Marriage Series

“MARRIAGE” Gen. 2:15-25

INTRO – The word “marriage” conjures up all sorts of ideas and notions in people’s minds today. For some, it’s a source of humor, something to joke about. A couple of stories I read this week:

A husband is advised by a psychiatrist to assert himself. "You don’t have to let your wife henpeck you. Go home and show her you’re the boss." The husband takes the doctor’s advice and rushes home, slams the door, shakes his fist in his wife’s face, and growls, "From now on, you’re taking orders from me. I want my supper right now, and when you get it on the table, go upstairs, and lay out my best clothes. Tonight, I’m going out with the boys, and you are going to stay at home where you belong. And another thing, guess who’s going to comb my hair, give me a shave, and tie my necktie?" His wife says calmly, "The undertaker."

If being assertive doesn’t work, guys, you might want to try being more considerate:

The husband who was told by the marriage counselor to try and be more considerate of his wife. One day he comes home from work. He’s dressed up in a suit, he has cologne on, and he has a bouquet of flowers and a box of candy in his hands. He rings the doorbell and he’s standing there as she opens the door he holds out the flowers and the box of candy.

The wife opens the door takes one look at he standing there and starts crying. In between her sobs she says, "I can’t believe this! Little Johnny has been throwing up; the dishwasher just broke; your parents are coming to visit this weekend and, to top it all off, you come home drunk!

Someone once said that if love is a dream, marriage is the wakeup call!

Truth is that in our world marriage has become a joke. We hear stories all the time about marriages in our world today. Just think of some of the junk that you hear in today’s world.

- Elton John is getting married – to his longtime “partner” David Furnish? Going to England in mid-Dec. when civil partnerships for gays become legal there.

- Prince Charles recently got married again to Camilla Bowles. Has had an ongoing affair w/ her for years, even while married to Diana.

- Heartthrobs Brad Pitt & Jennifer Anniston have divorced. TV talk show – “Brad and Jennifer were so cute together. They made the perfect couple, & no one knew the divorce was coming. They just matched.”

- More & more people living together now to try each other out for a little while to see if it works.

- If you don’t like being w/ just one person, you can be polyamorous, which means being involved in relationships w/ several people, all of whom agree that this is OK. This is considered to be a very “spiritual” thing.

Many of you agree that the world has totally degraded, devalued, & debased marriage. I sent out an email a couple of weeks ago. Asked – what do you think the world’s view of marriage is? Here are some of the responses I received:

We desperately need to come back to what the W of G teaches about marriage. Whether you’ve been married 30-40 years or are a teenager who one dreams of being married, you need to clearly understand what G’s plans for marriage are. And you need to live accordingly.

- Don’t listen to Oprah

- Don’t listen to the celebrities

- Don’t listen to the pop psychologists

- Don’t listen to “Dear Abby”

- Listen to G!

Marriage is about Godly companionship – v. 18

Marriage is G’s idea. He intended marriage to meet the basic human need of love & companionship. He established His plan for marriage all the way back in the Garden of Eden, and His perfect plan has not changed, no matter what the world says.

- Cohabitation is not G’s plan.

- Extramarital affairs are not G’s plan.

- Homosexual marriage is not G’s plan.

- Divorce is not G’s plan.

G’s plan is that a man & woman commit themselves to each other for the rest of their lives, being totally devoted to one another in every way. Paul Stevens wrote, "In marriage, death and life interpenetrate, as crucifixion and resurrection are eternally joined. Married persons are literally buried into each other, physically, emotionally and spiritually, losing themselves but finding themselves in the other." (Marriage Spirituality, InterVarsity Press).

V. 19-20 – As Adam looked at all the creatures that G had created, he could not find one that met his need for companionship. Why? B/c that creature had not been specially created by G yet. She wasn’t out there among the dogs, cats, elephants, monkeys, & beetles. She didn’t just happen to show up in the middle of a pack of hyenas.