Created for Connection

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being... Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it... And the Lord God said, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him."... And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam... and the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman... Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

God created us for connection—and what sin destroyed in Eden, Jesus came to restore.

A Stubborn Streak of Independence

Most of you know that my wife and I have four kids. And although it may not be socially acceptable to say, before we had children I wasn't entirely sure I wanted them—and after having them, there are times. Some of you may have felt that way, even if you'd never admit it. Research has shown that our experience of emotion, both highs and lows, increases when you have children. When they hurt or are sick, your emotion runs significantly lower. But on the high end, your joy increases greatly, because children can do and say some pretty funny things.

Our daughter Evangeline, when she was a little more than three, decided she didn't need anybody's help with anything. We have a video of her singing, "I do all by myself." That's little Miss Independence, and she hasn't changed much. For the life of me, I have no idea where she got that stubborn independent streak.

Most of us have a stubbornly independent streak. Our American culture highly values, and in some ways nurtures, that spirit of fierce independence. We are a people wholly committed to individual rights, freedom of thought, speech, and expression. These are fundamental values that inspire people to make this place their home. In many ways that independence can be a good thing.

It Is Not Good That Man Should Be Alone

But there's a danger. That independence can push us toward an isolationist mindset where we begin to think we can do it all by ourselves. I would say it's something of an infantile understanding of liberty to think we can live this life entirely alone. Genesis 2:18 underscores this reality: "It is not good that man should be alone; therefore I will make a helper comparable to him." God does not desire that we live in isolation. He created us to live in connection with one another. That's why it's part of our vision here at the church.

Firsts in the Bible are important, and Genesis 2:18 is the first negative recorded in Scripture: "It is not good." The word translated "good" is repeated seven times in Genesis 1. As God speaks all things into creation, He beholds what He has made and says, "It is good"—and in verse 31, "behold, it is very good." The superlative shows it was exceedingly good.

But in Genesis 2, God forms man of the dust and breathes into him the breath of life, making humanity distinct and unique, the image bearers of God. In Genesis 1:26-27, God said, "Let us make man in our image and in our likeness." Even though we live in a time when people try to discount our distinctness, that's how God made us. And then He looks at the man He has made and says, "It is not good that man would be alone."

What Scripture and Science Both Affirm

Point number one: God never intended that we live alone in isolation. Even though we have a desire for autonomy—itself a product of being made in God's image—we cannot live without one another. This is a foundational fact. I am fascinated that one of the oldest pieces of literature, the book of Genesis, identifies human connection as a basic necessity of life. And the modern social sciences—psychology, sociology, anthropology—now confirm what the Bible affirmed from the beginning.

In the middle of the 20th century, the psychologist Abraham Maslow developed his "Hierarchy of Needs." One of the five needs he identifies is the need for belonging—to be part of a group, to love and be loved. It's something we don't just want; it's something we need. In an article in Psychology Today in July 2003, a psychologist from the University of Chicago wrote, "Friendship is a lot like food. We need it to survive." He noted that when our need for social relationships isn't met, we fall apart mentally and even physically—loneliness producing depression, anxiety, stress, hypertension, and heart disease.

In the aftermath of the Second World War and the Cold War, there was a baby boom in the former USSR. In Ukraine, there were not enough people to care for the children, and many were orphaned or neglected in orphanages. Their basic needs of shelter, food, and water were met, but many had no physical contact with other human beings. Nearly a third of those children died before age two for lack of connection, and most of the survivors had developmental or mental effects afterward.

What the Bible affirmed for thousands of years, science now confirms. And it's self-evident—we don't need the Bible or science to tell us; we sense it in ourselves. Why does this exist in us? Because God created us this way.

God Provided the Satisfaction for Our Desire

Not only did God create us this way, He provided that our desire would be satisfied. He said, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make a helper comparable to him." From man, God took something—many translations say a rib—to create woman. Woman was created out of man so that they could be joined together as husband and wife to become one flesh. "For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh."

God gives us this opportunity to satisfy that desire in the deepest, richest human relationship there is. From this relationship come families, which create communities, societies, and culture. All of it grows out of what God originally created.

