Our scripture readings this evening are New Testament, Revelation 22, and then we'll be reading our text, Genesis chapter two, as we consider the theme of communion with God. Rise now, please, for the reading of God's word. Revelation 22. And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street and on either side of the river was the Tree of Life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there. They need no lamp nor light of the sun. For the Lord God gives them light, and they shall reign forever and ever." Please turn now to Genesis chapter 2. We're going to read that whole chapter beginning at verse 1. Thus the heavens and the earth and all the host of them were finished. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had done and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because in it he rested from all his work which God had created and made. This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens before any plant of the field was in the earth And before any herb of the field had grown, for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground. But a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground. And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being. The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant for the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four river heads. The name of the first is Pishon. It is the one which skirts the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good. Bedelium and the onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is Gahan. It is the one which goes around the whole land of Kush. The name of the third river is Hittikal. It is the one which goes toward the east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates. Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man saying, of every tree of the garden you may freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat. For in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die. And the Lord God said, it is not good that man should 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 from 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." Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and they shall become one flesh. They were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. The grass withers, the flower fades, the word of our God endures forever. Let's pray. O gracious God and Father, We thank You, O Lord, that here and now in this place, at this time, that You have promised in a special way to dwell with Your people. That You promised to be here with us and among us, the living God, the unseen God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to commune with us. And Father, how desperately we need that communion. For that is what you have created us to do. And not only that, but that is what you have redeemed us to do forever and ever in your presence in the new heavens and the new earth. Lord, help us as we consider what communion is. As we consider how you have made us for this very thing. Help us not just to consider these things. but to enter into them by faith. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Tonight we're beginning a new preaching series on communion with God. There's no greater privilege that we can conceive of or possess than the privilege of communion with God. Communion with God is the alpha and the Omega of the Christian life. Because communion with God is communion with Jesus Christ, the Alpha and the Omega. In communion with God we have entrance into heaven itself even before we see heaven in all its glory. Because we have a foretaste of that glory in communion with God. In communion with God, we have fellowship with God through His Son, Jesus Christ. In communion with God, we have the comfort and the presence of the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus promised to His disciples even before His death. Communion with God is a theme that runs all the way through the Bible from the beginning to the very end. That's why I chose to read passage not only from the book of Genesis but also from the book of Revelation. Because that is a theme that is at the center, at the heart of the Bible. We could say that it is another way of saying that communion with God is what Jesus Christ has purchased for us. But if communion with God is so precious, why do we experience so little of it in our lives? Well, there are many distractions, aren't there? We're distracted by the things of the world. We're distracted by the lusts and the desires of our own flesh. We're distracted by the temptations of the devil. Sometimes we're distracted by things that in and of themselves are quite good. We're very distracted. But for the believer, the deepest desire of the believer's heart is that he would have communion with God, unceasing, uninterrupted communion with God. We long to experience the nearness of God in prayer. We long for times of joy in the Holy Spirit in worship. We look, we desire, we desire to know Christ. We look for a deeper knowledge of Christ and the power of his resurrection. So why is it that our hearts so often are so distant and so cold? Well, perhaps one reason is that we spend so little time near to the Lord. Perhaps one reason is that we spend so little time in communion with God. You'd probably think it's strange if I said, I want a closer relationship with my wife, but I want to spend as little time with her as I can. You'd probably think that would be a little strange. But is that ever how we think of our relationship with God? And perhaps it's not that we think of it in that way consciously, but it is possible that the things of this world, the things of this life, crowd out our communion with God. Our goal in this series is not just to study communion with God as an abstract thing. Our goal is to enter more fully, more freshly into that communion. Perhaps the best way to do that is to ask ourselves right from the start, what do we mean when we talk about communion with God? How do we define it? Well, perhaps you would define communion with