KEY SCRIPTURE: Mark 10:6-10But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh.What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. (or gradually tear asunder.)
RELEVANCE
If there is one thing I want to see taught to upcoming couples, it is the importance of becoming one!
Marriage is one of God's prerequisites for humankind, founded upon His requirement to reunite the separated Adam with his other half, Eve.
God separated the woman from the man for the reason of Adam's loneliness in the garden of Eden. It's difficult for Christians to believe that Adam could feel lonely with God as his principal friend, as that is what we all desire. But that is what happened.
Following that separation, God brought them back together in marriage to be one again. He ordained marriage so two could become one flesh.
Physiologically, we see how that happens. But many positive emotional and spiritual changes occur when two become one flesh in love. However, the one-night stand, where partners become the proverbial Coke Can discarded after use—are ungodly acts that subliminally confuse our emotions and devotions.
The question we should ask is how Adam got on with himself peacefully with both female and male components within him when, as individuals, they cannot get on in a marriage without arguments.
What changed in that separation?
I'm taking liberty here, but I imagine it would be easier for male and female to submit to God the creator when in the same body and mind. Adam would have been beautifully harmonised within.
For instance, I can't see Adam arguing with himself. But I can see him reasoning to arrive at a conclusion.
Again, I cannot see Adam yelling at himself for taking the wrong route through the garden. Nor would one side of him tell God about the other side's faults? Neither would we catch his feminine side talking to one of the wise owls, saying, "Honestly, I can't believe he doesn't get what I mean!"
Yet we see husbands and wives arguing over the most minor issues, sometimes at each other's throats.
As a new marriage begins to grow, God meant for those two individuals to knit together in one accord, not unravel over time until they've lost their commonalities and filed for divorce. Further, God certainly doesn't want marriage to be a species of dominant male controllers ruling human female robots created to service the needs of men.
He hoped that couples would develop as two people appreciating and merging the uniqueness of their detachment—the God-given strengths and virtues of each separated part—and bring them together as a whole offering to the Lord.
Our marriages are indeed an offering, but I don't think God would accept them at times. He placed many scriptures in the Bible to help us discover the spirit within the words to craft not just a beautiful marriage because I can hear some saying, " I have one of those already", but the rejoining of the individuals into the original God-ordained, balanced unity.
Noah's dove ultimately didn't return to her partner in the Ark (Genesis 8:12), an odd occurrence for a pigeon-pair of birds. But this doesn't mean that marriages, even the most trying, cannot develop into lasting, loving relationships with this humility-based approach. After all, marriage is a heavenly project.
PRAYER
Dear Lord, it would be wonderful to have a fireside chat with you to understand the depths of your design for marriage, which we so often misinterpret or miss completely. Please help us complete your fullness in our marriage.
Photo by Beatriz Pérez Moya
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