Yet thousands of years later, our culture is fighting against what God fundamentally created—male and female. Driving here this morning, I asked the unnamed female voice that lives in my phone, "Are you a man or a woman?" She said, "I have no gender." There's an articulation of it. We're fighting these things at the level of how God made us male and female, and also in the issues of marriage and family. It indicates there is an adversary who fights against God's working through His image-bearing creation.

Life Is Better Together

God joined male and female together as husband and wife, through whom families, communities, and societies develop. All of this leads to that first commandment in Genesis 1:28, which Garrett and Grace, Nick and Adella, and so many of you have faithfully fulfilled: "Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it."

Point number two: life is better together. The connected life, lived in relationship with one another, is the fullest expression of life as God intended. In John 10:10, Jesus says, "The thief has come to steal, to kill, and to destroy. But I have come that you may have life and have it more abundantly." That abundant life is lived in connection with God and with one another.

C.S. Lewis hints at this in Reflections on the Psalms. He alludes to the fact that our joy is not fully complete until it is expressed to others and experienced with others. It's like going to Disneyland. I've gone many times growing up, and at a certain point you've seen all the rides and eaten all the corndogs. If I never went again, it wouldn't be the end of the world. But when we took our children, the joy of that place was heightened in seeing my kids experience it—even if by four o'clock with four kids it's no longer the happiest place on earth. When we see someone else's joy in something we delight in, our joy increases.

We love shared experience because life is better together. This is even why people share through social media—though there's a cutting edge to it. People observe a kind of "social media depression" when they see others experiencing joys they aren't sharing in. Still, we love to share these things with one another.

Sin Brought Separation

Unfortunately, the unseparated connection of Genesis 1 and 2 didn't last long. In Genesis 3, devastation came through the temptation of the serpent, who asked Eve, "Has God indeed said you shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" She replied that they could eat of every tree but the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for in the day they ate of it they would die. He said, "You will not surely die... your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God." She took, ate, and gave to her husband.

Notice the contrast. Genesis 2:25 ends, "They were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed." But Genesis 3:7 says, "Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked." A vulnerability and shame appeared that hadn't been there. They sewed fig leaves together to hide their nakedness. Where they were once joined as one, now there was division. Before Genesis 3 there was no shame, no separation, no segregation.

Point number three: sin brought separation and destruction of community—and it still does. Anytime you see relationships divided, at the core of that division is some form of sin: pride, arrogance, anger, malice, contempt. It can rarely be put on only one person. Whether it's an estrangement between you and a sibling, a parent, a child, or a spouse, at the center is some form of sin. Sin always brings destruction, division, and alienation. This side of the fall, every one of us experiences the acute effects of sin—brokenness, separation, and death—even as we desire genuine connection.

Jesus Came to Restore Oneness

This is why Jesus had to come. The overarching story of the Bible is creation that was very good, the fall of Genesis 3, the long period of redemption we now live in, and ultimately restoration when God makes all things new. We are living in the midst of redemption, which comes through Jesus. "I have come that you may have life and have it more abundantly." What was stolen and destroyed by sin in Eden is redeemed by Jesus through the cross, where sin and death are crucified and overcome in His resurrection.

The night before the cross, Jesus prayed what is called the high priestly prayer in John 17. This passage illustrates the doctrine of the Trinity—one God existing in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—seen from "let us make man in our image" all the way to Revelation. Here the incarnate Son prays to the Father.

In John 17:11 He prays, "Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are one." And in verse 20, "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word"—that's us. Two thousand years ago, Jesus prayed for you who would trust in Him through the gospel handed down by the earliest hearers. "That they may be one as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You... that they may be one just as We are one... that the world may know that You have sent Me."

How is this oneness brought about? The sin that brought death and division had to be dealt with, so Jesus was raised up on the cross. Ephesians 2:14 says, "He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation... so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, that He might reconcile them." When two estranged people are restored, it's called reconciliation. On the cross Jesus made it possible for us to be reconciled to God and to one another, putting to death the enmity.

The Ministry of Reconciliation

Point number four: Jesus destroyed sin to make connection a reality again. This is the good news of the gospel, the news we've been given to experience and to share. Sin devastated God's intended creation, and we feel its effects all around us. We seem more divided than at many other times in history—dividing over political views, even over whether you like the Green Bay Packers. We make these differences the biggest thing, and our sin nature caters to that. But God in Christ wants to do a new work and bring us reconciliation.

