God's design for Marriage
The Bible tells us; "If the Lord does not build the house, the work of the builders is useless; if the Lord does not protect the city, it does no good for the sentries to stand guard." (Psalm 127:1-2GNT).
We live in a time of massive marital discord and family disintegration. There is no question that, educationally, scientifically, industrially and economically, we are much better off than they were 50 years ago. The problems in the modern family of twenty-first century are not economic but moral and spiritual. This century is the century of selfishness, corruption, uncertainty, cynicism and apostasy, the century in which materialism and secular humanism replaced morality and Spirituality as the predominant world-view. Many despised God's ordained lawful means of preserving the sanctity of life and family. The sexual violence, with its premarital sex, pornography, adultery, rape, lust and covetousness, no-fault divorce has left in its wake broken families, untold heartaches, violence, suicide, poverty and abortion. We have watched in horror and disbelief as the number of divorce and domestic violence has increased, as the percentage of children either abandoned or left to their own have skyrocketed.
The breakup of families and the problems associated with marital discord have not been without a response. World has a thriving pop-psychology industry that caters to the misery and heartaches of unhappy couples. There are literally thousands of books, hundreds of videos, and hundreds of seminars by psychologists and counselors that deal with having a happy marriage. The problem with modern psychology and psychiatry is that they simply do not work. Because when someone ruin moral and spiritual values as a God's image bearer - it is ultimately sin against God. To solve the sin problems that occur in the family we must avoid syncretism with human theories and depend solely upon God's Word. God will not patch his grace onto some humanistic psychological formula even if that formula is embedded in scriptural terminology. There is no neutrality. The problems of the family are moral and spiritual; therefore, we must focus our attention to God, What instruction does God's word provide to help us have homes that please Him and accomplish His will and pray for wisdom and the enabling power of the Holy Spirit to sanctify our families before God.
God created the marriage relationship to be a blessing to everyone involved. Yet many families today are clearly troubled. Alienation often exists between husband and wife, between parents and children, or among brothers and sisters. A study of the Divine pattern for the home: how family members should treat one another. What are the duties of the husband, wife, parents, and children? How important are love and commitment in marriage? God's word gives inspired instruction to guide us to happy homes. The Bible contains God’s plan for achieving quality and health in family life. we are constrained to take very seriously the Word of God as it relates to the family.
The family life is not man centered but God centered. Marriage is one of the greatest gifts God ever gave to humanity. But, it is truly beautiful when it is operates like God intended it to. God and His Word must come first. Biblical ethics shows how the man and women in Christ must live in the presence of God and in the power of the Spirit. Biblical ethics flows out of one's relationship with God. In Biblical ethics, man is considered unique. He has a special place in God's creation (Gen 1:26; Ps 8:4; Heb 2:5). He is a responsible being. Some day he has to give an account to God for all his deeds. Personal responsibility and accountability are key concepts in Biblical ethics. In our age, people blame family, society, the environment, their genes, their upbringing, the government and organizations for their own moral failures. But on judgment day, not families, governments, societies or organizations will stand before God's holy throne: individuals will appear before the Lord, the Judge of all mankind. Ethics, therefore, has to do with the individual.
Origin and union of the Family
The Bible teaches that the institution of family is of divine origin and purpose. The Bible also provides guidelines for good relations within the family. A commitment to the Bible’s teachings and principles provides today’s best hope for the recovery of family life. God’s purposes for the family have been challenged, but they have not been changed. In the Bible, God gives the principles and the power by which His purposes for the family can be fulfilled.
The concept of family is extremely important in the Holy Scripture, both in a physical sense and in a theological sense. God initiated the first family unit. (Genesis 2:21-22). The idea of family was introduced in the very beginning, as we see in Genesis 2:18, “The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a companion for him who corresponds to him.". God's plan for creation was for men and women to marry and have children. “This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one” (Genesis 2:24). God created people so as to need and find fulfillment in human companionship. A man and a woman would form a "one-flesh" union through marriage and they with their children become a family, the essential building block of human society.
