Genesis 2:18-23 NKJV  And the LORD God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.”  (19)  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.  (20)  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.  (21)  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.  (22)  Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.  (23)  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.”

• And the LORD God, YHWY Elohim, said “it is not good”.
  • Throughout all of creation, after each detail, God saw it and said “It is good”.
    • After the creation of the land and the sea, God says “it is good”.
    • After the creation of all the vegetation of the earth, God says “it is good”.
    • After the creation of the sun, moon, and starts, God says “it is good”.
    • After the creation of the sea creatures, God says “it is good”.
    • After the creation of the land animals, God says “it is good”
      • But then comes the creation of man… which we get more details about here in chapter two… ultimately, God will look at the creation of man and everything else, and God will say “it is very good”… but before that, there is a fly in the ointment, a kink in the system… in all of creation, with this details we have now, we know that there was at one point in creation one thing that was, in fact, not good.

Genesis 2:18a NKJV  And the LORD God said, “It is not good …

• Of all off creation, only one thing was ever called “not good” and that is what we are going to talk about today.
  • Now if you are new here, welcome! We preach through scripture here, line by line verse by verse… We just so happen to be preaching through Genesis, and I think that God has a message for you specifically, you came to church this Sunday and I think this message is for you!
    • Honestly, I think it is a message for everyone because this message is a message about all mankind.

• Not Good

• Now you may noticed that I stopped short of verse 24 this morning, the marriage verse… that is because marriage is so important… prophetically, theologically, and practically… that I think it deserves it’s own sermon.
  • That will be in a couple weeks… and don’t worry, I am not going to try to guilt you into being married, Paul says that for some it is better to stay unmarried… we will talk about all of that.
  • And married or not, there is so much power and symbolism there that I think we can all grow in our understanding of God and the church by studying marriage… so that is for the next sermon in Genesis… in two weeks, because next week is mission Sunday… but for today let’s just stick with this simple concept… Man alone is not Good.

Point One – Man Alone is Not Good

GENESIS 2:18-20 NKJV  And the LORD God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.”  (19)  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.  (20)  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.

• God said “It is not good”… what is not good?
  • He says it clearly… “It is not good that man should be alone”.
• So we have a problem, man is alone, but God is not deterred by this problem, it really is no problem for an all-powerful God… immediately God presents the solution “I will make for him a helper that is comparable to him”.
  • Now out of the ground God had formed all the animals, and He tasks the man with naming the birds of the air and animals of the field.
    • So here we see man, surrounded by all these wonderful animals… blue jays, and rhinos, and hippos, and peacocks, and cows, and goats, and cats, and dogs, canaries, and toucans… All these wonderful loving creatures… none at all dangerous because sin had not entered into the world…
    • But no animal, nor any amount of animal was enough… because after naming all the animals it says “But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.”
      • We all know that crazy cat lady who has like 20 cats that she calls her children… yeah, to that lady I say “Cat’s are not enough to be your community, from the beginning of creation, no amount of animals fixed the “NOT GOOD”… Our design is as such that animal companionship is wonderful, but it is not enough… animal companionship, having pets, is wonderful, but it does not fix the “NOT GOOD”.
      • And I know that your dogs are really cute and you love them… and that makes sense because animals were made for companionship… but your dogs will never be enough to completely fulfil you… because dogs where made and yet God still said “it was not good”.
• No it only became good when another human entered the scene… and not just any human…

Genesis 2:21-23 NKJV  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.  (22)  Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.  (23)  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.”

• It was not until God created woman that God said “It is good”… we see this in detail in chapter two, but in chapter one we say it laid out very plan…

Genesis 1:26a-27 NKJV  Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…  (27)  So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Genesis 1:31 NKJV  Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

• You see man alone is not good.
  • Man alone is not enough.
  • Man alone is incomplete… I want you to catch this this morning…
    • MAN ALONE IS NOT THE IMAGE OF GOD.
    • Let me say this again, to be clear… MAN ALONE IS NOT THE IMAGE OF GOD.