God in this way. Communion with God is receiving, delighting in, and benefiting from all that can be enjoyed of God as He communicates Himself to us through our union with Jesus Christ, and as we respond to Him in faith, thanksgiving, and love. I know that's long, but let me read that again. Communion with God is receiving, delighting in, benefiting from all that can be enjoyed of God as He communicates Himself to us through our union with Jesus Christ and as we respond to Him in faith, thanksgiving, and love. Maybe a more simple way to say it would be this. God's communication of Himself to us in Christ and our response of faith back to Him by the Spirit. If that is what communion is, you begin to see that at the heart of communion is a relationship. A relationship that involves all three persons of the Godhead. A relationship that we enter into with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In fact this is what the Puritan theologian John Owen considered to be the distinctive glory of the revelation of God in the New Testament. That there was a fullness of clarity about our communion with God and that it was a distinct communion with all three persons of the Godhead. And so all three persons of the Godhead were revealed in the New Testament more clearly than they had ever been before, although they had been revealed in the Old Testament as well. There's something else we need to know about communion with God. And that's gonna be our focus, our entire focus this evening. Communion with God is the purpose for which we were created. That's what communion with God is. It's the purpose for which we were created. And that's what we learn in Genesis chapter two. the whole chapter very, very broadly. We're not going to cover every single detail in the chapter, but we're going to see that we were created for communion with God. And that that communion is a communion in time, a communion in space, and a communion in relationship. So how does Genesis 2 reveal that we were created for communion? Three ways. God gives us in Genesis 2 a revelation of a day for communion, a place of communion, and a people for communion. And so we're going to study the theme of communion under those three headings, a day, a place, and a people for communion. Let's look first at a day for communion, verses 1 to 3. The first thing that we see in the text this evening is that God institutes a singular time for communion with Him. I was speaking with someone else this morning about time and what a mystery it is. And it is indeed a mystery, a mystery that science will never be able to unravel completely. But we understand that time is a creation of God. Before time there was no time. God created time. What we see here is we see a singular time that God has set aside for communion with Him. Now we have to understand before we even begin looking at this section of text that in verses 1 through 3 we're really looking at a section that belongs in chapter 1. We have to see that. It belongs with chapter one because thematically, because textually as you move forward through the narrative, you find that that is the pinnacle of the creation account. And there in chapter two, we find something that, we find something interesting. We find this phrase. The history, this is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created. And that phrase actually appears over and over and over again in the book of Genesis as a dividing point. Every time something significant happens, you see that phrase. We don't have time to look at that very much, but it's important to understand that the first three verses really don't belong in chapter two. They belong in chapter 1. The chapter and verses divisions are not inspired by God but thematically it's helpful for us to look at all of chapter 2 together. So that's what we're going to do tonight. God has finished His work of creation. He's formed and fashioned the earth and the heavens and it's all His handiwork. And all three persons of the Godhead have been at work in shaping and forming. Remember the Spirit hovering over the waters in the beginning. The creation that God has made is now formed, and God has filled that creation. And God has surveyed every work of His hands, and what has He done? Once since He's pronounced a benediction over it, He's given His approval. He said, it is good, it is good, it is good. After every day of creation, But then in chapter 1, after the creation of man, when the whole creation has reached its crescendo, we read this, verse 31 of chapter 1. Then God saw everything that he had made, and indeed it was very good. The superlative is used there. Not until the creation of mankind is creation declared ma'od tov, very good. And what happens next is key to understanding the rest of the scriptures. God now sets aside a day, a day in which to enjoy, to delight in the works of His own hands. And He takes time to delight in everything that He's made. And He does this in the context of the creation of His special servant, the man that He's made in His own image, having breathed the breath of life into Him. We'll see why that's important in a moment. So what do we learn about God and ourselves here in verses one to three? The first thing we learn is that God sets aside a day of rest. Have you ever wondered why weeks are divided into periods of seven days? It's an interesting question, isn't it? You might think, well, primitive people govern time according to a lunar cycle. But the seven-day week doesn't precisely match the lunar cycle. And if you tried to do that, it would get off kilter. There's no rational basis for a seven-day week. Which is why, interestingly, post-Enlightenment rationalism tried to abolish the seven-day week. They said, well, there's no rational basis for it. Let's get rid of it. Let's institute a 10-day week. And attempts were made in France after the revolution in France and then also in Russia, post-revolutionary Russia, these efforts met with no success at all. Eventually they went back to a seven-day week. Why? Because embedded in the structure