HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 209
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problems together. God’s loving relationship with his people is so similar to the marriage
relationship that he uses human marriage to illustrate his covenant with his people in the
Old Testament and Christ’s love for the church in the New Testament.
Where did the idea of marriage begin?
• G E NE SI S 2 :1 8 | Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will
make a helper who is just right for him.”
Marriage was God’s idea from the very beginning. It is as old as Eden yet as fresh as the
most recent wedding. Marriage is ordained by God, a sacred relationship, one not to be
entered into lightly.
The act of physical intimacy, shared exclusively between a husband and wife, is a model of
the vulnerability and unity that should be experienced in all other aspects of the marriage.
Among Christians, it is also a picture of the intense spiritual intimacy that should exist
between a person and God, a model of your relationship with him. Just as he is your only
God, your spouse is your only spouse. Just as you love God more than anyone or anything, you love your spouse more than any other person. Just as you can be completely
vulnerable and intimate in your relationship with God, you are to share an intimacy and
vulnerability with your spouse that you should not share with any other person. Because
marriage is meant to be a clear picture of your relationship with God, he designed the marriage relationship to be exclusive and permanent just as he designed your relationship with
him to be exclusive and permanent.
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• MA R K 1 0 :7 -8 | “This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his
wife, and the two are united into one.”
• G E NE SI S 2 :1 8 | Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will
make a helper who is just right for him.”
It provides for companionship.
• G E NE SI S 1 :2 8 | God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and
govern it.”
• MA L A C H I 2 :1 5 | Didn’t the Lord make you one with your wife? In body and spirit you are
his. And what does he want? Godly children from your union.
As the best environment for raising children. Marriage was designed to help children learn
about love by being born into a loving relationship. How tragic when parents fail to model
Christ’s love before their children.
• E PH E SI A NS 5 :3 1 -3 2 | As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is
joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.” This is a great mystery, but it is an
illustration of the way Christ and the church are one.
It is a symbol of Christ and the church. A marriage under God should teach the couple
much about how God relates to his church.
What are some keys to a happy, strong marriage?
• J O SH U A 2 4 :1 5 | “Choose today whom you will serve. . . . But as for me and my family, we
will serve the Lord.”
A united purpose to serve the Lord.
• PR O VE R B S 5 :1 5 | Drink water from your own well—share your love only with your wife.
• PR O VE R B S 5 :1 8 -1 9 | Rejoice in the wife of your youth . . . Let her breasts satisfy you
always. May you always be captivated by her love.
• H E B R E W S 1 3 :4 | Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage.
God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery.
Faithfulness. Without faithfulness there is no real trust or intimacy.
• MAT T H E W 1 9 :6 | “Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God
has joined together.”
Commitment.
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Why did God establish marriage?