:17:43.359 And that means that we're reading here 00:17:43.359 --> 00:17:46.480 about the climactic moment of creation. 00:17:46.480 --> 00:17:49.879 The climax of creation is the creation of Eve, 00:17:49.879 --> 00:17:52.639 pinnacle creature in the creation story. 00:17:52.639 --> 00:17:55.960 This is the biggest point, the most climactic moment. 00:17:55.960 --> 00:17:59.119 This would be the most teary and wonderful part 00:17:59.119 --> 00:18:00.639 of any movie that you might be watching. 00:18:00.639 --> 00:18:02.319 And that's why when God the Father 00:18:02.319 --> 00:18:05.720 brings her to Adam down that first aisle of marriage 00:18:05.720 --> 00:18:10.639 in the Garden of Eden, he says, at last, at last. 00:18:10.639 --> 00:18:12.720 Not only has he found a companion fit for him, 00:18:12.720 --> 00:18:16.000 but also this is the climactic moment 00:18:16.000 --> 00:18:18.720 of the creation story, seeing Eve, 00:18:18.720 --> 00:18:20.799 the greatest moment in the story. 00:18:20.799 --> 00:18:23.679 And then that means, secondly, 00:18:23.679 --> 00:18:26.679 that this is telling us that relationship, 00:18:26.679 --> 00:18:30.679 human relationship is the most climactic event 00:18:30.680 --> 00:18:33.880 in the creation story, that God says now, 00:18:33.880 --> 00:18:36.920 now that you can abide in deep community together, 00:18:36.920 --> 00:18:41.759 you are finally filled, made for who you were made for. 00:18:41.759 --> 00:18:46.039 Now, this is certainly about marriage, of course. 00:18:46.039 --> 00:18:48.400 Marriage, a covenantal relationship 00:18:48.400 --> 00:18:50.759 between a man and a woman. 00:18:50.759 --> 00:18:54.360 God instituted prior to all civil governments 00:18:54.360 --> 00:18:56.279 and anything they might say about it. 00:18:56.279 --> 00:18:57.960 But I wanna broaden out and just say that 00:18:57.960 --> 00:19:01.559 this also teaches us about relationships in general, 00:19:01.559 --> 00:19:02.720 beyond just marriage. 00:19:04.319 --> 00:19:05.600 What do we see here? 00:19:05.600 --> 00:19:06.440 Very quickly. 00:19:07.400 --> 00:19:10.160 When Eve was made from him, 00:19:11.720 --> 00:19:14.240 and that means that in Ephesians 5, 00:19:14.240 --> 00:19:17.920 when Paul talks about what a great marriage looks like, 00:19:17.920 --> 00:19:21.120 he says a great marriage is to treat somebody 00:19:21.120 --> 00:19:25.000 so much so that, like they are a part of you, 00:19:25.000 --> 00:19:26.880 that Paul says you love them more 00:19:26.880 --> 00:19:29.120 than you love your own body. 00:19:29.120 --> 00:19:31.040 And we see in the beginning that she actually 00:19:31.040 --> 00:19:32.720 came from him. 00:19:33.920 --> 00:19:36.720 And deep abiding relationships expressed 00:19:36.720 --> 00:19:40.280 most pinnically in marriage, but also in friendship, 00:19:40.280 --> 00:19:43.720 to a degree, are when you treat somebody, 00:19:43.720 --> 00:19:47.480 you are so for them, it's as if you love them 00:19:47.480 --> 00:19:49.000 more than you love yourself. 00:19:49.960 --> 00:19:51.440 Like they are, like you love them more 00:19:51.440 --> 00:19:53.400 than you love your own body, as Paul puts it, 00:19:53.400 --> 00:19:55.400 in Ephesians chapter 5. 00:19:55.400 --> 00:19:57.560 The other thing we see here is in order 00:19:57.560 --> 00:20:00.320 for her to be created, for him to find a true companion, 00:20:00.320 --> 00:20:02.640 Adam had to lose something. 00:20:02.640 --> 00:20:05.400 So before there was ever anything wrong with the world, 00:20:05.400 --> 00:20:06.320 what happened? 