Monday, February 21, 2011

Regaining the Right Perspective of Marriage

Scripture Ref. Genesis 2:21-24 (KJV)
21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto 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 shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

Introduction
A man was watching his five-year-old granddaughter play with her toys. At one point, she staged a wedding, first playing the role of the mother who assigned specific duties, and then suddenly becoming the bride with her "teddy bear" groom.
She picked him up and said to the "minister" presiding over the wedding, "Now you can read us our rights."
Without missing a beat, she became the minister, who said, "You have the right to remain silent, anything you say may be held against you, you have the right to have an attorney present. You may kiss the bride."
The celebrity Jenny McCarthy was a guest on Oprah and while describing her divorce from fellow celebrity Jim Carrey. Oprah asked her, “When did you know it was over?” And she replied, “I knew it was over when it stopped being fun.” When it stopped being fun? How long can any marriage survive if the only measure of its viability is whether or not it’s fun?
Falling in love with someone, feeling in love with someone—that is the easy part of love, the fun part! It really doesn’t take much to fall in love. You know what would be a far greater measure of love than a man saying, “I love you,” to a woman at the beginning a romantic relationship? That same man saying, “I love you” to that same woman 25 or 30 years down the line—after making a home together, after raising kids, after balancing the different demands of career and
partnership and enduring all the pressures of life, after years of working to build and maintain the passion, to keep the flame of romantic love alive, that is a far greater measure of love!

Our culture lies to us when it teaches us the myth of finding our one true love—our “soul mate,” the one person in the world who’s exactly the right match for us. This concept is not from the Bible; it’s from Greek mythology: That originally our souls were physically united with a partner of the opposite sex. The gods separated us before we were born. So we spend our lives searching for our missing half, the one that we’re meant for, the one from whom we were split off. We see this all the time in pop culture—movies, books, songs, TV shows.

But… there certainly is no “one true love” if by that we imagine that there’s someone with whom our relationship will not at times be a struggle. There is someone with whom we will not fight. There is someone from whom we cannot be tempted to stray. One lady who was married to her husband for half a century before he died made the commit; “that she never once thought about divorcing her husband. Oh there were plenty times I thought about murdering him, but never divorcing him”! That’s the way true love feels sometimes. In other words, even when you find the best possible match, one where both partners are sold out to God, the relationship is still going to be a struggle; you’re going to fight with each other; and there will be many days when you won’t have fun, but love & marriage is not about fun! It’s about forgiveness, commitment, and devotion!! When you trade in those three things for fun, you will always end up cheated, short-changed, and with broken marriage to your portfolio.

I. Marriage Was God’s Idea

Genesis 2:18 (KJV)
18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him.
The idea of marriage was birthed in the heart of God out of the love he had for his highest creation, man. God felt the loneliness in the heart of Adam, so the creator performed one last act of creation and designed a woman to be his wife and presented her to Adam. Just as the father of a bride presents his daughter to her husband, God presented Eve unto Adam and they became one! God’s perfect plan, one man, one woman, one lifetime! And anytime we seek to change, re-define, or distort in anyway his plan we will bring suffering, pain, and heartbreak down on our own lives!

a) He Chose the bride
When the first marriage took place God made the decision concerning who the bride would be, Not Adam! Marriage’s always take the first step towards failure when we jump the gun on God
and go against his plan for our life simply because the testosterone & hormones are racing and we choose our partner based on emotions & feelings rather than on God’s word! Why in the world would anyone want to leave God, his word, and his plan out of the greatest decision anyone will ever make in this life is beyond me! I want us to look at Gen.2:18 in the God’s Word Translation.
Genesis 2:18 (GW)
18 Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is right for him.”

If you are a blood washed, Spirit-filled, child of the King, then no one is right for you who doesn’t have the same experience! There have been a few exceptions where the un-saved spouse got saved and it turns out ok, but it has been very few! Statistics prove that 8 out of 10 marriages performed when one partner is saved and the other lost will either end in divorce or the saved partner ends up out of church and in a back-sliddened state!

b) He Set the Conditions

When God came up with the idea of marriage he not only chooses the bride but he also set the conditions on which it is to be based on. And the first condition was one man & one woman. It was Adam & Eve, not Adam & Steve! That’s all I will say at this time on that.
God also said that man should leave his father & mother and cling to his wife. I can’t count the marriages that have failed because this principle and condition of God was not kept. Mommas don’t need to invite themselves over to the newlywed’s house anytime they wish. And little boys who think they are old enough for marriage should grow up and stand on their own two feet, taking the responsibility they have seriously!
II. Marriage Is For Life

In talking about regaining the right perspective of marriage we can see how the concept of a life-long union went out the door with .29 cent gasoline. The sacredness of wed-lock is a thing of the past and there have been many things which have contributed to the desecration of the marriage rite.
a) Hollywood- Liz Taylor
b) Law Changes- No fault divorce
c) Advancement of Cheap Grace Theology- God will forgive me/he still loves me

Family Court Judge Randall Hekman said, "It is easier to divorce my wife of 26 years than to fire someone I hired one week ago. The person I hire has more legal clout than my wife of 26 years. That's wrong."


Matthew 19:3-6 (KJV)
3 The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?
4 And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,
5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?
6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
Matthew 19:9 (KJV)
9 And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.

God's word takes president over liberal religious teachers and modern social tendency's which attempt to water down the truth! If you want to be on a right standing with God you must live your life by his word!!