Father, Thank you for my marriage and thank you for our family, keep us in Your arms forever. Amen
Genesis 2:18 (NKJV)
18 And the LORD God said,
"It is not good that man should be
alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him."
(2:18 It is not good: The first time a negative assessment appears in
Genesis (see 1:31). God
did not want Adam to be lonely, so He fashioned a helper comparable to him. This phrase indicates that this helper (or partner)
would be truly fitting and fully adequate — just right. Some have thought that
the term is demeaning, but it simply means “one who helps,” and in fact is used
to describe God when He comes to our aid (see Ps. 33:20; 115:9, 10, 11). It does
not refer to someone who is secondary or inferior.)
Genesis 2:22-24 (NKJV)
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.
(2:23 This is now means “At last!” bone of my bones:
Adam's wording is poetic and exalted — seeing Eve was a shocking and
exhilarating experience because the match was perfect. Here was a mirror of
himself, someone just like him, and yet different! She shall be called Woman: In giving the woman her name, Adam was functioning as
he had in naming the animals (v. 19). Yet
the name that he gave her matched his own. She was woman, and he was man —
perfectly suited for each other.
2:24 In marriage, a man is to leave his family, join his wife, and unite with her. Though this process
establishes a new home distinct from the parents', it does not sever all ties
with the extended family (the clan). In the biblical period, extended families
were quite close and interdependent. The words be joined speak of
both a physical embrace and more general aspects of marital bonding. In
marriage, man and woman are a “we,” not just a “me and you.” One flesh suggests both a physical, sexual bonding and a
lifelong relationship. There are still two persons, but together they are as
one (see Eph. 5:31).
In the New Testament, Jesus refers to this text as the foundation of the
biblical view of marriage (Matt. 19:5; 1 Cor. 6:16). )
Ecclesiastes 9:9 (NKJV)
9 Live joyfully with the
wife whom you love all the days of your vain life which He has given you under
the sun, all your days of vanity; for that is
your portion in life, and in the labor which you perform under the sun.
(9:9 Marriage is the gift of God. “Marriage is honorable” and the marriage
bed “undefiled,” instructed the writer of Hebrews (13:4).
Marriage is to be cherished (Prov. 5:15-20)
and unfaithfulness avoided (Prov. 5:1-14).
vain life: That is, life that passes so quickly.)
Proverbs 5:15 (NKJV)
15 Drink water from your
own cistern, And running water from your own well.
(5:15 In an arid country like Israel, a well was a prized possession and a privilege to be cared for. So was (and
is) a spouse. Drink
water is an oblique reference to sexual
union (see 9:17), and from your own cistern is a clear call to marital fidelity — one man, one
woman, together in marriage. The writers of the Bible sometimes speak of
salvation as a spring (Isa. 12:3);
to call one's spouse a spring of water was a term of endearment (see Song 4:15).)
Proverbs 5:18-20 (NKJV)
18 Let your fountain be
blessed, And rejoice with the wife of your youth.
19 As a loving deer and a graceful doe, Let her
breasts satisfy you at all times; And always be enraptured with her love.
20 For why should you, my
son, be enraptured by an immoral woman, And be embraced in the arms of a
seductress?
(5:18-20 The words rejoice with the wife of your youth comprise a command and an encouragement to find
pleasure in the mutual joy of married love. Indeed, pleasure in the marriage
bed is blessed by God (see Song; Heb. 13:4).)
Jeremiah 29:6 (NKJV)
6 Take wives and beget
sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to
husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters--that you may be increased
there, and not diminished.
1 Corinthians 7:2-4 (NKJV)
2 Nevertheless, because
of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have
her own husband.
3 Let the husband render
to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband.
4 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.
(7:2 Because of the rampant immorality in Corinth,
Paul encouraged those who might be tempted to commit sexual sin to marry. It is
better to develop a permanent relationship with a wife or husband than to lapse
into sexual sin.
7:3-5 affection: Husbands and wives have a duty to maintain sexual
relations with each other so that neither will be tempted by Satan to have sex outside of marriage.)
1 Corinthians 11:11-12 (NKJV)
11 Nevertheless, neither is man independent of woman, nor woman
independent of man, in the Lord.
12 For as woman came from man, even so man also comes through woman; but all things are from
God.