00:20:06.320 --> 00:20:08.000 Adam went down. 00:20:09.320 --> 00:20:12.640 He went to sleep, this metaphor. 00:20:12.640 --> 00:20:15.960 This metaphor of almost death. 00:20:17.480 --> 00:20:20.200 He didn't die, no, but in a world before 00:20:20.200 --> 00:20:23.400 Sinnevere was even there, Adam went down 00:20:23.400 --> 00:20:25.800 in sort of an act of sacrifice. 00:20:25.800 --> 00:20:28.920 He, something was taken from him for the sake of another, 00:20:28.920 --> 00:20:30.640 and we see that even from the beginning, 00:20:30.640 --> 00:20:32.440 before there was anything wrong in this world, 00:20:32.440 --> 00:20:36.720 before there was even death, there's still this statement 00:20:36.720 --> 00:20:39.840 that sacrifice is at the heart of deep 00:20:39.840 --> 00:20:41.920 and abiding relationship. 00:20:41.920 --> 00:20:45.280 That giving something away is what it means to be 00:20:45.280 --> 00:20:49.280 in a true and final and ultimate covenant relationship. 00:20:49.280 --> 00:20:53.240 Giving away is not just costly, it's joyful. 00:20:53.240 --> 00:20:56.000 That's what we see here from the very beginning. 00:20:56.000 --> 00:20:58.440 And that means that what we're being told 00:20:58.440 --> 00:21:03.440 is that a covenant relationship is to give yourself away 00:21:03.680 --> 00:21:06.200 to somebody else for the sake of another 00:21:06.200 --> 00:21:08.359 to the point of loss. 00:21:09.319 --> 00:21:11.640 That you're willing to go even all the way, 00:21:11.640 --> 00:21:13.359 and so Ephesians 5 picks up on that, 00:21:13.359 --> 00:21:14.759 it says ultimately express a marriage, 00:21:14.759 --> 00:21:17.039 but even in any covenantal relationship, 00:21:17.039 --> 00:21:21.519 like a friendship, true love is to covenant to somebody 00:21:21.519 --> 00:21:24.359 to the degree that you are willing to give yourself away 00:21:24.359 --> 00:21:27.319 to them to the point of loss, of sacrifice. 00:21:28.759 --> 00:21:29.960 Philippians 2 picks up on this, 00:21:29.960 --> 00:21:32.400 think of others as more important than yourselves. 00:21:33.440 --> 00:21:36.279 Boy, Jonathan David, what a friendship, 00:21:36.279 --> 00:21:40.279 in 1 Samuel 18, Jonathan pledged to give his own life 00:21:40.279 --> 00:21:41.879 to protect David's life. 00:21:41.879 --> 00:21:43.319 Covenant friendship, 00:21:43.319 --> 00:21:44.599 pinnically expressed in marriage, 00:21:44.599 --> 00:21:45.920 but not exclusively not at all. 00:21:45.920 --> 00:21:49.279 You can be married, you can be single, 00:21:49.279 --> 00:21:52.399 and you can still pursue the depth of relationship 00:21:52.399 --> 00:21:54.399 that's being talked about here, 00:21:54.399 --> 00:21:57.480 because the best marriage is also a friendship. 00:21:58.559 --> 00:22:00.639 And the pinnacle relationship in some sense 00:22:00.639 --> 00:22:02.879 across the Bible is expressed 00:22:02.879 --> 00:22:04.759 whenever friendship enters the room. 00:22:05.799 --> 00:22:07.240 And Paul was single, 00:22:07.240 --> 00:22:10.559 and Christianity revolutionized the status of singleness 00:22:10.559 --> 00:22:12.559 in all of world history. 00:22:12.559 --> 00:22:15.240 Married or single, you can have relationships like this 00:22:15.240 --> 00:22:16.799 in your life, that's what we're being told. 00:22:16.799 --> 00:22:19.000 And so we need, and let's move on 00:22:19.000 --> 00:22:21.720 to the final thing, we need two things. 00:22:21.720 --> 00:22:24.440 We need a deep and abiding relationship 00:22:24.440 --> 00:22:26.759 with the living God, that's what we were made for. 00:22:26.759 --> 00:22:29.279 And you need a deep and abiding relationship 00:22:29.279 --> 00:22:32.079 with another human being, that's friendship. 