It is Not Good for Man to be Alone

In the Genesis account, we read at the end each day on the first six days of creation, “God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good.” (Genesis 2:31)   And of course, we know that this is true when we look at the world around us.  We see the moon and stars, the trees and flowers and the animals of the earth, and we are often captivated by their beauty and goodness.

But the very first thing that God said was “not good,” was in Genesis 2:18.  Even before sin and the rebellion of man, God said “not good” when He saw man’s loneliness.  After God gave man the task of caring for the Garden of Eden and naming the animals, God said “It is not good that man should be alone, so I will make him a helper fit for him.”

And so God created woman, and gave her to man.  A woman who was also created in God’s image, like Adam.  This was God’s design, that man and woman would have companionship.  And while marriage and family is the central part of God’s plan here, I believe that there is another truth here.  God has all men and woman with an innate need for companionship.  This not only includes family, but also friends and especially our brothers and sisters in Christ.

We are now at the beginning of our fourth month of the COVID crisis as a nation.  And while it is good that we are getting past it and restrictions are being lifted, we all have felt the pain of loneliness during this time, especially the pain of being separated from the fellowship of the church.

So this week we will continue in our series on Koinonia Fellowship.  We will continue to look at how God has designed us with a need for one another.  That is in part what it means when God said, “it is not good for man to be alone.”  God has designed the family, the church and communities overall with an innate need to be with one another.

There are two principles we will examine this week.  First is this:  let us understand theologically what it means to be created in God’s image.   It is not good to be alone, because God Himself was never alone, from all eternity past, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit were together in community.

The second truth I want us to see is that our ability to flourish well together in family, in church and in our communities, is dependent on God’s character being formed within us.  Families, friendships and churches that flourish, have love, patience and kindness at their center.

We all know what happens when those qualities are absent. Instead of peace, life can become a living hell.  Many of us have experienced this in broken families and are witnessing it today as communities around our nation are being torn apart by racial inequality and violence, instead love and trusting God for justice.

In Colossians 4:14 we read “above all put on love, which binds all of this in perfect unity.”   That is the ultimate solution for family, church, and our communities.  And when it is practiced, sacrificial agape love, Jesus is seen.  And when Jesus is seen, healing takes place and relationships become bastions of peace and God’s glory!