As a Christian, you not only experience connection with God and one another—2 Corinthians 5 says God has given you the ministry of reconciliation. You get to be an ambassador, sharing with others that they can be joined together again. In Jesus we experience restoration to the oneness God intended from the beginning.

Connection Expressed in the Church

Where is this oneness expressed? In the church. The word "church"—the Greek ekklesia—simply means a gathering of people. Within the gathering of Jesus' followers, we experience life in connection with God and one another. Jesus promised in Matthew 16:18, "I will build My church." In Mark 16:15 He said, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel." In Matthew 28, the Great Commission, He said, "Go and make disciples of all nations."

What does that look like practically? The earliest description is in Acts 2, where the church is birthed. Peter preaches the gospel, the Spirit moves powerfully, and at least 3,000 people believe and are joined together as one body. Acts 2:42 says, "They continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers." The word for fellowship means a communion, a uniting of people as one. The breaking of bread refers both to the Eucharist and to sharing meals together.

It continues in verse 46: "Daily with one accord they continued in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved." That is the practical outworking of "I will build My church."

Point number five: in Christ we experience restoration of community within His church. This is where life in connection with God and one another is expressed. It's not the building—not ours or anyone else's. It's the people gathered together, experiencing life in connection with God, one another, and the world, and extending it outward.

Living Out the "One Anothers"

How do we experience that connection? As we gather in worship, in fellowship, for the breaking of bread, for the apostles' doctrine, and for prayer. In all these ways we seek to fulfill the "one anothers" of the New Testament. There are literally dozens of passages telling us to love one another, pray for one another, care for one another, comfort one another. That's how we express this new life in Christ. We do it on Sunday mornings opening the Scriptures, in Bible studies through the week, when we serve, sing, and give together.

Beyond that, one of the primary ways we connect with one another is through our connect groups. Two nights ago we hosted ours at our home—probably thirty people, mostly kids, chaotic but a joy. When we gather, we experience relational connection in Christ, and most often the pastoral care of the church happens within these groups. You are not fully experiencing the life God desires for you apart from living life together in the body of Christ. Sunday morning alone is not sufficient.

If you're not in a connect group, I encourage you to plug in—you can go to lifeinconnection.com/groups. But we're running into a problem: we don't have enough groups. So I want to talk to those of you with the gift of hospitality. If you enjoy serving and inviting others into your home, you have that gift. If it sounds terrible to you, you probably don't.

If you might be a host, we'd love to have you in this ministry. It doesn't mean thirty people in your home—maybe just six or eight. It's simply opening your heart and home, inviting people in. If you can Host—have a Heart for people, Open your home, Serve people, and Talk about Jesus—you can be a host. Go to lifeinconnection.com/host, fill out the quick form, and someone from the office will get you plugged in.

This is a wonderful way God reaches people. Connect groups have grown the church as hosts and members invite a friend, neighbor, or family member who doesn't attend, and the next thing you know they're part of the body of Christ. As Acts 2:47 says, "The Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved."

As we wrap up this series, I want to encourage you: God wants to work through you to extend His life to the people you interact with daily—people I'll likely never talk to, who are far from God and isolated. God desires for you to be an ambassador of reconciliation, that they would come into relationship with God and His church and experience life as God intended, because God created us to live life in connection with Him and with one another.

Closing Prayer

God, thank You for Your grace. Peter wrote that we are to proclaim the praises of You who called us out of darkness into Your marvelous light. We who were not a people have been made Your people; we who had not obtained mercy have received mercy and grace from You. Lord, it is Your mercy and grace that has made it possible for us to be reconciled to You and connected to one another. I pray that we would experience in a greater way the fullness of this life connected with You and with one another, and that we would share it with the many people we see daily who are so far from You and have no joy of union with You or community in the body. God, use us to be lights shining of that life to other people. May the joy of that life be upon our faces, evident that we are experiencing fullness of joy in Your presence within the body of Christ. So, God, do a work in Your church. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.