Genesis 1:27 NKJV  So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

• God’s image is complete, perfectly complete, only when there is male and female.
  • Man alone is not enough. Man alone is not good.
  • But man and woman, together, are the image of God.
  • Man and woman, together, are very good.
• You see God is undoubtably male in Scripture.
  • Every pronoun used to describe God is male.
  • God is called our King, never our queen.
  • God is called our Father, never our mother.
  • And God has male Characteristics.
    • He is a Warrior.
    • He is physically powerful.
    • He provides.
    • He protects.
    • He is a disciplinarian, disciplining the Children He loves.
    • He is the head of all of Creation.
• Yet these are not the only Characteristics of God.
  • God is caring.
  • God is kind.
  • He is gentle.
  • He nurtures and comforts.
  • He raises his children tenderly and is active in every part of their development.

Ruth 2:12 NKJV  The LORD repay your work, and a full reward be given you by the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.”

Psalms 17:8 NKJV  Keep me as the apple of Your eye; Hide me under the shadow of Your wings,

Psalms 57:1b NKJV  …Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul trusts in You; And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, Until these calamities have passed by.

Psalms 91:4 NKJV  He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.

• Y’all, we know these verses, we know this terminology, but understand this… it is the female bird that covers it’s young with it’s wings. This is maternal language used for God.
  • And consider this verse, that on the surface sounds very manly…

Hosea 13:8 NKJV  I will meet them like a bear deprived of her cubs; I will tear open their rib cage, And there I will devour them like a lion. The wild beast shall tear them.

• The word for bear here is for a female bear. God says “Like a mother bear deprived of my cubs, I will destroy them”…
• Jesus even refers to himself as a mother hen.

Matthew 23:37 NKJV  “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!

Now let me be very clear, to refer to God as “Mother God” or to refer to God as “She” or “Her” is blasphemy, the Bible never does that, and neither should we.

• But it is just as blasphemy to suggest God only has male characteristics.
  • The image of God, church, is only complete with male and female.
  • Man alone is not good… but man and woman, that is the image of God. That is very good.
• Why is this important? Because SATAN HATES GOD and will do anything he can to destroy or degrade the image of God.
  • You see if Satan can, I don’t know, convince us that Gender is not real.
    • That gender is some kind of social construct, not a physical reality.
    • If he can destroy gender… then he destroys our understanding of the image of God.
  • Any attack on God’s created order for things, any attack on “Make and Female he created them” is an attack on the image of God.
    • And it is ok to not be ok with that church.
    • It’s ok to teach your children that gender ideology is evil, that it is from the Devil.
      • Tell your kids that some people want boys to be girls and girls to be boys… and that this idea, that you can be whatever gender you want, or no gender at all… it is ok to tell your kids “That is a lie from the pit of hell”
        • Man society has gone from “You are perfect the way you are” (Not true, Jesus is perfect, die to yourself and be more like Jesus)… we have gone from “You are perfect the way you are” to “God made a mistake with you and you are really supposed to be an entirely different gender”… we got there really quick didn’t we?
        • And what is the result? An epidemic of hurting, confused, and unwell people who don’t know where they belong.
• Ladies, listen, please, it is ok to be ladies… WE NEED YOU!.
  • We need you to comfort us, to care for us, to nurture us and our children.
  • Your emotional intelligence, ladies, is so needed in our nation right now.
• And men, it is ok to be men… WE NEED YOU!
  • We need your strength, and courage, and warrior spirit.
  • The nation needs strong men.
  • THE CHURCH NEEDS STRONG MEN.
• Church, be who God created you to be, and together we form the image of God.
  • Now, let’s talk about that “Together part”.
    • Point Two this morning “We Were Made for Community.

Point Two – We Were Made for Community

Genesis 2:18 NKJV  And the LORD God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.”

• Now I am going to say something that feels controversial.
  • It is going to feel like heresy, and out of context it certainly would be heretical… but when you read this verse, you read it honestly and fully, then this is the only conclusion that you can possibly come to.
    • Ok you ready for this… ready for this hot take…
  • God, alone, was not enough for Adam…
    • WAIT… Don’t leave the church just yet…
  • Because when I say that God was not enough for Adam I do not mean to say that God was lacking… that God was somehow missing something that Adam needed.
    • No. As we discussed last week, God is Jehovah Jireh, or more accurately, God is YHWY Jireh.
    • He is the all sufficient provider.
      • God created needs in mankind, in which He also provided the fulfilment of those needs.
• There is this song called “Breathe” by Michael W Smith… you guys remember it?
  • This is the air I breathe…

This is the air I breathe…
Your Holy presence living in me..