of creation is a pattern. A pattern is embedded there by God Himself. Six days of activity, one day of rest, embedded in the very fabric of creation. It serves as a continual reminder that time, all time, your time, my time, belongs to God. And it's God's to do with as He will. And it's God's to apportion as He will. And it's God's to command us to use as He sees fit. Well, here in verse 2, we read that after six days, God set apart a day for Himself. We also read that God rested on the seventh day from all the work that He had done. Now, why does God rest here? Children, I know you know, if you read Psalm 121, what does it say about God? He neither slumbers nor sleeps. God doesn't need rest in the same sense that we need rest. God doesn't need rest or inactivity. But we learn from the rest of Scripture that God's rest is for our sake. God rests for us. Remember Jesus says the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. And God's rest in Scripture is a pattern for us. God's rest in Genesis chapter 2 is revelatory. God is revealing something about Him, about us, and about our relationship with the Lord God. And what God is teaching us is our need for holy time. For holy time set apart to be with Him, exclusively with Him. It teaches us our need for communion with God. We also see that from two other things that are said about the day. First, God blesses the day. Now the word bless in scripture is always, always, always tied to communion with God. Just do a study of the word bless throughout scripture and you'll see that to be true. We first saw that same word in Genesis chapter one. In the context of the word, in terms of the creation of the animals, God blessed. the animals, and then the creation of man. God blessed the human beings that he had made. The context is God is going to bestow good upon his creatures and happiness upon them as well. He's going to bestow good and happiness on his creatures. That's what it means to bless. Then we see it again in connection with the blessings of salvation. Abraham is going to be blessed. And not only that, he's going to be a blessing to the nations. And ultimately the Lord Jesus Christ is going to come from the seed of Abraham. He's going to be the seed of Abraham. We see it again in the Aaronic benediction. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord causes his face to shine upon you. Blessing from God is the bestowal of all his benefits, of all his goodness upon human beings, upon his creatures. And the Sabbath is blessed by God so that man may experience blessing in communion with God. That's the whole purpose of the Sabbath. It's a day in which man is able to experience blessing in nearness, in proximity to God. There's something else that God does. God sanctifies the day. Now to sanctify in scripture always means to set something apart as holy. And the great blessing of the Sabbath is that the Sabbath is actually a day to delight in the Lord as the holy God of Israel. Turn with me, if you will, to Isaiah chapter 58. We're gonna learn something very interesting about the Sabbath here. The Sabbath is a day of delight. Look at me at verse 13. If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, and shall honor him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, then you shall delight yourself in the Lord. And I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, the mouth of the Lord has spoken." The Sabbath is a day for communion with God. It's not a day for idleness or inactivity. It's a day to cease from all other activities and find rest and refreshment in communion with God. Now, how does that apply to us today? Obviously we don't worship on the seventh day of the week. The Sabbath is actually no longer on the seventh day of the week because we have a better rest. Our rest is in Jesus Christ. You can read about that in Hebrews chapter four. Our rest is in the one who rested from his great work when he arose from the dead and ascended into heaven and sat down at God's right hand. We have a better day than the saints had in the Old Testament. A day called the Lord's Day. There's still one day in seven. It's still a day of holy rest. The moral law has not changed. It's still a day blessed by God. It's still a day set apart to be a holy day. But it's a day in which our communion with God is actually heightened, far above what was experienced in the Old Covenant. And why is that? Because it's a day in which we rest ourselves in what happened on that day after Jesus rose from the dead. We rest ourselves in Him and in His resurrection. That's why the first day of the week is a better day than the Old Testament Sabbath. So God provides a day of communion. But what else does He provide? He provides a place for communion. And that's what we see in verses 4 to 17. God establishes a particular place for communion with him. We talked about time a moment ago. And now we're looking at the concept of space. The interesting thing is that the book of Genesis stands in contrast to all the pagan myths of antiquity. And deliberately so, it was actually written as a polemic against paganism and mythology. And what you see is that Genesis is always, the book of Genesis and the Bible itself is always concerned with history. And history is something that happens in real time and real space. God creates both time and space and then he makes man to inhabit both. time and space. Time and space are concepts that recur frequently in the Bible. Just think about the land of Israel for example. At a particular time in history God led his people through the Red Sea into the promised land and gave them a place in which to have communion with him and ultimately the temple would be built there as well. an even more particular place where the worship of God would take place, where God himself would promise to dwell with his people. But time and space are concepts that recur frequently in the Bible. But here's the concept not just of space. It's the concept of sacred space, holy space, space that is different from every other space. It's a place, firstly, of