Marriage is one of only three institutions established by God – marriage, salvation, and the church. Marriage is more wonderful than anyone on earth knows. And the reasons it is wonderful can only be learned from God’s special revelation and can only be cherished by the work of the Holy Spirit to enable us to behold and embrace the wonder. The reason we need the Spirit’s help is that the wonder of marriage is woven into the wonder of the gospel of the cross of Christ, and the message of the cross is foolishness to the natural man, and so the meaning of marriage is foolishness to the natural man (1 Corinthians 2:14).
Almighty God was the original designer of marriage; and, He wants to help us build our marriages! The problem with many of today’s marriages is that most of them start out as an ideal; then, they become an ordeal; and, pretty soon, we are looking for a new deal! A nation remains only as strong as its families. A crumbling family life is one of the signs of a crumbling culture! This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.
To see God’s design for marriage, we need to go all the way back to Genesis to read the creation story in Genesis 2:15-25. So, God looked at Adam and said it was not good for him to be alone. God created him with a need for a companion, an equal, who would complete the perfect creation. And so God created Eve, introduced the two of them, and they were married.
God’s design for marriage was the perfect completion of creation. The coming together of a man and a woman in a sexual relationship was part of God’s design for the maximum experience of life.
God made us to need a marriage partner.God created us with a need for a companion, a partner, a “helper” in the Biblical sense of the word. We were made for relationship, and that is part of God’s perfect plan.
Now, most of us, in our society, equate “need” with “weakness.” Our society preaches that we shouldn’t need anything, we should be our own person, we should be independent and self-actualizing and self-realizing. We should pursue our dreams, and we should be in complete control of ourselves and our environment. . And that is our society’s mantra – don’t depend on anyone else, they’ll let you down. Take what you need, take what you want, take as much as you can get, but make sure you don’t be vulnerable because then you will just get hurt. Is it any wonder, then, that our society is so incredibly lonely?
That is not how God made us. God made us to need a marriage partner, and I am convinced that our need for relationship is a reflection of the image and character of God. God Himself exists in relationship – it is clear even in our names for God: God the “Father”, God the “Son”. The whole idea of the Trinity is an idea of relationship, of “one God eternally existing in three persons,” of needing one another, being completely dependent on one another, of being equal with one another. Our very understanding of God is an understanding of relationship, and we reflect that in how we are created in God’s image.
You and I were made for relationship.
A marriage is more than me and you (husband and wife); it is about us. Two people becoming one. If either person makes the marriage about themselves, then it will not work. Marriage is about two people working together to become US – it is two becoming ONE! .A one in flesh.
To become one, a couple has to do two things – leave and cleave.
Word: leave – to step away from a parent’s protection and influence – to cut ties.
Word: cleave – to be glued or cemented together.
Husbands and wives are to leave their parents support and influence and be cemented together – interdependent on one another and together dependent on God. In doing so, they become ONE spiritually, emotionally, economically, socially, intellectually, and finally physically – one flesh!
If you want a good marriage – a healthy marriage – a God centered marriage – you need to go to the scriptures to see what God has planned for your marriage. Did you know that God wants you be successful – not just in your spiritual life but also on your job, in your social life, and in your family life? In other words He wants you to be successful in all aspects of your life. Listen to what Jeremiah 29:11 has to say:
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11 (NKJV)
God wants you to be a success. And He wants your marriage successful. God bless you. !