• Now I think, poetically, this is a fine song… I love this song… it shows our dependency on God… and when we are speaking with poetic language it is 100 percent accurate…
  • But… try singing this song in the vacuum of space… no longer will God be the air you breath… you won’t be breathing anything…
  • Because the air we breath is in fact a mixture of Nitrogen, Oxygen, argon, carbon dioxide, water vapor, and trace amounts of other gases…
    • Without that oxygen… we are not breathing air.
  • But of course this song is not about literally breathing in God as oxygene, to take it that way would be preposterous… just as preposterous as saying you don’t need community because God is enough.
    • We would never say “I don’t need oxygen because God is enough… so why do we do this with community.
• BUT HERE IS THE KICKER… GOD IS ENOUGH, Because God is YHWY Jireh, He is our all sufficient provider… God created and gave us the oxygen rich air to breath and God created other humans so we can be in community with them.
• When we pray the Lord’s prayer do we not pray “Give us this day our daily bread”… when we are praying that are we saying “God you are not enough for me, I also need bread?” No, we are saying “God you are enough for me and I trust you to provide bread”.
• So follow me here… in one sense, God alone was not enough for Adam… in the sense that when God said “It is not good for man to be alone” Adam had no right to argue with God and say “NO GOD! YOU ARE WRONG! YOUR FELLOWSHIP IS ALL I NEED.”
  • No, it would have been sin for Adam to argue with God like that…
  • So in that sense, God was not enough… Adam needed another human to be his companion…
  • But in the sense of provision, God was and is enough… because God provided companionship to Adam.
    • God created Adam with the need for community and God fulfilled that need, He provided for that need.
    • Now in a few weeks I am going to preach on marriage… but that is not what I want to focus on this morning, because there is more to this than just marriage, and marriage is so important it deserves a sermon on it’s own.
    • But we also know that not everyone is called to be married. We learn that in 1 Corinthians chapter seven… that for some people it is better to remain unmarried…
    • But married or not, called to be married or not, Genisis 2:18 applies to you!

Genesis 2:18 ESV  Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the YOU should be alone; I will make him a COMMUNITY fit for him.”

• Listen church, I have said it many, MANY times. Christianity is a team sport.
  • There is no such thing as a loner Christian.
  • You need the church and the church needs you.
    • We all come with different strengths and different weaknesses.
    • We all have blind spots, and we all have areas that we excel in.
      • And alone, man, we are just not enough.
    • The Bible talks about us as if we are each a different body part.
      • Some of us are eyes, some of us are hands, some of us are feet.
      • Some of us are good at grabbing, some are good at walking and going, some are good at seeing.
        • But an eyeball by itself can’t walk,
        • And a foot by itself can’t see.
        • We need each other.

1 Corinthians 12:17-20 NKJV  If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling?  (18)  But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.  (19)  And if they were all one member, where would the body be?  (20)  But now indeed there are many members, yet one body.

• And y’all, I have seen it time and time again… I am an extravert, I am bold… maybe a little too bold, when I invite people to church.
  • I always ask them “Where do you go to church?” because if they already go to church I don’t want to steal them…
  • And so many times people say “I am a Christian, but I don’t need to go to church”.
    • And, at the risk of sounding judgmental, these people are seem very similar… and none of them seem very Godly.
    • These people are the ones who are generally cussing, joking very crudely about worldly affairs, and living with a lot of broken relationships…
    • I see it time and time again…
    • God says “It is not good that man should be alone” and we say “WHO ARE YOU TO TELL ME WHAT TO DO! IF I WANT TO BE ALONE THEN I WILL BE ALONE, JUST ME AND MY CATS. WE ARE FINE I TELLS YOU! JUST FINE!”
      • I mean, we wouldn’t do that with Oxygen… why do we do it with community?
• You see if Satan can keep you alone, then he has separated you from some of the best tools God has given you.
  • Galatians 6:2 tells us to bear each others burdens…
    • if Satan can keep you alone then he knows there will be no one to help you with yours.
  • 1 Thessalonians 5:11 tells us to encourage one another and build each other up.
    • If Satan can keep you alone then he knows you will stay discouraged, and when the world tears you down there will be no one to build you up.
  • James 5:16 says to confess your sins to one another, and you will be healed and forgiven.
    • If Satan can keep you alone he knows you will be left to wallow in your own sin.
  • Proverbs 27:17 says that as Iron Sharpens Iron, so one man sharpens another.
    • If Satan can keep you alone he knows that you will remain dull and ineffective.
  • Ecclesiastes 4:9-12… we use these verses to talk about marriage, and we do well so, but it is actually about men in community:

