Feb 25, 2020
Good Morning Fellow Travelers,
Read: Gen 2:18-25; 1 Cor 7:1-16
“And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him…. 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 instead 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. (Gen 2:18-23 KJV)
The institution of marriage is taking a beating at the hands of an ungodly society. It’s time we stand up, as many others have, in defense of marriage as God designed it from the beginning.
For those of you who are young and still unmarried, this practical defense should resonate in your hearts. It is important to follow the guidelines of Scripture, and the best place to start is in the beginning. Marriage is the first institution. God created it for man’s wellbeing and blessing. Marriage came first, even before love (Genesis 2:18-25).
Here in Genesis 2, God declares that it is not good that man should be alone. In verse 20, we see that the animals did not provide a suitable companion for Adam. God’s practical solution to this was to create a woman from one of Adam’s ribs. He brought her to Adam and made this declaration: “Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” God has never changed this institution to be anything other than this: the union of one man and one woman for life.
God leads a man and a woman to unite in a beautiful union and bond for life. What can we do to improve this? Nothing. Marriage is not God’s will for all, and many find fulfillment in being single. However, for those who are married, Christ clearly confirms the intent of God in Matthew 19:4-6 that marriage should last for life. Let’s never argue with this or assume there is an alternative or that we can deviate as society has done to its unhappiness now and its dismay tomorrow. Read Matthew 19:4-9, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, and Romans 1:24-27.
God designed that within the sanctity of marriage, humans would propagate and fill the earth with people made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27-28). Those who worry about over-population should consider two things: 1) the significant reduction in births if all children born were born to married parents, and 2) God created the earth to sustain all people who live or will live on the earth. Poverty is not the result of over-population or too many children, but rather of greed, selfishness, and sin.
Marriage, however, was not designed only to bring children into the world, but to propagate the faith from generation to generation. Faith is preserved and spread through a godly home that teaches the rising generation. This was God’s explicit plan (see Deuteronomy 6). Parents who love their children will enter joyfully into this good work.
Let us who defend this divine institution continue to point a lost world to the beauty of God’s order in marriage.
~ James Baer
