The creation story in Genesis is more than an introduction to the world’s beginnings. It’s a revelation of who God is and what it means to be human. When we read those opening chapters—“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1)—we are not just learning about the origin of light, land, and living things. We’re learning about divine purpose. And nowhere is that purpose more clearly seen than in God’s creation of man and woman.
Some may wonder why a study about manhood would linger so long in Genesis 1 and 2. Shouldn’t we move to Proverbs or Paul’s letters for clearer instruction? Yet everything about man’s role, identity, and purpose begins here. Until we understand what God intended “in the beginning,” we cannot understand what it means to be a man, or even what it means to be human. Genesis tells us more than that God created man; it tells us why he created man, how he designed him, and for what he commissioned him.
Made in God’s Image
The pattern of creation unfolds with beauty and rhythm. God speaks, and by his word light bursts forth, waters separate, land emerges, vegetation grows, and stars take their places in the heavens. Over and over, the refrain sounds, “And God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:25). Creation hums with order and delight.
But in verse 26, the rhythm changes. God does not simply speak another command into existence. Instead, he pauses and confers within himself, saying, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” (Genesis 1:26). Here the triune God—Father, Son, and Spirit—creates something unlike anything else: a creature who would reflect his own glory.
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27). Notice that both man and woman share this divine imprint. Together, they mirror God’s character, wisdom, and righteousness. They are not gods, but they are like God, set apart from the animals, endowed with reason, creativity, and moral responsibility.
Immediately, God blesses them and gives them a mandate: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion” (Genesis 1:28). Humanity’s task is to extend God’s reign across the earth. Theologians often call this the cultural mandate, which is to fill the world with image bearers, bring order from chaos, cultivate the land, and steward creation under God’s authority.
When God surveys all that he has made, he no longer calls it merely good. “God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). The crown of creation, man and woman together, completes the work.
A Man in the Garden
Genesis 2 slows down the narrative, zooming in on the creation of man and woman. God forms the man from dust, breathes life into him, and places him in the garden of Eden “to work it and keep it” (Genesis 2:15). This is the essence of man’s calling. He is to labor and to guard, to cultivate and to protect.
Before Genesis 1 concludes with God’s verdict that “everything … was very good” (Genesis 1:31), Genesis 2 zooms in on the earlier moment when God identifies an essential incompleteness: “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him” (Genesis 2:18).
To be clear, this is not the intrusion of sin but the account of design-in-progress. Man, in isolation, cannot fully image the relational God. Only with the woman given and the marriage covenant formed does creation reach its finished harmony and the whole becomes “very good” (Genesis 2:22–24; 1:31).
Before creating the woman, God brings the animals to Adam to name them (Genesis 2:19–20). One by one, the creatures pass before him. Yet among them all, “there was not found a helper fit for him.” None shares his nature or can fill his need for companionship and partnership. Adam discovers his incompleteness through this exercise, preparing him to receive God’s perfect provision.
The Gift of a Helper
God causes Adam to fall into a deep sleep, takes one of his ribs, and forms a woman from it. Then, in the first divine wedding procession, “the LORD God brought her to the man” (Genesis 2:22). Adam’s response is immediate and poetic:
“This at last is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman,
because she was taken out of Man.” (Genesis 2:23)
Adam rejoices. He recognizes in Eve what was missing in himself. She is like him, yet gloriously different—equal in dignity, opposite in design. Together they form the image of God more fully than either could alone.
The Lord declares, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). Here, marriage is established as a divine covenant: exclusive, permanent, and intimate. It is God’s good design for human flourishing.
Equal in Worth, Different in Role
When God calls the woman a “helper fit for him,” he affirms both her strength and her supportive role under her husband’s headship (Genesis 2:18). The Hebrew word for “helper” (ezer) is not a term of inferiority but a word often used for God himself: “Our soul waits for the LORD; he is our help and our shield” (Psalm 33:20).
Yet while her role is noble and vital, it is also ordered within God’s design. The man bears the responsibility of headship; the woman comes alongside him as his equal in worth and his complement in role. Her help strengthens his leadership, her wisdom refines his work, and together they display the harmony of God’s creation order.
As Matthew Henry beautifully observed:
The woman was made of a rib out of the side of Adam; not made out of his head to top him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved.
Man was created first and given the role of leadership, but that leadership is never domineering. It is servant-hearted, sacrificial, and dependent. He cannot fulfill his calling without her. As John Calvin wrote, “The sweetest harmony would reign in marriage if both parties embraced God’s creation order.” The husband leads in love; the wife helps in wisdom. Together, they display the unity and diversity of the triune God himself.
God’s Design for Dependence
Our culture prizes independence. We are taught to be self-sufficient, to need no one. Yet Scripture tells us that dependence is not a sign of weakness. God made man to need woman, and woman to complete man. To deny this is to deny our very nature.
