In the beginning, God created marriage to engage one man and one woman in a lifelong commitment that reveals and reflects God’s love for us…and it was very good!!

This week, we are looking at a section of a letter in our Bible called the book of Genesis. Yesterday, we saw that as Adam looked at all of the animals that he had named, there was no animal that corresponded to him and that would compliment him as an equal. There was nothing else in creation that could connect and relate to the creativity and capability that Adam was given as an image bearer of God. Today, as the story continues, we see how God responded to this reality in Genesis 2:21:

 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.

God responded to the uniqueness of Adam and the lack of an equal to him that would compliment Adam and that could connect and correspond to him by creating women. Moses explained that God caused Adam to fall to sleep and took one of his ribs and formed Eve, the first woman. Now these verses do not contradict what we looked at last week in Genesis 1:26-27. Instead these verses compliment Genesis 1:26-27. Genesis 1 explains that God created Adam and Eve to reveal and represent Him as they lived in relationship with Him. But Genesis 1 does not tell us how or when He created them. Genesis 2 compliments Genesis 1 by giving us the details on the how Adam and Eve were created.

While Adam was created from the dust of the earth as a potter molds clay, Eve was built from Adam. Thus Eve was the first being to be created from another living being. Now ladies this is why we men do not understand you; we don’t understand you because we were asleep when it happened. And as Adam woke up; and as God brought Eve into Adam’s presence, we see Adam’s response revealed for us in Genesis 2:23:

The man 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."

This morning, can you imagine what that must have been like? Can you imagine what was going through Adam’s mind as he first saw Eve? Now while we were not there, for many of us here this morning, we can totally imagine what was going through Adam’s mind, can’t we? We can totally relate to what was going through Adam’s mind because many of us have been there haven’t we?

Whether male or female, we have been there when that person enters into our lives that compliments us and connects and corresponds to us like no one else can. Men, we have been at that place in our lives where there has been a woman enters into our lives and we respond “wo-man!” Ladies, we have been at a place in our lives where that man enters into our lives and we respond “wow, there is a man!”

And even if you have not experienced that yet, you are looking forward to that day and longing for that day, aren’t you? And this morning, there is a reason why that is the case. Moses reveals for us that reason in Genesis 2:24:

For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

For this reason; in other words because it is not good for man to be alone in his uniqueness; because it is not good for a woman to be alone in her uniqueness; a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and they shall become one flesh. And it is here that we see revealed for us a timeless truth about God’s divine design and desire when it comes to His creation. And that timeless truth is this: In the beginning, God created marriage to engage one man and one woman in a lifelong commitment that reveals and reflects God's love for us...and it was all very good!!!

God created the institution of marriage and has a divine design for marriage. And that divine design for marriage is that a man and woman cut the cord, so to speak, from their parents and join together in a covenant commitment that involves one man and one woman for one lifetime and become one flesh. Now this phrase “one flesh” is not just talking about the physical aspect of sex.

You see, marriage was designed by God to be a relationship that is marked by vulnerability, transparency and intimacy that provides a word picture to the world of the vulnerability, the transparency, and the intimacy that followers of Jesus will experience for all eternity with Him. We see that reality revealed for us by the Apostle Paul in a letter that he wrote to a church that was located in the city of Ephesus that is recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible. In Ephesians 5:31, we see Paul say the following about marriage:

FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH.

Here Paul is quoting Genesis 2:24, which describes the marriage relationship and the intimacy that the one flesh marriage relationship should experience. That is why Adam and Eve were naked and not ashamed. They were not ashamed because they could be totally transparent and vulnerable with one another. They were comfortable in their own skin, so to speak. They were united in a one flesh relationship physically, spiritually, and emotionally as a result of their love for God and one another that viewed one another with equal value and worth. But notice what Paul states next in verse 32:

This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.

Now when Paul uses the word mystery here, this word refers to is a timeless truth about God and His Divine Plan that was once hidden, but now has been made known through Christ. This once hidden timeless truth about God, according to Paul is of utmost importance. He then proclaims exactly what this great mystery that has now been made known is: but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.

You see, here’s the thing: the reason why the health of you marriage is so important in God’s eyes; the reason why God has a divine design for marriage; is that marriage has been divinely designed by God to be a picture on earth of the intimacy that we will have for all eternity with Christ. Marriage was designed by God to be a word picture to the world of the vulnerability, the transparency, and the intimacy that followers of Jesus will experience for all eternity with Him.

But that is not the only picture that marriage portrays to the world. Let’s take a minute and think of what else God’s design for marriage pictures and produces. For example, do you realize that marriage as God designed it is a word picture of the nature of the Triune God? Marriage reflects the sameness of God and the distinctness of God. Both men and women are of the same nature and essence, but they are very distinct when it comes to their personhood, aren’t they? So marriage serves as a picture of the sameness and the distinctness of the Trinity.

In addition, marriage as God designed it produces children as a reflection of the couples love for one another. While there are some exceptions to that rule; and while you do not have to have children to have a marriage that God blesses and that reveals and reflects the relationship that Christ will have with His followers throughout eternity, that natural and normal result of the love that a husband and wife have for one another is children, isn’t it?

You see, God did not need to create anything, much less humanity. The members of the Trinity lived for all eternity in a relationship of perfect love. And because of the perfect love that they had for one another, they wanted to expand that circle of love so that others could experience that love that the members of the trinity had for one another. And as a result humanity was created so that God could expand the circle of loving relationships that they were already experiencing. Just as the love of the Trinity produced the creation of humanity, God’s design for marriage produces a love that desires to expand that circle of love to include children.

So when we choose to reject, to rebel, to pushback against God’s design for marriage, we end up portraying a false picture of the relationship that we were designed to have with God for all eternity. So when we choose to reject, to rebel, to pushback against God’s design for marriage, we end up portraying a false picture of the nature and character of God.

And when our marriages are marked by confusion and conflict, we end up portraying a flawed picture of the relationship that we were designed to have with God for all eternity. That is why God hates divorce. God hates divorce because divorce mars and misrepresents the eternal covenant relationship that Jesus has with His followers. The covenant relationship that Jesus selflessly and sacrificially died for; the same selfless and sacrificial love that Paul commands husbands to love their wives with. 

Friday, we will talk about a cultural change regarding marriage and how we should respond as followers of Jesus…