Why Adam’s Singleness Was Not Good
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00:00:04.000 | Chris writes in to ask this, "Why was it not good that man should be alone in
00:00:09.000 | Genesis 2? Alone in perfect communion with God, Pastor John. I don't necessarily
00:00:14.000 | understand why this was not good." I love that question. I love the fact that Chris
00:00:19.000 | is asking it because it means that he's really dealing with what matters, namely,
00:00:25.000 | if you have God, what more do you need? That's a really good question to ask.
00:00:30.000 | "Whom have I in heaven but Thee? On earth there's nothing that I desire besides
00:00:33.000 | Thee. My flesh and my heart may fail, but You are the strength of my heart and my
00:00:37.000 | portion forever." That's a good question. So what did God mean then when He looks
00:00:42.000 | at man alone, that is, alone with God, and says, "Not good." I love that question.
00:00:51.000 | And here's the answer. The defect, the not goodness, lies not in God's
00:01:00.000 | insufficiency to be all that the man needs for his joy. The defect is in the
00:01:09.000 | man's inability to see all that God has to show him and to display all that God
00:01:18.000 | intends for him to display about God. He can't see it all, and he can't show it
00:01:24.000 | all until there's another. So take this text from the New Testament as an
00:01:33.000 | illustration, Romans 15.5. "May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you
00:01:39.000 | to live in such harmony with one another in accord with Christ so that you may
00:01:47.000 | with one voice glorify the God and Father of Jesus Christ." That would be
00:01:55.000 | impossible if there were one person. Impossible. "That you with one voice, a
00:02:01.000 | harmonious people, receiving one another, loving one another as I have loved you,
00:02:06.000 | displaying my glory through community." That way, that would be impossible without
00:02:12.000 | the other, which simply now opens the incredibly wide door of what God is up
00:02:21.000 | to in creation. It is more glorious that there be more than one voice to glorify
00:02:28.000 | God. It is more glorious that there be a choir than a solo. More glorious that
00:02:35.000 | there be a church than a saint. More glorious that there be a star team than
00:02:41.000 | a star player. More glorious that there be countless colors rather than just
00:02:45.000 | gray. More glorious that there be countless smells than just roses. More
00:02:50.000 | glorious that there be countless textures than just velvet. More glorious
00:02:55.000 | that there be a billion galaxies, not just one. Or that there be male and female,
00:03:01.000 | not just male. Or that there be multiple ethnicities, and not just one. And so,
00:03:06.000 | Chris, you get the idea. God created us for his glory. That part, I think, is
00:03:12.000 | crystal clear to you. And my point is, he gets more glory in the harmonies of
00:03:18.000 | diversity, like between male and female, and different races, different voices.
00:03:24.000 | More glory in the harmonies of diversity and multiplicity than in
00:03:29.000 | solitariness. Male and female is one of those opportunities to glorify God that
00:03:35.000 | would not have existed without woman. Or just man. God wouldn't get nearly the
00:03:41.000 | glory that we ought to be giving him. And so, Paul picked up on it in Ephesians
00:03:46.000 | 5 when he said that this one flesh union is a portrayal of Christ and his church.
00:03:53.000 | And that parable would not be told, and it would not be read by the world, had
00:03:59.000 | God not said, "Nope, not good to be by yourself. We're making another."
00:04:06.000 | Thank you, Pastor John, and thank you for listening to this podcast. Email your
00:04:09.000 | questions to us at askpastorjohn@desiringgod.org. You can visit us
00:04:13.000 | online at desiringgod.org to find thousands of books, articles, sermons, and
00:04:16.000 | other resources from John Piper completely free. I'm your host, Tony Ranke.
00:04:20.000 | Thanks for listening.
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