00:22:33.799 --> 00:22:38.799 And that's available to anyone, married or single. 00:22:41.240 --> 00:22:43.119 We get this wrong in a couple ways. 00:22:45.240 --> 00:22:46.559 Let me ask you, let me do this first. 00:22:46.559 --> 00:22:49.000 What is your relational reality today? 00:22:50.599 --> 00:22:53.799 What are your relationships like right now in your life? 00:22:54.679 --> 00:22:58.759 There is, every single one of us in this room knows 00:22:58.759 --> 00:23:02.200 that there are multiple ways to wound relationships. 00:23:02.200 --> 00:23:05.879 And so nobody comes into church today 00:23:05.879 --> 00:23:10.639 with the same exact situation of the joys and the wounds 00:23:10.639 --> 00:23:13.559 that you may have through your relationships 00:23:13.559 --> 00:23:15.599 with one another, we're all different. 00:23:15.599 --> 00:23:18.879 But Christianity I think shows us, the Bible shows us 00:23:18.879 --> 00:23:21.839 that most importantly, to seek healthy relationships, 00:23:21.839 --> 00:23:24.599 healthy relationships in your life, 00:23:24.599 --> 00:23:26.879 you need to first have a deep and abiding relationship 00:23:26.879 --> 00:23:29.759 with the living God, and then out of that 00:23:29.759 --> 00:23:32.679 have a covenant relationship with somebody else 00:23:32.679 --> 00:23:36.559 in your life, a covenant, not a contract. 00:23:36.559 --> 00:23:39.199 Here's the formula for something like that. 00:23:39.199 --> 00:23:44.199 Do you, do you treat the people in your life 00:23:44.200 --> 00:23:45.840 in your life that God has given you 00:23:45.840 --> 00:23:49.600 that are most important as covenantal relationships, 00:23:49.600 --> 00:23:52.279 not contractual relationships? 00:23:52.279 --> 00:23:57.279 A contractual relationship is one where you go to boots, 00:23:57.960 --> 00:24:02.080 let's say, and you pick up at the counter 00:24:02.080 --> 00:24:07.080 the pack of gum, extra gum, the little pack, 16 pieces. 00:24:07.319 --> 00:24:09.080 I know it very well. 00:24:09.080 --> 00:24:11.799 Coolment, experiment, whatever you like, 00:24:11.799 --> 00:24:16.639 and you take it to the counter and the cashier says, 00:24:16.639 --> 00:24:18.319 that'll be 25 pounds. 00:24:19.879 --> 00:24:24.119 And you say, for this pack of gum, 25 pounds. 00:24:24.119 --> 00:24:26.039 Now immediately what's happened is you've entered 00:24:26.039 --> 00:24:28.879 into a contractual relationship with that person. 00:24:28.879 --> 00:24:32.359 They're saying to you, if you will give me 25 pounds, 00:24:32.359 --> 00:24:36.019 I will let you have this pack of 16 pieces of extra gum. 00:24:36.919 --> 00:24:38.240 And of course, what do you say? 00:24:38.240 --> 00:24:42.920 You say, no chance, 25 pounds for this little pack of gum, 00:24:42.920 --> 00:24:45.400 there's not a chance in the world that I'm gonna buy this. 00:24:45.400 --> 00:24:48.839 And you say, the contract has ended. 00:24:48.839 --> 00:24:50.819 I am leaving now. 00:24:50.819 --> 00:24:52.759 This was a this for that relationship. 00:24:52.759 --> 00:24:54.559 And if you cannot meet your end of the bargain, 00:24:54.559 --> 00:24:56.160 I don't want any part of this. 00:24:58.519 --> 00:25:00.440 You see the difference in contractual 00:25:00.440 --> 00:25:01.720 and covenantal relationships, 00:25:01.720 --> 00:25:03.000 or in a contractual relationship, 00:25:03.000 --> 00:25:05.720 which we have all around us all the time, 00:25:05.720 --> 00:25:08.799 it is entirely a this for that exchange. 