JAN 20

Genesis 2:18-25
Memorise Matthew 19:5-6
“And they shall be one flesh…”

After Adam awoke from his deep sleep, God brought Eve and presented her before him. Adam’s response was one of great delight! Everything that he saw in her just seemed to ‘click’ with him, for he recognised that she was of him, as the “bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh”. He understood that she was not like the other living creatures around him, but that she would be a help that was meet for him. God then conducted the first ever wedding in the history of mankind, as He declared, “Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). With those words, God joined them together in holy matrimony, and also set down principles of what this divine ordained union of man and woman ought to be like.

First, we see that marriage is ordained by God and is not a social construct of man. God is the one who made man and woman for each other, and marriage is the divinely appointed pattern that He has set for us in order that we might multiply and populate the earth.

Second, the pattern set is that of an exclusive monogamous relationship, of one man and one woman, and no other parties are involved. The man and woman are to leave their respective parents and cleave to each other, and the two are to be one flesh. Adultery is a sin, and clearly commanded against in numerous portions of the Bible (Exodus 20:14).

Third, we see that it is a permanent and a close and intimate bond. It is the strongest relationship that two people can have on earth, for it is a relationship that is to last till death.

Fourth, we note that it is certainly a heterosexual relationship, of one man and one woman, and not two men or two women. God made Adam and Eve male and female respectively, created so that each would be well suited to the other. God’s perfect design is that it must always be a relationship with the opposite gender and not the same one. To do otherwise is an abomination to God!

Thought: Marriage is ordained by God.

Prayer: Lord, may You teach me to patiently seek Thy will with regards to the life partner that You want me to have.