Scripture:
Matthew 19:5-6:
5: And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?
6: Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
Theme:
1+1=1
Introduction:
Many things described and characterize marriage in today’s society.
- Partnership — a business that involves more money than love…more paperwork that passion…more looking over than looking at.
- Legality – its purpose becomes making babies legal more than legally making babies
- Experiment – Engagement is thinking about marriage while marriage is seeing if it will work
- Penitence – Guilt from past mistakes are made right by getting married
- Investment – it’s a price paid to expect benefits from the other later
- Security – alleviates the fear of having to grow old alone.
However, even though we bathe in our own understandings of marriage, God’s Word provides us with some information to build our knowledge on the subject. The scriptures on the laws of marriage are few yet straightforward:
- It is a life time commitment…Romans 7:2-3: “For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.”
- Exception…Adultery… Matthew 5:31-32, “It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.”
- Explanation of exception…the hardness of the hearts of men… Matthew 19:7-8 “They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away? He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.”
Body:
The primary source of direction on the critical elements of a Christian marriage is in the examples of marriage throughout the biblical story:
Adam & Eve >> Ordained by God
- Genesis 2:18: And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
- Genesis 2:22-24: 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.
- The two creations are brought together to create another entity, or being, 1+1=1.
Abraham & Sarah >> God-Fearing Man leading woman
- As found in Genesis 17 & 18, Abraham’s faith in God is what holds his family to God’s promise of their having a child. Abraham laughed initially but was calmed by the Word of God speaking to him and the confirmation of the prophecy. However, when Sarah heard of it and laughed, the words from Abraham’s visitors in Genesis 18:14 answered her laughter, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”
- Understanding – A child was a far-fetched notion
- Correction – Nothing is TOO HARD
- Direction – FOR GOD, us yes, but GOD…NO!
Isaac & Rebekah >> The power of a mother’s love
- The power of a mother’s love is exemplified in Rebekah in Genesis 25:28, “And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob.” The story reveals to us that the love that was in accordance with God’s love was not that of Isaac, but of Rebekah.
- Daddy loves us, but nothing compares to the love of a mother:
- Daddy’s love sustains life, but Mama’s love gives life
- A mother is the nurturing presence in a home
- Daddy can catch us, but only Mama can keep us
- God has spiritually, physically, emotionally, and socially structured the family to draw from the mother or maternal figure as the nurturing resource through their love and favor.
Hosea & Gomer >> What God has brought together, let no man put asunder
- The book of Hosea depicts a wonderful love story between the prophet Hosea and a beautiful seductress by the name of Gomer constructed to teach Hosea the seriousness of Israel’s whoredom. God sent Hosea to Gomer. God instilled the love for Gomer into Hosea. Hosea married Gomer. Then see what happened after that:
- Gomer did not want the life of a preacher/prophet
- They had kids and later found the kids to not be Hosea’s
- Gomer had desire to return to her former life
- Hosea took care of the kids while Gomer went to satisfy her own desires
- She ended up on the auction block.
- God moved Hosea to buy her back out of love in spite of her errors…Hosea 3:1.
- With true love between a husband and a wife led and kept by the grace of God, nothing shall separate them from the love of God (Romans 8:28) and no man, woman, amount of money, poverty, rumor, disagreement, frustration, or thought can separate them from the love that bonds them together…when both are in Christ Jesus.
Sampson & Delilah >> Perils of sleeping with the enemy
- Know your enemy. Sampson married Delilah who herself was a Philistine, an enemy to Sampson’s people.
- If God did not give her or him to you, then you should not marry them.
- The one whom he trusted the most was the one who gave away the secret of his strength and led to his death.
- You spouse is to be your “Help Meet”. 1+1=1…you have to be together and not against each other.
Queen Esther & King Ahasuerus >> God-Fearing Woman leads through undying love of the man
- The people of Israel were saved through the efforts of Queen Esther and facilitated by the allowance of Queen Esther by King Ahasuerus to do whatever she asked because his love for her was strong. As King Ahasuerus stated in Esther 7:2, “And the king said again unto Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition, queen Esther? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy request? and it shall be performed, even to the half of the kingdom.”
- Marriage should be established in love just so in that the man loves his wife and gives all for and to her, BUT this must be coupled with the woman who knows and appreciates his devotion AND only uses this devotion for the greater good of the family and NOT for her own personal gain.
Mary & Joseph >> Trust in the Lord…lean not unto your own understanding
- A familiar story is that of Mary and Joseph, a young couple expeditiously brought together after the advent of the Savior’s conception in Mary’s womb. Joseph’s dilemma:
- A pregnant bride-to-be
- Joseph has not “known” his bride-to-be
- The bride-to-be claims that the father is God, himself, and the child is the son of God
- Always listen for what God says in and for every situation
- It’s not about what you think. Instead, it’s about what God says. This is what allows the “+” in 1+1=1
Zecharias & Elizabeth >> God communicates to both the husband and the wife
- Mary prophesies to Elisabeth and at the same time John leaps in her womb
- An angel appears to Zecharias telling him that he will be dumb, not able to talk, until his child is born.
- God created the two, 1+1, and through His love creates the one, =1
- God communicates to the two, 1+1, in support of the one, =1
- God communicates to the two, 1+1, in respect of the one, =1
- God communicates to the two, 1+1, in the presence of the one, =1
- God fosters the growth of the ONE through his communication to the TWO.
Conclusion:
Let’s look at one of the few prominent single characters of the Bible:
Paul >> Marriage is optional, God is not
- 1Corinthians 7:2-7 summarizes Paul’s perspective on marriage,
“Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband. The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife. Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your inconsistency. But I speak this by permission, and not of commandment. For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that.”
- Marriage is a means by which we as Christians may exercise our faith and build our understanding in God.
- Just like the institutional church (the building) and the giving away of all worldly possessions, it is not required but is suggested.
Marriage is of THIS world
- Matthew 22:30, “For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.”
The TWO become ONE only until the CHURCH becomes ONE WITH HIM.
- Revelations 19:7, “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.”
- Revelations 21:2, “And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”
Oh, the day of the wedding:
- Groom’s preparation – Having been tried by the fire
- Officiating minister – Jesus, at the right hand of His Father
- The choir – The heavenly host
- The usher – The angel Gabriel in all its splendor
- Best Man – Grace and Mercy
- Father of the Bride – God, the Father
- The Bride – The church
- The Maid of Honor – Charity
- The Program and Invitations – the Holy Spirit (teaches and reteaches)
Where are we represented?
- The Bridal bouquet –
- the body of the church, the bride, carrying the beauty of our individual selves as petals of flowers…
- different shapes, different colors, and different fragrances coming together (1+1)
- to become the beauty of a new arrangement in God (=1)
