Origins: The Beginning (Genesis 1–11)Sample

By Danny Saavedra

“Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.’” Genesis 2:18 (NLT)

“One is the loneliest number that you’ll ever do.” What would you say if I told you that this famous lyric from Three Dog Night’s 1968 hit is full of biblical truth? How so? Genesis 2:18!

Today’s verse tells us so much in only a few words. Here, the Lord saw that Adam was lonely. You see, Adam was created in the image and likeness of God. And God is a God of fellowship, of relationship. He is in constant fellowship as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. As such, we were created as relational, social beings with a deep need for fellowship and companionship. 

So, God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone.” The word here for good is towb, which means, “beautiful; right; pleasant to the higher nature; giving pleasure, happiness, and prosperity; agreeable, pleasing, beneficial.” It’s not right for man to be alone. In fact, it’s wrong; it’s opposite to his nature. So, God remedied this by bringing Adam a “helper who is just right for him.” 

Now, the English translation of this phrase doesn’t do it justice. The Cambridge Bible commentary goes as far as to say that this translation “fails to give the full sense of this passage from which it is derived.” The best, most complete definition I found classifies a woman as man’s corresponding equal, adequate to himself; man’s parallel and opposite companion, his completion. Without a woman, a man is incomplete, inadequate, and imbalanced. 

To me, this is a beautiful representation of what makes marriage so great. Charles Ellicott put it this way: “The happiness of marriage is based not upon the woman being just the same thing as the man, but upon her being one in whom he sees his image and counterpart.”

But here’s something that we cannot overlook or overstate: A husband’s completion is not simply in his wife alone. Like Three Dog Night said, “Two can be as bad as one.” You see, just as in His own triune likeness, there is one more indispensable element for men and women to experience true wholeness and completion in marriage: God! He is the strong foundation upon which we must build our lives, the glue that holds us together, even when everything around us comes unglued; He is the unbreakable strand in our threefold cord. When He is at the center of our lives and union, peace, harmony, love, grace, satisfaction, and fulfillment in marriage will be the result!

DIG: Can you think of a married couple who exemplifies the friendship and companionship God created us for? 

DISCOVER: What are the qualities and habits that make that married couples such a great example?

DO: Whether you’re married or single, find a married couple to mentor you and pour into you the wisdom of their years.