The Family
WOMAN, GOD’S MASTERPIECE
God formed Adam’s body from the ground and breathed the breath of life into him. In that instant, Adam was fully aware, fully mature and totally equipped for his destiny – with one exception. God’s plan was not yet complete. For the first time in Earth’s short history, the Creator said that something was not good. Until that time, God had announced that everything He had made and done was “good.” But, “The Lord said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him” (Genesis 2:18).
God knew all along exactly what He would do, but He seemed to be making a point to Adam and to all those who would follow in the centuries to come. What was that point? Work and communion with God’s creation is good and right for a man, but they will never fill the special void God placed in his heart for intimate companionship and completion.
God’s solution to fill that void was to add a unique creation taken from the deepest core of man’s being who would bear the evidence of God’s most delicate and refining touch. Did you notice that God’s Word says He made a woman? This is totally different from the way God formed the bodies of Adam and the animals.
The Hebrew word for “made” is banah, which means “to build, to make, to set up.” God didn’t just scrape together a mound of dirt to begin His work on woman. He formed the body of man from the ground, but when it came to making the woman, He began with the best of man, and with His own hands, He handcrafted and sculpted the woman. Eve, and therefore all women, have been carefully handcrafted, specially designed and uniquely customized by God to become the most beautiful creatures on the planet. That is the woman God made. She represents the pinnacle of God’s craftsmanship.
Three Important Principles: There are several important principles revealed in this miracle on the sixth day that we need to consider.
First, when God sees a need in the life of His beloved, if what is needed doesn’t exist, then He will create whatever is needed, making it perfectly suited to meet that need.
Next, notice that God doesn’t bless His children with second best. He blessed Adam with someone who was more refined than Adam himself. He created Adam’s “match” using that which was taken from Adam’s body and spirit (we are not told that God breathed into Eve’s nostrils – her life force was the life force God had already placed in Adam). Until that match was made, Adam was incomplete by God’s design. Although Adam was powerful, and perfectly equipped to lead and rule, he was alone – and that wasn’t good in God’s eyes. The completion that comes through godly marriage transcends mere physical union. It symbolizes and prefigures an even greater union between the heavenly Bridegroom and His earthly Bride at the great wedding feast of the Lamb.
Finally, it’s important to realize that the most significant characteristic of women was described by God before He made Eve when He said: “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him” (Genesis 2:18). The Old English phrase “help meet” is as important today as it was at the dawn of mankind. It describes the nature and purpose behind God’s exquisite design of the female human. The Hebrew word for “help,” or helper, is ezer, and its root literally means “to surround, to protect or aid, to help or succor.” Isn’t it interesting that it is also the basic function of a man’s ribs? They are encircling bones designed to protect the innermost organs, marked by an amazing level of flexibility and ability to move and expand with every movement of the chest.
And the Hebrew word for “meet” is neged, and it is often translated “suitable.” This word literally refers to a “part opposite; specifically a counterpart or mate; usually over against.” It comes from a root word that means to “stand boldly opposite, to announce (always by word of mouth to one present).”
God knew what He was doing when He created Eve. He blessed Adam with a beautiful counterpart to surround him with assistance, help, protection and aid. Eve would complete his identity in the earth. She was the one gifted in one-on-one communication who would be quick to take his part in any discussion or announce his gifts to anyone she met.
She was the one especially equipped to “wrap around him” and adapt to him as if she were molded to his heart and one with his soul.
Men Need Help: God didn’t bother to ask anyone’s opinion. He just said it isn’t good for this man to be alone. I am going to make a special helper and partner for him. God knew men need help. So if you are a man, you must accept the conclusion that God foresaw: You don’t know it all. You can’t do it all. You can’t have it all (when it comes to intelligence, discernment, abilities and gifts).
You need help: If God makes and gives you a helper, then you ought to let your helper help you. That is much easier and wiser than walking around saying, “Well, I don’t need anybody to help me. After all, I’m a man.” That’s the point: every man needs help (some more than others).
