Genesis 2:18-22
“Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” Now 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. The 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. So 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. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.”
Have you ever heard the phrase “Teamwork makes the dream work”? I have heard this a lot as a coach, teacher, and player, but I don’t think I fully grasped this concept until I got married. When I got married there was a definite void that was immediately filled. I had a spouse to “do life with,” to be a teammate with. It was something that was hard to explain but very clearly felt in my heart when we both made a covenant before God. This is what it means to be complete. However, this is just a fraction of the completion that we should feel when we are in union with God.
From the very beginning, God intentionally created man incomplete in himself. His fullness would not be felt until the creation of another. God lovingly addressed Adam’s needs! Enter Eve, the perfect help-mate and complement to Adam. He now had fellowship and companionship in a way that was literally tailor-fit for him. We, like Adam, are meant for companionship and fellowship. When these things are taken away, we can deeply feel their loss.
Our marriages (partnerships) should be a reflection of the relationship between Jesus and the church (HIS People). Non-believers should be able to look at a Christian marriage and see glimpses of how God communes with and loves His people. Jesus tells us to love our spouses as Christ loves the church. Christ loves us so much that He died for His bride (the church). In the same way that we feel complete with a spouse, we should feel fully complete when we are in union with Christ. Teamwork with the right spouse and Christ does make the dream work!
While using the HEAR method (see below) consider the following questions:
Highlight – what words or phrases jump out at you?
Explain – what does the passage mean?
Apply – how does the passage intersect with your life today?
Respond – how is God leading you to respond?
Jesse Martin