00:25:08.799 --> 00:25:11.079 In other words, I come to this relationship 00:25:11.079 --> 00:25:14.740 to receive a benefit and value added from you. 00:25:15.799 --> 00:25:19.160 And if you cannot give that to me, I'm walking. 00:25:20.500 --> 00:25:23.100 If the price is too high, I will leave. 00:25:24.079 --> 00:25:26.940 If I don't get from this what I need from this, 00:25:27.839 --> 00:25:28.680 then I'm leaving. 00:25:28.680 --> 00:25:29.759 That's contract. 00:25:29.759 --> 00:25:32.799 God says, friend, do you have in your life 00:25:32.799 --> 00:25:35.100 a covenant relationship? 00:25:35.099 --> 00:25:37.319 And a covenant relationship is one where you look out 00:25:37.319 --> 00:25:41.359 and say, even to the point of great loss, 00:25:41.359 --> 00:25:45.079 I will give myself away to make that person great. 00:25:46.639 --> 00:25:49.039 A covenant relationship is where you get so outside 00:25:49.039 --> 00:25:51.240 of yourself, where you say, 00:25:51.240 --> 00:25:54.980 I exist to make this person great in my life. 00:25:55.959 --> 00:25:58.519 To bring them closer to the Lord. 00:25:58.519 --> 00:26:00.779 To walk with them until they shine 00:26:00.779 --> 00:26:02.719 in the effulgence of the image of the sun. 00:26:03.799 --> 00:26:04.980 And I know that's gonna cost me. 00:26:04.980 --> 00:26:06.640 I know that there's gonna be wins on the way. 00:26:06.640 --> 00:26:07.799 That's covenant. 00:26:07.799 --> 00:26:10.039 You see, covenant relationships are where you forget 00:26:10.039 --> 00:26:13.160 about yourself because you're so for the sake 00:26:13.160 --> 00:26:15.039 of the other person and they're so for the sake of you 00:26:15.039 --> 00:26:17.039 that you have this mutual thing going 00:26:17.039 --> 00:26:19.559 where you're just serving one another. 00:26:19.559 --> 00:26:21.599 It's covenant, not contract all the way to the bottom. 00:26:21.599 --> 00:26:26.599 And so you might come to a marriage, let's say, 00:26:27.599 --> 00:26:29.000 and say something like this. 00:26:29.000 --> 00:26:34.000 All I ever wanted was for my spouse to make me happy. 00:26:36.240 --> 00:26:38.720 And if you're saying that in your heart, 00:26:38.720 --> 00:26:41.759 what you've done is subtly leaned in 00:26:41.759 --> 00:26:44.680 to thinking of the marriage as a contract. 00:26:44.680 --> 00:26:47.079 What I'm really here for is for this person 00:26:47.079 --> 00:26:49.200 to add the value of happiness to me. 00:26:50.680 --> 00:26:52.640 Or you might come and say, boy, 00:26:53.599 --> 00:26:56.279 if I could just find a boyfriend or girlfriend 00:26:56.279 --> 00:26:58.799 or a husband or wife, then I could be happy. 00:27:00.519 --> 00:27:03.079 And you've slowly in the bottom of your heart transferred 00:27:03.079 --> 00:27:04.839 what a covenant relationship is meant to be 00:27:04.839 --> 00:27:07.240 in a contractual mindset. 00:27:07.240 --> 00:27:09.399 That if I could get that one person, 00:27:09.399 --> 00:27:12.240 then finally I could be fulfilled. 00:27:12.240 --> 00:27:15.579 And what's happened in that is you've put a weight 00:27:15.579 --> 00:27:18.279 upon that person that they can never bear. 00:27:19.240 --> 00:27:21.000 You've made them in your mind, 00:27:21.000 --> 00:27:23.680 in the eyes of your heart, like God to you. 00:27:23.680 --> 00:27:26.240 Trying to be something that they can never be. 00:27:26.240 --> 00:27:29.279 I love what C.S. Lewis writes about this. 00:27:29.279 --> 00:27:31.840 He says when he was writing about after he got married 00:27:31.840 --> 00:27:35.400 to his wife, Joy Davidman, he says, 00:27:35.400 --> 00:27:38.080 when I have learned to love God, 00:27:38.080 --> 00:27:39.240 here's the key, here's the secret. 