GOD’S INTEREST IN US
I trust the Lord will enable me to say a word from this scripture. This is a beautiful scene depicted in it, beloved brethren. It was before sin came into the world. We are accustomed to the fact that what is of God, and for God, has been spoiled by sin; but this was before sin came in. What I want to say from the scripture is that it brings out God’s deep interest in Man whom He had formed, Man into whom He had breathed the breath of life. He made Man for His pleasure and this scripture brings out His deep interest in Man. I want to convey that God has a deep interest in those who are His, especially those who are younger. He does not lose His interest in us when we get older and we are thankful for that, but He has a special interest in those who are younger, in what they are potentially for Him. How much there was going to be for God from the man and from the woman who He made.
We know that this scripture brings in God’s original thought as to marriage. It is a wonderful thing that it was in the mind of God before sin came in. God had in His mind, when He instituted it, the great matter of Christ and the assembly, and this scripture speaks to us typically of Christ and the assembly. Think of the pleasure that God has in Christ and the assembly, of the pleasure which He will have eternally in that great institution of Christ and the assembly. God is glorified in it.
I want to speak of His interest in us for the encouragement of our young couple. God has brought them together, and what we witnessed today in their marriage shows God’s interest in them, and God’s interest in our marriages. God is interested in our lives and He comes into them in blessing. You think of the attention that God gave to Man here. God planted a garden; no landscape gardener has ever designed a garden like this. It must have been a beautiful garden, a beautiful environment, and God put Man there, Man whom He had formed. He put him there in the very best environment, and God will do the very best for us, beloved brethren, if we let Him do it. If we put ourselves into God’s hands, He does the very best for us. You might say that we are in a different time now, that we are in a time when there is breakdown in this scene, but God’s thoughts do not change, God’s interest in us does not change. He has the very best in mind for us. He has it in mind for us eternally, but He has in mind that we might come into it now.
He put Man in the garden and He made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, and the tree of life in the midst of the garden. Could God do any better than that – every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, and the tree of life in the midst of the garden? Our brother prayed that the Lord might be the Centre. God has in mind that Christ, in all that He is to man in life-giving power and sustenance, should be the Centre, should be in the midst. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was in the garden, but it was not the tree in the midst of the garden. The one in the midst of the garden was the tree of life. God considers for us, He provides the very best for us. Could we have anything better, beloved brethren, than Christ? He is the Tree of life, the One who will sustain life eternally, and we can know Him in that way now.
God put Man in the garden to till it and to guard it; He gave him that responsibility. It is not an arduous responsibility, but it is a responsibility. We prosper in our knowledge of God and in our relations with God as we take on responsibility. It was not arduous; it did not require the sweat of his brow, but he was to till and to guard the garden. That is a very important thing. God would put that upon us; in the environment he puts us into, He would say that you are to till and to guard it. Man failed in that, failed in the guarding of it. We look back over history, look back over recent history too, and we see failure in guarding it. But God put that responsibility on Man, and God will find pleasure in a man answering to it. Then He commanded Man, He put him under a command. He said, “Of every tree of the garden thou shalt freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest of it thou shalt certainly die”. God is very definite when it comes to good and evil. He is very definite in what He has to say, beloved brethren. He would expect us to take on that feature in some measure, to be definite as to good and evil.
Then He brings His own creation, He brings the animals to Man to see what he would call them, and what Man called each of them was its name. It is a great thing when we can give things their right name, especially in taking account of the handiwork of God, that we give it a name. As we see God’s work among His people, we name it rightly, give it its right name. It brings out the intelligence of Man. Look at the wonderful intelligence that Man had. God will have man and woman together, dear younger brethren, in relation to Him in affection and intelligence.
But there was no helpmate for Man, and God saw that. He said, “It is not good that Man should be alone; I will make him a helpmate, his like”. God would provide suitable companionship, beloved brethren. He has provided it for our young couple. I remember when I was much younger and going through exercise as to marriage, my father said to me, ‘The Lord will do far better for you than you can do for yourself’. Think of the consideration of God; He will provide companionship, particularly in marriage. It is a great matter, a very important matter in persons’ lives – the marriage bond. What a bond it is. Dear believer, we find help in taking up the marriage bond to see that we are married to Christ, we have a new husband. We are not literally married to Him, of course, but we find in Christ One who loves us and supports us. In the vows that our brethren made today, they committed themselves to love and support one another. What a wonderful thing it is, as we go through life, to find the love and support of Christ, so that we are here for the pleasure of God and that there is fruit for God from it. The great end in view is in this section that there is something for God’s pleasure, fruit for God.
The scripture goes on to speak of the deep sleep. We know that it speaks in type of the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is not exactly His death from the point of view of suffering, but it is what has come out of His death. There was the element of sacrifice in it; God took the rib from the man. It was taken from the man, but what did God provide? He provided a woman. God did not build the woman and leave the man to find her; He brought her to Man. Think of God’s consideration in that, God’s consideration for them. I commend this to our young couple and to us all as to God’s interest in us and that He will provide the best for us, beloved brethren.
The scripture ends with this great matter typically of Christ and the assembly. We need to keep that before us in our married lives. We may feel it is a very high standard, and it is, but it is not an impossible standard – God would give us the resource. If you take account of the way that Christ loves the assembly and that the assembly is in subjection to Christ, there will be something for God’s pleasure. May our young couple experience this as they set up home in Edinburgh, and may we all be helped in seeing that God is interested in us. May the Lord help us, in His name.
Word at a marriage meeting, Witney
1 September 2017
J. Wright