God knew the value of relationships from the very beginning. He spent six days filling the earth with plants and creatures of all kinds for Adam to enjoy. But that wasn’t enough. Though Adam had a garden paradise abounding with an incredible variety of living things, he needed something more. And God knew just what that was.
“The Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him'” (Genesis 2:18).
Living creatures surrounded Adam, but he was still alone deep inside. His soul held a vacuum. He didn’t have the companionship of someone like him—another human being. “So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man” (Genesis 2:21, 22).
God used Adam’s rib to create the first woman. He could have fashioned her from the dust of the ground, as He did Adam. Or He could have made her from nothing. (That’s how the Creator usually worked.)
But He took something from Adam’s chest near his heart to show that this would be a person who would stand by his side. She would be someone who could walk through life with him as a heart-to-heart companion. She was a part of him in the most intimate way.
Adam recognized his soulmate as soon as he set eyes on her. “And Adam said: ‘This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man'” (Genesis 2: 23, NKJV). Bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh. That’s what God created in the Garden of Eden. He brought into being human companionship and intimacy; a reflection of our experience with Him. The Creator knew that interpersonal relationships were essential for our health and happiness.
