Lecture on Genesis(65)
Scripture
Genesis 2:19-23
[19] Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.
[20] The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.
[21] So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place.
[22] The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.
[23] The man 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."
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
This is the 65th Lecture on Genesis.
I explained the first half of Genesis 2:19 in the last lecture.
God didn't form any of the animals one by one from the dust of the ground except for man.
As God commanded with His word, each creature was created from the mixture of ground and water according to its blueprint.
Let's continue on now with Genesis 2:19-20.
It says, "... and [God] brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all the cattle and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field..."
Those of you who have children; how long did it take for you to name your children?
You may have given a serious thought to make them good names.
Some people even spend several months thinking of a good name for a child from the moment the baby is conceived.
Some people even consult with an expert at giving good names right from the beginning.
However, Genesis 2:19 says, "...whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name."
You may think, "He could have called them just any names. Why was it so difficult?"
If you are one who thinks like this just go to a zoo, and try to give new names to all the animals you see in the zoo.
And, you MUST remember all their names too!.
In the end it would not be an easy job.
But Adam gave names to all the animals; more than a million animals.
And Adam remembered all their names.
It was possible only because he received outstanding knowledge and wisdom from God the Father.
Adam didn't become wise on his own accord.
God gave Adam the power and authority, and this power and authority also contained wisdom and knowledge.
Adam didn't just name each of the animals from whatever idea that happened to come to him.
He knew the unique characteristics of each animal, and named them accordingly.
IT was why he could remember all the names of more than 1 million animals.
Adam also knew how to communicate with animals
.
Adam didn't talk with animals in the same way that people communicate with one another.
God gave Adam an ability to share feelings with them.
For example, a trained dog can understand and obey the command of its master.
A dog can guide a blind man, detect drugs, and locate lost people in a disaster area.
Adam could communicate with animals in much the same way and he could exercise control over them.
From this, we infer that the wisdom and knowledge of Adam far surpassed normal people.
As God the Father watched Adam manage the job wisely, He was very satisfied.
The names that Adam gave to each animal were exactly in accordance with the heart of God the Father.
Even though Adam could do it because God gave him wisdom and knowledge, still He was so pleased to see Adam manage his job well.
Say, you have a child and she is very wise and smart.
And she manages all the jobs exactly according to your heart.
"How can she understand my heart so completely and do her job so well?" You would be quite proud of her wouldn't you?
Just watching such a child makes you feel full of joy and happiness.
God the Father was pleased to see Adam obey His word.
He was well satisfied with Adam who had done the job according to the heart of God.
And so, He loved Adam so much.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
You and I are children of God.
John 1:12 says, "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,"
We received the authority to become the children of God the Creator who is almighty.
Just as God gave wisdom and power to Adam, He also gives the wisdom and power of Heaven to us.
2 Chronicles 16:9 says, "For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His."
And James 1:5 says, "But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him."
God the Father wants His children of faith to seek for the wisdom and power of heaven.
However, only those who are counted worthy of the justice can receive the power and wisdom of heaven.
In the spiritual realm, the power can be given to one to the extent the one becomes sanctified by casting off sin.
In addition, James 3:17 says that people should be 'pure' first to 'receive the wisdom from above.'
Well, even before people become sanctified, if they earnestly seek, they may receive the wisdom and power which is actually the gift as mentioned in 1 Corinthians Chapter 12.
However, the wisdom and the power as gifts are not full and complete, but are in a lower level than the power and wisdom that are given to those who are sanctified.
Since those sanctified don't have selfish motives or changing of mind, they use the power and wisdom from above only for the glory of God.
And God the Father also knows this fact, and thus He can trust these sanctified children and give them this power and wisdom.
The reason God gave Adam great authority, power, and wisdom was also because Adam had no evil at all at that time.
God the Father desires for the children of faith to accomplish the heart that has no evil, but has only goodness. He desires for them to ask courageously for the wisdom and power of heaven.
Father God can respond to such children as if He had been waiting for them to ask.
In addition, God becomes truly pleased and glad when His children manage their jobs well for the kingdom of God and give glory to Him with the power and wisdom he has given them.
Even though Adam had such great power and wisdom, he was tempted by Satan because he had no true sense of relativity.