If you are a married man, we can say with confidence that based on God’s Word, He gave you your mate precisely because she is different than you in certain ways. She has insights and abilities you don’t have. She can sense things that escape a man's notice because God gave her an inner “radar” that is phenomenally accurate.
Perhaps you have seen the “radar” in operation when a fast-talking salesman comes along with a slick brochure and helps you picture yourself driving a new vehicle down Main Street. Or he helps you see yourself sitting on the deck of a time-share condo that supposedly overlooks prime beach-front property.
You should thank God your wife functions differently. She isn’t impressed with a long list of facts and figures – she is too busy scanning the eyes and heart for fraud and flakiness. She can see or sense what you may be totally blind to. As a man, you tend to do a logical analysis based primarily on the facts presented. If you like that car, for example, you may buy it on the spot without ever thinking to “check your heart” about the deal.
Rest assured if there is a skunk hiding under that fast talker’s outfit, your wife will smell it long before you do. You need to listen to her because she will save you a lot of grief and some real trouble – if you let her.
Remember, God gave you someone who is suitable and adaptable to you. Her chief credentials aren’t from an Ivy League university – she may have advanced college degrees and enough credentials to wallpaper a bathroom, but her chief credentials are found in her essential makeup. God gave women the ability to look past the surface details and straight into the hearts and motives of people. That ability is absolutely essential when rearing children and running a household; as well as in every other field of work or endeavor.
An honest man will quickly admit that he never realized his full potential until his wife entered his life. A godly woman can bless a man as nothing and no one else on the planet can, because God designed her that way.
She is not a doormat, a second-class citizen, a slave or an intellectually inferior human being, but she is adaptable, suitable and completing to her mate. She makes everything about him better because she is special.
It is time to shred some of the myths and falsehoods that have been allowed to bring confusion about what God really says about women and their roles and limitations in society.
The Sky Is the Limit: Here’s the truth: as long as a woman’s relationship with God, her husband and home are in right order, the sky is the limit for her activities. The proof is in God’s Word. Ruth didn't come from a godly home, and she didn’t have much hope for a future. In fact, she came from a group of people called the Moabites who were under a curse of God.
Nevertheless, she did the right thing and chose God over the comforts of her past. He rewarded her with a godly husband who was a wealthy Jewish leader. He gave her a son who became part of the lineage of Christ, who would redeem the entire world.
Esther was essentially an orphan, reared by her uncle in the capital city of the nation that had conquered her people. She had little going for her, but God removed the current queen and positioned Esther as the new queen of Persia – just in time to save her entire nation. She is still revered as a heroine of the Jewish people, and for good reason.
You are probably familiar with the remarkable story of Mary, the virgin who was chosen to give birth to Jesus, the Son of God; and Elizabeth, her cousin, whose once-barren womb conceived and gave birth to John the Baptist.
At the same time, God was speaking to an elderly widow named Anna, who lived in the temple at Jerusalem. Although by law no woman had been allowed into the presence of God in the holy of holies, Anna was destined to look into the face of God Incarnate Himself when she beheld the infant Jesus at the temple.
God honored this woman’s faithfulness and blessed her with a glimpse of eternity and the opportunity to prophesy over the One who would redeem all mankind (see Luke 2:36-38). She and others like her were used by God and stand as examples of just how much He esteems and values women.
And why not? As the pinnacle of God’s creation, woman is the being He handcrafted and sculpted to perfection for His purposes – to become, among other things, the ideal help meet for man and to complete him.
Every woman is special. God has a beautiful plan and purpose for her life. And as the handiwork of God, made in His image and likeness, a woman must always be treated properly and with due respect. Remember, she is a treasure, meant to be attentively cared for and cherished for a lifetime. So whether you are married or single, take the time to let the women in your life – your mother, sister, wife, daughter – know how much you value and appreciate them.
But since we are considering the family, we especially encourage married men to recognize and thank God for the precious gift He has given you. Proverbs 18:22 says, “Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the Lord.” So let her be what God has called her to be. Relish the differences. Because of her, you are now complete. Because of her, God can have the full expression in the earth from you that He wants. Because of her, you can be all God has called you to be.
