This is the last part of our answer concerning the details of God's creation of man. It touches something that is truly beyond man's experiences, imaginations and dreams (1 Cor. 2:9). Many of its aspects are implied in the scene in Genesis 2 but without the rest of the Bible no one could understand what they signify.
In Genesis God put the man He had created into a garden where the principle tree was the tree of life. Out of the garden flowed a river and in the flow of that river were gold, bdellium, and precious stones. The scene develops with the man seeking a mate among all God's creatures and not finding any until God put him to sleep, took a rib from his side, and built it into a woman to match him. Thus, the climax of the whole scene is a wedding.
We can trace each of these features through the Bible until they appear again in another scene in the last two chapters of the Bible. The garden has become a city built with the materials that were in the river in the garden. The river of water of life flows out of the throne of God with the tree of life growing along its banks. The city itself is the bride and the redeeming God on the throne is the husband.
These two scenes show us that God's special relationship with man is the mystery of the universe. It wasn't just Adam who was a lonely bachelor unable to find a mate to match him. Before creation God Himself was absolutely alone. How could such a unique, divine Being find a counterpart who would match Him? The answer to this question is the story of the Bible, the story of a divine romance between God and His people. He does not force Himself on anyone but He is seeking those who will search for Him, believe His word, open their heart to receive Him, love Him above all else, and give themselves wholly to Him for His purpose. On the one hand, His bride is the corporate building of His people to be His counterpart to match Him. On the other hand, He woos each one who believes into Him to enter into a personal love relationship with Him. No relationship could be more special than that.
It never ceases to amaze me that the creator of the universe, with the eternal power and divine characteristics that the universe shows (Psa. 19:1; Rom. 1:20), would be able to build a worthy counterpart for Himself through His marvelous salvation of human beings such as ourselves. The entire triune God is involved in carrying out His eternal purpose (Eph. 1:3-14) and the finished product, the bride of the Lamb (Rev. 21:9), will surely be to the praise of God's glory (Eph. 1:6, 12, 14).