A walk through the garden

The LORD God said, “It is not good for man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” Genesis 2:18

What an amazing three chapters we are reading. One page of God’s glory after another, straight from the beginning and the book of Genesis is a book about beginnings. It tells of how this world, the one we see and touch, came into being and why the world is the way it is. Forgive my ‘arty’ side but Genesis 1-3 is a painting, an epic story, a beautifully crafted piece of poetry. And like all good poetry, its use of words and phrases are important to the overall message.

If you read Genesis 1-2, there’s this phrase that is repeated over and over again in the creation story. God speaks something into existence, and it appears. God surveys His work of creation, while the following phrase is repeated over and over again: “And God saw that it was good.”

This is the image that we are given of creation at the very beginning. Whatever God creates, He sees as good. Everything is good. Everything is right. Everything is as it should be.

Except one thing.

Genesis 2:18 captures an astounding statement. In a world where everything God has created is “good,” one thing in the garden isn’t – “It is not good for man to be alone.”

Now what makes this statement so astounding is that it comes before Genesis 3. We have this image that everything before mankind’s fall into sin was perfect and the way that God wanted it to be, but apparently there was one thing that was not working so good. Aloneness is the only thing wrong in the garden. Humanity was never meant to live life alone.

From the very beginning of creation, the picture we see is that man has a need for relationship. People crave relationships. The account of Genesis 1-2 tells us why. God is a relational being, and when He created humanity in His own image, He created us as relational beings as well. A human being, out of relationship with the rest of humanity, is… well… un-human.

Perhaps this is why it is dangerous to say, “All you need is God, no one else.” Is this really true? Do we really not need anyone else? According to Genesis 2:18, we have a need for others. Just consider how many times God has used others in your own life, through a friend, a loved one, or a ‘family’ member at Amblecote, who was “there” for you at the right moment.

46 times the New Testament reminds us of what we should be doing for “one another” –I know I counted – loving one another, serving one another, forgiving one another, meeting one another’s needs, bearing one another’s burdens… to mention just a few. The Scriptures from beginning to end proclaim this one fact – humanity was not meant to live life alone. We really do need each other.

Become a member of a House group, join a prayer group. If the image of God is one in communion with others, how can we be less?

This entry was posted on Friday, June 5th, 2009 at 08:39 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.