00:27:39.240 --> 00:27:43.560 When I've learned to love God better than my earthly dearest, 00:27:43.560 --> 00:27:48.080 I shall love my earthly dearest better than I do now. 00:27:48.080 --> 00:27:50.640 Insofar as I learned to love my earthly dearest 00:27:50.640 --> 00:27:53.700 at the expense of God and instead of God, 00:27:53.700 --> 00:27:56.020 I shall be moving towards the state 00:27:56.020 --> 00:28:00.259 in which I shall not love my earthly dearest at all. 00:28:00.259 --> 00:28:02.560 When first things are put first, 00:28:02.560 --> 00:28:06.360 second things are not suppressed, they're elevated. 00:28:07.620 --> 00:28:09.240 Love God and then love people. 00:28:10.340 --> 00:28:12.080 Love God, pursue the Lord, 00:28:12.080 --> 00:28:13.980 seek the covenant relationship you were made for 00:28:13.980 --> 00:28:18.600 with the Lord and like the rising tide lifts all ships, 00:28:18.599 --> 00:28:20.839 so your human relationships will be elevated. 00:28:22.359 --> 00:28:23.399 Let me ask you this question 00:28:23.399 --> 00:28:24.959 and we'll move to the final thing. 00:28:24.959 --> 00:28:26.639 Here's a measure of real health 00:28:26.639 --> 00:28:28.039 in your relationships in your life. 00:28:28.039 --> 00:28:32.199 Will you ask this question today of your own relationships? 00:28:32.199 --> 00:28:35.639 Do you have one great relationship in your life right now 00:28:36.559 --> 00:28:41.559 where you can have spiritual conversations about your faith, 00:28:42.799 --> 00:28:45.639 about your lack and struggle with faith, 00:28:45.639 --> 00:28:48.359 about your relationship to God, 00:28:48.359 --> 00:28:50.639 with someone else regularly 00:28:50.639 --> 00:28:53.959 that you're either married to or great friends with? 00:28:55.159 --> 00:28:57.319 Do you have somebody in your life 00:28:57.319 --> 00:29:00.899 that you can go have a real spiritual conversation regularly 00:29:00.899 --> 00:29:03.199 where they can come and they have permission 00:29:03.199 --> 00:29:08.000 to tell you the truth about who you really are 00:29:08.000 --> 00:29:09.939 and where you can tell them the truth 00:29:09.939 --> 00:29:12.439 about your prayer life, for example? 00:29:12.439 --> 00:29:13.719 Do you have a relationship like that? 00:29:13.719 --> 00:29:14.919 That's the measure of health. 00:29:14.919 --> 00:29:17.119 If you don't, you're not yet entering 00:29:17.119 --> 00:29:19.119 into the fullness of Christian community. 00:29:20.439 --> 00:29:24.000 So finally, what kind of relationships do we really need? 00:29:24.000 --> 00:29:25.319 And let's close with this. 00:29:25.319 --> 00:29:26.839 The last thing we're told in this passage 00:29:26.839 --> 00:29:29.659 is they were naked and not ashamed. 00:29:31.639 --> 00:29:33.199 So chapter two, verse 25, 00:29:33.199 --> 00:29:34.919 the man and his wife were naked and not ashamed. 00:29:34.919 --> 00:29:37.559 Now, certainly in context, 00:29:37.559 --> 00:29:40.719 this first refers to what we're told here 00:29:40.719 --> 00:29:43.000 is one flesh union between a man and a woman 00:29:43.000 --> 00:29:44.519 in covenant marriage. 00:29:44.519 --> 00:29:47.799 This certainly refers to the act and reality 00:29:47.799 --> 00:29:51.240 of sex and marriage, but it's also more than that. 00:29:51.240 --> 00:29:52.400 And when we broaden out, 00:29:52.400 --> 00:29:55.839 you can think about this to the lens of Genesis three. 00:29:55.839 --> 00:29:57.839 There's physical nakedness here, 00:29:57.839 --> 00:29:59.400 but there's also something more than that. 00:29:59.400 --> 00:30:03.119 There's something like spiritual nakedness. 