When God produced the original blueprint for marriage, He designed it to work .He established its foundation upon the highest expression of genuine love and Covenant. Husbands And Wives Are Directed To Cleave To One Another! A vivid picture of this level of intense commitment is seen in the word “cleave” The word cleave comes from the Hebrew word “dabaq” means “to adhere or to stick together” The Greek word translated cleave in the New Testament passages is proskollao, which means to glue to. Marriage glues two people together!
Look at Mark 10:7-9 “For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. God planned marriage to be permanent. It is a vow until death do we part! Marriage is an irrevocable covenant or contract to which we are bound. God is clear about that. Malachi 2:14 says; yet ye say, wherefore? Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant. (See also Romans 7:2-3; Matthew 19:8-10) Marriage involves a total and irrevocable commitment of two people to each other in good times and in bad times, agreements and disagreements, in joy or in sorrow, in sickness or in health. Marriage means that people know that they must face problems, discuss them, seek God's help in them, resolve them rather than run from them, because there is no way out. They are committed to one another for life. They must cleave to one another today and tomorrow, as long as they both shall live. So, work at keeping your marriage strong!
God established the family when He joined Adam and Eve in marriage and instituted their relationship as a life-long covenant and commitment to God and to each other (Genesis 2:22-24; Isaiah 49:15); that the marriage and other family relationships can fulfill their complete intended potential only as each member is individually reconciled to God and sanctified through the work and Lordship of Jesus Christ; and that God ordained the family as a social institution designed to reflect His image on the earth, to bring the earth into submission to His plan, and to be fruitful and multiply (Ephesians 5:22,23; Genesis 1:27,28). The family is not merely a social contract or a relationship of convenience invented by humans without accountability to God.
Therefore Companionship is a basic purpose of God for marriage and family life. “This is why a man leaves his father and mother and bonds with his wife, and they become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). Procreation is another basic purpose of God for families. “God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth…” (Genesis 1:28).Nurture is still another basic purpose of God for families. “Now if anyone does not provide for his own relatives, and especially for his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Timothy 5:8).
When God saved Noah from the flood, it wasn't an individual case salvation, but a salvation for him, his wife, his sons and his sons’ wives. In other words, his family was saved. (Genesis 6:18) When God called Abraham out of Haran, He called him and his family (Genesis 12:4–5) God's covenant with Abraham was familial, not individual (Genesis 17:12–13). The importance of family can be seen in the provisions of the Mosaic covenant. For example, two of the Ten Commandments deal with maintaining the cohesiveness of the family. The fifth commandment regarding honoring parents is meant to preserve the authority of parents in family matters, and the seventh commandment prohibiting adultery protects the sanctity of marriage. From these two commandments flow all of the various other stipulations in the Mosaic Law which seek to protect marriage and the family. The health of the family was so important to God that it was codified in the national covenant of Israel.
Jesus speaks on the sanctity of marriage and against frivolous divorce in Matthew 19. The Apostle Paul talks about what Christian homes should look like when he gives the twin commands of "children, obey your parents" and "parents, don't provoke your children" in Ephesians 6:1–4 and Colossians 3:20–21. God's desire isn't just to save isolated individuals, but entire households. In 1 Corinthians 7, the unbelieving spouse is sanctified through the believing spouse, meaning, among other things, that the unbelieving spouse is in a position to be saved through the witness of the believing spouse.
Bible says “Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery.” (Hebrews 13:4NLT) “Don't team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness?” (2 Corinthians 6:14) “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.”(Ephesians 5:21) “He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the Lord” (Proverbs 18:22) God intends each family to work wholeheartedly for the advancement of His Kingdom; that this purpose is accomplished by a oneness between husband and wife, through having and raising children as godly heads of households as a prerequisite to their holding ministry leadership. “A deacon must be faithful to his wife and must manage his children and his household well.” (1 Timothy 3:12)
To be continued….
