The God Honoring Marriage

Genesis 2:18-25

INTRODUCTION

Our entertainment-saturated society helps feed all sorts of illusions about reality.

The fantasy of the perfect romantic and sexual relationship

The perfect lifestyle

The perfect body

All prove unattainable because the reality never lives up to the expectation.

The worst fallout comes in the marriage relationship. When two people can't live up to each other's expectations, they'll look for their fantasized satisfaction in:

The next relationship

The next experience

The next excitement.

But that path leads only to self-destruction and emptiness.

Marriage is the capstone of the family, the building block of human civilization.

A society that does not honor and protect marriage undermines its very existence.

Because one of God's designs for marriage is to show the next generation how a husband and wife demonstrate reciprocal, sacrificial love toward each other.

But when husbands and wives forsake that love, their marriage fails to be what God intended.

When marriage fails, the whole family falls apart

When the family fails, the whole society suffers.

And stories of societal suffering fill the headlines every day.

As Christians, it is our job to protect the sanctity of marriage and family.

God has laid out clear instruction and expectation

We must believe His Word and seek to live in obedience to it

Since we 3 of the next 7 Sundays are days focused particularly on the family, we are going to explore in the Bible principles relating to the The God Honoring Family.

Not an exhaustive study

Good reminder about what God says

Today, we are going to take a peek at The God Honoring Marriage. Let’s read Genesis 2:18-25.

Not good for man to be alone (v. 18)

Companionship is a priority in the creative order of God.

Created in the image of God (Gen. 1:26)

There is companionship in the Trinity (“Let us,” [Gen. 1:26])

The American Psychiatric Association (APA) conducted an online poll from January 10-12, 2024, which revealed that “Americans are terribly lonely”

Among U.S. adults, about one in three said they feel lonely at least once a week.

One in 10 Americans say they feel lonely every day.

Single adults are nearly twice as likely as married adults to feel lonely on a weekly basis, 39% versus 22.

About 50% of respondents ease their loneliness with distractions like TV, podcasts or social media

38% said they reach out to family or friends to feel less lonely

13% said they use drugs or alcohol to ease their loneliness,

Adults 18 to 34 are more likely to use substances than others (21%).

Respondents’ highest sense of community and belonging comes from being among family (65%), friends (53%) or neighbors (20%).

The least helpful places to feel less lonely were online communities and discussion forums (3%), sports and recreational teams (4%), and gym or fitness classes (5%).

Loneliness has been linked to increased risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, depression, anxiety, addiction, dementia and early death, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC says people can combat loneliness by:

Spending more time with family and friends

Joining a group or club related to an interest or hobby

Spending time with others in nature

Expressing gratitude to others

Volunteering with community organizations

Getting to know the neighbors

All the polls and research done as it relates to the issue of loneliness will always reveal the same thing: God has created people to need companionship.

In the marriage relationship, your spouse ought to be your best friend.

There is nothing in this world that serves more as an adequate companion for someone than another person

Even if your not married, your best friend should never be a pet.

It should always be another person

God’s design!

No helper found for Man (v. 19-20)

Helper is not a demeaning term.

Not a secondary position!

It is often used in Scripture to describe God Almighty

Psalm 33:20 Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. Psalm 70:5 But I am poor and needy; hasten to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer; O Lord, do not delay! Psalm 115:9 O Israel, trust in the Lord! He is their help and their shield.

It is a term that could also be translated as “strength.”

The woman supplied what the man was lacking

She is fit for him better translated as “corresponding to him” or “matching him.”

She is of the same nature (i.e. Created in the image of God)

She is of the same rank (co-ruler of creation)

Consider the woman in Proverbs 31:10-31.

Proverbs 31:10 An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.

God creates a woman particularly for the man (v. 21-22)

While other creatures in creation are certainly helpful for man, they do not meet the same level of fulfillment as the woman does.

She has what other creatures cannot supply:

self-consciousness

cognition

spirituality

personality

relationship

emotion

creativity

LGBTQ is a perversion of God’s created intent and purpose. It is a result of the denial of the Creator.

Men and women are rejecting God’s creative purpose to pursue their depraved passions for same sex affections

Boys and girls are being encouraged to deny their God given sex to pursue transitioning into the other sex

Read Romans 1:21–32

Woman was particularly created for man. Man is particularly created for woman.

Equality in creation (v. 23)

The only difference between the man and the woman is that the man was created from dust and the woman was created from the man.

Both were created by God!

Psalm 139:14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.

Matthew Henry That the woman was made of a rib out of the side of Adam; not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved.

Unity in identity in the marriage (v. 24)

When a man and a woman come together in marriage, they are no longer tied to their parents household.

They come together to form their new identity

Leaving and cleaving are hard for newly weds

Fascinating that Ephesians 5:32 reveals that marriage is a picture of our reality in Christ.

Galatians 3:27–28 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Those who are in Christ no longer have their old identity in the world. They take on a new identity to honor Christ.

When a man and a woman come together in marriage, they take on a new identity to honor one another

When Christ is at the center of that marriage (i.e. both are Christians), then the identity that they forge together is geared toward bringing glory to God in their marriage and pursuits as a couple.

CONCLUSION

The God Honoring Marriage takes into account the creation of man and woman.

It seeks to properly represent God’s intention when He created the woman out of the side of man.

The woman is a companion to the man

The woman is a helper for the man

The woman is particular for the man

The woman is equal to the man

The woman is united to the man

Our society has done a bang up job of:

Distorting the biblical view of marriage

Corrupting the biblical view of marriage

In our work to honor God in our lives, and in all that we do, we must fight for the sanctity of biblical marriage: one man, one woman, for life.

This is done most effectively by demonstrating it to the world in our faithfulness to the intention of our Creator