Word for Word 3/22/17

Concerning marriage, sometimes, if not oftentimes, God’s heart is misjudged by human beings who do not understand Him and His ways. God is love, but He’s also holy and righteous. His ways are always right, good, moral and upright. Some people see God as a “do this, don’t do that” kind of taskmaster. But in actuality, love and our ultimate good are at the heart of God’s intentions for us - for mankind. His ways can be trusted because His love can be trusted.

In Genesis, the biblical book of beginnings, it says that “in the beginning God created man in His own image, in the image of God. He created him, male and female, He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it.” And God saw everything He had made and indeed, it was very good.” (Genesis Chapter 1).

At first there was just Adam and the animals, and the Word says that “but for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.” So God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam and then God took one of his ribs, closed his flesh, and then fashioned a woman from the rib and brought her to the man. Adam called her woman, because she was taken out of man. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and they shall become one flesh.” (Genesis 2). Jesus Christ repeated this account, therefore confirming and sanctioning it (Matthew 19:5).

From the beginning it’s been God’s heart for a man and woman to leave their parents and cleave to one another in the covenant of marriage and then bear children from the intimacy of that union. This is the solid, stable building block of marriage, children and family, the foundation of healthier, thriving societies.

Notice it says that God created Adam and Eve “in His own image or likeness.” It’s both the man and the woman, each gender reflecting and bearing different aspects of God’s nature, coming together in marriage, completing and complementing one another, thus reflecting God’s glory, goodness and image. And then it’s within the confines of this loving and faithful commitment that children are to be conceived and nurtured. Numerous studies show strong, positive benefits for all family members within this context.

The mystery of the “one flesh” of the man and woman in marriage is also a type and picture of Jesus Christ and His bride, the Church. This is God’s good plan for marriage and family. It’s been God’s way from the beginning, for He created us and the institution of marriage, therefore to deviate from this blueprint is to lose God’s blessing and sanctioning. Marriage matters, therefore its integrity is worth preserving.

Therefore, as Christians the strongest and surest way that we have to preserve marriage is to strive to glorify and emulate the image of God within our own homes, to love our spouses and our children as Christ loved the Church - to be a city on a hill to a generation that needs hope. Our society is in the middle of a cultural problem to which we have the spiritual solution - Christ Jesus and Him Glorified.

Steve Oden
New Life Christian Church
Waukon