“It is not good that the man should be alone” (Genesis 2:18). That truth echoes across every generation. Marriage is not a social construct or an optional lifestyle; it is God’s gracious remedy for human loneliness and incompleteness. “He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD” (Proverbs 18:22).
When God gave Eve to Adam, he gave him more than companionship. He gave him sanctification. As Matthew Henry said, “A good wife … will forward him in the way to heaven.” A godly wife helps a man glorify God more faithfully, not only in the tasks of daily life but in the pursuit of holiness.
Different by Design
Every husband knows the tension that difference brings. He may wonder why his wife communicates, thinks, and feels differently. “Even apart from considerations of sin,” Richard Phillips writes, “the answer to all these questions is ‘God designed it this way.’” Our differences are not flaws in God’s design; they are features to be cherished.
Husband and wife are like two notes in harmony, distinct yet resonant. God made us different so that together we could produce something more beautiful than either could alone. The man’s strength balances the woman’s sensitivity; her discernment refines his vision. Where one lacks, the other supplies the need. Together, they display the wisdom of their Maker.
This is why men must resist the myth of self-sufficiency. “An excellent wife is the crown of her husband” (Proverbs 12:4). She is not an accessory to his life; she is essential to it. He was made to need her and cherish her as his glory and help.
One Flesh, One Covenant
Genesis 2:24 reveals the nature of marriage as God intends it: “A man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” Jesus quotes this verse in Matthew 19; Paul repeats it in Ephesians 5. It is the Bible’s foundational definition of marriage.
First, the man must leave his father and mother. This doesn’t mean forsaking them or moving away, but transferring his primary loyalty. His life now belongs first to his wife. The union of marriage creates a new household under God’s authority.
Second, he must hold fast to his wife. This language of covenant speaks of permanence and exclusivity. Marriage is not a temporary arrangement or a contract to be dissolved at will. Jesus said, “What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate” (Matthew 19:6). God himself binds husband and wife together.
Finally, they become one flesh. This speaks not only of physical union but of total unity—spiritual, emotional, and practical. They share life, possessions, dreams, and burdens. There is no “mine” and “yours,” but only “ours.” As Paul wrote, “Husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself” (Ephesians 5:28).
This union is both sacred and joyful. It mirrors the mystery of Christ and his church, which is a relationship marked by covenant love, sacrifice, and inseparable unity (Ephesians 5:31–32).
The Fruitfulness of Marriage
The “one flesh” union also fulfills God’s command to “be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28). Marriage is not only for companionship and sanctification but for creation. Through it, God extends his image to new generations. Children are the products and blessings of covenant love.
This physical intimacy also serves a spiritual purpose. In a fallen world, it guards against temptation. Paul writes, “Because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband” (1 Corinthians 7:2). Marriage provides a holy context for this desire and a safeguard for purity.
Lessons for Married Men
Rejoice in your wife. Adam rejoiced when he saw Eve, singing, “This at last is bone of my bones” (Genesis 2:23). Do you still rejoice over your wife like that? Tell her she is your delight and crown. Let gratitude replace complaint.
Remember your need. Adam alone was not good. Your wife is not an optional addition; she is God’s gracious provision to complete your calling. Honor her as such.
Embrace her help. Your wife possesses gifts you lack. Her insight, compassion, and discernment are meant to strengthen you. Receive her help as the grace it is.
Live as one. You are no longer two but one. Cultivate unity in every area—your finances, decisions, affections, and goals. In loving her, you love yourself.
Lessons for the Unmarried
Don’t despise marriage. The world delays, redefines, or dismisses marriage, but Scripture calls it good. Unless the Lord has called you to celibacy, it is not good for you to be alone.
Pursue marriage wisely. Look for a woman who will be more than a companion. Search for one who will help you glorify God. She may not match your expectations, but she may be exactly what you need.
Don’t waste your singleness. Use this season to grow in maturity and holiness. Serve your church. Cultivate the kind of character that will make you a godly husband one day. “The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord” (1 Corinthians 7:32).
The Gospel and the Garden
Ultimately, the first marriage points to a greater one. Adam’s sleep prefigures the death of Christ, and Eve’s creation from his side foreshadows the church born from the pierced side of our Savior. Just as Adam rejoiced over his bride, so Christ rejoices over his redeemed people. Just as Eve was fashioned to complement Adam, the church is shaped to reflect Christ’s glory.
Whether married or single, our purpose remains the same: to image God, to live for his glory, and to display the gospel through our relationships. The first “not good” in Scripture is answered at last by the perfect good of Christ’s redeeming love, a love that restores, completes, and unites us forever to himself.
“For your Maker is your husband,
the LORD of hosts is his name;
and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer,
the God of the whole earth he is called.” (Isaiah 54:5)