abundance and provision. A place that testifies of God's goodness. And that's what we see in verses 8 to 14. God plants a garden. Notice God's goodness and tenderness even in that activity of planting a garden. He's made all things, but now He's making a home for His creatures, the man and later the woman. He demonstrates a particular sovereign care for His image bearer. He takes His unique creature and He places Him in a unique place, a place set apart from all the rest of creation, a place of communion. Do you remember later on you read of God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, a theophany, an appearance of the second person of the Trinity, a place of communion. A place where man and God would be able to dwell together in holiness and in happiness. How do we know that the Garden is to be thought of as a place of communion? Because we know it is a place of revelation. What is revelation? Revelation is God making Himself known. God makes himself known primarily in two ways. He makes himself known in the creation, what we call general revelation. He makes himself known also in the scriptures, in special revelation. God is making himself known and he does it from the very beginning, even before the fall. How does God make himself known in the garden? He makes himself known as the giver of every good. gift. There's something in all that God is doing here in the garden that is to point man to who God is and to remind him of who the God that has made him is for him. He makes himself known as the giver of every good gift. Notice the description verses 9 to 14. We've already read that but I'll read that again just so we get a picture of what's going on here. Out of the ground The Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden. And from there it parted and became four river heads. The name of the first is Pishon, is the one which skirts the whole land of Havilah, where there's gold. And the gold of that land is good. Bedelium and the onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is Gehan. It is the one which goes around the whole land of Cush. The name of the third river is Hittikal. It is the one which goes toward the east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates. And what you see here is that God has given man everything he needs for his physical life in this world. In chapter one, verse 29, God says, see, I've given you every herb. I've given you these things for food. I've given you everything that you need for your body to sustain your life. But here the provision is heightened. He's given trees for food and for enjoyment, but he's also given two more trees that have a special purpose. We'll talk about that more in a moment. Eden is at the fountainhead of four rivers. And what we're to think of here is continual refreshment, a continual source of life-giving water flowing from the very place of the presence of God. And later on, you'll see the same imagery reappearing in the book of Revelation. Even gold and precious stones are here in this place. Everything that man needs for his life in this world and far, far more abundance, wealth, blessing. And that picture of precious stones, again, appears in the book of Revelation. The New Jerusalem, a foundation of precious stones, streets laid with gold. A place of far greater abundance even than the Garden of Eden. But we're moving in that direction in Scripture. So the Garden is a place of abundance and provision. But something else. It's a place of thankful special service and that's what we see in verse 15. Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and to keep it. You see, God not only reveals His goodness, but He's revealing a unique relationship with the man that He has made. And He gives the man a work to do. Work is not a product of the fall. Toil is a product of the fall. But He gives the man, even in his innocent state, a work to do, participating in the purposes of God in history. That's what this man is going to do. This man is going to serve as the king of creation, the high priest of the garden. That's going to be the work that this man is going to do in this sacred space carved out by God. It's an honor that could have been given to the angels. And perhaps, this is pure speculation, but perhaps this is the very reason why Satan rebelled against God in this very garden. He rebelled even before that. But perhaps Satan saw what God was giving to this man and became enraged because of it. It's an honor that could have been given to angels but instead it's given to man and his work is to tend and to keep the garden. He is to cultivate and to maintain this special place of communion. And that tells us something right from the very beginning of our study of communion with that communion with God is something that needs to be cultivated and maintained. We have to work at it. It's a holy work. It's a work that God gives us to do. It's a work that God empowers us to do. But it's not going to happen by itself. It needs to be cultivated and maintained. And this points to a far, far greater work than some cultural mandate. We hear that often. And I wouldn't deny that there is a cultural mandate here. Adam will produce culture. The scriptures themselves are a product of culture. You can't have writing without culture. There's a development of culture. But the cultural mandate is not central here. It's not the development of culture that's the issue. The cultivation of culture will be a part, but only a part, of what the man is to do. The great work of man in the garden is worship. That's the great work. And this is clear from the third thing that is revealed in the garden about the place for communion. It's a place of covenant relationship. Look with me at verse 16. Lord God commanded the man saying of every tree of the garden, you may freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die. Now the first hint of this is in verse 9. We've already heard about these two trees. And in revealing His goodness and His provision, now He reveals a special provision for man. The special