On the other hand, those children who experienced relativity and accomplished the whole spirit will not change no matter how great power is that is given to them.
Therefore, God the Father becomes more pleased when He receives glory from His children who accomplished the heart of whole spirit than when by Adam who lived in the Garden of Eden.
I hope that you are able to understand this fact well, and come into the whole spirit as quickly as possible.
And I wish for you to courageously seek and receive the authority, power, and wisdom from Heaven, and through them you can give great glory to God the Father.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
Let's take a look into Genesis 2:21-22.
It says, "So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man."
God formed Adam from the clay which is a mixture of water and ground.
And a woman was created from a rib which was taken from Adam.
Therefore, the basic constituents for woman are also the ground and water from the earth.
By the way, why did God cause a deep sleep to fall upon Adam when He took one of his ribs?
It is like anesthetizing a patient before an operation takes place.
Under anesthesia, pain cannot feel when skin or bones are cut.
By that time Adam was a living being, he had a body which originally consisted of the ground.
He had the body like that which we now have, but since he was full of the breath of life, he didn't age.
His body also had bones and skin as well as nerves; the blood also circulated his body.
When he was injured, he would bleed and feel pain as well.
However, it was extremely rare to encounter such an accident in the Garden of Eden; even if he were injured, he could quickly recover.
The body of a living being can feel not only pain, but also the responses to other stimuli.
In case of a woman, she can feel minimal pain when delivering a baby.
Therefore, the Bible says, the pain was greatly multiplied in childbirth after Eve committed sin.
It is not that people started to feel pain from that moment on.
"Being greatly multiplied" implies that there was pain in childbirth even before being cast out of Heaven.
Of course, the pain that the body of a living being feels is different from what a fleshly body feels.
The pain is not so serious or extreme when bones and skin are cut or injured.
The body of a living being can just sense the change of the body.
For example, in childbirth, the pelvis of a woman should be opened wide.
When the pelvis opens, it is natural for the woman to feel that something is different, would it not?
If Adam had been awake when God took one of his ribs, Adam would have felt when his skin was cut and his rib was removed.
He would have felt some pain even was only a little bit.
To keep from causing Adam pain, God caused Adam to fall deeply asleep, and then He took one of his ribs.
Here is one more thing we should notice; that is, a living being, Adam, fell asleep.
The descendants of Adam in the Garden of Eden also sleep just as men on this earth do.
They too rest as they sleep.
Of course, they don't need to sleep for several hours every day as the people of the earth do.
If they just sleep for a short period of time it is sufficient sleep and rest.
The people in the Garden of Eden don't need to work for their clothes, food, or housing; yet still they have their own jobs to do.
They don't just eat and play all day long.
They learn new knowledge and skills and have their own work to be done.
That's how they have developed their own civilization to this day.
Therefore, from time to time, they take a rest or they fall asleep as well.
Dear brothers and sisters.
Why did God take one of Adam's ribs among all the parts of his body to create a woman?
The will of God is contained in it.
In the structure of the human body, the ribs are located in the center of the body. They protect many important organs such as heart, lungs, and stomach.
Even when the impact of a blow to the body has a lot of force, the ribs help to cushion the impact.
Even though the ribs are broken, other organs can be protected.
When God the Father created man, He considered even these things in making His plan for him.
The reason God created a woman with a rib from a man is because He wanted to show that the woman is as important as one of his ribs.
A woman, who is a helper suitable for a man, is an indispensable being to a man, and she plays an important role.
Adam knew this will of God.
And so, when he saw EVE God created for him, he confessed in Genesis 2:23, "This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh."
Therefore, husbands; how should you treat your wives?
You should love her and take care of her as if she were your body.
To be more exact, you should treat your wife as if you dealt with the most important part of your body.
Ephesians 5:28 says, "So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself."
Since woman was originally created from man, for a husband to love his wife is just as the same as he loves himself.
Ephesians 5:25 says, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her."
The Lord, who has become the bridegroom for all of us, sacrificed even His own life to save his wives.
He loved us so much.
The Bible tells husbands to learn this love of the Lord, and to love their wives.
1 Peter 3:7 says, "You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered."
A wife is the most important being to a husband, and at the same time, she is more fragile than he.
Therefore, when a husband loves his wife like his own body, God becomes pleased with him, and gives answer to his prayer.
