Sunday 5th February
Read Genesis 2:23-25
“The man said,
‘This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called “woman”,
for she was taken out of man.’
24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.
25 Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.
The translation of the last phrase in today’s passage doesn’t quite capture the ominous note. It literally begins with ‘The two of them, Adam…’ immediately after establishing that they should ‘become one flesh’. There is division where there should be unity. The implications of this division are yet to be worked out in practice as they were both naked and unashamed. They were open to each other and open to God – no barriers yet existed to separate them.
It is interesting to hear the echoes in Paul’s expectations of church unity and the absence of division that should be ideal. “Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” (Philippians 2:1-4) (NIVUK). Particularly when the story of the Garden takes a turn where selfish ambition and division become central to the story of humanity…
Pray for a lack of division in your relationships in family and church – that we be undivided in all things.
