The First Marriage and The Last Adam

"Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh." Gen. 2:24

This verse is quoted by Jesus in Matt 10:6-9 and Mark 19:4-6. Why is the idea of marriage, particularly marriage between one man and one woman in a lasting union so important to God? Let's look at the first union of man and woman in the Bible and see what we can glean.

My understanding and insight into the scriptures was hindered my whole life until God brought me to the realization that every word, every place, every name, every number, every letter, every story points to Jesus Christ.

That being said, it is puzzling how Paul could say in Romans 5:14 that " death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come" When Paul says that Adam is “similitude” or foreshadowing of "him that was to come” who is he talking about? Well “him that was to come” is of course none other than Jesus Christ. This verse in fact gives us one of the many names we use for Christ, that being the "Last Adam" 1st Corinthians 15:45. So how is it that Adam, who sinned by taking the forbidden fruit, be a figure or foreshadowing of Jesus Christ?

The most important part of this story is to realize what caused Adam to sin. We can find the answer to this in1st Timothy 2:14 "And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression." If Adam was not deceived, then we can conclude that Adam knew what he was doing. He knew the consequences that this sin entailed and yet he knowingly and willingly took this sin upon himself. So again we ask how could Adam be a figure or a Jesus Christ? The answer is really quite touching.

Let’s look at what had taken place up to the point in which Adam was offered the fruit. Eve had been deceived and she had sinned; her eternal salvation had been forfeited. She was doomed to be eternally separated from God due to her sin. She would now have to face the world and death completely alone, for there were none who shared her predicament.

Adam on the other hand, before he took the fruit mind you, was perfect, he walked with God, he dwelt in paradise, he partook of all the blessings and joy that God offers one who is in perfect communion with Him. Adam, had he chosen, could have left Eve to her terrible fate. He had not sinned and was not subject to the punishment she would certainly endure. However that is not what Adam chose to do at all. Adam knew that Eve's fate was sealed and he knew exactly what partaking of her sin would ultimately cost him, yet he loved her so much that he chose to leave his Father’s side and made Eve's sin his own so that his bride would not have to face a world of sin and death alone with no hope of redemption. You could technically say that he "became sin" for her.

I don’t think it’s too difficult to realize that our Father is trying to show us is that this is exactly what Christ did for us "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." And just like Adam, Christ, out of the immense love He had for His beloved bride, left His Father’s side, stepped into a sinful world, took His bride’s sin upon Himself and ultimately gave His life so that she, His bride, would not have to face this world of sin alone with no hope of redemption. "God commendeth his love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8 Adam’s story is just the opening stanza of a love story, written in blood on a cross in Judea over 2,000 years ago.

So that brings us back to the original question. Why is the idea of marriage between one man and one woman in a lasting loving union so important to God? Because marriage offers us a way to experience if only in a small way the love that Christ, the groom, feels towards us, His bride, and the love and reverence that we, the bride, should have for Christ, our groom. Marriage provides a way for us to experience the relationship Christ desires with us in a way that is impossible by any other means.

It is also worth mentioning that because Adam took on this sin, it provided means by which offspring would be produced through which the God of Eternity would be born of a virgin in small Judean town and ultimately take that first sin and all that will ever be committed upon Himself and do exactly for us what Adam did for his bride.

“And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed [are] they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.” Revelation 19:9

Note: I would like to point out that Adam did sin and betrayed God. No sin is justified, and God does not cause people to sin for his own purposes. However God in all his glory used what Adam had done to give an example in the earliest parts of the scriptures of the price Christ would ultimately pay for his beloved bride. Remember that the death of Jesus Christ on the cross was not a tragedy, it was an accomplishment, it was a victory, it was the culmination of a plan laid down before the world began. Christ when speaking to the two men on the road to Emmaus about His suffering and death on the cross ask "Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" Luke 24:26. Christ himself tells us that it happened exactly the way it was supposed to. What an amazing God we serve!!

For another story about marriage from the Bible see my post titled Christ's First Miracle
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The Day of Double Blessing

Since we just discussed Christ’s first miracle at the wedding in Cana, I thought I would mention an interesting fact about this passage regarding what day the wedding was held.

We know from Scripture that this wedding took place on the "third day"

“And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there:” John 2:1

Just like with our week, the third day of the week for the Jewish people is Tuesday.

Day 1) Sunday
Day 2) Monday
Day 3) Tuesday
Day 4) Wednesday
Day 5) Thursday
Day 6) Friday
Day 7) Saturday (The Jewish Sabbath, the day The Lord rested.)

So why is this wedding taking place on “the third day” a Tuesday?

Well for the answer to that question, we have to go all the way back to the first chapter of Genesis.

You will find when you read in Genesis that God would create, declare those things “good” aka bless those things (the Hebrew word is Towb Strong’s H2896) and then conclude the day.

This declaration of "good" happened on the first day (Sunday) of course.

4] And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

5] And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

Genesis 1:4-5

On the second day (Monday) however, God does not declare anything "good". I have to agree with Him on this one, there is nothing good about Monday's!!

6] And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

7] And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

8] And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

Genesis 1:6-8

So again, nothing is declared good on the second day

God makes up for the lack of any blessings or declarations of "good" on the second day, by declaring two things "good" on the third day (Tuesday).

9] And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

10] And God called the dry [land] Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

1st declaration of "good"

12] And the earth brought forth grass, [and] herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

2nd declaration of "good"

13] And the evening and the morning were the third day.

