“And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh.” Genesis 3:23
In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he makes mention of a similar truth that Adam spoke of before the fall. Paul wrote, “For we are members of His (Christ’s) body, of His flesh, and of His bones.” (5:30) Why did Adam speak in a similar manner concerning the wife that God brought him, and now Paul, speaking of the members of the body of Christ? The answer lies in the concept and truth of oneness, a oneness in the relationship between Adam and Eve, that was never to be dissolved, or destroyed. There exists a similar oneness in principle and truth between the believer and Christ, an indissoluble union, one that cannot be destroyed. Though in the case of Adam and Eve, who sinned against God, there was great harm that came upon their union, in that it no longer was a totally selfless committal, with the power of God filling every facet of one belonging to the other. Yet, by the grace of God, it remained intact during their existence on this earth. As to the church, and one being born by the spirit, placed irrevocably into this union with Christ, the perfect union has been forever established in God’s sight. The believer, having trusted Christ unquestionably as his Savior and Lord, even his Life, can never be separated from the love of God. He is complete in Christ and sealed unto the day of redemption…and this forever. However, as in the Garden of Eden, when the serpent, Satan, approached Eve, in order to tempt Adam, he did so to destroy primarily the union that Adam had with God, causing an “irreparable” breach and destruction of this union. But Satan’s device of deception was conceived also to destroy, or bring about a breach, or crack in the wall of devotion and freedom, in the relationship between Adam and Eve. Eve, from that point onward, would know pain in childbirth, and her desire would be for her husband. This desire would not compare with that for Christ. This was far less than God had intended, for there had been before the fall, an unblemished, and unfettered, love for God first and wholly. Now that love would be lessened, and the object of affection would be divided. For Adam, the toil that he would know, the frustration of the effects of the curse, would work against the free and faultless love that he had for Eve, certainly putting limitations on it. Where there had been freedom from all fear and shame, now they would know such freedom no longer. However, God would wonderfully bless their seed, primarily a Seed, which would restore a perfect, holy fellowship.
When Paul speaks of Christ and His church, and each member of that church being a member of His body, of His flesh and of His bones, he speaks of a spiritual union which cannot be destroyed. He speaks of an “anchor of the soul,” a cord which cannot be broken. He speaks of a work of truth and power in that union, oneness, that God has accomplished in Christ, which no man, no devil, even life or death, can sever. The problem of our day, the day in which each member of the body of Christ lives on this earth, is not the work of God, for it is complete and perfect. It is the realization that the enemy of God, and our own, has not changed his tactics. His will and purpose is to lie, kill, and to destroy. He does this by deceit, through a lack of knowledge, and the appeal of something “apparently” that is better than knowing God, and following Christ. God’s purpose in bringing about a union of the believer with Christ, is to bring the believer to faith in seeing the truth of what he is in Christ, and then, appropriating the Eternal Life in Christ by His power. The battle is to live, appropriating daily Christ as one’s life, light, and love.
Dear Father, Strengthen us to abide. In Jesus’ name, Amen.