(This sermon is prepared by Jolour Regencia, my student in Central Bible College, as part of her course requirement in Bible Exposition)
“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh." (Gen. 2:24)
Background:
The Provision for the Marriage Relationship.
In the wisdom and plan of Almighty God the marriage relationship between man and woman was provided. After God had created the earth and prepared it in every way to be suitable to man, He said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him” (Genesis 2:18). It seems that this was the one lack in Adam’s life, namely, a woman who could be his companion, receive his love, and share his dominion over the earth. So God created the woman and presented her to Adam. The first marriage was God’s doing. Marriage was not a human idea but a Divine institution.
It might surprise some of you when I point up the fact that the perfect man in the perfect environment was incomplete without the woman. Adam’s living conditions were ideal, yet something important and necessary to him was missing. And it is evident from the biblical account that another person exactly like Adam could not meet his need. God knew that a male companion for Adam could never fill the void in his life. Man needs a woman.
The woman is to be a “help” to her husband. Every man needs that “help” that his wife only can provide. When God formed the first woman He did so by means of a surgical process. He removed a rib from Adam, and from that rib He built the first woman (Genesis 2:21-23). After God removed the rib from Adam, the man was no longer complete in himself. The woman whom God made from man’s rib is needed to complete the man.
The Purpose for the Marriage Relationship.
God has a purpose behind the institution of marriage. If you are going to have a happy marriage you should know the purposes and their meaning.
I. Marriage Provides a New Partnership
The marriage of a man and woman marks a new and exciting union, a partnership for our stay on earth. Before marriage we share life with our family, mother, father, sister or brother; then we find companionship with playmates. But at the time of puberty (which is the state of physical development when it is possible to beget or bear children) we instinctively are drawn to the opposite sex. This is the normal and natural process; it is the way God intended it to be. During these adolescent years we begin to think about marriage. But too often no thought is given to God’s purpose for this new relationship.
The Apostle Peter tells us that the husband and wife are “heirs together of the grace of life” (I Peter 3:7). The word “grace” suggests the idea of a gift. The term “heirs together” tells us that God has given to the husband and wife the privilege of sharing together their precious gift. Each is God’s gift to the other as the new partnership is formed. God said, “They shall be one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). Whatever else it is for, marriage is a partnership in which the two become one. This is the biblical view of marriage. This mutual relationship results in mutual fellowship, whether in joy or in sorrow. Where there is a mutual interest in glorifying God, life’s burdens become lighter.
In this God-planned partnership there must be mutual trust and respect between both partners. Be honest with each other. Level with one another. Talk together and pray together. Don’t keep secrets. Share your feelings in love and confidence. You are lifetime partners. Don’t be jealous or suspicious of your partner.
II. Marriage Provides a New Pleasures
Since God provided for the marriage relationship it is His desire that both husband and wife find pleasure in it. “A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband... ” (Prov. 12:4). “Whosover findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the Lord” (Prov.18:22). “Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth” (Prov. 5:18).
Now I am not suggesting that the unmarried do not find pleasure in life. But there is that added pleasure in the marriage partnership which the single person does not enjoy. That missing something in Adam’s life was provided by God through the wife He gave to Adam.
There is pleasure in both giving and receiving love.
Every person wants somebody to love, and every person wants to be loved. But the greatest satisfaction in loving is knowing that the love we give is adding joy and blessing to the one whom we love. True love is unselfish. It does not love in order to be loved. God Himself is the perfect example of love. “Herein is love, not that we love God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (I John 4:10). “The Son of God...loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). Even though the husband is commanded to love his wife (Eph. 5:25), and the wife her husband (Titus 2:4), each knows that obedience to this command adds pleasure to the marriage relationship. As the book of Jacob says, “And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her” (Gen. 29:20).
Then there is that pleasure derived from the marriage act, the physical and sexual union of husband and wife. When either partner does not find that mutual harmony and delight in the marriage act, something is definitely wrong. Some young women have gone to the marriage altar with a fear of sex. I heard a story about a married couple. The wife had been reared in a Christian home where modesty was taught and practiced. This is good. However, the standard of modesty she was used to included the idea that the sex organs were the “bad” parts of the body. This is bad. God made all of the human body so that every part is good when used in the way He intended. The marriage act is good and it was designed by God for the pleasure of both husband and wife. After God created the first male and female He said, “Be fruitful, and multiply” (Genesis 1:28). Happy is the married couple who find mutual pleasure and satisfaction in the marriage act.
III. Marriage Provides a New Privilege
When God viewed His completed creation, He stated to our first parents that they were to be fruitful and multiply. This He told them before ever sin had entered. Sex per se is not associated with sin. It was God’s way of insuring the continuity of the race. Every Christian should take the biblical view of marriage, regarding children as the desired result of the marriage union. “Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them...” (Ps.127:3-5).
God considers children begotten in marriage to be a blessing and a privilege given to couple for the care, love and nurture.
In Old Testament times any failure to bear children was looked upon as a sure sign of God’s disfavor. In a family where no children were born the husband and wife would come together to God in prayer. This was the experience of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Manoah and others. When God said to our first parents, “Be fruitful, and multiply,” He issued a command. Had Adam and Eve disobeyed God, their disobedience would have meant the death of the human race. In the heart of every normal wife is the desire of motherhood. That desire was put there by God. Marriage is for partnership, pleasure, and a privilege provided by God to every person that his existence become complete.
Conclusion
God has said, "and the two will be one flesh," meaning to say, there must be mutual trust and respect between both partners. Be honest with each other. Level with one another. Talk together and pray together. Don’t keep secrets. Share your feelings in love and confidence. You are lifetime partners. Don’t be jealous and suspicious of your partner.
God bless!
