“God called THEM Adam” sounds strange because of the plural pronoun.

God made the first Man Adam. If you do a closer reading of Genesis, you’ll be surprised. Firstly, the name Adam first appeared not when God named the first man. It first appeared just out of the blue in a description of God bringing animals to the first Man to be named.

Gen 2:19-20
In Chinese, it just says ‘that man’ 那人. But in English, it says God brought the animals to ADAM and asked Adam to name the animals. Whatever name Adam gave to each animal, that was its name. There was no record of God naming the first man Adam. The Bible simply said God brought the animals to Adam. It’s not that the Chinese Bible is wrong, because Adam means human.

The second thing that may surprise you is that when the Bible records giving this name Adam, it doesn’t record Him giving this name to just one person alone.

Gen 5:2
Again, the Chinese says God called them Mankind. NKJV too. But in the KJV and the Hebrew Bible, it says God called THEIR name Adam. The word ‘name’ is mentioned. We may be wondering why God called this couple Adam. Even though Adam means human, the Bible writes it in such an interesting way!

It’s very appropriate for the first man to be called Adam because it means man. There’s no need to question that. But when God gave the first couple Adam, He means to emphasise something. We can get further insights from the prophet Malachi.

Malachi 2:15
This verse is very difficult to translate. It seems so different in Chinese and English. But it’s clear God made them one. When God created the other animals, God just spoke them into existence. Did God create a pair of each animal? It’s not apparent in the Bible. It seems like God just filled the earth, sky and sea with lots of animals. But when God created Man, it was different. God didn’t create Mankind to fill up the entire earth. How many did God create? Did God create a pair at one go from the dust of the ground? No. As Malachi says, He has the ability to create many humans at one go just like the animals. But He chose to create just ONE Man, one human. He didn’t even create two. When Eve was created, she wasn’t created from the dust of the ground but existing bone material from Adam. Malachi underscores the fact that God created one. This is something for us to meditate on.

God took a rib out of Adam to create woman. Brought the woman to man. Got them married. With their physical union came the rest of mankind. So the whole of mankind came from one man: Adam! Why one? Because He seeks godly offspring.

In the animal kingdom, one male can have many female and vice versa. To us, it seems like a mixed up world. Even though we see the patriarchs had more than one wife, but it’s not God’s original intention. That’s why in the New Testament, in the Christian Church, we insist on one man and one wide. Polygamy is a sin, against the will of God. Because when God created Eve, it was out of Adam. Their unity created the rest of mankind.

Malachi says God seems godly offspring. That’s why He only created one man and not one man and woman from the ground. This consciousness of this divine oneness will add to the strength of our marital union, and will lead to godly offspring.

Two points to be shared this morning:

1. One, two, and one
   Because, there was only one man. From one man came two person. And then these two persons became one again.

Gen 2:23-24
First we’re told woman is taken out of Man. This is why a man and wife must cleave together. Adam said, “Bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.” It doesn’t mean Adam married his clone. Because when you clone something, it’ll be an exact replica of the original. If God had cloned Adam, it would’ve been another man.

Eve was a miraculous creation that was a separate individual with different DNA even though she was taken from Adam. It’s a miracle. It’s creation, not scientific invention.

Marriage is in the reverse direction. Two individuals, because of God and His word, are united as one. When does marriage happen? Some people think marriage happens when there is a sexual relationship. So they look lightly on the marital covenant. It’s not the cleaving together that makes you husband and wife.

Gen 2:24
“A man shall be joined to HIS WIFE”
A man can join to any other woman actually, that’s possible. Paul says a man can join himself to a harlot, and they become one flesh. But that doesn’t make them man and wife. So you become man and wife first, then you become one flesh. That’s within the law and plan of God. That’s the way of blessing. So Adam and Eve became man and wife first. And then they cleave to each other.

So marriage then, has a beginning. When? When God ACTS. Marriage is a mysterious and sacred union, because it is God who joins them together. The word ‘join’ in the Bible means ‘yoke together’.

“What God has joined together let no man separate”
The words of Jesus spoken at every Christian wedding. We see the word ‘join’ ‘put’ but the word is ‘yoke’. Why this emphasis? Because some people say “don’t be unequally yoked with unbelievers” doesn’t refer to marriage. Believers and unbelievers shouldn’t be married.

At the point of the covenantal marriage, they are yoked. This is especially for those in the True Jesus Church. When we are married in church, it’s a mysterious sacred union. When you declare you want to be with each other before God, and the minister before Christ declares you husband and wife, you’re yoked together.