Colossians 3:19 says, "Husbands, love your wives and do not be embittered against them."
If husbands think of their wives as "a bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh,' how can they trouble their wives and hurt their hearts?
They will not be rude to them and they will not get angry at them; they rather cover their wives' faults.
They will seek benefit for their wives; they will bear all things, believe all things, hope for all things, and endure all things with their love for their wives.
As God gave woman to Adam, He wanted men and women to share spiritual love as a man and a woman who are husband and wife.
However, the spiritual love cannot be achieved only by the effort of husbands.
Both husbands and wives should make an effort together.
There are things that wives should do for their husbands.
God didn't created woman from separate ground; He created woman from the body of man.
It implies that husband and wife are not separate but they are united as one body.
And it also implies that man takes the primary role, and woman, the subordinate.
In Genesis 2:23, as Adam looked at woman whom God created from his rib, he said, "She shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man."
Woman was created from man, and it was also man, Adam, who called her 'woman.'
From this point, we can clearly see who is first among man and woman, and who becomes the subject.
1 Corinthians 11:7-9 says, "For a man ought not to have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man. For man does not originate from woman, but woman from man; for indeed man was not created for the woman's sake, but woman for the man's sake.
Therefore, the proper order can be set when woman obeys to man.
In a family, it is right that wife should serve and respect her husband and that she should obey her husband.
Ephesians 5:24 says, "But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything."
Colossians 3:18 also says, "Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord."
Of course, 'being subject' is 'being subject in the Lord.'
It doesn't mean that wife should obey even when husband tells her to do something against the truth.
Yet still, wife should not apply the condition of 'being subject in the Lord' according to her own standard as she pleases.
A wife should serve her husband according to his heart out of her love for her husband,
Then the husband can feel the sincere heart of his wife.
He will not stand against her going to church, but eventually he will accept the gospel.
If wife treats her husband with the goodness of Mary Magdalene, no matter how hard his heart is, it will mostly be melted down.
In addition, if wife respects her husband's ideas and strongly supports him, the order of the family will be set.
Then, the husband will be increasingly strengthened, and take full responsibility as the head of family all the better.
On the other hand, if wife stands against husband all the time, and causes him to lose strength because of her words and attitude, it's not easy for him to be supportive of the family as the head.
Therefore, to make your families spiritual and happy, in her goodness and love, wives should first follow the order that God has set.
She should realize and understand in her heart who should be the main and head and who should be the woman and supporter.
I hope that you can make yours a beautiful and happy family where the order is well established.
In a church as well, there is order between man and woman.
In every matter in church, not only fleshly order, but also spiritual order should be properly set.
When the fleshly and the spiritual orders are in good harmony, the works of the Lord can be beautifully accomplished.
When each one serves and respects the others, and obeys following the order, the kingdom of God can be securely established.
However, when God set up the order between man and woman, God set man as the head.
If a man and a woman are sanctified and entered the spirit at the same time, it is good for the man to become the head.
If you read the Bible, you can see all the prophets who manifested the power of God were all men.
Of course, Deborah was a woman, but she was used as a judge, and Esther also saved her people from the crisis of their extermination.
Even today, when a woman has a steadfast heart and proper qualifications according to justice, she can receive God's power and she can be greatly used for the kingdom of God.
Besides, there are things a woman should do, and other things a man should do.
Man and woman should be treated equally in the Lord, and they should follow the order in the church that God has set. When it is done, the kingdom of God can stand beautifully.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
In this lecture, we looked at the scene where Adam gave names to all the animals with the wisdom God gave him.
We also learned the providence of God's creating woman from the rib that He took from man, and understood the relationship and the order between man and woman.
1 Corinthians 11:11-12 says, "However, in the Lord, neither is woman independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as the woman originates from the man, so also the man has his birth through the woman; and all things originate from God."
Just as God created Adam with purpose, God surely created woman with purpose.
The purpose of God's creation becomes the reason of existence for creatures.
Whether it is man or woman; all people have their own duty.
Ecclesiastes 12:13 says, "The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person."
I urge you to understand deeply in your heart how the Creator becomes our Father God through this Genesis Lecture.
May you revere God from the depths of your heart and become His true children who give God joy, in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, I pray!