GOD’S PLAN FOR MARRIAGE

GOD’S PLAN FOR MARRIAGE

Beloved friends, it’s a pleasure again to meet you on the air, and we give GOD the glory, that these messages are making impact upon your lives.

Today, we will be speaking on GOD’s plan for marriage.

GOD’s plan for marriage.

I will be reading from Genesis 2:21-25

Genesis 2:21-25

21 And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22 Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.

23 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.”

24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

Let us pray.

PRAYER

Heavenly FAHER, we thank YOU for this great opportunity. Minister to my people. I pray, O GOD, that the entrance of YOUR Word will bring light to families, will restore cracked families, and set us, O GOD, to realize the very purpose for which you established the family…in JESUS Mighty Name I pray. Amen!

GOD’S PLAN FOR MARRIAGE

No person ever plans to have a bad marriage. I’ve never heard a person say, I do

not want my marriage to last. The truth is that most people want their marriages to work. Engaged couples spend time together, growing in their love for one another; and they want to make things permanent.

The last phrase of the traditional wedding vows is “until death do us part”.

Gradually things are changing. Many want to delete the phrase, “for better for worse” and “until death do us part”. Some overzealous Ministers of the Gospel are not even helping matters. They claim couples are bringing curse on themselves by vowing “for better for worse”. They claim it is better to vow “for better for best”. Suddenly the statistics of successful marriages are getting lower below 56%.

The world is in need of seeing successful marriages. So our generation owes it a duty to show the next generation that this thing called marriage works.

God ordained the permanent and powerful love between a man and a woman to be metaphor for Christ’s love for those who follow Him. As followers of Christ, we have no greater witnessing tool than loving, forgiving, joyful marriages and the  peaceful families that spring from such unions.

In a short while let me speak on 3 subtopics of this particular topic. And I divided it into three:

  1. The Creation of Marriage
  2. The Corruption of Marriage
  3. The Celebration of Marriage

 

Let’s take the first one,

  1. The Creation of Marriage.

When a man and a woman consent to marry and join their hearts they are keeping with an ordinance which commenced from the beginning of human history Eden. It started in the Garden of Eden. When you pick up your Bible to read, just after the first chapter, you are introduced to the first marriage in history. God made a woman and brought her to the man. Adam made a proclamation, and then GOD established the ordinance. That is what you’ve read from Genesis 2:22-24.

The sanctity of marriage is upheld in the Old Testament. When our LORD JESUS began HIS Ministry, HE performed HIS first miracle at a wedding. In Mark 10:6-9,

Mark 10:6-9

But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”

 

This was the view expressed by our LORD JESUS when the Pharisees came and asked HIM, Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife? And they were doing so, testing HIM.

In the Book of Hebrew 13:4

Hebrews 13:4

Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.

So our LORD JESUS declared marriage to be honorable and there is nothing as honorable as marriages conducted biblically. In John 2:1-12 and again in Mark 10:6-8 our LORD JESUS was challenged on HIS view of marriage. HE referred them to the beginning of creation. That’s what we’ve read in Genesis 2:22-24. And in Hebrews 13:4, the bible declare that marriage is honorable. Marriage is honorable and there is nothing as honorable as marriage. So our LORD JESUS gave authenticity to marriage as ordained by GOD from creation.

Marriage is a lifelong union between one man and one woman. It is an exclusive

relationship in which intimacy is wonderfully appropriate.

Let us note that this view was not invented by human government, not even by

The Jewish nation, or by the Christian church. God created it before any of those

institutions came into existence. If God defined the terms of marriage at the

beginning of creation, no subsequent human agency has the authority to amend

  1. It’s as old as Eden, and as authoritative as God’s word.

 

Let’s now see the corruption of marriage.

2. The corruption of marriage

Nations and people are now rejecting God’s view of marriage. Of course, we are paying the price. Cultural zealots, political leaders, Judicial Officers, and in some cases religious practitioners are now usurping God’s authority whenever they reformulate or redefine the terms of marriage.

Most Western nations now accept same sex marriage.  Africa, and in fact Nigeria is infested with child marriage and polygamy. Polygamy is acceptable in Asia and Africa. In recent times, there is also the group marriage which has come into existence. There are now advocates of self-marriage, and of course human-to-animal marriage. There is the one called open marriage.

 

We followers of Christ must make our marriages work so that it can stand as a witness to the depraved society. Marriage is God’s idea. Any other view outside God’s View is corruption. Alternative views destroy the foundation of home life and social order.

 

I therefore challenge us to make our marriages work as a witness to our God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Celebration of Marriage is the third sub-topic.

3. The Celebrating of Marriage.

A well-known theologian and pastor, Dr. David Jeremiah has said that the best Way for Christians to defend and honor God’s plan for marriage is to demonstrate its benefits for the world. And I cannot agree less.

I believe there are reasons for which GOD planned marriage.

  1. It is the best environment for raising children. You see that in Malachi 2:15.
  2. Secondly, it is the proper environment for sexual intimacy. Marriage is a covenant within which sexual relationship between one man and one wife is approved. That’s GOD’s design.

Yes we did say that that’s GOD’s design. And if we read from 1 Corinthians 7:2-5,

 

1 Corinthians 7:2-5

Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.  

 

iii. Marriage is God’s way of joining our hearts with one another for the sake of testimony and ministry. We take example of the role of Priscilla and Aquilla in the Bible in partnering with Apostle Paul to support him for the ministry. The same Priscilla and Aquilla took Appollos and mentored him for effective ministry. They opened their home for a church. Our marriages should be dedicated to the Ministry of the Kingdom of God.

Let me begin to conclude by quoting Dr. David Jeremiah, he said “The

best way to protect and preserve biblical marriage is to celebrate it, (as

we do so ) we personify it and show to the world God’s wonderful plan

as He designed it”.

God created us with His plan in mind. His ideas about marriage are not

old fashioned. They are as ancient as humanity and as modern as today

and as enduring as the human race.

In closing, we need to rely on God to help us build our homes according

to his plan. You need to commit yourself to a personal relationship and

intimacy with our Lord Jesus Christ. In doing so we will be celebrating the love which our GOD instituted through marriage.

 

PRAYER

May the LORD bless you. I pray that your marriage, those ones that are cracked will be healed; the ones that are sick will get healed in this season. Let the Almighty GOD who instituted marriage bring healing and bring love back in our families and heal the broken families…in the mighty Name of JESUS CHRIST. Amen!

Post a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.