00:30:03.119 --> 00:30:06.039 And we know that because in Genesis chapter three, 00:30:06.039 --> 00:30:10.400 after Adam and Eve's sin, God comes into the Garden of Eden 00:30:10.400 --> 00:30:13.720 and it says Adam and Eve before the Lord were naked 00:30:13.720 --> 00:30:14.680 and ashamed. 00:30:15.559 --> 00:30:18.279 And so this broadens out beyond just a relationship 00:30:18.279 --> 00:30:20.600 between covenant marriage partners. 00:30:20.600 --> 00:30:22.440 This is about something else as well, 00:30:22.440 --> 00:30:25.039 not just physical nakedness, but spiritual nakedness. 00:30:26.039 --> 00:30:28.120 It's a metaphor as well for the soul. 00:30:28.120 --> 00:30:29.960 And it tells us exactly what we need 00:30:29.960 --> 00:30:31.279 in our relationships in life. 00:30:31.279 --> 00:30:33.360 It's saying to us that every single one of us 00:30:33.360 --> 00:30:37.079 in ideal conditions are able to have spiritual, 00:30:37.079 --> 00:30:40.640 soul nakedness without shame with somebody else. 00:30:40.640 --> 00:30:42.360 Meaning, what does that mean? 00:30:42.359 --> 00:30:46.219 It means that we all need a relationship in our lives 00:30:46.219 --> 00:30:50.339 where we are truly known all the way to the bottom 00:30:50.339 --> 00:30:53.879 of our soul and loved anyway. 00:30:54.899 --> 00:30:59.899 Naked and not ashamed, known and deeply loved simultaneously. 00:31:00.179 --> 00:31:02.539 Every single one of us needs that in our lives. 00:31:02.539 --> 00:31:05.619 That's a covenant relationship to the bottom. 00:31:05.619 --> 00:31:08.179 Somebody that actually knows you, 00:31:08.179 --> 00:31:09.740 somebody that knows what's going on in the life 00:31:09.740 --> 00:31:12.759 of your soul and somebody that you're not ashamed 00:31:12.759 --> 00:31:15.980 to talk to about what's really going on in your life. 00:31:15.980 --> 00:31:18.980 Isolationism comes out in all sorts of forms. 00:31:18.980 --> 00:31:23.980 You can be married, but not have a soul, not be known, 00:31:24.740 --> 00:31:27.019 and therefore not be truly loved. 00:31:27.019 --> 00:31:29.259 You can have a friendship. 00:31:29.259 --> 00:31:31.440 How many of us, do we have friendships 00:31:31.440 --> 00:31:34.059 where there is no space within that friendship 00:31:34.059 --> 00:31:38.559 to actually know one another and therefore truly be loved? 00:31:38.559 --> 00:31:40.740 Do you have a friendship that's gone pretty stale 00:31:40.740 --> 00:31:43.639 over the years or a friendship where you do try 00:31:43.639 --> 00:31:45.559 to at times intentionally get together, 00:31:45.559 --> 00:31:49.339 but the conversation seems to go absolutely nowhere? 00:31:49.339 --> 00:31:50.740 No depth to it at all. 00:31:50.740 --> 00:31:52.940 Are you letting somebody else know you 00:31:54.179 --> 00:31:58.259 in order to love you, to really open up the soul before you? 00:31:59.339 --> 00:32:03.839 We need this because also we hide from ourselves. 00:32:03.839 --> 00:32:07.980 I've heard one pastor talk about this recently. 00:32:08.879 --> 00:32:13.119 He pointed out that every time you hear your own voice 00:32:13.119 --> 00:32:15.879 recorded, what do you do? 00:32:15.879 --> 00:32:16.879 Have you had this experience? 