1. God’s Gift to Man & Woman
MARRIAGE:
God’s Gift to Man & Woman
Genesis 2:24
[By Ron Halbrook]

2. MARRIAGE: God’s Gift Marriage is God’s gift to man & woman Gen. 2:24
Introduction:
Marriage is God’s gift to man & woman Gen. 2:24

3. and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
Gen. 2
24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother,
and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

4. MARRIAGE: God’s Gift 2. Seek to better understand this gift:
Introduction:
2. Seek to better understand this gift:
What God did in the beginning
Includes the gift of children
Means two friends in love
Permanent relationship
Ordained of God as holy & honorable

5. MARRIAGE: God’s Gift
Introduction:
Marriage is God’s gift to man & woman
Seek to better understand this gift
The better we understand it, the more we value it:
Show God we are thankful!
Fulfill our duties to God & to our mates!
Cultivate the relationship!

6. I. In the Beginning MARRIAGE: God’s Gift
A. Gen. 1:1, Man & Woman Unique: In God’s Image

7. Gen. 1
1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

8. In God’s Image MARRIAGE: God’s Gift GOD: Father, Son, Holy Spirit
Intelligence
Moral choice
Emotion
Fellowship
MAN:
Male, Female
Spirit
Intelligence
Moral choice
Emotion
Fellowship

9. I. In the Beginning MARRIAGE: God’s Gift
B. Gen. 2: Woman: God’s Crowning Work— She Has No Equal in Her Role!

10. Gen. 2
18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
23 And Adam said, This is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

11. 24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother,
Gen. 2
Marriage vows unite male & female
in a sacred covenant:
Purpose is commitment not convenience!
24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother,
and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
New independent home
Cemented together for life
Two people united as one

12. I. In the Beginning MARRIAGE: God’s Gift
C. Cultivate the Garden of Marriage!

13. II. The Gift of Children MARRIAGE: God’s Gift
A. God Ordained Birth & Nurturing of Children in Marriage
Child needs father & mother
Deepens fellowship of marriage
Enriches character of parents
Perpetuates mankind

14. II. The Gift of Children MARRIAGE: God’s Gift
B. Ps. 127:3-5 Children: A Heritage, A Reward from God
Home stronger, happier with children

15. Ps. 127:3-5
3 Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
4 As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.
5 Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them:
they shall not be ashamed,
but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

16. II. Gift of Children MARRIAGE: God’s Gift
C. Eccl. 4:9-12 God Blesses Father, Mother, & Child in This Intimate Relationship

17. Eccl. 4:9-12
9 Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.
11 Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone?
12 And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

18. III. Friends in Love MARRIAGE: God’s Gift
A. Song of Sol. 2:7 Song of Solomon Celebrates Steadfast Love from Courtship to Marriage.

19. Song of Sol. 2:7
7 Do not stir up nor awaken love until it pleases [NKJV].

20. III. Friends in Love MARRIAGE: God’s Gift
B. Song of Sol. 8:6-7 The Bride Extols the Value of True Love.

21. Song of Sol. 8:6-7
6 Set me as a seal upon thine heart,
as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death;
jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire,
which hath a most vehement flame.
7 Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance
of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned [scorned, NIV].
Remember
Irrevocable
Eternal flame
Indestructible
Priceless

22. III. Friends in Love MARRIAGE: God’s Gift
C. Experiences of Friendship Deepen in Marriage.
Prov. 18:22 Marriage God’s gift, celibacy not greater gift or higher calling

23. and obtaineth favour of the LORD.
Prov. 18:22
22 Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing,
and obtaineth favour of the LORD.

24. III. Friends in Love MARRIAGE: God’s Gift
C. Experiences of Friendship Deepen in Marriage.
Prov. 18:24 “All weather” not “fair weather” friend

25. 24 A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly:
Prov. 18:24
24 A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly:
and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.

26. III. Friends in Love MARRIAGE: God’s Gift
C. Experiences of Friendship Deepen in Marriage.
Prov. 13:20 Choose carefully: friends influence friends

27. 20 He that walketh with wise men shall be wise:
Prov. 13:20
20 He that walketh with wise men shall be wise:
but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.

28. III. Friends in Love MARRIAGE: God’s Gift
C. Experiences of Friendship Deepen in Marriage.
Prov. 27:17 Share, test ideas— constructive criticism

29. the countenance of his friend.
Prov. 27:17
17 Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth
the countenance of his friend.

30. MARRIAGE: God’s Gift
IV. Permanent
A. Mal. 2: God Hates Divorce.

31. Mal. 2:13-16
13 And this have ye done again, covering the altar of the LORD with tears, with weeping, and with crying out, insomuch that he regardeth not the offering any more, or receiveth it with good will at your hand.
14 Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.

