3904 38th Street NW Canton, Ohio 44718
330-492-5523 Fax: 330-493-7119
“Eve: The First Woman
Part I”
(Genesis 3:20 )
I. Introduction.
A. How do you imagine Eve looked? We have no way of
ever knowing for sure, but she must have been a person of
great beauty. She was the climax of God’s creative work.
The first woman, and the last living thing to be made,
fashioned by the Creator.
1. She was not “formed . . . of the dust of the
ground, . . .” as was Adam (Genesis 2:7). Rather
Eve was designed from living flesh and bone (read
Genesis 2:23).
2. She was the necessary companion for Adam,
because: “It is not good that man should be
alone; . . .” (Genesis 2:18). Here is the first point,
in all the creation account, where God says
something is not good. The woman is what made
creation complete, and as God intended it.
B. Eve, the only being every directly made by God from the
living tissue of another creature, was a unique part of God’s
creation. God had made a whole vast universe out of
nothing. God had made Adam from the elements of the
earth. Now, He made Eve from a part of Adam.
1. Adam represented the supreme specie on earth,
over which he, and his descendants, were to have
“dominion” (Genesis 1:28-30).
-2-
2. Eve was the living embodiment of humanity’s glory
(I Corinthians 11:7). As created, she was undefiled
by any evil, unblemished by any disease or defect,
unspoiled by any imperfection. But, or course, we
are given no physical description of her in the Bible.
The focus of the biblical account is upon her role as
“helper” to her husband, Adam (Genesis 2:18-20).
This is significant, in that it should remind us that
the chief characteristic of feminine excellence is not
superficial. God’s ideal woman has nothing to do
with physical traits. Neither do God’s priorities for
women.
C. As “the mother of all living” (Genesis 3:20), Eve is a major
character in the earliest record of mankind on the earth.
But, in all the Bible her name appears only four times:
twice in the Old Testament (Genesis 3:20; 4:1), and twice
in the New Testament (II Corinthians 11:3;
I Timothy 2:13). We don’t know how many children she
had, how long she lived, or where and how she died, as we
do for Adam (Genesis 5:5). That she and Adam had more
than the three children (Abel, Cain, and Seth) named in the
Bible is made clear in Genesis 5:4. Both “. . . sons and
daughters” were born to them.
D. These things we know about Eve involve her creation, her
temptation and sin, the curse placed upon her, and the hope
she clung to. This is where our focus needs to be as well.
II. “In The Beginning . . .”
A. The account of Eve’s creation is found in Genesis 2:20-25
(READ).
-3-
1. Here we have the first surgical procedure ever per-
formed, by the Creator Himself. Adam was
anesthetized, not by an artificial means, but by God
putting him into a “deep sleep.” In such a state, in a
perfect paradise, Adam would feel no pain.
2. There is nothing to indicate that Adam asked God
for a companion. Nor was he given any conditions
to fulfill to receive this blessing.
3. God brought about the event as an expression of
grace to Adam. He fulfilled Adam’s need for a
suitable, comparable companion. Adam’s only part
in this was to contribute a rib – and that while he
was asleep.
4. In this pre-sin paradise of Eden, there was no
danger of infection, nor discomfort of post-
operative pain. In fact, there probably wasn’t
even a scar. Adam lost a rib, but gained a
companion.
B. The Hebrew language describing Eve’s creation signifies
careful construction and divine design. It, literally, means
God “built” the woman. He made a wholly new creation
with just the right attributes to have an ideal mate for
Adam.
C. Adam’s reaction to Eve is summarized in Genesis 2:23.
And, as with all the other life God had created, Adam
named her (Genesis 3:20). That he felt a deep personal
attachment to this woman comes from Genesis 2:23:
“This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.”
Because they were both created as spiritual, and not
just physical, beings; because they both showed “. . . the
image” of the Creator, they could relate to one another,
encourage one another, and love one another as none other
among the living forms God had made.
-4-
D. In thinking about Eve’s creation, we are reminded of some
truths about women in general.
1. First, Eve had a fundamental equality with Adam.
They shared the same essential, and eternal, motive.
While different physically from Adam, Eve was
exactly the same as Adam, spiritually. She was not
made first to serve the man, but to be his spiritual
partner, his intellectual co-equal, his mate and
companion.
