The man and his wife were both naked and they were not ashamed.
Genesis 2.25
All creation is now completed by the word that God spoke and it is declared to be very good. The entire cosmos has been brought into being and today we are still astounded by the vastness of it. Planet earth itself has been furnished with every type of growing plant and the vast diversity of the animal kingdom has been created – the vastness of which, like the universe, is revealed almost daily as new species are discovered both in the ocean depths and on land. The one ‘not good’ feature of the Creation (2.18) ‘that man should be alone has been put right and Eve has been created ‘out of Adam’ so becoming in his own words ‘bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh’ (2.23) and the institution of Marriage is established (2.24).
The scene is therefore set for Adam and Eve to fulfil the mandate they were given ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.
The situation and resources were perfect (2.10-14) and the final words of chapter 2 are ‘The man and his wife were both naked and they were not ashamed’ 2.25.
So the Bible tells us what we were created for. For living in perfect harmony with our creator God in a perfect world fulfilling his purposes for us. Sadly though, we know how far we are from that ideal and yet do we not long for it? We know there is something missing but it is a glorious truth that as the first two chapters of God’s Word tell us about what was, so the last two chapters tell us what one day will be. In the meantime we are in the in-between regretting that which is lost and longing for that which will be.
The challenge for us is to face up to reality and thank God that even in this broken world a glorious future is promised to those who are his, and that he has revealed it to us in his Word with the command to pass it on!