“Marriage Is The Seal Of Creation!”
Some male chauvinists claim that a man is superior to the woman because he was created first. A church father even stated categorically, “woman without man is incomplete, whereas man is.” Some feminist theologians challenge this by stating that if this the ground on which male superiority is established, then the ground out of which man was formed is also superior to man. In a sense, yes, faithful ground from which we are formed sustains us all through life and lovingly welcomes us back to herself!
We have noted God’s orderliness in creation, yet the story of the creation of woman seems to be an afterthought. Having named all the animals as an act of dominance, Adam was still alone. “But for Adam no suitable helper was found.” To fill the vacuum God put Adam into a deep sleep, removed one of his ribs and used it to make woman.
When Adam awoke from slumber he intuitively knew she was “bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.”
This is the foundation for marriage where a man and a woman leave their parents, become united to each other and “become one flesh.”(Gen,2:18-25). Becoming one flesh is in other words to say, “until death do us part.” In front of each other their nakedness is not embarrassing. Such freedom from shame signify moral innocence, which unfortunately did not last long.
Volumes upon volumes of books have been written in relation to the story of the creation of woman and the institution of marriage. Suffice for us to draw few lessons from the story:
- Beastiality is challenged! 2. Homosexuality is challenged! 3. Marriage is a God-ordained institution, which is to say marriage is a sine qua non. 4. Woman is a “suitable helper” for the man.
Marriage being God-ordained must be held sacred. 5. In this sacredness fornication and adultery are also opposed! To this end a wife should submit to the husband as if she was submitting to the Lord. In the same way a husband should love his wife to the extent of being ready to die for her; just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her…” (Eph. 5:22-ff).
In conclusion, God ended his work of creation by giving humanity the responsibility of becoming co-creators (Cf. Gen. 4:1).
Weekend prayer: Thank you Lord for enabling me to maintain the integrity of your creation. Amen!
Have a blessed weekend! Peace be with you!