How God views Marriage
The first marriage:
And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him and help meet for him. Genesis 2:18
And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. Genesis 2:20
And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh thereof; And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. 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. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
Genesis 2:21-25
keynote: Notice how God created Adam and Eve. Not Adam and Bruce.
Jesus' words on marriage:
And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder. Matthew 19:4-6
Wise King Solomon on "Joys of man and woman in Marriage"
Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well. Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets. Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee. Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love. Proverbs 5:15-19 (Also read 'Song of Solomon' in the Bible)
Marriage Structure:
Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleans it with the washing of water by the word, That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present himself a glorious church, not having a spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.
Ephesians 5:22-33
keynote: There is a distinct difference between the husband's leadership and domination. Marriage is a partnership with the husband honored as the lead. Leadership and domination are not the same. In fact, submitting to a husband's leadership and blind obedience is two different things.
Marriage is not a DICTATORSHIP!!!
Jeremy Brown's college essay on marriage:
Jeremy Brown
MARRIAGE . . . HOW THINGS HAVE CHANGED
Over the years, I’ve had the privilege to pastor and get to know an elderly couple named Anne and Willard Stephenson. They are two of the sweetest and kindest people that you could ever know. When people think of Willard and Anne, they think of unconditional love and commitment. In 1993, Willard had a massive heart attack, became very ill, bed ridden for months, and was unable to do much of anything. When things became difficult for Anne and Willard, they didn’t walk away from their commitment. I believe Willard was nursed to health not only by medicine but by unconditional love. Not only are they committed to each other, but everyone they befriend. Comparing this relationship to the marriage of the 90’s, we see that the views of marriage have changed over the past 50 years, but there is hope for this lifelong commitment.
In Willard and Anne’s gradeschool days, parents didn’t allow children to date until they were sixteen years old because they felt that at that age their children were mature enough to handle commitment. For instance, Anne and Willard didn’t date until they were sixteen and now they have an ideal relationship. In today’s world, parents don’t set boundaries of protection, such as maturity requirements for relationships for their children. Today, gradeschool puppylove is like little married couples running around. People are allowed to date at too early an age, this leads to a desensitizing of a commitment to relationships whether friend, family, romantic partner, etc. Learning to walk away from people that they know at an early age (breaking relationship) may be one of the underlying causes for the high divorce rate of today.
In today’s world, we hear of divorce all the time. Marriage, once considered an unconditional lifelong commitment, has been desensitized into a relationship that can be walked away from when things get tough. I believe that couples who don’t know how to communicate are very susceptible to divorce. For example, I’ve pastored several other couples and those who can’t communicate generally don’t stay together. Parental couples who divorce tend to pass the trend of breaking relationship on to their children. Most couples whom I have pastored who can’t communicate have parents that have divorced. To detour the reader from that seemingly hopeless scenario, let me state that Godly counsel and submission to an adequate pastor can remedy those conditions. Parental couples who stay together tend to pass the trend of unconditional commitment on to their children. Kids whose parents are good communicators usually receive those attributes. For example, a young man that I used to pastor named Miles has always been the type who talks things out and because of that he doesn’t have many confrontations.
If people would simply be more selective when choosing a mate and if they would only seek for compatibility over physical atttributes. Wow. A practical remedy for impractical relationships. If we could get back to unconditional commitment, as the trend was fifty years ago, then the views and the state of marriage will change. But do people really want to find a person that they can always rely on?