A Lesson or Two From Adam and Eve
By Steven Deaton

Is there a more famous couple in all of history? I can't think of one. It's only right; after all, they are the parents of the human race (Genesis 1:26, 27; 2:18-25; 4:1, 2). What husband-and-wife team can match that accomplishment?

Anyway, we can learn some lessons from them.

First, God created man and woman for each other. He first created Adam, but in all that He had created, God did not find a suitable companion for him (Genesis 2:18-20). Thus, God made Eve as a "helper comparable to him" (Genesis 2:18, 21-23). God did not give Adam a beast. He did not give him another man. He did not give him two women. He gave him one woman who was neither inferior nor superior to him. She was "comparable to him."

Man and woman, however, do not share the home's throne." Man is head of woman. To deny this is to deny explicit teaching in God's Word. "For the husband is head of the wife..." (Ephesians 5:23). She is to submit to her husband, just as the church is to submit to Christ (Ephesians 5:22-24). Liberals in modern society balk at this. Those who respect God and His Word are happy to comply. They know that the way God designed the husband-wife relationship is the best way. It leads to true happiness and harmony in the home.

Second, Adam and Eve came together as "one flesh" (Genesis 2:24). Not only were their lives blended together, but they were sexually united. In God's eyes, the husband-wife relationship is pure, not dirty or less holy than celibacy. Other sexual activities are sinful (Hebrews 13:4).

A man and woman are free to enjoy one another's bodies in a lawful marital relationship. It is part of the blessing of marriage that helps to draw two people closer together. The intimacy is there to reinforce their feelings and affection for one another. Spouses who defraud one another in this area of their marriage are not only violating their God-given duties but inviting serious problems into the relationship. "Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control." (1 Corinthians 7:3-5)

Those who engage in sexual activity outside the marriage relationship are violating a fundamental principle of God's will. This includes those who fornicate (have sex before marriage), those who commit adultery (go outside their marriage or are in an unlawful marriage; cf. Mark 6:14-18 and Matthew 5:32), those who engage in homosexual acts, bestiality, pedophilia, and so on. Sadly, this truth is almost totally lost on our society.

[Bonus point] Third, Adam and Eve fell into sin together (Genesis 3:1-6). Their closeness brought both blessings and dangers. The one to whom you are married will be the biggest influence in your life. This is right.

There is no relationship--at least among humans--that takes priority over the marriage relationship (Genesis 2:24). We leave the homes where our parents raised us and begin new families. As long as our spouses are living right, we are greatly blessed. If he or she commits sin, there is a danger we might follow. Adam was there with Eve when she ate the fruit. She handed it to him, and he ate too. Our spouses might put sin into our hands. We are responsible for rejecting it, and not just that; we must try to stop him or her from sinning.

When sin entered the home of Adam and Eve, trouble came with it. Yes, they were separated from God (cf. Isaiah 59:1,2), but we are focusing on the trouble between them. When God confronted Adam about his sin, Adam blamed his wife and, in fact, God. "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate." (Genesis 3:12)

When we allow sin into our lives, it enters our homes, and trouble follows. Any honest married couple can attest to this fact. Husbands and wives bicker and fuss over sin in the home. They may blame each other for losing their tempers. A man may say it's his wife's fault that he committed adultery. A very sad example of sin affecting the home is David. After he committed adultery with Bathsheba, murdered her husband, and took her for his own wife, his family was filled with trouble (2 Samuel 11-24). Beware, sin in your life will bring trouble into your home.


In our country today, many of the lessons in the early part of Genesis are being ignored. God ordained the marriage relationship for the betterment of those involved-man and woman. He designed the marriage relationship to be a complete partnership-equal except in the roles that God gave each individual. Liberal-minded feminists seek to convince women that marriage is slanted to favor men and put women in a less-than-honorable position. Such thinking is pure foolishness! Women who make these comments have never studied the Bible's marriage design as created by God. Indeed, men can, and do, abuse their position and leadership, but that does not meet with God's approval. He will punish both men and women who are in marriage relationships and who fail in their God-given duties to their mates!

Why is marriage under such heavy attack today? Unfortunately, people are not content with God's divine arrangement, so in their efforts to have human companionship, they make their own adjustments. That's why we have people who live together without being married; divorce when problems come or when they fall out of love; treat homosexuality as a sexual-lifestyle choice; and last but not least, seek to change the God-given marriage roles, placing women in the leadership role. Well, take a good look at the results to see how human wisdom and reasoning has made things worse--not better!

Around us, we see broken homes and broken lives, unhappiness, mental and physical cruelty, unloved children, lack of commitment, and most of all, rebellion against our Creator's divine wisdom. Where has it gotten us? Mankind has always thought he could reason better than God, but in every case, and particularly in this one, he has utterly failed in his attempts to promote his own betterment. It appears that Isaiah's words are true after all: "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:8,9) Are we too stubborn to admit that our thinking is flawed? (KMG)