English
Português
Español
Français
Answer
Genesis 1:27 recounts that God created humanity with binary gender as male and female. At the end of the creation week, God declares that all of His creation was very good “And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”, (Genesis 1:31). Because God designed gender binarity and because He called it very good, it is evident from the Genesis narrative that the distinction between male and female is significant. However, we may not fully grasp its importance until we delve into the more detailed account of how God created the first man and woman in Genesis 2. It is within this context that God declares it not good for the man to be alone “And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.”, (Genesis 2:18). This marks the first instance of anything being deemed not good. The first negative aspect ever recorded is the absence of woman! This underscores the importance of woman in God’s design.
Genesis 2:7 describes how God formed Adam from the dust of the ground and breathed into him the breath of life, bringing Adam to life. After Adam was created, God placed him in the lush Garden of Eden “And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.”, (Genesis 2:15). God had ordained that Adam would cultivate and care for the garden. At this stage, Adam was still the sole human in existence, and God’s creative work was not yet finished. God acknowledges the incompleteness of the work—despite having created everything except one thing, the remainingDeficiency was significant. God stated that it was not good for the man to be alone «And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him. », (Genesis 2:18).
Previously, God had declared that He would create humanity and that they would have dominion over His other creatures «And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. », (Genesis 1:26). God used the plural pronoun (they), indicating that there would be more than just one man. In the plan God had devised, one man couldn’t fulfill the task. After Adam’s creation, God observed that Adam was insufficient. It was not good—it didn’t align with His plan—for Adam to be alone. In Genesis 1:27, when God created humanity, He made them male and female.
Midway through that process, on the sixth day, God acknowledged that the work was incomplete, and what was necessary to ensure the work was satisfactory was for God to create a counterpart who could assist Adam in fulfilling God’s purpose for humanity «And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him. », (Genesis 2:18). One man couldn’t achieve that alone. However, before God addressed Adam’s need for a female partner, He demonstrated to Adam that every type of animal had its counterpart—there were male and female in the animal kingdom as well «And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him. », (Genesis 2:20), but up to that point, Adam was still alone. The Genesis narrative does not explain why God showed Adam the deficiency before resolving it, but it would certainly make sense that Adam needed to understand how crucial a female counterpart would be—without her, God’s entire plan for the function of humanity would fail. There would be no “they” to govern creation as God had intended.
So God put Adam to sleep and performed a kind of surgery, removing one of his ribs and then healing the wound «And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; », (Genesis 2:21). From that rib, God fashioned the first woman «and the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. », (Genesis 2:22). When God brought her to Adam, Adam recognized her value (perhaps because he was first shown that he was alone). Adam understood that she was from him and that they were uniquely joined «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 2:23). While equal in value, they were distinct in design. God had completed His creative work, with woman as the final brush stroke, and the fundamental ingredients of gender, sexuality, and marriage were initiated (Genesis 2:24-25). God had designed the man and woman to be equal and yet very different. In a sense, they were opposites, and both were necessary to fulfill His design.
The Genesis narrative of the origin of man and woman is historically accurate according to other biblical writers (for example,
In the Bible, Paul extensively discusses Adam and Eve and their impact on future generations in passages like Romans 5 and 1 Timothy 2. However, in recent times, the historical accuracy and consequent design implications of the creation week have come under increasing scrutiny. As societies distance themselves from acknowledging God as their Creator, they also distance themselves from recognizing the intentional design of the Creator. One consequence of this distancing is a growing confusion regarding gender. As we become less acquainted with our origins and design, we may forget our true identity and seek to carve out our own path instead of fulfilling His intended purpose for us. While the idea of independence from God may seem attractive in some respects, by pursuing autonomy from our Creator and His design, we risk losing sight completely of who He intended us to be and the purpose for which He created us. It is far more beneficial to acknowledge the magnificence of His creation and strive to follow His design for us—seeking fulfillment in embracing our true selves as He intended and embracing His design.
