Genesis - Chapter 2

There are two links to Jesus that I could write about.  The first is in verses 2-3:

By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.  And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creation that he had done.

This is mentioned in the ten commandments. and Jesus gets into disputes with the Jewish leadership when he apparently disregards the fourth commandment.  I will have plenty of opportunities to expand on this idea later in the Bible.

For me, the more exciting link is in verse 24.

God has created Adam, and God says that it is not good for him to be alone.  So God makes him a helper.  God creates that helper from one of Adam's ribs, and Adam says:

"This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman', for she was taken out of man."

And then in verse 24 - "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh."

Marriage is introduced - the two individuals become one - just as the three persons of trinity (introduced yesterday) are separate and also one.  And throughout the Bible God uses the picture of a marriage relationship between husband and wife to help us understand his relationship with us.  In the Old Testament Israel is spoken of as the Bride of God - and when the nation falls into idolatry it is described as adultery.

And in the New Testament the marriage relationship is used to describe the relationship between Jesus and his church.  We (the members of the body of the church) are the Bride of of Jesus.  This is beautifully set out by Paul in his letter to the Ephesians. (Chapter 5: 22-33).

The marriage story in Genesis 2 is there to help us understand our relationship to Jesus - it is all about him.