32. Mal. 2:13-16
15 And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.

33. Mal. 2:13-16
16 For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the LORD of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously.

34. IV. Permanent MARRIAGE: God’s Gift
B. Lawful to Divorce for Every Cause?
Annie’s Mailbox: Man With Dying Wife— Divorce Her, Marry Cora (Louisville Courier-Journal, )
Matt. 19:3-9 Jesus’ Answer Different

35. When God joins them, man has no right to release them! Matt. 19:3-9
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.
When God joins them,
man has no right
to release them!

36. Matt. 19:3-9
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.

37. C. “Except It Be for Fornication”
Porneia: Unlawful Sexual Intercourse in General
Fornication Including:
Harlotry, Prostitution
Adultery
Incest
Homosexual acts
Unlawful marriages
All such “‘sexual intercourse’ in gen without more precise definition” (Kittel, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament VI:584, 587)

38. IV. Permanent MARRIAGE: God’s Gift
D. God’s Gift of Marriage Given to a Man & a Woman:
If Never Before Married (Gen. 2:24; Matt. 19:4-5)

39. Matt. 19:4-5
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?

40. IV. Permanent MARRIAGE: God’s Gift
D. God’s Gift of Marriage Given to a Man & a Woman:
If Mate Died (Rom. 7:2-3)

41. Rom. 7:2-3
2 For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.
3 So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead,
she is free from that law;
so that she is no adulteress,
though she be married to another man.

42. IV. Permanent MARRIAGE: God’s Gift
D. God’s Gift of Marriage Given to a Man & a Woman:
If Divorce Mate for Fornication (Matt. 19:9)

43. Matt. 19:3-9
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.

44. IV. Permanent MARRIAGE: God’s Gift
E. God Does Not Sanction Man’s Sinful Desires:
Easy Divorce (Mal. 2:16; Matt. 19:3-9)

45. Mal. 2:16
16 For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the LORD of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously.

46. Matt. 19:9
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.

47. IV. Permanent MARRIAGE: God’s Gift
E. God Does Not Sanction Man’s Sinful Desires:
Homosexual Acts: Against Nature (Rom. 1:26-27)

48. Rom. 1:26-27
26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.

49. V. Marriage Holy, Honorable
MARRIAGE: God’s Gift
V. Marriage Holy, Honorable
A. Heb. 13:4 When God Joins a Man & a Woman, Marriage Is Holy, Honorable.

50. 4 Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled:
but whoremongers and adulterers
God will judge.

51. V. Marriage Holy, Honorable
MARRIAGE: God’s Gift
V. Marriage Holy, Honorable
B. Look to God for Guidance
Eph. 5: Roles Given to Husband & Wife

52. 22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
Eph. 5:22-33
22 Wives, submit yourselves
unto your own husbands,
as unto the Lord.
25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

53. V. Marriage Holy, Honorable
MARRIAGE: God’s Gift
V. Marriage Holy, Honorable
B. Look to God for Guidance
Col. 3: Duties of Parents & Children

54. Col. 3:18-21
18 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord.
19 Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.
20 Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.
21 Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.

55. V. Marriage Holy, Honorable
C. Divine Law Overrules Human Law & Social Standards.
God Gave Man & Woman Marriage:
NOT bestiality
NOT fornication outside marriage
NOT adultery in violation of marriage vows
NOT homosexual acts
NOT incest
NOT pedophilia
NOT pornography
NOT divorce on demand

56. MARRIAGE: God’s Gift
Conclusion:
1. Cultivate the Garden of Marriage!

57. MARRIAGE: God’s Gift
Conclusion:
2. It Is Time for Our Nation to Repent— Or Face God’s Judgment!

58. MARRIAGE: God’s Gift
Conclusion:
3. It Is Time for Each Sinner to Repent & Obey the Gospel:
Jn. 3:16 Christ, Perfect Sacrifice for Our Sins

59. Jn. 3:16
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

60. MARRIAGE: God’s Gift
Conclusion:
3. It Is Time for Each Sinner to Repent & Obey the Gospel:
Acts 2:38 Repent & Be Baptized

61. in the name of Jesus Christ
Acts 2:38
38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized
every one of you
in the name of Jesus Christ
for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

62. MARRIAGE: God’s Gift
Conclusion:
3. It Is Time for Each Sinner to Repent & Obey the Gospel:
2 Thess. 1:7-9 Reject Gospel, Punished in Flaming Fire for Eternity

63. 2 Thess. 1:7-9
7 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,
8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God,
and that obey not the gospel
of our Lord Jesus Christ:
9 Who shall be punished
with everlasting destruction
from the presence of the Lord,
and from the glory of his power;