Always have an answer for the hope that is within you (1 Peter 3:15)
Previously Presented to Whispering Pines Bible Thumpers, February 3, 2021.
Marriage:
NOTE: Click Bible verses for further study; they're linked to biblegateway.com.
The Bible begins, ends and fills the middle with examples
of weddings and marriage.
It starts with God performing the very first wedding. The first
command was regarding its consummation—be fruitful and multiply.
Jesus first miracle was at a wedding (John
2:1-11).
He described the Kingdom of Heaven, with a parable of a
wedding. (Matthew
22:1-14)
And as a grand finale, the Bible ends with an invitation—to
a wedding supper. (Revelation
22:17)
God’s definition of marriage is simple. One man, one woman,
for life.
His purpose for marriage is clear. To raise Godly children,
and reflect the relationship He wants to have with us, His bride.
How do we know? The Bible tells us so. It is our
foundation.
One man & one woman.
Genesis 1.
In the beginning God created…vs
22 fish & fowl and said, “be fruitful and multiply” (Not fruity).
Vs
26 God said “let us make man in our image.” When couples say, “Let us make
a baby in our image…” they get it from God. When they “be fruitful and multiply”
they’re following the divine design as co-creators, with Him.
Vs
27: “God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male
and female created He them.” Male & Female…No gay, lesbian, transgender option.
Transgenderism isn’t just allowing boys to
compete in girls’ sports. It isn’t just inviting a perverted evil to invade our
daughters’ privacy. It’s an afront against our Creator. It’s calling Him a liar
and a failure. It’s telling God He made a mistake.
Vs
28: “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth…” This is our Divine
design and destiny, wrapped up in one sentence.
Vs
31 God looks at all He’d made and indeed, it was very good.
End of Chapter One.
(Side note: Chapter 1 is an overview. Chapter 2
fills in the details. 1:1 to 2:3 are from God’s point of view, as if He were
writing the Words. 2:4 changes to man’s point of view. Genesis 2:4 is the first
time “LORD” is used. Up to this point it was always God (Elohim) now it changes
to LORD God. Jehovah Elohim.
In
Genesis 2:18 God said, “It’s not good for man to be alone. I’ll make a help
mate for him.” And then, the LORD God, brought all the animals to Adam, they
got to know each other, Adam named them, everyone…but there wasn’t found a help
mate for Adam. Surprise, surprise.
By then Adam had to notice, there’s a Papa Bear and a Mama Bear,
Mr. Giraffe and Mrs. Giraffe, there’s male and female, boy and girl, of
everything, but…how come there’s no Mrs. Adam?
Of course, God knew what Adam was thinking, since He was
the One who planted the seed with that name-the-animals-exercise.
So,
God caused Adam to take a nap…Gen. 2:21
That reminds me. This past summer, I was humbled and honored
to officiate the wedding for my son, Josiah and his beautiful bride, Brittney.
They wanted to have a romantic, tropical island, beach side
wedding in the Dominican. However, plans changed when the invisible enemy shut down
the island. Instead, (in my estimation)
a better plan was made. The wedding was held in the backyard of Brittney’s
family cottage on the shores of Lake Sisabagamah, in northern Minnesota.
I stood before the people and said something like this:
Dearly Beloved… Friends and
Family,
Marriage is an institution; its
contract is the most admirable honorable commitment of all. Its origins go all
the way back to the beginning; when the Creator said, it’s not good for man to
be alone, so—while Adam took a nap—God created and brought woman to man and
performed the very first wedding ceremony. Perhaps that’s why men take naps,
while wife does dishes—it’s scriptural :-)
Vs
22: While Adam slept, God worked.
It’s interesting that the Hebrew
spelling for man and woman, paints a picture of the story God is telling.
There’s a letter in the Hebrew
spelling of man, that is not in the Hebrew spelling of woman. Likewise, there’s
an additional letter in the Hebrew spelling of woman.
The two additional letters
are, yod & hey. Together, yod hey, make the base for the word, Yahweh
(name used for God 6,800 times in OT)
Vs
24 – “man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and they
shall become one flesh” (Matt.
19:4-6; Mark
10:5-9; Eph.
5:31). Jesus expands on this by adding “What God has joined together, let
no man put asunder.”
God tells us in Malachi
2:15-16 that marriage is for life, to raise Godly offspring and He hates
divorce.
NOTE: The Bible is practical and
doesn’t avoid the reality that we live in a broken, sinful world. 1
Corinthians 7:10-16 discusses how to handle marriages with, irreconcilable
differences.
As a child of God, as much as it depends on us, we are to
pursue peace and try to make our marriage work.
“But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart;
a brother or sister is not under bondage in such cases. God has called us to peace.”
1 Corinthians 7:15
Back to our text. Genesis Chapter two ends with the most innocent,
intimate, poetic, romantic, sentence ever written:
“And
they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.” (Genesis
2:25)
No doubt about the intention here. One man. One woman. For
life. Period.
This couple, in the garden, naked and unashamed, clothed in
His glory; were a glowing reflection of His divine design of oneness.
The devil hates and attacks God’s divine design with
division.
Genesis
3:1 “Has God said…?” A question was all it took. Doubting God’s Word is
dousing the flame of faith. Darkness and sin are soon to follow.
And just like that they were eating the forbidden fruit.
Naked. Ashamed. Afraid. Diving for darkness, to hide from the Light that gave
them life.
In a minute Adam was pointing an accusing finger at Eve and
instead of saying, “Whoa-man” he was saying “THAT Woman!”
To make matters worse, he, not only blamed Eve, but midsentence
he swung his finger toward God and added, “…that YOU gave me.”
The devil laughed.
God didn’t.
The serpent may have waltzed into the garden walking and
talking but when God was done he slithered away, sputtering and spitting dust, fearing
the day his head would be crushed.
But the damage was done. Man had fallen and would struggle
in the dust right along side the serpent.
Only three chapters later man became so dirty God was sorry
he ever made him. If not for Noah, finding grace in the eyes of the Lord, we
wouldn’t be here, we’d have all been washed away in a flood. But, that’s another
story.
Back in the garden, with the blushing couple, it’s
important to see the rest of the story.
God came looking and calling and even though He knew the
answer, He took the time to ask the questions. We’d do wise, to do the same. Genesis
3:8-11.
The consequence for disobeying God and dining with the
devil was swift and just. They had to leave the honeymooners paradise. From
that day to this, whether making a living or birthing a life, labor was hard.
Adam and Eve and you and me have suffered the consequences of that fateful
moment. Genesis
3:12-19.
Yet, we must not miss, the mercy of God, corroborating with, His just
judgement. Remember, He didn’t just kick them out on the street, naked and
ashamed. He
showed up, with a wardrobe, an eviction notice and new job orders. Genesis
3:21-23
The Good news is, God is ever faithful to His betrothed. He carried the wedding vow “for better or worse…” all the way up a rocky hill called Calvary and let it run down an old rugged cross.
I know it's nothing close the love Jesus has for His Bride, but, I think I saw a glimmer of it in the eye of my son, Josiah. Perhaps you can see it too, by reading about it here: My Favorite Part of the Wedding
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