Genesis 1:9-10 & 12-13

Since God declared that what he had created was "good" 2 times on the third day (Tuesday), to the Jewish people the third day came to be known as the “Day of Double Blessing”

So all good little Jewish girls, if possible, will hold their weddings on Tuesday, the third day, the “Day of Double Blessing”

And it was no different for the young couple whose wedding Jesus attended in Cana.

Christ's First Miracle

(Note: Like so many other studies I put together, this didn't come out anywhere near as clearly or concisely as I had hoped. There is just so much depth to this stuff that it is hard to know what to include and what to leave out since in my eyes it is all equally important. I can only hope that you will see it through the lens of the Holy Spirit and will able to glean some useful things from it. That being said, if you have any questions about any of my post feel free to e-mail me. I will try my best to clear things up.)

I have recently studied Christ’s first miracle and how it relates to our lives both before and after we come to know Christ.

It is my view, that we have in our possession a collection of 66 books, penned by 40 different authors, over thousands of years and yet it is an integrated message system, given to us by supernatural means through the power of the Holy Spirit from beyond our time domain. It is in its total one book, devoted to one topic, that topic being of course Jesus Christ. One book, it’s all about Him.

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for
reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” 2nd Timothy 3:16

What this verse is saying is that there are no wasted words. The Holy Spirit is both efficient and
effective. If a word or detail is there, it is there by His design and points to something deeper.

So let’s focus on Christ’s first miracle the turning of the water into wine at the wedding in Cana in John
chapter 2.

1] And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there:
2] And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.
3] And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.
4] Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.
5] His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do [it].
6] And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece.
7] Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim

“Firkin”: A firkin is a goatskin measurement of 6-8 gallons; 2-3 firkins would equalbetween 12-24 gallons each. The Greek word translated as “containing” is chōreō which actually means “to have space or room for receiving or holding.” So the end of this verse could be more accurately translated “which could hold two or three firkins apiece”. The point is, the the pots were empty. That is why Christ tells the servants to fill them with water.

8] And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare [it].
9] When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom,
10] And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: [but] thou hast kept the good wine until now.
11] This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.

John tells us that this act is Christ’s first miracle. That being said it seems like a very strange way for Him to begin His ministry. No blind or deaf or lame are healed, no demons are cast out, no one is of great benefit from this miracle save a few drunken wedding guests. In fact John states in verse 9 that the wedding guest didn’t even know that Christ had done this work. Only the servants knew.

So Why would the Hoy Spirit mention this and why would Christ choose this to be the first miracle He would ever perform in His earthly body? Remember that every detail is there by design and is there for our learning. 2nd Timothy 3:16

Here is a list of details / occurrences regarding these waterpots that emerge from these verses.

1) There are 6 pots
2) They are made of stone
3) They are empty
4) The pots are the type used by the Jews for religious cleansing
5) By the word of Christ they were filled to the brim
6) The water turned to wine
7) People believed in Christ as a result of the miracle

What do these details tell us?

The first detail is that there were 6 pots. As you study scripture, you come to realize that certain numbers hold certain meanings. Throughout scripture the number 6typically points towards man and also suggests incompleteness. The number 7 on the other hand represents spiritual perfection or completeness.

“And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested
on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.”

Man on the other hand was created on the 6th day Genesis 1:26, he is resigned to his labor 6 days per
week Ex 24:31. 7-1=6, man falls short of God’s perfection Romans 3:23.

So the fact that there are 6 vessels suggest these waterpots are representing man or mankind

The other characteristics of these water pots are that they are

2) Made of stone
3) Empty
4) They represent empty religion (religion being man’s vain attempt to reconcile himself to God.)

Now, what happened to these water pots?

5) At the command of Christ they were filled with water to the brim
6) The water was turned to wine / fruit was produced.
7) Many believed in Christ as a result.

I believe one of the main reason’s Christ’s choose this to be His first miracle, is because it is in direct
correlation to the first miracle that He performed in our lives as believers.

Before we believed:

1) We are all of mankind therefore we were sinful and fallen. Romans 3:10, 3:23, 5:12

2) We had a heart of stone Ezekiel 36:26, Hebrews 3:15

3) We were empty. Void of love, compassion etc. There are no verses that allude to us being empty, but there are countless verses that speak of us being filled and in particular filled by the Holy Spirit. In order for something to be filled, it must first be empty. Matt 5:6, Acts 2:4, 4:8, 4:31, 9:17, 13:52

(Water is used many places in scripture to represent the Holy Spirit - John 4:1,John 7:37 - 39)

4) Our only hope of salvation was a vain attempt to cleanse ourselves through our own works or
traditions / empty religion (Hebrews 10:4, 10:11)

5) At the word of Christ we were filled to the brim with living water / Water = The Holy Spirit. (John 6:63)

6) That water is then turned to wine/manifest itself as fruit. Once we have been filled with the “living water” we too should begin to produce fruit. (John 15:4-5 ,15:8, 15:16, Rom 7:4)

(Wine at times is used to speak of joy (Psalms 4:7, Psalms 104:15) So once we are filled with this “living water” it is turned into joy)

7) Ideally, once we have been filled with water (The Holy Spirit) and it is turned to wine (produces fruit) others are led to believe in Christ as a result of the miracle Christ performed in our lives. (Matt 13:8, Acts 9:40-42)

(Disclaimer: I included Acts 9:40-42 in the last section as a means to back up the premise that once these men had been filled with the ”water” (Holy Spirit), they began to produce fruit and others believed in Christ as a result. It should be noted that being fruitful does not necessarily have to include healing the sick or raising the dead. It can include any number of things can be considered fruit so long as Christ is glorified. Anything you do that glorifies Chirst, helps others further their knowledge of Him or furthers His kingdom in any way can be considered fruit.)