(11:11, 12 neither … independent: Men and women need each other, and as creatures of
God, both depend on Him. Neither man or woman can have any claim to special
status other than what God has purposed for them as their Creator.)
Colossians 3:18-19 (NKJV)
18 Wives, submit to your
own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
19 Husbands, love your
wives and do not be bitter toward them.
(3:18, 19 Based on the kind of Christian life to which
believers are called, Paul gives some practical guidance. General applications
like “be good” or “love everybody” are very difficult to follow, so Paul seeks
to apply moral truths to the daily lives of the Colossians (see Eph. 5:21-6:9).
The Colossian home would usually consist of father, mother, children, and
servants. Paul gives instructions to each group. The first is for wives to submit. The word submit is a military
term meaning to “arrange oneself under another” and indicates a voluntary
submission, not an unthinking obedience. The parallel passage of Eph. 5:21
may speak of mutual submission, as some have suggested. Either way it is clear
that submission does not denigrate the one who submits. The husband is
commanded to love his wife (Eph. 5:25
says as Christ loved the church). In his headship, he is to seek her highest
good, not his own welfare. He is to honor her and be considerate of her, and
not to be bitter or harsh.)
Ephesians 5:22-33 (NKJV)
22 Wives, submit to your
own husbands, as to the Lord.
23 For the husband is
head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of
the body.
24 Therefore, just as the
church is subject to Christ, so let the
wives be to their own husbands in
everything.
25 Husbands, love your
wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,
26 that He might sanctify
and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word,
27 that He might present
her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing,
but that she should be holy and without blemish.
28 So husbands ought to
love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself.
29 For no one ever hated
his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church.
30 For we are members of
His body, of His flesh and of His bones.
31 "For this reason a man shall leave his father
and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh."
32 This is a great
mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
33 Nevertheless let each
one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
(5:22-24 Just as Christ is not inferior to the Father, but is
the second Person in the Trinity, so wives are equal to
their own husbands. Yet in a marriage relationship, a husband and wife
have different roles. to
the Lord: A wife's voluntary submission
arises out of her own submission to Christ.
5:25 Husbands, love: Paul does not emphasize the husband's authority;
instead, he calls on husbands to love self-sacrificially. Husbands are to
emulate Christ's love, the kind of love that is willing to lay down one's life
for another person and serve that person even if it means suffering.
5:26, 27 In these verses, Paul briefly outlines what Jesus has
done for the church. First of all, He loved the church so much that He was
willing to suffer and die for it. His actions not only saved the church, they
also sanctified it. In other words, Jesus wanted to develop the church into
what it should be, the holy temple of God.
5:31 the two shall become one flesh: Paul quotes Gen. 2:24,
which teaches that the special union between husband and wife supersedes the
original family ties.
5:32 The mystery, a sacred secret
revealed, is that Christian marriage parallels the union that exists
spiritually between Christ and His bride, the church.)
1 Timothy 5:8 (NKJV)
8 But if anyone does not
provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied
the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
(5:8 A believer is to provide for his own (his near relatives) and his household (his immediate family). Failure to provide for one's
family is equal to denial of the faith (see Ex. 20:12; Mark 7:9-12;
Eph. 6:2).
If a Christian cannot even care for his or her own family, how can that person
sincerely love and care for others? worse than an unbeliever:
Some unbelievers take better care of their families than believers do.)
Titus 2:4-5 (NKJV)
4 that they admonish the
young women to love their husbands, to love their children,
5 to be discreet, chaste,
homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not
be blasphemed.
(2:4 In this verse the word admonish means “to give
encouragement through advice.” Older women are to pass on their insights to
their younger counterparts. love their husbands: Paul speaks
here not of romantic love, but of the commitment of a woman to her husband's
welfare.
2:5 homemakers: The
importance that Paul places on the role of women in the home may also be seen
in 1 Tim. 5:2-16
(see also Prov. 31). obedient to their own husbands: Women are not under the authority of men in general,
but rather the authority of their own husbands. The Greek word translated obedient is a military term which indicates voluntary
submission to the one in authority (see Eph. 5:21). that the word of God may not be
blasphemed: Paul wanted the older women
to teach the younger women so that their actions would glorify God, build His
kingdom, and strengthen the family. Failure to follow Paul's instructions would
result in the word of God being maligned in the pagan community.)
Hebrews 13:4 (NKJV)
4 Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled;
but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.