provision is a unique relationship, and it's important to see that connection with our communion with God. You see, here in the garden, God is revealing Himself to man. He's created him, but He's also drawn near to him. and he's drawn him near to himself. And no other creature is drawn as near to God as Adam is drawn near to God. And God wants Adam to see, to experience, to know the unique character of this relationship that he has with his God. And so God enters into a covenant with Adam. Now what's a covenant? Some of you children may be able to answer this from the children's catechism. My own children love to sing the Children's Catechism and one of the questions is, what is a covenant? And the answer that's given in the Children's Catechism is an agreement between two or more people. Well, it's not untrue. It's not complete either. God is revealing Himself as a covenant God here in the Garden. And understanding this is essential to communion with Him. And while it's true that Adam is in agreement with God at this point because he is a holy creature and has not sinned yet, the essence of the relationship is not Adam's agreement. That's not the essence of the relationship. This is a relationship established sovereignly by God for man's benefit. It's, in one sense, a unilateral relationship, although Adam will respond. It's a relationship established by God for man's benefit, and it's a relationship that is now solemnized by two monuments in the midst of the garden. There are two trees, and both trees are signs of goodwill towards man. We should never forget that. Both of these trees are signs, hallmarks of God's goodwill, sacraments if you will, tokens, signs that point to something beyond themselves of God's goodness. But the trees themselves are not the focus in verse 16. The focus is the word, the commandment of God. God reminds man of his goodness. He says, of every tree in the garden you may freely eat. So that's going to be called into question in Genesis chapter 3. And that would include the tree of life. Every tree of the garden you may freely eat, every single tree, the tree of life being the symbol of communion. And you remember as we read from Revelation chapter 22, the tree of life reappears again in that chapter. The tree of life is there for Adam to enjoy and it's the symbol of communion with God. And so long as he eats of that tree, he will continue in communion with God. But when he's cast out of the garden, what is he kept from? He's kept from the tree of life by an angel with a flaming sword. But there's one tree There's one tree that man is forbidden to eat, and if he eats of that tree, he will die. Because if he eats, all communion with God is going to become impossible. Why? Because God is holy. And because he can't enjoy communion, he cannot enjoy communion apart from holiness. He can't enjoy communion that doesn't match and conform with and comport to his holy nature. And because communion involves fellowship and mutual love. And so to eat of that tree is to deny the possibility of communion, to forsake the possibility of communion. And to turn away from God, to forsake his love. You see, to love God is to obey God. Jesus says, if you love me, keep my commandments. To disobey God is to commit spiritual adultery, cosmic high treason, to turn away from the source of life and love itself, communion with God. So the place of communion will be a place of blessing. It'll be a place of service and worship. It'll be a place of covenant friendship and love between God and the man he's made. And later, after the fall, there'll be another place, the tabernacle, and then the temple, all pointing forward to the one who would tabernacle among men, Jesus Christ, the true temple of God, the one in whom we dwell now, having been raised up to sit with Him in heavenly places. Much more could be said about the place of communion. As I said, we see it again in the tabernacle in the temple. And the way back into communion is through the shedding of blood, the blood of bulls and goats only being a temporary picture. But Christ has entered into the most holy place with a perfect sacrifice. And our place of communion now, our place of communion is with Him in heaven. Closer to God than ever before. And looking forward to seeing Him face to face. Which brings us to our last point, a people for communion, verses 18-25. God creates a unique people for communion with Him. He has revealed the structure of the relationship between Him and the man that He has created and now He turns to the delightfulness of communion with God. God had said of everything in creation, it is good. Of the creation as a whole, he said, it is very good. And now God says, there's something that is not good. Look with me at verse 18. The Lord God said, it is not good that man should be alone. I will make him a helper comparable to him. The man cannot be fully happy without a helper comparable to him. Now that doesn't mean, that doesn't mean that every individual is called into the estate of marriage. And that if you're not married, you're incomplete. It doesn't mean that. What it means is that the human race is incomplete without the creation of the woman. Because God made us in His image, male and female. And that is instructive for us in an age and a culture that tells us that God's design of humanity in His image, male and female, is irrelevant. And not only that, that we can pick and choose to be what we want to be. But here in the Garden, God reveals three things. He reveals man's intrinsic need for communion. He reveals His own provision for that need and He reveals man's response to God's provision. God has already revealed man's need for communion. He has provided a day for communion, a place for communion. And so far there is the unstated implication that man certainly does need communion with God. But man's communion with God is not going to be a solitary, individual, lone communion. God has revealed man's need of a suitable helper. And he wants man to see it for himself. He wants the man to see how abundantly his God