God’s Instruction for Marriage-1
“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be
joined
to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis
2:24).
hen we buy a new appliance or tool, it’s common
to see on the outside of the box: “Some assembly
required. Instructions inside.” Of course, many of us
don’t bother with the instructions. We just put together
the item as best we can. And sometimes that works.
But if it doesn’t, we have to go back and read the
directions to find out
what we did wrong. As the old saying goes, “If all else
fails, read the
directions.”
When it comes to
putting together a marriage, many couples
have used the same
approach. They do it
without bothering to
read the instructions.
Sadly, the result is that
many marriages aren’t
working. Husbands and
wives find that they
can’t live together in
peace. Because couples don’t read or heed the instructions,
marriages are
failing at abysmally high rates.
During the latter part of the last century, divorce rates
skyrocketed
in many countries. The tragic result is that more and more
children are
being raised in single-parent homes.
In the United States, psychologist Robert Evans says:
“Unprecedented
numbers of people now delay marriage until their late
twenties or their
thirties or cohabit without marrying. When they do wed, the
chances of
their first marriage breaking up are between 40 percent and
50 percent;
God’s Instruction Manual for Marriage
Two people must learn to work together in marriage,
showing respect and love to each other.
people living together will double in the next 20 years from
the current
figure of 12 per cent. So it is likely that within the next
decade most
children will be born outside marriage”
We could bury ourselves in the statistics concerning the
failure rates
of marriages from around the world, but the overall picture
would
remain the same: Divorce, or the dissolution of marriage as
some prefer
to term it, plagues humanity in most every nation.
Faced with these numbing reports, many, particularly in
Sweden and
Denmark, are choosing to forego marriage and simply live
together.
Under these conditions, because there are no marriages,
there are no
divorces to report when couples break up. But these same
broken relationships bring heartache to the adults and children alike—with the
children especially suffering when they are separated from
one of their
biological parents.
Recognizing the failure rate of so many marriages today, a
logical
person will examine the causes for the failures to see what
might be
done to save his or her relationship from a similar fate.
When we make the decision to examine the instructions, we
also face
the critical matter of
where to turn
for such instruction. If man is simply
an animal and there is no God, then there are no divine
directions! If
there are no divine directions, logically, we’d want to get
the best statistical information available from research so we could make
decisions
based on the greatest likelihood of happiness and success.
Yet some people don’t want to know what works either.
Apparently,
they’d rather take their chances (and poor chances they are)
on their own
without any guidance whatsoever. Does that make sense?
We can be grateful, however, that the Bible does provide
instruction
on marriage. And not only that, the validity of this
instruction is
continually being backed up by sociological research. Do you
want to
know what these instructions are? Will you be willing to
live by the
guidelines? Or are you committed to the path of least
resistance and
willing to suffer the sure consequences of broken laws?
We each must choose what we will do. Remember,
no
choice is also
a choice—usually a poor one. So what does God say? Where can
we find
His directions ? Back
ground to the first marriage
When God created human beings, He made two “models”—one
male,
one female. Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created man in His
own image;
in the image of God He created him; male and female He
created them.”
Reflecting on His creation, including making us male and
female,
Genesis 1:31 says, “Then God saw everything that He had
made, and
indeed it was
very good
.”
Sexuality in human beings was not designed to just be okay;
it was
designed to be extremely good! And it is great and wonderful
when
we use this special gift of God in the way He intended.
Sadly, many
people do not respect their sexuality (or others’) as they
should. Through
immoral sexual behavior they belittle what God intended to
be a very
special experience.
The account of the first marriage is recorded in Genesis 2.
Here
we read that God initially created Adam as the only human
being. In
mankind’s earliest beginning, no Eve was to be found. “But
for Adam
God’s Instruction Manual for Marriage
When it comes to putting together a marriage, many couples
do it without bothering to read the instructions. Sadly, the
result is that many marriages aren’t working.
Adam was single, isolated, the only human being anywhere.
The Bible reveals that something was wrong with this scene.
After
God created Adam, He “put him in the garden of Eden to tend
and keep
it” (verse 15). So Adam had a responsibility, a job that
surely proved to
be fascinating for him. Adam explored and learned all about
the world—
animals, plants, the beautiful and intricate variations of
God’s creation.
Not only was he learning, but God gave him the privilege of
naming all
the birds and animals and other living creatures (verse 19).
Whether Adam realized it or not, God knew something about
him was
incomplete. “And the
Lord
God said, ‘It is not good that man should be
alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him’” (verse
18). Let’s
think for a moment about why it was not good for Adam to be
alone. He,
of all the physical living creation, was without a helper on
his own level
(verse 20).
Imagine how Adam must have felt when he observed that
animals
had their mates. Through his observations of the animal
kingdom, in its
maleness and femaleness, he was reminded that he was the
lone human
being on the planet. He was a male with no corresponding
female.
God
creates
Eve
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