The Origins of Marriage

Sermon from CCM Heatons

;

LISTEN

This sermon was preached by Tom O’Toole at the CCM Heatons site of Christ Church Manchester on Sunday 24th October 2021.

BIBLE VERSES

This sermon was based on Genesis 2:18-25.

18Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” 19Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. 21So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23Then the man said,

“This at last is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman,

because she was taken out of Man.”

24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

KEY POINTS

Aloneness Is Not Good

  • In a creation pattern of God declaring things to be ‘good’, this is the first moment that something is said to be ‘not good’.
  • Humans are not made to be alone – this is true for both married and single people.
  • The church is God’s primary antidote to aloneness. We should make a point of reaching out to each other and investing in relationships. 

A Suitable Helper

  • ‘Helper’ is the Hebrew word Ezer, which has connotations of strength and is often used of God himself. 
  • ‘Suitable’ is the Hebrew word Kenegdo, which means ‘like-opposite-him’. Eve is like Adam in that she is human, and opposite him in that she is female. 
  • The whole creation story is made of complementary pairs – and this points to the union of the heavens and earth. The Biblical pattern of marriage and sexuality comes from this.

Two Become One

  • In these verses we see the first marriage. There is excitement and attraction, expressed through Adam’s song. There is a new identity as man and woman cling fast to each other. There is sexual intimacy as they are naked and not ashamed. 
  • All this points us the marriage of Christ and the church. This is what we long for. 

MORE SERMONS

 

To see more sermons from Christ Church Manchester, you can visit our sermons page, or why not consider subscribing on iTunes.