Christ in all the scriptures Genesis 2

 Genesis chapter 2

"And Adam 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"    Genesis 2v23

Chapter 1 ends with Man and Woman in dominion over the earth: chapter 2 reveals Man and Woman in intimate union in the home.  Chapter 1 majors on light and life: chapter 2 on love.  This is exactly how the Bible unfolds, the drip-feed of Divine truth, the details of which are expanded throughout the books.  This is the chapter of the Divine design of family life in a never-ending love relationship.

Genesis 2 consists mainly of the creation of the man (Adam) from the dust of the ground, and the formation of the woman (Eve) from the man.  It is said by scholars that there are four ways of coming into the world: by creation as in Adam; formation as in Eve; generation as in the rest of humanity; and incarnation as in Christ.  The narrative is interesting: Adam became a living soul by the breath of God; he was commissioned to tend the garden in which he was placed; he was given one limitation of what he could eat on pain of death-in this way God established His sovereignty; he familiarised himself with all the animals and birds and gave names to every one; then God operated on him to take a rib from which He formed the woman.  The outcome of this delighted Adam, and he exclaimed, "this is now...".   This is at last someone like me!-bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh!-another human being like myself!  After all the different animals and birds with their varied features and mannerisms, one just like myself, a companion with whom I can converse, and rely, and love!  He declared "She shall be called Woman (Heb. ishah), she was taken out of man (Heb. ish).  Hebrew scholars know that the addition of "ah" to a word suggests the diminutive of Jehovah, godlike or of God.  Adam viewed the woman as a very special gift from God.  He proclaims, she is one of me!  The union of man and woman, here stated carries very important pointers for marriage relationship.  No longer would Adam be alone in the tasks of life, she was his to share and enjoy and love and cherish.  This is the very basis of love and marriage till the present day.  So intimate was to be their union God declared they were one flesh!  Marvellous as this is, it is even more remarkable when we see that the union of the man and the woman prefigured the union of Christ and the Church.  In Ephesians 5v23-32 we read that the marriage union is applied to Christ-"this is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.  It is a wonder, beyond anything else in life, that human beings are destined to be in intimate relationship with their Creator God.  This is even more astonishing when we consider the fall of humanity into sin (as in the next chapter), that such union with a sinless Creator is even possible.  The fundamental picture here that sinless humanity, as is true in Genesis 2, will be in holy union with Christ, even after the fall into sin.  Reference to the following scriptures will reveal the beauty of this:

Romans 8v39 "For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn of many brethren."

Ephesians 1v22-23 "...the Church which is His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all"

Philippians 3v20-21 "...the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, that it may be be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working where He is able even to subdue all things to Himself."

1st John 3v2 "...we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is".

This last, "we shall be like Him" is the very truth first imprinted in Genesis 2.  Adam proclaimed she is just like me!  The late John Nelson Darby wrote, as he pondered the greatness of this concept...

"And is it so we shall be like thy Son?  Is this the grace that He for us has won?  Father of glory thought beyond all thought! In glory to His own blest likeness brought!"

That the ultimate plan of God should be, that from Adam's fallen race God will bring forth myriads of human beings who are like His Son, is a truth of greatest note.  In Genesis 1 we have the man and the woman in unchallenged dominion over creation; in Genesis 2 we have the man and the woman in unbreakable union in a bond of love.