The Making of the Perfect Woman
Genesis 2:18-25
Mar 23, 2025
Pastor Craig Ledbetter
Bible Baptist Church of Ballincollig
I. Introduction and Review
A. We are studying the Book of Genesis, verse by verse
B. The Making of a Man – Adam (Genesis 2:7)
1. Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
2. He was incomplete
3. He needed help – not as a cripple, but as someone designed with needs that only a wife could supply
4. I don’t know why people have a problem with that fact. It is built into us to need some things to be complete: like a family! And it starts with a man having a wife
C. The Design and Purpose of a Wife (Genesis 2:18)
1. God did not just design a woman, and not even just a wife, but a help!
2. Genesis 2:18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
3. We talked last week about HOW a wife can help her husband
4. We looked at Biblical commands towards a wife being a blessing and a help
5. There are many, many commands directed at the man, and especially the husband, but there are plenty towards a wife too!
6. If you are married, THAT is what your man needs
a. Not an arguer, or a competitor. Not a brawler, a nag.
b. He needs a helper, a blesser, an encourager, a lover
c. Someone who fits him like a glove (not like sandpaper), and helps him be what God designed HIM to be
7. By doing that, BOTH of you make ONE GREAT TEAM, and will enjoy your children to the third and fourth generation, God promises!
D. This morning, let’s step out of the way, and watch as God describes the first wedding, and how God prepared Adam for his wife, and prepared his wife, Eve, for her husband!
1. Did you know that the Bible begins and ends with a marriage?
2. Here in Genesis 2, we watch the first wedding…
3. Then, all the way at the end of the Bible, in Revelation 19:6-9, we read about the best wedding, in heaven… And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come [That’s JESUS], and his wife hath made herself ready [THAT’S US]. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. 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.
II. Message
A. “I Will Make…” (Genesis 2:18)
1. Genesis 2:18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
2. Again, God did not say, He was going to make a WIFE, but a HELP
3. Remember that ladies
4. Some facts about the first woman…
a. She was God-designed, and built by God
1) Adam did not design her… God did
2) Adam is asleep through the entire process!
3) So, Leave the designing of the perfect woman to GOD, not to Hollywood!
4) And NOT to your dreams!
b. She was designed and built for the man – for her husband
1) 1Timothy 2:13 For Adam was first formed, then Eve. There is a reason for that…
2) 1Corinthians 11:8,9 For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man. Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.
3) To help him glorify God by his life
4) Now, there is more to all this, and we will look at it the next few weeks
c. She was designed to be a WOMAN
1) Womanhood is NOT a costume. A man can’t put on a dress and lipstick then magically become a woman. Womanhood is God-designed.
2) Drag queens are NOT women
3) And short haired, angry, brawling women are not men!
4) There is a movie out called “What is a Woman?” I understand that about 30 highly paid professional influencers and teachers and doctors and politicians could not answer that simple question!
5) She is genetically different than a man – two X chromosomes, whereas a man has an X and a Y chromosome structure in every one of his cells
6) She is hormonally different than a man
7) She is shaped different than a man
8) She is reproductively different than a man
9) And we all say, AMEN! Thank God!
d. God is pretty good at creating, designing, forming and fashioning the most amazing things, isn’t He?
B. Adam Needs to Appreciate What God is Giving Him (Genesis 2:19,20)
1. Genesis 2:19,20 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.
2. God wanted Adam to understand and appreciate what a gift a wife really is! A lot of men do not appreciate the gift that their wife truly is – we think we do, but we don’t!
3. A Parade of Life
a. Genesis 2:19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
b. God specifically created a complete assortment of all the animals and birds of the world right in front of him and brought them to him to see what he would call them. He had already created all the animals around the world. This was specially for Adam to see, examine, classify and name all the animals…
c. The Aardvark, the Antelope, Bear, Cat, Elephant, Flamingo, Giraffe, Kangaroo, Monkey, Penguin, Sloth, Zebra…
d. And 5,000 more animals and birds passed in front of Adam in the Garden
e. God waited to see what Adam would learn about them, and what he would call them
4. This was a teaching moment, showing Adam his own need as well as God's will and design for him
a. God wanted Adam to learn to Trust in the Lord, with his heart
b. To Love God first, will all his heart
1) Adam was not sulking or upset about being alone
2) He actually was enjoying God even though he was waiting for his needs to be met
3) That is a good way to live, ladies and gentlemen
4) Psalm 37:4 Delight thyself also in the LORD [FIRST]; and he [GOD] shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
c. Use your head, Adam
1) Not just your heart! Yes, Adam will fall in love (at first sight), but that is not what God wanted Adam to use when choosing a wife!
