This past couple of weeks I’ve been dwelling a lot on what it means to be part of a community, especially with Pastor Howard taking us through the book of Acts, a book all about the birth of the early church. Many of us have heard the adage that we come into the world alone and we will depart the world alone. While there is a small grain of truth in that, I think that saying is largely wrong. From the very beginning, God has explicitly designed our lives to be WITH other people. Unlike many newborns in nature, we are wholly dependent on older adults for our physical, emotional and psychological needs.
We literally would not be able to survive if not for people feeding us and giving us clothing and shelter for the first fifteen or so years of our life. As we age, we naturally seek out others to bond and to share our lives with. It is here that I think about the first few chapters of Genesis when Adam is walking around Eden by himself. He has everything he needs. The whole world is his oyster, so to speak. Sin is nonexistent and his Creator is within easy reach and walks with him in the garden in the cool of the day. What would it have been like for Adam in those first few days of creation and not have anyone else like him to share it with!
God knew that Adam shouldn’t be alone and decided to find him a helper. Genesis 2 records that: “Now the LORD God…brought [animals] to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found.” (emphasis mine)
Pet owners know what fun it is to share our lives with our animal friends, but there’s only so much relationship you can have. Dogs can’t talk back and discuss the events of the world with us. Cats won’t be able to understand what it is like to be human. So, here it became apparent that no animal would be able to fill this void in Adam’s life. I wonder if through all the naming and discovering of all the animals Adam ever wished if he had someone else besides God to talk to and share and explore all this cool world with, perhaps, someone just like him?
I imagine the wonder and the surprise that Adam felt when he discovered Eve the morning after she was created. Here was someone that he could talk with, someone who was human just like Adam, someone with whom he could explore this fantastic world with, someone he could share himself with. That day human community was born.
This was probably the most significant gift that God gave Adam – and to us – in all of Eden: the gift of friendship. Without it, marriage, going dutch on coffee, cackling at funny movies together, holding hands, and many more experiences would not exist. Thank God for community!
– Matt
AdamchurchcommunityEvefriendshipGenesis
Community, Pt. I
June 3, 2010
Calvary
Comments Off on Community, Pt. I
Matt
This past couple of weeks I’ve been dwelling a lot on what it means to be part of a community, especially with Pastor Howard taking us through the book of Acts, a book all about the birth of the early church. Many of us have heard the adage that we come into the world alone and we will depart the world alone. While there is a small grain of truth in that, I think that saying is largely wrong. From the very beginning, God has explicitly designed our lives to be WITH other people. Unlike many newborns in nature, we are wholly dependent on older adults for our physical, emotional and psychological needs.
We literally would not be able to survive if not for people feeding us and giving us clothing and shelter for the first fifteen or so years of our life. As we age, we naturally seek out others to bond and to share our lives with. It is here that I think about the first few chapters of Genesis when Adam is walking around Eden by himself. He has everything he needs. The whole world is his oyster, so to speak. Sin is nonexistent and his Creator is within easy reach and walks with him in the garden in the cool of the day. What would it have been like for Adam in those first few days of creation and not have anyone else like him to share it with!
God knew that Adam shouldn’t be alone and decided to find him a helper. Genesis 2 records that: “Now the LORD God…brought [animals] to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found.” (emphasis mine)
Pet owners know what fun it is to share our lives with our animal friends, but there’s only so much relationship you can have. Dogs can’t talk back and discuss the events of the world with us. Cats won’t be able to understand what it is like to be human. So, here it became apparent that no animal would be able to fill this void in Adam’s life. I wonder if through all the naming and discovering of all the animals Adam ever wished if he had someone else besides God to talk to and share and explore all this cool world with, perhaps, someone just like him?
I imagine the wonder and the surprise that Adam felt when he discovered Eve the morning after she was created. Here was someone that he could talk with, someone who was human just like Adam, someone with whom he could explore this fantastic world with, someone he could share himself with. That day human community was born.
This was probably the most significant gift that God gave Adam – and to us – in all of Eden: the gift of friendship. Without it, marriage, going dutch on coffee, cackling at funny movies together, holding hands, and many more experiences would not exist. Thank God for community!
– Matt
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