provides for his servant. And so Adam is given the task of studying each of the animals and naming them. And in the process, he learns a great deal about what God has made. And he has much to be thankful for. He has much to be thankful for in all the good gifts that God has given and has put at his service that he might glorify God with all of those things. But at the end of the search, he knows God's word is true. There is no helper comparable to him. There is no helper suitable for him among the animals. Only when man has understood how deep his need is, does God now act. and provide for that need. Because He wants to reveal something to the man. The Lord now provides a helper for the man. He provides a companion who is both similar and different. He provides a companion who is perfectly suited to be his companion. And as He does so, He reveals something about the relationship. Paul says in 1 Corinthians, the man was created first. And there's a priority in the relationship. The woman is created to be the man's helper. But the man is the head and the king and the representative of the human race. We're talking about Adam here. We're not talking about every single man today. We're talking about Adam as the representative head of the human race and he is created for that purpose. Which is why when sin comes, who is responsible? Adam. Adam is responsible because he is the representative head, the king of creation. And he's responsible for what's happening in the sacred space that God has set apart for communion with him. And so there's a priority in the relationship, but there's also an equality, a shared dignity. Both are created in the image of God and together they bear that image. And together they're to serve and to worship God. And when they do, there's a harmonious, glorious relationship of communion. and their communion with one another will result in closer communion together with God. Matthew Henry, interestingly, says that God didn't create woman out of man's head, didn't create woman out of man's foot that he might crush her, but he created her out of his side to show that there was an equality of dignity and value between the two. The woman is given a privileged, a royal place in the creation, second only to the man. And this human communion is the capstone of the blessings of God in the garden of God. It's a reason for thanksgiving and praise, which leads into the response in verses 23 to 25. How does Adam respond to what God has done? He responds with wonder, with thanksgiving, and with commitment. Adam understands immediately what's happened. This is the one thing God has given him, excuse me, this is the one person that God has given him for communion and for love. He is not to be a solitary king, a priest without a people. He is to be the father of the human race. And what a great privilege, what a great responsibility. And this would not be possible without the woman. Our culture doesn't see what it's doing. By obliterating sexuality, our culture is obliterating the possibility not only of communion with one another, but of communion with God. But Adam sees his need for Eve. He receives her as a gift from God. And what he says in verse 24 shows that he sees the relationship as a covenant. Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. So much more could be said about that, but we don't have time. It's a bond of communion like the bond of communion that the man enjoys with the woman, with God. God has created more than just a man and a woman. The pattern for marriage is being revealed, but something more is going on too. He's created a man and woman in communion with one another and Himself, and that man and that woman in communion is the beginning of a people later that will culminate in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. After the fall, God will make a gracious promise to the man and the woman, even despite their sin. In Genesis chapter 3, Verse 15, God says this, "'And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel.'" At the heart of that promise is a promise that God will always have a seed. He will always have a people in communion with Him. That will begin very soon in the book of Genesis with a people that begin to call upon the name of the Lord. He will always have a people in communion with Him. And Eve will be called the mother of all living, the mother of the people of God. And from Eve, the great seed, capital S, of God will come. And He will crush the head of the serpent. He will restore communion between God and man. And in Him, that is in Christ, There will neither be Jew nor Greek, male nor female, but there will be one new humanity in Christ. We were created for communion with God. We were created to glorify and enjoy God in time, space, and community. But why do we experience so little communion? The simple answer is that in Adam we lost communion with God. We just confessed that a few moments ago. And the whole Bible is the story of the restoration of that communion. And even in Christ, we still wrestle with indwelling sin. But His Spirit dwells in us, and we have the hope of the gospel. Christ in us, the hope of glory. For His Spirit dwells in us, and we have a foretaste of a far greater communion to come. A communion with God in eternity. A communion with God in the space of the new creation. a communion with God with the whole gathered host of the redeemed from every nation, tribe, and tongue. Blessed are those who do His commandments, Revelation 22, 14, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter through the gates into the city of the new Jerusalem. Let us pray. O gracious God and Father, how we thank you for the sweetness of the communion that we enjoy in you. Fill our hearts now, O Lord, with your spirit as we taste of your goodness in the Lord's Supper, which has been spread out before us. We thank you, O Lord, for the simple pictures that we have. Pictures of your love for us. Pictures of your goodness to us. Pictures of your covenant with us. Be merciful to us and forgive us our sins. In Jesus' name, amen.