Instruction
Scripture: Genesis 2:18-25
The Book of Genesis was written by Moses and is the record
of many firsts: first light, day, animals, person, covenant, and, in this text,
the first woman and first marriage. All through the first two chapters of
Genesis everything God had done He declared to be good, but here He says that
something is not good: for the man to be alone. God created woman to be the
match for the man and instituted marriage. This text reveals the Biblical foundation
for marriage and shows us that things like marriage, child birth, and family
were all part of God’s will before sin entered the world.
Teaching
One of the important things that God reveals to us in His
Word is that He created all things. This is what gives Him the authority to
give His creation a sense of order; placing people over the animals, giving
living things genders to complement and to procreate, and establishing marriage
and the family. None of this is accidental, and God’s motivation in all of it
is rooted in love for His creation.
God’s love is what moved Him to give the man a, “helper fit
for him.” The man needed someone to love and to be loved by. He needed
companionship that was more profound than the animal life could offer and more
tangible than God would offer. He needed someone who was the same stuff as he
was. This relationship allowed the man and the woman would be like God two very
important ways: first, their love and unity would be a reflection of the love
and unity within the Trinity, and second, God blessed their union to create
families, bringing new life into the world.
Life
There is a lot of confusion about marriage today, and the
competition between the sexes is something that God never intended. The
differences between men and women were not intended to drive us apart but to
draw us together and to be celebrated. We rightly give thanks that God created
both male and female and has given marriage a structure that is intended to
build up both wife and husband and to create and nurture new life. These are
good gifts!
Prayer
Heavenly Father, You created us and we Yours. In Your wisdom
You created us male and female. You also instituted marriage by binding the
first man and woman together to make them one flesh.
Thank You for creating us as sexual beings: different and
yet complementary. Thank You for the gift of marriage. Thank You for giving
humankind such a relationship as to bring new life into the world.
Forgive us for Jesus’ sake the mess we have made of marriage
in our society. Forgive us for not honoring or rejoicing in the sexes, but
seeing them as adversarial or as means for our own gratification. We confess
that the lifelong union You intended for husband and wife has been treated with
scorn among us, made the butt of jokes, and has not been cherished or looked
forward to for the good gift that it is.
Help us, Lord, learn to live with love and respect for both
sexes. Work among us so that marriage will be honored and the vows made by
husbands and wives will be kept that they would love, honor, and keep one
another until death. And we pray that marriages would be fruitful and that the
children that are the result of them would be loved and cherished. Amen.
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