Man Was Created To Work For And With His Wife

[Read Genesis Chapter 2]

Chapter 1 told us that the Triune God made man in their image so as to be like them; reigning and having dominion over the creation. Chapter 2 tells us God had not yet made it to rain on the earth because their were no people to cultivate the soil. These two reasons are behind the creation of mankind.

Adam starts off as the first person on the face of the earth. He is placed in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. As the days pass, the Lord sees it is not good that man is alone in his work. He needs a helper who is just right for him. So God, like any good surgeon, puts Adam to sleep for surgery. He removes a rib from Adam, the piece closest to Adam’s own heart. He uses that rib to form Adam’s helper, a beautiful woman named Eve. She is intended to assist Adam in having dominion over the creation while working along side of him. She is also created to provide more and more helpers for Adam as he performs the great task of ruling and governing the world. Half of Adam was removed in the surgery. Eve comes alongside her new husband to complete him in a way he could never have been whole alone.

You and I were created to work. Adam and Eve were made for the specific purpose of working for God, and to have dominion over the created world. They were made to work before the fall of our world into sin. Work is not a curse. It is our duty, joy, and honor as image bearers of our good and loving Father. Man is created to work with his wife, and for his wife.

As this New Year dawns, how might you make new resolves to have dominion over your little sphere on earth? How might you order the things, the people, and the ideas around you for the glory of the One who died and rose again? How might you find a new purpose to work alongside your spouse this year? How might you find new purpose to work alongside your parents for whom you were made, till the time comes to leave your father and mother and be joined to another.

Happy New Year!