2) He wanted Adam to study what he saw and ponder what each animal and bird was
a) Ponder, think about, analyse every animal
b) Looking at all the characteristics of each one…
c) Quadruped, biped, mammal, bird
d) Vertebrates, invertebrates, fur, feathers, scales, skin, claws, hooves, tail, wings
3) God let Adam name them
a) Flying Squirrel
b) Glowworm
c) Hammerhead Shark: Has a hammer-shaped head
d) Hummingbird: Known for its humming sound, created by rapid wing beats.
e) Elephant Seal: Large seals with trunk-like noses resembling an elephant's.
f) Turtle: In Hebrew, it means, “Moves slowly”!
g) The name Bat in Hebrew means “Flying in Darkness”
4) With each animal, Adam was searching for his counterpart - his “meet” – his mate
5) And as expected, some of them were helps, but none of them were like him!
5. What Adam needed to learn…
a. Nothing this world HAS is what a man needs! God often limits our resources so that we will turn to HIM for what we need!
b. Learn to wait on God. Adam was actually FORCED to wait on God - forced to trust God's will and God's timing and God's abilities
c. Learn that God is able to provide the impossible – what exactly Adam needed
1) A godly, God-fearing, supportive, helpful wife, in a world where non existed!
2) The Jewish people in the wilderness asked if God was evil to provide bread, to provide water, to provide meat in the wilderness.
3) Each time God showed that He was most able!
4) He will prove it to you as well, if you will let Him!
d. That God’s will and timing is perfect – even when it makes no sense at all
C. A Deep Sleep (Genesis 2:21)
1. Genesis 2:21 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;
2. God put Adam into a deep sleep – the pattern for all modern surgeries
a. At first, chloroform was used to knock out people. Chloroform was first used as an anaesthetic in 1847 by Scottish physician James Young Simpson. He got the idea from reading Genesis 2:21!!!
b. Then later, doctors started using propofol, and ketamine – to induce a comatose state
3. This was the first surgical operation
a. The woman was NOT going to be created from dirt like Adam had been
b. God took one rib from Adam's side - a bone
1) I believe it was Adam’s fifth rib on his left side…
2) This single bone was all that God needed to make an adult woman
3) The human body has 12 pairs of ribs
4) Bones provide the structure and the frame of the human body. Without it we would simply be jellyfish
5) Bones provide protection of all the internal organs in the body
6) They also are the source of blood cell production for the body
7) And they are the source of so many stem cells that can prudence all the other cells in your body
c. And then God closed up the wound
4. God used the rib and created the shape and form and heart and lungs of this woman and then breathed into her the breath of life and made her a living soul just like Adam was
5. She was perfect
6. And… she was naked. People forget this!
D. What Did God Make? (Genesis 2:22,23)
1. Genesis 2:22,23 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. 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.
2. Didn’t make Adam a mother, or a friend, or a fishing buddy, or a PlayStation
a. God made Adam’s other half
b. A wife! A help. A woman
3. Adam classifies her as “a woman”
a. She is not like any other animal in creation
b. She is a lot like HIM – she fits him, matches him and his needs
c. She is his size
d. His shape
e. She has his flesh and his bones
f. She is his equal. Adam acknowledges that Eve is of the same essence as himself. She is not inferior, or superior.
g. And yet she is different in all the best ways
4. Later, in chapter 3, Adam will name her EVE – Life! (Genesis 3:20) And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
5. She is a good thing to be and a good thing to have gentlemen (Proverbs 18:22) Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD.
6. She is perfect for Adam, and Adam was perfect for Eve
a. Genesis 2:25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
b. They were not ashamed of their bodies
c. And not ashamed of their nakedness since they were married
7. A wife from the Lord is worth waiting for – Adam learns this.
a. Imagine if Adam got impatient and just grabbed the first animal that came along and said, “I’ll take this one to be my help”?
b. We would have all been in a world of trouble
c. Yet, that is usually how most relationships start today – just get into bed with the first person that winks at you!
8. Worth staying with till death – Adam and Eve will stay married, and stay together for 930 years! (Genesis 5:5) And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.
E. The Gospel in the Creation
1. You may not have realised it, but from chapter 1, verse 1, God has been “foreshadowing” the Gospel – a parallel to the Gospel!
a. Pointing to something in the future God already knew we would need – a Saviour!
b. There have already been THREE events that point to the coming of the Messiah, and I haven’t really talked much about them yet!
