Original Post Date: Friday, August 1, 2008
The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him..." But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman,' for she was taken out of man." For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame. Genesis 2:18, 20b-25
Connection - this is the word I think of when I think about marriage. Adam and Eve were connected physically because God used Adam's rib when He created Eve. They were connected emotionally because they were the only two of their kind. They were connected mentally because they were the only creatures that God had created with higher levels of intelligence.
There are frequent moments in my own marriage when it seems like we're the only two people in the world, that we share thoughts that no one else can understand and that we cherish an emotional bond that no other human on the face of the earth can give us. This is how marriage should be.
In Ephesians, the Apostle Paul compares marriage to the relationship between Jesus and the Church. The husband should emulate the role of Christ and the wife the role of the church. Jesus is the head of the church and loves the church, so should the husband be responsible for his wife and love her. The church should submit to Christ as Lord and Master, so should the wife respect the wisdom of her husband and allow him to protect and provide for her as God has created him to do.
I have known many couples that had trouble in their marriage over the years. Most of the time, the problems come when either the husband or the wife has stepped outside of their God-given role. Wives sometimes fight against their husbands' need to be in charge. Husbands sometimes defer to their wives and don't take the responsibility for their family as God has intended them to.
While I was listening to a sermon recently, the pastor talked about worship and how offensive it is to God when we try to usurp His power and authority. We think of the land as OUR property even though Psalm 24 says that the earth is the Lord's and everything in it. We want to get credit and recognition for our talents and skills, even though Romans 12 says that we each have different gifts according to the grace that God has given us. It is human nature to try to rob each other of our power, our influence and our control of things. This is often the root of discord between spouses as well.
Jesus said that He is "in us" in the same way that the Father was in Him. Jesus, the Spirit, the Father and the Church - together in miraculous unity. This is the same intimacy that God desires for marriage. God, the husband and the wife should be in union with one another - knowing each other's thoughts, desires and needs - giving each other respect and support.
There is no one on earth who knows me as well as my husband does. In the same way, there is no one on earth who knows either me or my husband the way that God knows us. It is my prayer that Ernie and I will make knowing God in a unique and special way as high of a priority as God has made it His priority to know every aspect of us.
