Chris writes in to ask this, "Why was it not good that man should be alone in Genesis 2? Alone in perfect communion with God, Pastor John. I don't necessarily understand why this was not good." I love that question. I love the fact that Chris is asking it because it means that he's really dealing with what matters, namely, if you have God, what more do you need?

That's a really good question to ask. "Whom have I in heaven but Thee? On earth there's nothing that I desire besides Thee. My flesh and my heart may fail, but You are the strength of my heart and my portion forever." That's a good question. So what did God mean then when He looks at man alone, that is, alone with God, and says, "Not good." I love that question.

And here's the answer. The defect, the not goodness, lies not in God's insufficiency to be all that the man needs for his joy. The defect is in the man's inability to see all that God has to show him and to display all that God intends for him to display about God.

He can't see it all, and he can't show it all until there's another. So take this text from the New Testament as an illustration, Romans 15.5. "May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another in accord with Christ so that you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of Jesus Christ." That would be impossible if there were one person.

Impossible. "That you with one voice, a harmonious people, receiving one another, loving one another as I have loved you, displaying my glory through community." That way, that would be impossible without the other, which simply now opens the incredibly wide door of what God is up to in creation. It is more glorious that there be more than one voice to glorify God.

It is more glorious that there be a choir than a solo. More glorious that there be a church than a saint. More glorious that there be a star team than a star player. More glorious that there be countless colors rather than just gray. More glorious that there be countless smells than just roses.

More glorious that there be countless textures than just velvet. More glorious that there be a billion galaxies, not just one. Or that there be male and female, not just male. Or that there be multiple ethnicities, and not just one. And so, Chris, you get the idea. God created us for his glory.

That part, I think, is crystal clear to you. And my point is, he gets more glory in the harmonies of diversity, like between male and female, and different races, different voices. More glory in the harmonies of diversity and multiplicity than in solitariness. Male and female is one of those opportunities to glorify God that would not have existed without woman.

Or just man. God wouldn't get nearly the glory that we ought to be giving him. And so, Paul picked up on it in Ephesians 5 when he said that this one flesh union is a portrayal of Christ and his church. And that parable would not be told, and it would not be read by the world, had God not said, "Nope, not good to be by yourself.

We're making another." Thank you, Pastor John, and thank you for listening to this podcast. Email your questions to us at askpastorjohn@desiringgod.org. You can visit us online at desiringgod.org to find thousands of books, articles, sermons, and other resources from John Piper completely free. I'm your host, Tony Ranke. Thanks for listening.