Relationships

1. Marriage Is God’s Design 

Genesis 2:18, 24  
18 And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be  alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him. 24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be  joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh

Matthew 19:4–6 4 And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who [a]made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”

• Purpose

• Meaning

• Structure rooted in God’s design.

2. A Covenant

Matthew 18:18-19
18 “Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be  bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed  in heaven. 19 “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth  concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My  Father in heaven.”

Malachi 2:14
Yet you say, “For what reason?” Because the Lord has been witness. Between you and the wife of your youth, With whom you have dealt treacherously; Yet she is your companion And your wife by covenant.

• Marriage is a combination of:

  • Faithfulness

  • Permanence

  • Accountability to God

3. One Man and One Woman

Genesis 2:24
Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be[a] joined  to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

Matthew 19:5
and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother  and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?

4. One Flesh

• Marriage creates a depth of unity beyond just a natural  understanding - spiritually, emotionally, and physically.

Genesis 2:24
Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be[a] joined  to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

Ephesians 5:31
“For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be  joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”

• The way God does anything is the way He does everything.

5. Love With Sacrifice

• Language

• Borders

• Customs

Ephesians 5:25
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church  and gave Himself for her,

• Husbands are called to love sacrificially.

1 Corinthians 13:4–7
4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not  parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not  seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all  things, hopes all things, endures all things.

• This is Christlike love.

6. Mutual Respect and Honor

Ephesians 5
15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, 20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another in the fear of God.

• Marriage is mutual submission in the fear of God.

1 Peter 3:7
Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving  honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs  together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be  hindered.

• Marriage is:

  • Understanding

  • Honor

  • Heirs together of grace

7. Faithfulness

Hebrews 13:4
Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but  fornicators and adulterers God will judge.

Exodus 20:14
You shall not commit adultery.

8. Partners and Companions

Genesis 2:18
And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I  will make him a helper comparable to him.”

Ecclesiastes 4:9–12
9 Two are better than one, Because they have a good reward for their labor.10 For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, For he has no one to help him up.11 Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; But how can one be warm alone?  12 Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand  him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

• We are designed to walk through life together.