1) God brought Light in the darkness – a picture of conversion
2) That there is a Rest to the believer – not in the Sabbath, but in the Son of God
3) That the Messiah will be a perfect Man (not an angel) – a Second Adam
c. This foreshadowing will happen throughout the book of Genesis
2. Notice the symbolism…
a. God did not just scoop up another pile of dust and make a woman
b. God took a sinless man and puts him into a deep sleep - like death
c. And then, WOUNDS Adam's SIDE
d. From that bloody wound, God pulls what He needs to create Adam's bride, Eve
e. God then RAISES the sinless, wounded man up, in a garden, and presents to him this bride, that he accepts with perfect love and appreciation
f. That is the good news of the Gospel for all people
g. Jesus will be the Second Adam who fulfils that picture perfectly!
h. John 19:33,34 But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.
i. By the way, Jesus still has the SCARS of the price HE paid!
3. The relationship between Adam and Eve mirror the relationship between Christ and Christians (the Church) in Ephesians 5:28-32
a. Watch the Apostle Paul explain this
b. Ephesians 5:28-30 So ought men [HUSBANDS] to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
c. WHOSE body, flesh and bones? Jesus Christ’s!
d. Ephesians 5:31,32 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
e. Wow! So, what happened at creation, in Genesis chapter 2, and what happened at the cross are two mirror images of God’s work in saving a soul
1) It cost Adam to obtain Eve, just like it cost Jesus to obtain US
2) Eve just needed to decide to accept Adam – there was no other one to accept
3) Just like we must accept Jesus by faith – because there is no other Saviour
4) Both became one, just like we will be with Jesus forever and ever!
F. God Brought the Woman to the Man – the First Marriage (Genesis 2:22-25)
1. Genesis 2:22,23 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. 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.
2. Here, we have the FIRST wedding. Genesis is full of firsts!
a. This is the foundation of marriage!
b. It is not a primitive wedding.
c. It is the pattern for all weddings to follow
3. What do you think Adam said?
a. He did not say, “Get over here and make me a sandwich! Nope!
b. He said, WOW-Man!
c. What a sight for Adam to see!
d. He had never in all of his life (brief as it had been) seen anything like her
e. He saw her coming to him (probably looked around to make sure he was her target),
f. And still to this day, a bride approaches her soon-to-be-husband as she walks down an aisle, and what does he say? WOW-man! Look what God gave ME!
4. Brought together by God Himself
a. God guided the woman to Adam – she didn’t know what to look for
b. God woke Adam up to the sight of the woman – open his eyes to the gift she was
c. Don’t EVER forget that GOD joined you two together!
5. God Joined Them Together
a. Genesis 2:24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife [WOMAN]: and they shall be one flesh.
b. Why? Because it is a God-designed thing to do!
c. Listen to Matthew 19:4-6 And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife [A MAN’S CHOICE]: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together [GOD’S WILL], let not man put asunder.
d. So, One man. One woman. Joined together FOR LIFE!
e. Their flesh was supposed to be one now – they are not sleeping in separate beds
f. Their lives were joined together as one
g. Their purpose was one purpose – not two
h. Their worship is joined as one – both worshipping God together
i. Yes, They still are two people:
1) Two souls
2) They see things differently. Have different opinions
3) And that is okay
4) They both have different books they like to read, different hobbies
5) But they must act as one life
6) They
must anchor their life back to each other – not away from each
other!
That includes your children – anchor THEM to
you, not you to them!
7) A husband and wife are STUCK together, and need to work together
8) EXAMPLE – Three-legged race. HAVE to work together, or will fall
9) More next week! Because the devil will capitalise on Adam and Eve NOT being together
6. And Adam made a vow to cleave to, cling to, become bound to this single woman
a. Genesis 2:23 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.
b. Not a common-law marriage, or a justice of the peace, or registry office wedding
c. But a wedding under the authority of God
d. By the free will choice of both the man and the woman
e. Fearful of ever breaking their vows to each other
f. Because GOD will hold us to our vows
g. That’s why Moses adds in Genesis 2:24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife [WOMAN]: and they shall be one flesh.
7. This marriage was absolutely beautiful, honourable, and good
a. Hebrews 13:4 Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.
b. Marriage is honourable in every way. It is never to be ashamed of
c. It is the pattern for all marriages now!
d. Anything else is dishonourable and wrong: cohabitating, adultery, physical abuse, human trafficking, fornicating, sodomy, polygamy
e. None of that is what God designed for men and women to do
G. A Poem – Their Love is a Legend – how to love like Adam and Eve did
In this world, where life rarely flows free,
Two people, today, were destined to be.
The man, though simple, yet with character true,
Had vision and purpose he determined to pursue.
