The Final Touch

The Word of life had spoken the universe into existence.  The world flourished with life because He opened His mouth and it was so.  He caused life to spring forth into being using nothing but His imagination.

The precious hand stretched forth and lovingly sculpted a man into whom God breathed His own life.  The heartbeat of Heaven started the life flow of Adam.  The Light of creation saw that all was good with one exception: man was alone on the earth, while all the other other living, moving creature came in pairs.

Once man saw that something was absent in his life, God was able to go to work.  He caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep and then reached into his side and took a rib.  For the final time in the week of beginnings, God used His hand to form a new creation.  God created woman.

isn't it interesting that God put Adam to sleep?  Not only that, but the Bible says that God caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep.  This guy was out for the count.  He was not waking up until God said so.  God could have done this with Adam awake and let him see how He was taking care of Adam's dilemma.  Or could He?

God made sure Adam could not interfere with His work.  He kept Adam from giving input as to what he wanted for a companion.  God, in His vast wisdom, already knew what Adam needed, and He didn't need his input.

There was no,"God, can you make her a little rounder?  How about some curves here?   Wait a second, that is not what I had in mind.  She looks different.  How about some purple right there?"  There was simply the innocent ignorance that God was already at work in the final stages of His creation.

God could have taken any part of Adam's body to form this woman.   The DNA was inside every cell, but God chose to reach into Adam's side, take out a rib, and close that baby back up.  He knew what He was doing.

God has a reason for each thing He does.  Ecclesiastes 3 states that there is a time and a purpose for every thing under the heavens.  The rib  was no exception.  Think about the rib.

The rib is bone, filled with marrow.  It is firm, durable, strong.  Bone supports us; it carries the burden of our weight.  Bone helps keep us in line and in shape.  Bone is a line of defense.  Bone is filled with blood which contains antibodies to protect our body from harm.  It is not invulnerable or solid; there is delicacy inside.

Ribs not only keep us straight so we can walk. The main purpose of our ribs is, specifically,  to be a guardian, a fortress.  The ribs keep things in place, help hold us together, and provide defense against forces both internal and external.

Our ribs protect organs that we cannot live without.  They protect the heart which beats with the blood that supplies oxygen, minerals, nutrients, and as I stated before, tiny little soldiers that fight for our health when our bodies have been invaded.  The ribs protect the lungs, which are the only means we have to gather the oxygen we need to survive and to expel gases we do not.  The ribs surround these vital organs, wrapping around them like arms in a gentle embrace to shield them from harm.  Without them we would be much more susceptible to the dangers of our environment.

God purposed for woman to come from the side of man, from this important bone, to be at his side.  When Adam awoke, God brought her to him and said that it was "for this reason" for the woman created for him, "shall a man leave his father and mother and shall cleave to his wife."  That is because woman was created to take spiritual qualities like those of a rib in order to protect him, nurture him, support him, and to help carry his burden.

Adam took one look at his new wife and recognized her, somehow, some way.  He said, without preamble, "this is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh."  He called her woman or, as I like to say, "Whoa, man!"  He was reunited with a part of him that had been missing and was now complete.  And God saw that it was, get this, a first here, not just good.  "And God saw that it was very good."

He Supplies our Needs

God had created the perfect world, the solar system itself, even, perfectly so that it contained every single physical property that this new creature called Man could survive.  He even gave this man a name, Adam.  God gave Adam the sun and the moon and the stars.  He placed the man in the middle of a garden paradise with a pool into which four great rivers ran.  He gave Adam fruit trees and plants.  He even showed Adam the animals.

Then God did something amazing.  He placed His trust in Adam.  God told Adam to take dominion over the earth, to care for the earth and it's creatures.  God created this entire world and handed it over to this brand new creation to take it and be responsible for it.

Adam was even in charge of giving them their names.  As he wondered at their beauty, he began to notice a pattern.  There they were, male and female of every creature.  He watched them and cared for them, seeing how each animal had another that complemented it.  Every living, moving creation had a mate, he saw, every single one, except him.

See, God did not forget about Adam.  God had a special purpose, for He always does things in a perfect orderly fashion.  Everything else to this point had been to meet Adam's needs, those needs he had no idea were there and would not have known how to recognize them.  Yet here, God once again chose His timing for the next creation.

As The Almighty Creator parades Adam's charges in front of him, male and female and has Adam name them, it is here that all of a sudden Adam realizes something might be missing from his life.  He is perhaps able to get a glimpse of an understanding of why God created him to begin with, for he feels lonely.  His heart begins to understand the desire for fellowship.

Why do I say that?   God states clearly that, "it is not good for man to be alone."   But why is that?  It is the first time that He says something is not good.  A piece of the puzzle  is still missing. Does not God always give us what we need?  Yes.  Does He always give it before we need it?  No, He does not.

  Sometimes, as in the atmosphere and the sun, God grants what we need beforehand because we are not aware of any need and are incapable of expressing what it is that we need.  Then again, there are clearly times that God waits until we begin to recognize that need as well.  Perhaps it is because we will be more appreciative when He grants it to us.

It is in that moment that God truly does grant us our hearts' desires.  He does this by allowing us to recognize our need and placing that desire inside.  Then He takes that desire and fulfills it in His perfect time.

Psalm 37:3-5, my favorite verses, say, "Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou shalt dwell in the land, and verily( truly) shalt thou be fed.  Delight thyself in the LORD with all thine heart and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way to the LORD; trust also in him, and He shall bring it to pass."

Adam was dwelling in a garden paradise.  He was eating the savory fruit, enjoying God's creation, and walking in obedience by naming the animals.  He had been commanded to care for the earth and he was doing just that when he realized that there was no companion of his kind.  Walking in God's way was the catalyst for realizing a need.  That, my friend, is where we begin to see that He is not only a God of perfection, but a God of relationship as well.