Sermon Illustration: That’s Not Good!

To set up a sermon on the bizarre reality of God’s declaration that it was not good for man to be alone (Genesis 2:18), I shared how we usually use the phrase.

When I say, “that’s not good,” I mean something is messed up. Something has gone wrong. Something is out of place. Something needs to be fixed.

• When I hear squeaking from under my car when I push on the brakes, I say “that’s not good.”
• When I see a water leak from my ceiling, I say “that’s not good.”
• When I am late to a meeting and see blue lights behind me: “that’s not good.”
• When one of my children puts too much toilet paper in the toilet and the water rises when you flush it – “that’s not good.”
• When my dog has chewed up the carpet in the den, I say “that’s not good.”
• When I step on the scales on Monday morning, I think “that’s not good.”

You get the point. We say “that’s not good” when something is messed up and out of place.

Which is why God’s use of the phrase is so interesting. He doesn’t say something is “not good” in Genesis 3. He says it in Genesis 2. Sin hasn’t entered the world yet. That comes in the next chapter. Everything is perfect. Just Adam and God and creation. And yet, Adam being alone – just he and God – wasn’t good.

Why is that?

Let’s talk about it…