Genesis 5:1-2 says, “This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, In the likeness of God made he him: Male and female created he them: and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.”
As a very young preacher in my first church, I was often asked to perform the marriage ceremony. I officiated at three in one weekend. Strange things can happen in this arena. One time, just before the service was about to begin, the bride asked me if I could introduce them not as Mr. & Mrs. She wanted to keep her maiden name. Her mom and dad had no sons, so she wanted to carry on the family name. There was no time for marriage counseling or Bible study, only a quick prayer, “Lord, what do I do now?” God answered that prayer quickly. One of her family members said, “You can’t do that!”
I want us to look for a few moments at the first marriage. God simply called their name Adam, one name—kind of like their last name—Adam. It was the man, Adam, who named his bride, first calling her woman (Genesis 2:23), because she was taken out of man. In Genesis 3:20, after the fall, he “called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.” She was probably not pregnant then, nor was Cain born yet, but they understood that they would somehow be fruitful and multiply, as God said in Genesis 1:28. Though they had just received the curse and were about to be driven out of the garden, and Adam had blamed his wife for giving him the fruit, Adam still claimed—and had—the blessing of marriage and the hope of children.
At this point, God clothed them at the cost of the death of an animal or two—a hint of salvation to come by the shedding of Christ’s blood for the remission of sin. They saw that day, the death of one of Adam’s friends, an animal that God had created to be a helpmeet for Adam (Genesis 2:18). This was their first smell of death.
When they left the garden, they still had their marriage. A rough road lay ahead, but they traveled it together. Marriage is meant to be lasting. Genesis 2:24 is interesting; “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” This statement was spoken more for the following generations than it was for Adam’s family. They did not have a father and mother to leave. Though God walked with them in the garden, they had time alone together to develop their marriage. They were truly one flesh. They had the same DNA.
Marriage is intended to be an intensely close relationship. Paul said in I Corinthians 7:4, “The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife.” Paul was referring to their intimate relationship. This is good advice for the whole family relationship. Philippians 2:3, “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.”
If the man and the woman had had a closer relationship to God and to each other, they may have withstood the temptation of Satan. Adam could have tried to protect Eve from listening to the serpent. Adam could have stood with Eve, before God, instead of blaming God for giving her to him.
All marriages will fall short of perfection. The closer the man and the woman are to each other, and both to God, the better. When Adam named the woman, “Eve” (Mother), he introduced Mr. & Mrs. Adam!
