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Eve created from Adam’s rib
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Man’s
being alone is the first “not good” thing that required a solution. So, God
created Eve as “a helper fit for him.” She was to be his counterpart, his
complement. Eve also needed to be related to Adam — if she had been created out
of the earth, she would be a completely independent creation. But in a unique
way, Eve was descended from Adam, because she was made from a part of him. Eve’s
descent from Adam is also crucial to the possibility of her salvation. Jesus
entered Adam’s line to literally become our relative, to be a part of this one
human family. Adam, being the first human created, was and is the federal (or
responsible) head of the human race - he was thus the one whose attitude towards
God determined the course of human history
by
Russell Grigg
Why did God make Eve from Adam’s rib? After
all, if God had so desired, He could easily have formed Eve from the dust of
the ground.
In fact, He made Adam this way, (Genesis 2:7), as well as “every
beast of the field” and “every bird of the heavens” (Genesis 2:19).
So why did God make Eve differently?
Perhaps He wanted to instruct us not only
about the roles of Adam and Eve, but also concerning that of “the last Adam”,
the Lord Jesus Christ (1
Corinthians 15:45).
The first “not good” statement
Before God created
Eve, He said: “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a
helper fit for him” (Genesis
2:18).
In the creation narrative, the reader should
be jarred by this statement, because up until now, every time that God has
surveyed His creation, He has pronounced it “good”, as we would expect
it to have been before the Fall.
Man’s being alone is the first “not good”
thing that required a solution.
So, God created Eve as “a helper fit for
him” (Genesis
2:18b).
The term ‘helper’ (Hebrew ezer)
does not indicate a lesser role or status, but rather function.
She was to be his counterpart, his
complement.
Indeed, the term is used of God when He helps
us, as in Psalm 33:20; 121:1–2.
In fact, this is the basis for the biblical
name Azaria = God helped.
Adam’s words on being
presented with Eve were: “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my
flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” (Genesis 2:23)
The significance of ‘one flesh’
But was it really necessary for Eve to be
made out of Adam’s rib?
Calvin commented that
“if the two sexes had proceeded from different sources, there would have
been occasion either of mutual contempt, or envy, or contentions.”
And he went on to say
that “something was taken from Adam, in order that he might embrace with
greater benevolence, a part of himself. He lost, therefore, one of his ribs; but,
instead of it, a far richer reward was granted him, since he obtained a
faithful associate of life; for he now saw himself, who had before been
imperfect, rendered complete in his wife.”
In a unique way, Eve was descended from Adam,
because she was made from a part of him.
Eve also needed to be related to Adam — if
she had been created out of the earth, she would be a completely independent
creation.
But in a unique way, Eve was descended from
Adam, because she was made from a part of him.
Eve’s descent from Adam is also crucial to
the possibility of her salvation.
The prophet Isaiah wrote of the coming
Messiah as being the “Kinsman-Redeemer” (Isaiah 59:20), i.e. one who is related by blood to
those he redeems.
Hebrews 2:11–18 explains how Jesus took on
Himself the nature of a man to save mankind, but not angels (nor hypothetical
aliens for that matter).
Jesus entered Adam’s line to literally become
our relative, to be a part of this one human family (Luke 3:23–38).
If all people are not descended from Adam,
this vital kinsman-redeemer concept is undermined.
Or conversely, if there are people around
today who are not descended from Adam and hence not related to Christ through
Adam, they are not able to be saved.
Both situations are biblically unviable.
Responsibility
Adam, being the first human created, was and
is the federal (or responsible) head of the human race.
He was thus the one whose attitude towards
God determined the course of human history.
Eve, being made chronologically after Adam,
as well as from Adam, is not assigned this responsibility in the Bible, even
though she ate the forbidden fruit a few moments before Adam did (Genesis 3:6).
It was Adam to whom God had given the command
not to eat (Genesis
2:16–17),
and Adam was with Eve when she ate the fruit (Genesis 3:6).
However apparently, he did not restrain her
other than to pass on the warning (Genesis 3:1–3).
Sin is basically the desire to live
independently of and in rebellion against God.
The New Testament affirms not only that Eve
was deceived (by the serpent), but also that Adam was not so deceived (1 Timothy 2:14).
It therefore appears that Adam made a
deliberate choice to disobey God, i.e., the overt act expressed the sin that
had already been committed within the heart (cf. Matthew 15:19).
The New Testament states that Adam was
responsible for the coming of death into the world, cf. 1 Corinthians
15:21–22,
“For as by a man came
death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die,
so also in Christ shall all be made alive.”