00:32:16.879 --> 00:32:18.799 You hear your own voice recorded, 00:32:18.799 --> 00:32:20.799 and then you turn to your friend and you say, 00:32:20.799 --> 00:32:23.159 that does not sound like me. 00:32:23.159 --> 00:32:26.879 And your friend says, that is exactly what you sound like. 00:32:26.879 --> 00:32:28.079 And you say, no, no, no, no way. 00:32:28.079 --> 00:32:30.639 That's not, as a preacher, I have to have this experience 00:32:30.639 --> 00:32:32.079 more often than most of you. 00:32:32.079 --> 00:32:34.720 You say, that sounds so bad. 00:32:34.720 --> 00:32:36.519 Is that what I sound like every week? 00:32:36.519 --> 00:32:40.399 And you say, your friend that is your spouse says, 00:32:40.399 --> 00:32:42.199 yeah, that is what you sound like. 00:32:43.720 --> 00:32:45.839 Look, the point, we don't know ourselves. 00:32:47.399 --> 00:32:51.599 You can be in a friend group where all of you know 00:32:51.599 --> 00:32:54.759 the most obvious vice of your one friend. 00:32:55.720 --> 00:32:58.720 And you just think, how can they not see it? 00:32:58.720 --> 00:33:00.399 How can they not see that they steer 00:33:00.400 --> 00:33:02.720 every conversation back to themselves? 00:33:02.720 --> 00:33:04.360 How can they not see my friend? 00:33:04.360 --> 00:33:07.880 How can they not see that they never actually listen? 00:33:07.880 --> 00:33:10.080 And what you realize when you say that about your friend 00:33:10.080 --> 00:33:11.560 is you are the friend. 00:33:12.480 --> 00:33:14.640 That is you, that is me. 00:33:14.640 --> 00:33:16.640 There are things about ourselves we can never know. 00:33:16.640 --> 00:33:18.320 And if we're gonna truly grow in this life, 00:33:18.320 --> 00:33:19.759 if we're gonna truly heal, 00:33:19.759 --> 00:33:21.880 we've got to have somebody else in our lives 00:33:21.880 --> 00:33:24.880 where we can be spiritually naked and not ashamed, 00:33:24.880 --> 00:33:28.440 or we can bear our soul and be told the truth 00:33:28.440 --> 00:33:29.360 about who we really are. 00:33:29.359 --> 00:33:30.839 Do you have a friend like that? 00:33:30.839 --> 00:33:33.839 Is your marriage like that? 00:33:33.839 --> 00:33:36.159 Are you stepping towards somebody? 00:33:36.159 --> 00:33:37.119 It can't be many people. 00:33:37.119 --> 00:33:38.759 It's not for the whole everybody in this room. 00:33:38.759 --> 00:33:41.159 It's one or two people in your life that are like that. 00:33:41.159 --> 00:33:42.079 What's stopping you? 00:33:42.079 --> 00:33:43.039 What are you afraid of? 00:33:43.039 --> 00:33:45.719 And I think it's this, all of us are afraid 00:33:45.719 --> 00:33:48.359 that if we allow somebody to truly know us, 00:33:50.479 --> 00:33:53.839 the depths of our soul, the secret things, 00:33:53.839 --> 00:34:00.079 the misdeeds dark, then we couldn't be loved. 00:34:00.079 --> 00:34:02.720 Now in John chapter 19 verse 23, 00:34:02.720 --> 00:34:07.720 Jesus Christ, we are told as he went to the cross, 00:34:08.960 --> 00:34:13.960 he was stripped despite what the paintings 00:34:13.960 --> 00:34:16.039 in the middle ages offer us, 00:34:16.039 --> 00:34:18.239 Jesus Christ went to the cross naked. 00:34:19.360 --> 00:34:21.679 They stripped him of his clothes. 00:34:21.679 --> 00:34:23.119 And when he went to the cross naked, 00:34:23.119 --> 00:34:27.359 he hung there and that was, of course, public humiliation. 00:34:27.359 --> 00:34:30.199 Roman crucifixion brought such shame 00:34:30.199 --> 00:34:32.279 and public humiliation. 00:34:32.279 --> 00:34:34.639 But just like in Genesis chapter two and three, 00:34:34.639 --> 00:34:37.119 it is not just physical, it is also spiritual. 00:34:39.239 --> 00:34:42.199 Jesus Christ went to the cross naked 00:34:42.199 --> 00:34:46.519 because he bore in that moment the guilt and shame 00:34:46.519 --> 00:34:48.639 of our exposed souls. 00:34:48.639 --> 00:34:50.000 What did Adam and Eve need most 00:34:50.000 --> 00:34:50.839 at the beginning of history? 