Marriage God's Way

What you will read in the following pages is a look at what the Bible (particularly the books of Genesis and Ephesians) has to say about what God has in mind for marriage.  It covers man’s Fall from God and God’s loving plan of recovery and what part marriage plays in that plan. It is a book to get you thinking about and starting a realistic appraisal of who you are and where you stand with God, your purpose in life and your future relationships.

There are four premises in what you will be reading here.  The first premise is that being marriage partners and parents are the two most important jobs in the world.  The fact that the Bible starts with the relationships between God, man and woman before any other concern should be a clear signal to us that this is where we need to place our emphasis.  It is from faithfully married parents that children learn what it means to be men and women in relationship.

The second premise is that there is an enduring love given by God that makes relationships work.  It is His love and the very essence of His nature.  It is eternal and it is available.  It comes by faith in Jesus Christ and marriage is God’s designed plan for its experience.  God’s love makes the marriage relationship vital, dynamic and able to mature.  It is as sure when we are dry and unfeeling as it is when we are in the warmth of our happiest moments.

God made marriage for the experience of His love and to engage us as men and women in the deepest of all human and spiritual encounters.  The key, therefore, to human marriage is faith in God.  It is this commitment He brings to us, which is the vehicle through which every detail of our life is bathed.  The solid rock of commitment carries us through the hard time and blesses us in the good times.  It is the rock of commitment to God toward each other that lets the love of God envelop us.  We see each other more realistically, more profoundly and deal with each other more honestly.  We are not threatened by our differences but see them as unique gifts.

The third premise is that sin has separated us from God and one another.  It has separated man from woman and isolated their differences in way that has made them unable to understand their differences.  We are, because of sin, born incompatible with everyone from birth on and it is only as we allow ourselves to be handled by a loving God that this incompatibility becomes fertilizer for new growth instead of excuses for separation.

The fourth premise is that a relationship with God in Jesus Christ provides every thing necessary to make not only marriage but any relationship work and be fulfilling.  It solves the problem of sin, defines real relationship and offers the insights and power to literally change that part of the world in which we live.

What are your expectations of the man or woman in your life?  Do you share your emotions, your dreams, your fears easily?  To whom or what are you ultimately committed for every thing you do in your life?  What are your life goals?  What were you created for?  If you are a man, does your job come before or after your relationships?  If you are a woman why do you want to get married?  Are marriages made in Heaven?  Are you willing to commit to another person “til death do you part?”