This reminds us that, just as Adam was the
head of the human race, the Lord Jesus Christ is the head of redeemed humanity (Romans 5:12–21,10
Ephesians 1:22–23; 5:23).
Roles of husband and wife in a Christ-centred
marriage
One reason that marriage was set up by God is
so that we would have a picture of what Christ’s love for the Church looks
like.
Monogamous marriage between one man and one
woman serves this purpose in a way that a ‘marriage’ between two men, or two
women, or any other arrangement cannot.
Indeed, when Jesus taught about marriage (Matthew 19:3–6, Mark
10:5–9),
He cited the Creation account as real history (Genesis 1:27, 2:24).
Furthermore, the Bible sets specific roles
for a husband and a wife within marriage.
The longest passage on this is Ephesians
5:22–33.
Husbands are told to “love their wives, as
Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her” (verses 25–27), “as their own
bodies” (verses
28–30),
and ahead of all other commitments (verses 31–33).
Wives are told to “submit
to their own husbands, as to the Lord” (verse 22).
This does not
contradict Paul’s assertion in Galatians 3:28 that “male and female… are all
one in Christ Jesus.”
Note too:
Upon marriage, we are meant to leave our
parents as if we had none (metaphorically speaking), because Adam and Eve
(literally and historically) really did have none.
We are meant in marriage, at least ideally,
to be as close to one another as if we were ‘one flesh’ (metaphorically
speaking) because Eve really was (literally and historically) taken from Adam’s
flesh.
A bride produced by a wound
When God made Eve from Adam’s side, Genesis
2:21–23 tells us that God put Adam into a deep sleep.
So, Eve the bride-to-be of Adam was
(literally and historically) born from the wound in his side.
When Jesus, the last Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45), died on the cross,
His side was pierced by a spear thrust, in fulfillment of prophecy (John 19:34, 36–37;
Zechariah 12:10).
This was just after His death — a death made
necessary by the sin of the first Adam.
Flowing from that wound in the side of God’s
Lamb (John
1:29),
sacrificed for sin, was the precious blood (1 Peter 1:19) by which believers are cleansed from
sin.
These believers will constitute Christ’s
bride, the church.
So, metaphorically speaking, the church,
Christ’s bride to be, was ‘born’ as it were from the spear wound in His side.
The heavenly Bride and Groom united
The Book of Revelation speaks of the ‘wedding
feast of the Lamb’ at Christ’s return after the final defeat of death and
evil (Revelation
19:6–9).
The Good News is that although all of us have
sinned ‘in Adam’, the first husband, we can all be redeemed through the
sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the ‘last Adam’ and the Bridegroom of the
Church, and through Him we can receive “the forgiveness of sins”, “the
free gift of righteousness”, and pass “from death to life” (Colossians 1:14;
Romans 5:17; 1 John 3:14).
Russell
M. Grigg
M.Sc. (Hons.)
Creationist
Chemist and Missionary
CMI–Australia
Biography
Russell
Grigg was born in Auckland, New Zealand, in 1927. He received his schooling and
university education in that country. He studied chemistry at Victoria
University College, Wellington (now known as Victoria University of
Wellington), graduating in 1948. He then worked for a number of years as an
industrial chemist and then as a manager in the paint manufacturing industry in
Wellington and Christchurch.
After
theological studies at the New Zealand Bible Training Institute (later known as
the Bible College of New Zealand, and now as Laidlaw College), he joined the
Overseas Missionary Fellowship in 1959. He served for 12 years, heading up
OMF’s publishing program in Jakarta, Indonesia. Here he met and married Miss
Merle Cornelius, another member of OMF, from Adelaide, Australia. Merle went to
be with the Lord in January 2009. Russell has three adult children and nine
grandchildren.
In
1971, the family settled in Adelaide and Russell worked for 10 years with Rigby
Ltd., an Australian publishing company, rising to be one of the Senior Editors.
Here he wrote two books, Australian Trains and Death in the
Family: What to Do, both published by Rigby Ltd.
In
1982, Russell rejoined OMF and served on the home staff for eight years. He was
State Director for South Australia.
During
the 1980s, Russell became aware of a new magazine called Creation Ex Nihilo that
was published by Creation Science Foundation (now Creation Ministries
International) in Brisbane. The first few editions had been written by an
Adelaide doctor, Carl
Wieland, and turned out by him on the photocopier in his surgery. When Carl
called a few friends together to form a local committee in Adelaide, Russell
went along. With his science background, and several years experience in
arranging meetings for missionary speakers, showing films, and selling books in
local churches, he felt he might have something to contribute.
The Story of Two Adams
