We weren't originally created for this world. We were created for paradise, eden, heaven.
This chapter talks about the order of creation. God started with the creation of light, moved on to creating land, creating plants, etc. Like an artist who starts with a blank canvas and starts painting--background first, big picture, then smaller and smaller details. The painting gets more and more interesting as the artist adds intricate and intimate details. Just when you think The Artist has finished, He adds His own image. Now instead of speaking these things into existence, he forms them. He gets His hands dirty when He forms Adam a nd Eve. These are His precious children with whom he desires an intimate relationship.
After He creates Adam, He performs His grand-artistic-finale--he creates Eve. She is the finishing touch.
The world was incomplete without her, so she (and we) must have a destiny to fulfill.
Women are like God in their desire for relationship. Just as a woman longs for close friendships or relationships, God desires a relationship with us. See John 17:3; Isa.49:14-15, 18; Jer. 24:7; Matt. 23:37.
Women are like God in their desire to be sought after. See Mark 12:29-30, Matt.22:36-38.
Christianity is a great romance. Jer. 31:3.
Eve was put here as a partner in the great adventure of life. She and Adam were told to be fruitful and multiply and hold dominion over the earth in Gen. 1:26-28.
Genesis 2:18 further explains Eve's role. It says Eve is a helper for Adam. That sounds anti-climactic, but when you look at the original language, the word for helper is "ezer kenegdo." On page 31 they tell us:
The word ezer is used only twenty other places in the Old
Testament and in every other instance the person being described is God himself
when you need him to come through for you desperately. See Deut.
33:26,29; Ps.121:1-2; Ps.20:1-2; Ps. 33:20; Ps. 115:9-11.
Another translation of the word is "lifesaver." That sounds a little more exciting!
Christian life is risky--why else would be need a lifesaver?
God doesn't want to be someone who is just along for the ride, He is essential. The same can be said of women.
Page 34 says that Beauty is the essence of God. We know this through nature's beauty (Isa. 6:3) and John's visions of God (Rev. 4:3,6).
Page 36 says that we tend to minimize beauty or overspiritualize it. We try to make it all about character.
Why beauty is important (P. 37-41)
1. Beauty Speaks. Beauty says "all shall be well"
2. Beauty Invites. It draws you in and holds your attention.
3. Beauty nourishes. It offers life.
4. Beauty comforts. We try to comfort those who lose loved ones by sharing beauty with them (sending them flowers, etc.)
5. Beauty inspires. Mother Teresa's life is an example of a beautiful life that inspires us.
6. Beauty is transcendent. Beauty reminds if of Eden and helps us look forward to heaven.
Our womanly mystery is a reflection of God's mystery--something to be explored (p. 41)
Consider Jer. 29:13.
There is dignity here; God does not throw himself at any passerby. He
is no harlot. If you would know him you must love him; you must seek
him with your whole heart. Ths is crucial to any woman's soul, not to
mention her sexuality. "You cannot simply have me. You must seek me,
pursue me. I won't let you in unless I know you love me."
Page 42 explains that every woman is beautiful because "Beauty is an essence given to every woman at her creation."
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