Genesis 6 Series

Genesis 6

Well we’re back in the book of Genesis tonight. If you remember the last time we were together we were looking at a more personal, detailed description of how the Lord created the universe. We saw how He fashioned the world and everything in it including man. We also saw how He gave Adam a home in the perfect Garden of Eden while also giving him purpose in life.

Everything was good, right? Well, good…yes. But complete…not really. The creation of a man wasn’t the final act of creation for the Lord. The creation of woman was. And some would say that the Lord saved the best for last. And all the ladies said?

So towards the end of the sixth day God created a woman.

As we’re going to see this woman will be joined to the man and will become one with him. The marital relationship was started right there in the Garden of Eden with the first ever man and woman.

[Newlyweds socks and brushing teeth story.]

This special and unique relationship between one man and one woman was God’s idea. God’s! It wasn’t an afterthought. It wasn’t as a result of anything or any circumstance. It was God’s idea from eternity past that marriage would be the foundation and the vehicle of human society. All civilization was to flourish through this special relationship.

But the ideal of marriage isn’t doing so well in the world any more.

- A divorce proceeding is now just as common as a wedding ceremony

- Instead of Adam and Eve getting married we now have Adam and Steve

- Self-centered

- Society has followed

I think that the main reason marriage has turned out like this is because people don’t

really care much about what the Lord thinks about this relationship. They think marriage is all about themselves. What can marriage do for me?

But remember, marriage is when you agree to spend the rest of your life sleeping in a room that’s too warm, beside someone who’s sleeping in a room that’s too cold.

Marriage isn’t primarily about ourselves. Marriage is primarily about God’s purpose for humanity through this unique relationship. So let’s go back to the Garden of Eden and find God’s purposes for the marriage relationship. The first purpose for marriage is to:

I. Mirror God’s image

[Read Genesis 1:26-27.]

Now we know the Lord created humanity to reflect His image in the world by the way we live. But we’re also to reflect His image as man and woman through our marriage relationship.

You see, man alone couldn’t fully reflect the image of God. But man and woman can. God wants to use marriages all over the world to be an expression of Him and His relationship with His followers.

You know many times when you go to a wedding you hear Ephesians chapter five read as a kind of an instructional manual for the marital roles. And it definitely can and should be used as such. But it’s so much more than that. Ephesians five reveals that the marriage relationship is really a reflection of the relationship with God and His people.

[Jason and Dayna’s wedding story.]

As I read this passage, try and catch all the ways in which the marriage relationship reflects God’s relationship with us.

[Read Ephesians 5:22-33.]

- Christ is our leader - We submit to Christ with our entire life

- Christ is our Savior - We’re joined to Christ as one, (mystery, Holy Spirit)

- Christ Loves us

- Christ sacrifices for us

- Christ sets us apart

- Christ forgives, cleanses us

- Christ provides for us

- Christ cherishes us

[Read John 17:22-23.]

When husbands and wives love each other with an unconditional, sacrificial, self-less love, God’s relationship with His children is reflected. That’s one purpose of the marriage relationship. Another purpose for marriage is to:

II. Mutually complete one another

[Read Genesis 2:18.]

Now for some people they can go through life and never be married. The Apostle Paul refers to that as a special gift from God for specific purposes. But Paul also alludes to the fact that most people need to be married. We need that deep level of companionship.

Now I realize that many of you might find yourself single again. And I know that it must be terribly difficult to lose a spouse to divorce or death, so I’ll try and be sensitive to that. But as we talk about how marriage is for two people to mutually complete one another, please don’t feel like I’m saying that you’re incomplete if you aren’t married. Not at all. God is the great provider for all our needs no matter our marital status.

But yes, God does use the marriage relationship to mutually complete one another. We just can’t do it alone.