God's Kindess In Marriage

And the Lord God said, "It is not good for man to be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him. Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the Lord God had taken form man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. And Adam said, "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 2:18-23

I was thinking of this passage of Scripture this morning, and something struck me that I had not given much thought to before. This little story of how woman was created was before the fall, before Adam and Eve sinned. Adam, being a sinless man up to this point, enjoyed indescribable beauty in the garden, along with unending, perfect, untainted fellowship and communion with God, the Creator of all that beauty. And yet, even with this unbroken fellowship with God, Adam was, as the Lord Himself described it, "alone". Not only that, but God saw that it was "not good". How could this be? How could Adam need anything else, when he already had God? I believe that is the way the Lord created Adam. He created him with a human nature, though sinless in the beginning, that needed human companionship and love. It wasn't a sin for Adam to be lonely; it was in his nature. So God, being merciful and kind, gave Adam what he needed. A woman. A wife. The "helper comparable to him" was Eve, and she was "taken out of man". Adam needed Eve, even though he was with the God of the universe every day from the moment he breathed his first breath.

This is such a beautiful picture of marriage and how good God is to give us spouses. God, in His goodness and providence, created me to be someone's helper. That someone is my husband! I was made just for him! And my husband was created by God to need my love and help. That is so amazing! Praise the Lord for His wonderful design and creativity, and for giving me a husband to love, cherish, and be "a helper comparable to him".

Winter in Kentucky

These are some pictures from the property we live on (and where Matt works). We had some really cold weather and a lot of snow this winter....the most I have ever seen! The weather is rapdidly changing now, and I will have some spring pictures to post very soon!

52 Easter Sundays

Tomorrow is known around the world as Easter Sunday, or in many churches, Resurrection Sunday. I remember as a child coloring eggs, hunting them, and receiving Easter baskets from my parents and other family members. Usually, in the churches I grew up in, there was a special emphasis in the sermon on the resurrection of Christ, and the sermon was geared to unbelievers, especially since many of those unbelievers only showed up at church because of Easter Sunday.

I'm not saying there is anything wrong in all of this. But why do we only focus our attention on Christ's resurrection one Sunday out of the year? I hadn't really given this much thought before, but within the last few years my thinking about Christ's resurrection has been biblically challenged. There is a plethora of Scripture one could cite to prove the importance of the resurrection to the Christian faith. I think one of the most well known is from 1 Corinthians 15. In verses 12-19, Paul address those in the church at Corinth who deny the resurrection of the dead, and therefore the resurrection of Jesus. Paul writes:

Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up--if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. (Emphasis added)

Essentially, what Paul is saying here is that if Christ is not risen from the dead, then the Christian's faith is useless and he is still dead in his sins and trespasses. This would make Christians the most hopeless people on the face of the earth. Because of this passage and many others in Scripture, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most significant event in all of human history. It is what our hope is based upon. That is why we can go from spiritual death to spiritual life, because Jesus triumphed over death.

So, all of that being said, Christ's resurrection deserves more than a once-a-year observation. The reason I can have solid faith in Jesus Christ is because He is risen. The reason I have been freed from the death of sin is because Jesus was freed from death. And I will celebrate this each and every Sunday...because He is risen!