2. Second, Eve’s creation reminds us of the essential
unity of the marriage relationship God established
from the beginning. This was Jesus’ point in re-
emphasizing the story of this journey of man and
woman, in Matthew 19 (read verses 4-6). God’s
plan, and purpose, for marriage was set at the time
of Eve’s creation. That plan, and that purpose, were
based upon unity. There is also the principle of monogamy. As with so much else, people did not always abide by God’s Will, but put their own will first. The “one flesh” principle finds its origin in the creation of Eve from a part of Adam.
3. Third, Eve’s creation illustrates God’s design for
the marriage relationship, as more than just a
physical unity. It’s to be a union of heart and soul
as well.
a. In his commentary on the Bible, the Puritan
writer, Matthew Henry, wrote, of Eve’s
creation, “The woman was made of a rib out
of the side of Adam; not made out of his
head to rule over him, nor out of his feel 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.”
-5-
b. The symbolism Matthew Henry saw in
Adam’s rib matches well with what God
intended to be the proper relationship
between husbands and wives.
c. Eve’s creation reminds us of how the Bible
exalts women.
4. Fourth, Eve’s creation contains important lessons
about the divinity-intended role of women. For all
the ways they are equals, there is a distinction in the
earthly roles of men and women. This, too, was by
God’s deliberate design. Paul puts it this way
(I Corinthians 11:8-9: “For man is not from
woman, but woman from man. Nor was the man
created for the woman, but woman for the man.”
a. Adam was created first; Eve was made to
fill a void in his life. Adam was the head;
Eve was his helper. Adam was designed to
be a father, provider, protector and leader;
Eve was designed to be a mother, comforter,
nurturer, and helper.
b. That God established these different
functions for men and women is evident in
nature itself. Men and women do not
possess equal physical strength; they are
bodily and hormonally different. And, they
are socially, emotionally, and
psychologically different.
-6-
c. These natural differences had a purpose.
I Timothy 2:13 says: “. . . Adam was
formed first, then Eve.” Adam was the
representative head for the whole human
race. Eve, while given a subordinate role
in this respect, was not to be seen as Adam’s
slave.
d. Subordinate, yet equal. Let’s illustrate this
by looking at the Godhead itself: Christ is
not inferior to His Father: Colossians 2:9:
“For in His dwells the fullness of the
Godhead bodily.” Christ shared the Father’s
eternal existence: “Who being in the form
of God, did not consider it robbery to be
equal with God” (Philippians 2:6), and, as
Jesus Himself said, “I and My Father are
one.” (John 10:30). These divine “Persons”
constitute the one true God of the Bible.
All these are fully God, and fully equal.
Yet, the Son is subordinate to the Father,
and the Holy Spirit is subordinate to the
Father. (John 5:30: “I can of Myself do
nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My
judgment is righteous, because I do not seek
My own will but the will of the Father who
sent Me.”).
e. Paul drew a clear parallel between Jesus’
willing submission to His Father and a
wife’s willing submission to her husband:
“But I want you to know that the head of
every man is Christ, the head of woman is
man, and the head of Christ is God.”
(I Corinthians 11:3).
-7-
E. Here is the essence of God’s design in creation: men and
women, though equal spiritually, were made for different
roles.
F. Eve’s position, after creation but before the fall into sin,
was under her husband’s leadership but, in many ways,
she was a more glorious creation than Adam, to be
treasured by him. They were fellow-laborers in Eden.
Here was exactly what God intended the world, and the
human race, should be like.
III. Conclusion.
A. This grand design, this perfect relationship, the perfect
environment of creation, was ruined by sin. Eve was the
means by which the tempter gained access to Adam, and
spoiled the perfection of what God had made.
B. Genesis 2 ends with a brief description of the pure
innocence of the paradise of Eden (re-read, verse 25).
Genesis 3 introduces the tempter, the serpent. Satan came
to Eve in disguise, when she was away from Adam. As the
weaker vessel, away from her husband, but close to the
forbidden tree, she was now in the most vulnerable
position.
C. In the second part of this lesson on Eve, we’ll look at the
temptations and resultant sin, the curse place upon Eve, and
the hope she clung to.