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 NKJV  Two are better than one, Because they have a good reward for their labor.  (10)  For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, For he has no one to help him up.  (11)  Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; But how can one be warm alone?  (12)  Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

• Satan wants to keep you alone, because alone you are weak, you are nearly worthless, you are easily defeated. He will beat you down and there will be none to pick you back up.
  • I have seen it time and time and time again.
• So listen to me once again… Man was created in perfection… No sin, no pain, no sorrow, no suffering. Placed in a perfect Garden with perfect fellowship with God. All was at rest, all was beautiful, all was good… except for this one thing…

Genesis 2:18a NKJV  And the LORD God said, “It is not good that man should be alone…

• Now, let me conclude with the solution to the problem…

Conclusion

Turn On Children’s Class Lamps

Hebrews 10:24-25 ESV  And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,  (25)  not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near

• This verse is often quoted this way “Do not forsake the gathering of the brethren”… in other words… GET TO CHURCH.
  • I have had MANY people say “Oh I am not forsaking the gathering of the brethren just because I don’t go to church… I still gather…”
  • To which I respond “Really, that’s great, when was the last time you got together with your brothers and sisters in Christ to sing songs of worship and praise and to open your Bible and study it together”.
    • I have asked probably 100 people… and only one gave a good answer, she said “Well a group of about 20 of us meet every weekend in my home to sing and study together” to which I replied “THAT’S CHURCH!”
      • But everyone else made excuses. Satan had got them alone, at that is not good.
• So my encouragement to you, let me just be very clear and very plain.
  • Come to church.
  • Come early, leave late.
  • Come to pre-service prayer and pray, we will get to know you fast!
  • Talk to people… get to know people… go to each other’s houses and share meals.
  • Come to men’s group or women’s group or youth group.
  • Build community.
  • Start serving, get on a service team and help out around the church.
  • Every time the doors are open, every event you can make it to, go!
    • And maybe you are thinking “I am shy” or “I am an introvert”… fine, show up any way… show up to everything… and watch as relationships start to form… some extrovert will see you there and will undoubtably come and start talking to you… you just have to not reject them.
      • Allow the extroverts to be the extroverts, they are doing their job as the body, and when they talk to you, open up, and when they want to get to know you, let them…
• All you need to do is not to forsake the gathering of the brethren…
  • And I will tell you this… it is very very VERY rare that someone who comes to Sunday service, and Wednesday service, and mens or womans group, and serve in a ministry team… it is super rare that such a person leaves the faith… it is even rare that they leave the church.
    • Instead what happens 999 times out of a 1000 is that people stop coming to men’s group.
    • Then they stop coming to Wednesdays.
    • Then they stop serving at the church.
    • Then they move from sitting in the front row to sitting in the back.
    • They start coming late… they start leaving early…
    • Then next thing you know they are gone, and many times not just from the church, but from the faith.
      • I don’t want that for you. First, if you are going to leave the church, and I pray that you never do, find another church ASAP, because it is not good for man to be alone.
      • And second, be aware of the devil’s scheme… when he is trying to peel you away from community, really what he is trying to do is peel you away from God.
• But church, we got this! Together we got this! Let’s be the strongest community ever, let’s bear each others burdens and encourage each other… lets chose to live life together, with God, and thus we will be “Very good” amen?!