This is explained by Jesus.
Matt 10:4-6
Jesus says, “What God has YOKED together let no man put asunder/separate.” “You are no longer two but one.”
Although in today’s context, when two people get married, the bride is not created from the bridegroom’s rib, but at the marriage ceremony, they are joined together by God. They become one inseparable unit. It’s almost like a reversal of the creation of Eve. Because Eve did not exist. There was only one man Adam. And then God out of Adam took out a woman. Now we have two separate individuals. By the same power of God, they are joined as one in a mysterious way! We can’t explain how a woman is made out of Adam’s rib (not a clone, a woman not a man came out). Likewise we can’t explain how two individuals become one inseparable unit. “Let no man separate.” It’s not that you can’t separate after physical union but when you’re pronounced man and wife. If you don’t recognise this, you’re just like people of the world who don’t believe in God.

Marriage is founded on the powerful word of God. If you separate, it is sin.

What is the meaning of becoming one flesh? After the sacred union in church, their lives start to become intertwined together. Why? For this reason. What reason? For the reason of being mysteriously yoked together. You have to cleave with your husband/wife.

What does one flesh mean? It certainly includes physical consummation. But it’s more than that. Marriage is not just about physical union. Physical union can happen between any man and woman. The Bible explains what one flesh means a lot more.

Eph 5:29-31
Paul uses the first marriage in the garden of Eden to explain a mystery. The original intention of one flesh has much much more than physical union. That’s why if you’re one flesh with a harlot, it doesn’t fall in line with what Paul is trying to say. Likewise if a believer married an unbeliever, they also don’t fall into this category.

v29-30 No one hates his own flesh.
What does Paul compare it to?
He compares it to Christ’s love for the church.
v30 We are members of His body.
What kind of body? Fleshly? The church is Christ’s body - a spiritual entity.

That’s why the one flesh has a societal dimension! We are members of His body. NKJV says it even clearer: we are His flesh and bones. That’s why Adam said about Eve!

v32 I’m not talking about the marriage between man and wife. This is a great mystery. I speak concerning Christ and the church.
In other words, when God instituted marriage, it’s meant to portray a great mystery: the love of Christ and His church. That’s why a Christian should only marry a Christian.

Paul puts it in a way that’s very hard and unpalatable. “What has an idol got to do with God’s temple?”

Because marriage is meant to portray the love of Christ for His church, a Christian should only marry a Christian.

We use the term ‘Holy Matrimony’. In some places, people reject this because it’s a Catholic term. They view it as a sacrament. In our wedding ceremonies, we hence just call it wedding because it’s not a sacrament. But we borrowed the word sacrament from the Catholics and defined it in our own way.

The Catholics don’t define sacrament as a rite that pertains to salvation. To them, it means that it involves a divine act from God. Because of God’s power/promise/word, when a minister sdminusters the sacrament, something sacred/divine happens. So baptism is a sacrament. We don’t feel it but when we’re baptised something sacred happens. You enter into the body of Christ. You become a child of God. Your sins are washed away. You don’t feel anything but it’s true. Baptism is a sacrament.

Likewise, Holy Matrimony is an act of God. Two become one. Once you separate the two, you sin against God. If you don’t believe this, why is the name of Jesus used to pronounce a man and woman husband and wife? At every wedding, the minister will say, “I pronounce you man and wife. From henceforth, you are no longer two but one. What God has put together let no man separate.”

This has already happened in the church. After people get married in the church with the name of Christ pronounced upon them, they stay under one roof after some time, claim to not have consummated the marriage, and so deduce they are not really husband and wife. They want to divorce. One party says they want to get married again in the church. It’s not just ridiculous, it’s sacrilegious. It’s defiling the name of God and body of Christ. This is despising the marriage covenant which is sacred, because it’s an act of God.

So not only should we allow the use of the term ‘Holy Matrimony’, we should encourage it, to underscore reverence in a church marriage. We must understanding pronouncing a man and woman as man and wife in the name of Jesus Christ is binding. We must believe in the power of God in joining two people as one. Just like when God said let there be light and there was light, you become one when you’re pronounced in the name of Jesus to be one.

Your names become joined together. Hopefully bank accounts too lol. When you have a baby, your names are on the birth cert.

But this is not all. The more important thing is found in 1 Pet 3:7.
You are heirs together in the grace of life. This brings the speaker to the next point.

1. What’s the meaning of soul mate?
   It means life partners. Life partners doesn’t just mean lifelong partners, it means you are a partner with another person whose life is intertwined with yours.

You are heirs together in the grace of life.
What kind of life? Not one that needs money in the bank, roof over your head, producing a baby to have both your names on the birth cert.

What is the purpose of human life? Eternal life. So we’re heirs of eternal life. It’s linked to prayers. This verse shows how important prayer life is to a couple. In other words, husband and wife shouldn’t only pray individually. Pray together. Inherit eternal life together.

