Before You Say "I Do" Series

Love Like You Mean It – Before You Say “I Do”

Genesis 2:18-25 (pg. 2) February 7, 2016

Introduction:

God has some very strange arithmetic...You must become empty to be filled...you must become the least to be great...you must die to live.

And when it comes to marriage...one plus one equals one.

I never got past Algebra 2 in High School, and I often joke that I went to Bible College because I didn’t have to do math... “because God adds and multiplies so I don’t have to.”

But one plus one equaling one is impossible...even I know that!

And yet that is exactly what Genesis 2:24 is describing...“A man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.”

One man...one woman...one flesh.

How does God do the impossible? Because Jesus says He does...In Luke 18:27 we read, “The things impossible with men are possible with God.”

Emptiness being filled to overflowing...Servants becoming great leaders...dead people being resurrected to new life.

And one man and one woman becoming one flesh...God specializes in the impossible.

This month the messages center around the theme “LOVE LIKE YOU MEAN IT.” We’ll deal with the difference between love and lust, what it really means to submit and surrender, and finally finding a love that lasts.

So today we start with what we should know from God’s Word before we say “I Do.” First:

I. MARRIAGE IS GOD’S IDEA

Can you be happy being single...or single again...Absolutely...In fact the Apostle Paul tells about the “gift of singleness” in his first letter to the Corinthians.

He’s writing to new believers who live in a very sexually promiscuous culture, some have been involved in adulterous relationships, immoral ones before marriage and homosexual ones...1 Corinthians 6:11 says, “That’s what some of you were, but you’ve been washed, sanctified and justified in Jesus’ name, and by the Spirit of our God.”

It’s a society that says “Gratify yourselves sexually any way you want...it’s all good.”

And Paul’s point is...“No...God has a plan...Husbands fulfill your wife’s needs...Wives fulfill your husband’s needs.”

Satan will use this to destroy you and your relationship if you let him. Don’t let him.

But Paul also shares a very honest truth...He’s single...or as most believe “single again.”

1 CORINTHIANS 7:32-35 (p. 275)

So in a society that has made sex it’s god he says...“If you’re able to focus only on God...His kingdom is more vital than “the affairs of this world.”

It’s healthy to pray for a godly man or woman to be your mate...but it’s even more important that you’re right with God before you do so.

One plus one equaling one can only truly happen if the man and woman involved in the equation trust the One who can unite them.

True fulfillment in a marriage doesn’t happen because your mate meets all your wants and needs...it happens because both partners put God first and then try to love each other unselfishly.

The key is 1 Corinthians 7:31 “For this world in its present form is passing away.”

God created us, male and female in His image...Each of God’s creation had the perfect partner...Except Adam...Adam named each of the animals, but when he looked around for his partner...no suitable one was formed.

“So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he was sleeping he took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh...Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib He had taken out of man, and He brought her to the man.” (Genesis 2:21-22)

When the woman is brought to Adam, what did he call her...Beautiful, Honey, Baby? No! He called her “Eve” which means “mother of all.”

Not wife... “Mother” gives us an idea of God’s plan to be “fruitful and multiply and replenish the Earth” doesn’t it? By the way, this was the easiest command Adam ever received.

[“God let me get this straight...you want me to make love to this perfect woman in the most perfect garden ever...a lot? OK!]

The family is God’s creation...and His plan...Children are His gift...eternal souls that never existed before...and will never go out of existence. This is the foundation of all creation...no wonder Satan attacked it viciously...and still does...no wonder he attacks life at conception...the evil one knows its value!

Men and women are created in the image of God...we are created to have a relationship with our Creator that flows into our oneness with our mate. It lets us understand our primary purpose...and it makes us distinctly different from all other of God’s earthly creations.

For this cause a man leaves his mother and father’s home...and begins His own family. He and his wife are united and they shall become one flesh.