The woman, though complex, was rich with mystique,
Her heart full of power, with a creative streak.
Then something happened when by chance they did meet,
Words began dancing, and their hearts started to beat.
In time, these two people, looking far deeper than sight,
Sought for such character to prove their choice would be right.
"Your steps are so graceful," said the man to the lady,
"Your heart thinks of others, your strength is so steady."
"And you, my dear man," replied the woman with grace,
"You handle all pressures with such steady a pace."
"If you love God, more than you love yourself,"
"Then I trust you to love me, and that's worth more than wealth."
The man in deep awe, replied from his heart,
"From you dear lady, I never want to be apart."
And with that simple exchange, a decision was made
To join together, become one, and their lives to upgrade.
Together they worked, in harmony so sweet,
Creating a home and a family complete.
In the vastness of the unknown, their love took its flight,
These two souls inter-twinned - it was a wondrous sight.
No longer apart, now as one they can stand,
Their love is a legend in life's troubled land.
H. What is Marriage?
1. It is not a piece of paper, or a ceremony, or an old fashioned way of living
2. Marriage is God's Domain
a. Marriage belongs to God. No one can come along and redefine what it means
b. Like Ireland thinks they did in May 2015 – they perverted it
c. Like America thinks they did in June 2015 – they perverted it
d. And it doesn’t matter if you are Hindu, Buddhist Muslim, Jewish, Pagan, Atheist, or Baptist…
e. Marriage between a man and woman is right, and good, and blessed by God!
f. And should be protected, and honoured and encouraged
3. It is a joining of two people
a. It is the joining of two physical, living bodies into one life
1) It is NOT the joining of two souls or two spirits
2) But two people becoming one flesh
b. It is sex
1) Husbands and wives are married to have sex – don’t freak out!
2) 1Corinthians 7:1-4 Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband. The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife.
3) So, touching is for husbands and wives, not boyfriend/girlfriend
4) Sex before marriage is fornication, and God will judge
5) Sex outside of marriage is adultery, and God will judge
6) Once married, have as much sex as possible! You are doing what God designed you to do
7) The bodies of each partner belongs to the other now! Enjoy!
c. But Marriage is more than just sex – although that is a big part of it
4. It is an acceptance by both people
a. Here was somebody who loved Adam, and accepted him just as he accepted her – as from God
b. They both were yielded to the guiding hand of God
c. They could not have chosen someone better than God chose
d. So, if you are not married, ask God to guide you to the person God is guiding to you
e. If you ARE married, ask God to help you accept the person God has joined you with, and ask God to help the person you are married to, to accept you
f. That will start you both back at the right starting place
5. It is work by both people
a. A perfect beginning is a good place to start, but…
b. Staying together takes work
c. Humbling ourselves to each other is hard work
d. Pleasing the other person more than ourselves is hard work
e. Strengthening the other person
f. Honouring the other person
g. Serving each other
h. All takes work – folks, we are not in the Garden of Eden anymore!
6. It is a permanent decision
a. Marriage is a vow between two people of commitment to each other under God, to live as one for the rest of their lives
b. That’s why have a ceremony – make it public, with witnesses, and vows
c. We have wedding ceremonies to make it something permanent – unshakable
d. Because God hates divorce – yes, He allows for it, but He never intended it to ever happen. If it does it only is because of the hardness of our own hearts!
7. It is the beginning of a new family
a. Leaving the one behind and starting another one
b. Not abandoning the old family, but adding to it
c. Marriage is for the purpose of having children – not just for selfish reasons
d. Genesis 1:27,28 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth [FILL IT UP]…
I. What Could Possibly Go Wrong? (Genesis 3:1) – everything started so right!
III. Conclusion
A. Ladies, if you are married or plan on getting married, let God fashion and mould your life for something greater than just a ceremony… Let God make you a help, suitable and matching your husband’s purpose in life – doing the will of God
B. If you are waiting for a wife, delight yourself in GOD first while you are waiting
C. Gentlemen, are you EVEN ready for a wife?
D. Are you aware of how great a gift she is? Stop looking at the parade of animals on TV, and in the movies, and on your phone, and be satisfied with gift of your wife!
E. And all of you… Do you know the Gospel? You just saw it played out… YOU NEED IT
1. God took a sinless man and puts him into a deep sleep - like death
2. And then, WOUNDS Adam's SIDE
3. From that bloody wound, God pulls what He needs to create Adam's bride, Eve
4. God then RAISES the sinless, wounded man up, in a garden, and presents to him this bride, that he accepts with perfect love and appreciation
5. That is the good news of the Gospel for all people, because that is what Jesus did for you