Marriage by Divine Design

God established the institution of marriage by uniting the first man and woman in holy matrimony. Read the scene described for us in Genesis 2:18-24,

“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 out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found 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. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”

A word of encouragement for those of you who are single: reflect on how Adam got his wife. Though the Bible does not tell us specifically, it would have been an immoral thing for God to force Adam to sleep against his own will. No doubt Adam submitted to God’s decision to put him to sleep. He gave absolute trust to the Lord. He allowed God to bring the woman into his life that God had chosen for him. The key to finding the person God wants you to marry is to go to sleep in God’s will, to rest completely in Jesus Christ and allow His will to be done. Perhaps the only thing keeping some of you from getting married, is that you are not available to God as you should be so that God can bring the right person into your life. Sleep in the will of God and be content with allowing God to bring you the person of His choosing.

From these verses found in Genesis 2, we find the proper view of marriage as God has given it to us. The Bible says the responsibility of the first couple was to be fruitful and multiply, to replenish the earth. This is God’s way. He has designed men and women so that they might fulfill this commandment. Marriage is the foundation of all civilization. When the divine design of marriage is tampered with, we are left with a reconstructed society that lives according to its own beliefs and values. Where does this leave the Christian who wants to rear children to grow up with beliefs and values rooted in the Word of God? It leaves us with no other option but to go back to the Garden of Eden and take God’s Word as it is. 

As Bible-believing Christians, we must practice nothing but what we find in the Scriptures. To have marriage by divine design, we must remember certain truths. You must have the biblical answers for the questions your children will ask you. Your answers need to be more than your opinion. Children are going to be bombarded with what they have been told is the majority opinion, and it will differ from your opinion. We must firmly fix in their minds that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God, that it is God’s Word for all time, and that God’s children, with God’s help, must seek to adhere to the standards of God’s Word. 

THE PATTERN FOR MARRIAGE

We must recognize that God has designed a definite pattern for marriage. Notice the Bible states that, “Male and female created he them.” A man is to marry a woman; a woman is to marry a man. A man is not to marry a man, and a woman is not to marry a woman. Do not be so naive as to think that your children are not going to come into contact with other children who are growing up with a completely different value system than your children. Your children are going to be challenged about what they believe and what they have been taught. If your children do not see a Christian marriage lived out in your home, no amount of Sunday School, and no amount of church attendance will be enough. If we are going to have marriage according to God’s design, we must follow the pattern God has given.

THE PURITY IN MARRIAGE

The Bible speaks about the purity of the marriage relationship in Hebrews 13:1-4. Our marriages are to be pure. Men are to pray, “Lord, help me to be the husband that this woman deserves to have,” and women should pray, “Lord, help me to be the wife this man deserves to have.” When we get married, we make a covenant with God and with one another. We are held accountable before God to be faithful to our husbands or wives and not to break our marriage covenant by having an impure relationship with another person. Read Proverbs 2:11-16 and 6:24-26 on what the Lord says about impurity and sexual promiscuity. Take God at His Word. Marriage according to divine design is pure.

THE PERMANENCY OF MARRIAGE

Marriage by divine design has permanency. There are many people I deal with who are married for their second or third time. I would never mistreat someone no matter how many times he or she has been married. If you have been married, divorced, and remarried; then I say to you, God bless and strengthen you. Determine today that you are going to live the rest of your life with your mate and put the principles of God’s Word to work in your marriage. In Matthew 19:3-9, the Bible gives us the Lord’s view on the permanency of marriage. The Lord Jesus Christ, from the beginning, said emphatically that it was God’s design for a marriage to be permanent. 

Homes and families are hurting. Ideas so contrary to the Bible have become institutionalized in the thinking of people. We are living in a wicked society where many do what it is right in their own eyes and justify their actions fully. This is why it is much more important for those of us who claim to be Bible-believing Christians to speak the truth in love and not try to accommodate the decaying morals and behavior of our present world. May God help us to have marriages by divine design.

Photo by Sandy Millar on Unsplash.

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