Elizabeth Achtemeier has written of the beauty and mystery of this divine creation: "The man was shaped from the dust of the ground, intimately, in the hands of God the Potter. Then the woman was formed from the rib of the man, secretly, by God the Father of the Bride."6 The difference between man and woman, then, is due to God's creative plan and purpose. We read in verses 21 and 22 that God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, then the Lord performed divine surgery. From a single rib -- the solid and substantial bone which encloses the heart -- God created Eve.

Perhaps in describing the woman's creation in this way the Lord underscores the fact that woman is not the creation of man. When she is created, the man is in an unknowing sleep. In fact Adam contributes no more to her creation than to his own; for this reason Eve is not somehow indebted to Adam. Although she is bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh, her being is hers, even as his being is his. This is because Adam and Eve were created uniquely different from each other.

It seems probable that the first husband and wife enjoyed many shared interests. At the same time, they must have encouraged each other to develop their individual interests, talents and abilities. We simply need to remember that before the Fall, in their perfection, Adam and Eve lived out the kind of love which Paul writes about in 1 Corinthians 13. This love is patient and kind, it rejoices in the other's well-being. This love is not possessive, not resentful, not jealous, not demanding of its own way. When a husband and wife share this Christ-like love they encourage and celebrate each other's individual interests, talents, abilities and success.

According to family therapist Robert Beavers, a healthy marital relationship encourages individual growth. By contrast, Beavers points out that depressed wives and distant husbands often share a similar degree of pain!7 When couples fail to develop individual interests, they can become so enmeshed and so emotionally dependent upon one another that they suffocate the fresh growing potential of their marriage. This enmeshment, of course, is in opposition to God's plan and purpose for husbands and wives. Although God created Adam and Eve for each other, God created them different from each other. Such uniqueness, such differing gifts and interests are to be a wellspring of joy and spontaneity in marriage.

This joy and spontaneity was especially evident on that primeval day when the Creator God gave Adam and Eve to each other. We read Adam's joyful song in verse 23, where in effect he says: "At last, here is my life companion, bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh!"

Imagine Adam and Eve, in their perfection, encountering each other for the first time. In his commentary on Genesis, Martin Luther expressed his belief that Adam must have excelled the animals in strength -- with power greater than the lion's, eyesight sharper than the eagle's, with incredible knowledge and wisdom and handsomeness. Then Luther thought Eve would have been as strong, fast, clear-sighted, and brilliant as the man; and in addition to that she must have had a beauty and grace that excelled him.8