00:34:50.840 --> 00:34:54.000 They needed a relationship where they could be exposed, 00:34:54.000 --> 00:34:56.160 known and loved. 00:34:56.160 --> 00:35:00.559 And because, boy, we broke our relationship with God, 00:35:00.559 --> 00:35:02.920 we break our relationships with everybody else, 00:35:02.920 --> 00:35:05.360 Jesus Christ came in the middle of history 00:35:05.360 --> 00:35:06.600 and he was naked. 00:35:08.240 --> 00:35:11.079 He was exposed in his nakedness 00:35:11.079 --> 00:35:13.480 to the shame and guilt of our souls. 00:35:14.720 --> 00:35:18.240 He was exposed to the wrath and judgment of God the Father 00:35:18.239 --> 00:35:21.000 so that we would never have to be. 00:35:21.000 --> 00:35:23.479 You see, what are you afraid of 00:35:23.479 --> 00:35:25.759 when it comes to deep relationships in this life? 00:35:25.759 --> 00:35:28.839 Boy, if you can know today, listen, 00:35:28.839 --> 00:35:31.479 I pray that you can know today 00:35:31.479 --> 00:35:33.599 that the God of heaven and earth who made you, 00:35:33.599 --> 00:35:37.959 who sees you from top to bottom, knows everything about you. 00:35:39.079 --> 00:35:42.479 And so Jesus Christ came to hang on the cross 00:35:42.479 --> 00:35:44.559 in nakedness for your sake. 00:35:44.559 --> 00:35:47.279 He knows your soul and he loved you all the way 00:35:47.280 --> 00:35:48.440 to the point of death. 00:35:48.440 --> 00:35:50.440 That means that you don't have to hide. 00:35:52.280 --> 00:35:55.280 God knows you and God loves you anyway. 00:35:55.280 --> 00:35:58.120 God knows you and so Jesus was murdered for you 00:35:59.280 --> 00:36:00.600 so that you could be healed. 00:36:00.600 --> 00:36:02.600 Your relationships could be restored first with God 00:36:02.600 --> 00:36:04.519 and then with other people. 00:36:04.519 --> 00:36:06.880 Boy, will you come and have a renewed, 00:36:06.880 --> 00:36:09.240 restored, reconciled relationship 00:36:09.240 --> 00:36:12.560 with the living God today and with the people around you 00:36:12.560 --> 00:36:15.280 by pursuing them and self-sacrificial love 00:36:15.280 --> 00:36:17.400 like you've been pursued. 00:36:17.400 --> 00:36:18.240 What's stopping you? 00:36:18.240 --> 00:36:23.240 If you know God sees you and loves you to the bottom, 00:36:23.480 --> 00:36:25.400 he sees you to the bottom, he loves you to the sky, 00:36:25.400 --> 00:36:27.000 then you don't have to be afraid 00:36:27.000 --> 00:36:28.360 to have real relationships. 00:36:29.760 --> 00:36:30.600 Let us pray. 00:36:30.600 --> 00:36:33.440 Father, we come today as a people 00:36:33.440 --> 00:36:36.360 who are in desperate need to be known and loved 00:36:36.360 --> 00:36:38.640 and so we thank you, oh Christ, 00:36:38.639 --> 00:36:45.639 that you experienced the shame and the guilt 00:36:45.639 --> 00:36:48.039 of our exposed souls at the cross 00:36:48.039 --> 00:36:52.319 so that we may be covered, that we may be clothed, 00:36:52.319 --> 00:36:54.039 that we may be hidden forever in you 00:36:54.039 --> 00:36:57.359 and so we thank you for such great love as that 00:36:57.359 --> 00:37:00.519 and today we ask that we could through that love 00:37:00.519 --> 00:37:04.559 turn and show it to people in marriage, in friendship, 00:37:04.559 --> 00:37:07.559 in family life, in the church family, Lord, 00:37:07.559 --> 00:37:09.920 that we would seek covenant bonds 00:37:09.920 --> 00:37:11.519 and so we ask, Lord, today, 00:37:11.519 --> 00:37:16.320 help us get out of ourselves in some way, 00:37:16.320 --> 00:37:19.559 help us to seek healing in some small way 00:37:19.559 --> 00:37:22.480 and we pray for that heart in Christ's name. 00:37:22.480 --> 00:37:38.480 Amen.