The Beginning of Marriage

Genesis one and two also speak about the beginning of marriage. On the 6th day, after the creation of man, God said: (vs. 18) "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him." Adam did not find this help from what had already been created – a dog or a cat or a bird or even some kind of an ape or monkey. As precious as certain animals may be to us, none of them can be called a helper suitable for man. Once Adam had an opportunity to learn this, God created the woman.

(Genesis 2:21-25) So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and 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, because she was taken out of Man." For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

The woman and the woman alone can be called “a helper suitable” for man. Only she can be his helper in every aspect of his life. She would reign at his side, not serve at his feet. As a unit they were told to subdue the earth "and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth."

Furthermore, as husband and wife they were authorized to bring forth children. (Genesis 1:28) God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth….” Though a man and a woman don’t have to be married to have children, they have no right from God to have children together unless they are married. Outside of the marriage all sex is sin! When two unmarried individuals have sex it is fornication. When a person who is married has sex with someone other than his/her marriage partner, it is adultery. But whether it be adultery or fornication this is what God says about it: (Hebrews 13:4) "Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge."

Another thing we learn about marriage is that it is between a man and a woman not a man and a man or a woman and a woman. Even if MN or MA or WI or VT or any other State decides to legalize marriages between homosexuals, even if the supreme court of our land decides that such marriages are constitutional, they will never be right before God. For homosexuality is a perversion of nature and homosexuals like fornicators and adulterers cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven.

(1 Corinthians 6:9-10) "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God."

Two other things need to be mentioned, First of all, God never intended for men or for women to have a multitude of wives or husbands at the same time. Marriage is between ONE man and ONE woman. Every other sort of marriage is a perversion. As it says in the NT: (1 Corinthians 7:2) “… each man is to have his own wife, and each woman is to have her own husband.”

Secondly, God never intended that marriage end by divorce. Divorce, not homosexual marriage, is the greatest threat to the marriage institution. We live in a age when people believe that it is their right to divorce for any cause at all, but this is not what Jesus says. When he was asked: "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?" he said:

(Matthew 19:4-6) “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE, 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'? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”

And so is ALL divorce sin? Yes unless the divorce is the result of fornication. For Jesus also said: (Matthew 19:9) "... whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery."

Many are willing and ready to take a stand against homosexuality and against homosexual marriage, but are we as prepared to take as strong of a stand against divorce? Are we as prepared to teach our family and friends "whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery"? I fear that we are not! But as for me, I will serve the Lord and you are invited to join me in this service.