SERVICES: SATURDAY 6PM | SUNDAY 9AM & 10:45AM. 

We Livestream at www.FaithFellowshipWeb.com/livestream, through the FFC App, and YouTube.

No Longer Alone

Words of Faith Final

No Longer Alone
Words of Faith 1-14-2022
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2022
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
<>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <><<><

Genesis 2
     [18] The Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."
    [19] Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. [20] So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field.
    But for Adam no suitable helper was found. [21] So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. [22] Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he 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,' for she was taken out of man."

          First, the Bible tells us that the Lord created the humans "male and female" (Genesis 1:26-27). Then the Bible gives us a more detailed description of how the Lord did this (Genesis 2:18-25). Some have found this confusing, but it need not be so. Genesis 1 is simply concerned with the big picture, while Genesis 2 gives us more fine print. Genesis 1 is primarily concerned with the place and order of the humans in creation. In contrast, Genesis 2 is concerned with the specifics of the human relationship and sexuality.
         Like the first account, Genesis 2 tells us that the man or "human" (adam in Hebrew) initially contained the essence of both genders and thus reflected the image and likeness of God. Then femaleness was separated. This is not so much about anatomy as identity. God created the human "male and female" in his own image and then "male and female" as separate genders. The main point is that the "adam" or "the human being" was alone and that was not good.
          Everything in creation so far had been good. This was the first thing that was "not good." Aloneness was not good. A lack of relationship with others, even in the presence of God, was not good. It was not a mistake. It was simply that God was not done making man. Without the creation of human relationship, man was incomplete. The solution was not just more humans but the creation of a very special relationship, male and female. These two would complement each other, and from this relationship would come more humans.
          God removed a part of the "adam" to create man and woman. This would be a part that he would forever long for and she for him. The woman actually comes forth from the "adam." Each gender then longs for completeness in the other.  
           Interestingly, the woman comes from the side of "adam." She did not come from the back, the foot, the head, or any other place. She came from the side, which is a place of equality. Equality does not mean "sameness." There is a difference between man and woman, but she was created to be at the man's side and she at his. Woman was not created to be "under foot" or to "lord over."
           The woman is called a "helper," but this really means "a corresponding part." She completes the man. She helps him. The term "helper" is not demeaning in the least. It is often used in Scripture to describe God Almighty (Psalms 33:20; 70:5; 115:9). In fact, this word corresponds to the word used to describe the Holy Spirit. Jesus said:  I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor (helper) to be with you forever (John 14:16). But what man lacked (his aloneness was not good) she supplied, and what she lacked he supplied.
            The man declared the mystery of male and female identity, saying: "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman'..."  There is a certain completeness that a man only finds in his wife and she in him. Gender and identity are among the great mysteries of human existence, and it is easily distorted by culture. Culture will often press "roles," stereotypes and oppressive identities onto both men and women that were never intended by the Lord. Part of our redemption is to be set free from such cultural shackles to discover what authentic manhood and womanhood truly are (Gal. 3:28).
            There is a fundamental mystery here. Just as we long for God and knowledge of His nature, we long for knowledge of the other gender. This really is a longing to understand the completing part of ourselves! Even this remains a mystery to us. Eve is as much a mystery to Adam as he is to Eve. But we need not be mystified. There is great awe and joy in the mystery. There is great joy in the completion we find in one another. This can be a source of huge conflict or great delight and wonder.
            Rejoice today in the wonder and magnificence with which God has created you. Rejoice in your gender and how you reflect the image and likeness of God. Delight in the knowledge that you and your gender are specific and purposeful. Rejoice in the wonder and challenge of side-by-side living that expresses the purpose and will of the Lord. Rejoice, most of all, that we are not alone.

          O God, I give thanks that we are not alone. I have You, my Creator. I also have others because You have created us male and female. I am in awe of this mystery. Lord, help me to understand others. Give me joy in all my relationships. In Jesus' name.

<>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <><
© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2022
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)        
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
SUBSCRIPTIONS - To receive the Words of Faith devotion five days a week, send an e-mail message addressed to join-words-of-faith@hub.xc.org. To stop receiving Words of Faith, send an e-mail message addressed to unsubscribe-words-of-faith@hub.xc.org. The daily devotion and archive are posted at http://www.faithfellowshipweb.com/cgi-bin/devotions/displayMonths.cgi
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -      
The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2022 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.