Rom 8:17 says we’re joint heirs in Christ. Joint heirs here is the same word as heirs in 1 Pet. This means to say when a Christian is joined in Christ, it also means he’s also going to jointly receive his inheritance from Christ. This same concept is also transferred to a Christian marriage. That’s why a Christian marriage portrays Christ and the church. It’s more than what you do on the bed. It’s the intertwining of your life together in every way. Not just on the bank account, house ownership and birth certs. You may even take the liberty to say your names are beside each other on the book of life.

This tells us a Christian couple is joined together spiritually. It’s a reflection of how the church is in union with Christ. So a Christian marriage is not just a physical union, it’s joined together spiritually because you’re joined heirs in eternal life. You’re companions in your spiritual pursuit of eternal life.

This is what soulmates mean in the Christian context. Soulmates is actually a pagan term. From Egyptian mythology to Greek mythology. It goes like this: Before the current human race of this earth, there existed beings with 2 heads, 4 arms, 4 legs, 2 sex organs. But 1 soul. They became very proud and attempted to rebel against the gods. Hence they were punished by being cut into half. Each half would have 1 head, 2 arms, 2 legs, 1 sex organ: a human. But half a soul. So they keep looking for their other half. That’s the original meaning of soulmate that we don’t subscribe to.

Adam was one soul. Eve wasn’t created as a punishment but a blessing. Eve was created out of Adam from a rib not by cutting. Eve was to become a pair with Adam.

Gen 2:18
“It is not good that Man should be alone. I’ll make him a helper comparable to him.”
But God didn’t immediately make a helper. He formed the beasts and brought them to Adam to be named first. Why? After Adam named all the animals, the conclusion was that Adam didn’t find a helper comparable to him. God wanted Adam to take a look at the animals. To none of the animals did Adam say, “You are Woman.” Why? Because animals are different not only physically but also spiritually.

His body was well formed. But there was no life. Until God Himself breathed His own life into him. The other animals didn’t have the life of God in them. That’s why they weren’t comparable helpers. But when he saw Eve, he recognised the life of God. And so called her woman. That’s why unless we marry fellow Christians, we can’t become soul mates with our spouse, because you can’t find the life of God in your spouse.

For us who already have our other half who aren’t Christians, put much much more effort to bring your other half to God that He may give you grace.

For the rest of us who are married in the Lord:
“Even if we aren’t born on the same day month year, I hope we can die on the same day” is a Chinese saying. Should we wish for this? No. Adam and Eve were born on different days but died on the same day.

What should we do?
We’re joint heirs of the grace of life. Because I live, you will live as well. Because you live, I will live as well. Stop me from committing spiritual suicide. We have to do the reverse of what happened in Eden.

What should husbands and wives do as soulmates?
1 Pet 3:7
The husband should give the woman honour because she is the weaker vessel. Many men don’t have this understanding and so don’t know how to be a good husband. But Christians are more likely to be good husbands because theoretically Christian husbands read the Bible and have this understanding that the wife must be honoured. They even understand why they have to honour their wives. Why? According to the Bible, it’s because she’s the weaker vessel. That’s different from the world where people are honoured for being more heroic and stronger. Honour your wives as a weaker vessel.

Notice the word ‘likewise’. “Husbands LIKEWISE…” Who do husbands imitate? Their wives. Your wife honours you because v1-6 talks about all the ancient women honouring their husbands. So husbands likewise should honour their wives.

v1 “Wives LIKEWISE”
Who do wives imitate? Christ. Because Christ submitted to God even to the point of death. Head of woman is her husband, head of husband is Christ, head of Christ is God. Husbands should imitate their wives. Wives should imitate Christ. The roots is in the conduct of Christ. Wives do it first in the honouring and submission. Who says wives can’t be a good example to their husbands?

Some of your husbands may be disobedient Christians, without a word, by your imitation of Christ, you can win them over.

And when your husband honours you as a weaker vessel, he’s also imitating Christ who understands our weaknesses.

2:24 says “by whose stripes you are healed”. A reversal of Eden. In Eden, Eve ate of the fruit and came to the husband. She one person die not enough, got to bring Adam down too.

What did God punish Adam for? Because he listened to his wife.

But now the Bible exhorts wife “Don’t speak. Don’t need to talk. Just by right actions, set a good example to your husband.” (Just a joke) Nonetheless it’s good advice to sisters.

Eve caused Adam to die. But the Eves here should save your husband by your good action.

This is what it means to be soulmates. If we really are half souls, what are the chances of finding the right half?

As long as we marry someone of the same faith and similar level of faith, and we consciously help each other mature in our faith, we have married the right half. As we help each other build up our relationship with God, our marital relationship will also strengthen. And vice versa.

That’s what happened to Adam and Eve. From “bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh” to “that woman you gave me”.

After some years, some people say, “We have grown apart.” Let these words never proceed from the mouth of a Christian couple.