In the Church we strive to equip all the people in the Church to have fulfilling lives living out the lives and roles that God has planned for them as kingdom people. There are times when we need to address our comments or indeed create facilities so that a particular group can be ministered to e.g. children’s or youth ministry or give messages that may indeed be applicable to the whole church but have a particular focus on guiding those who are single, for whatever reason, in their journey to glorify God. We were all made in His image and where we know Jesus as our Lord and saviour we come to the Lord equal in His sight.
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Galatians 3:28
This being said, at the end of the day, no matter our earthly condition married, single, divorced we are all members of the church, Christ’s bride.
Marriage is:
- one of the events within creation
- mentioned throughout scripture, some calling it a golden thread
- Jesus repeated the words - Mat 19:4-6
- an image to others of the love Jesus has for His church
- reflective of the gospel
Genesis 1 & 2 clearly show us the origin of man, woman and of marriage, and the teachings here are foundational to the rest of scripture. Jesus himself quoted from Genesis on this – “But from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female.’ 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 then they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” Mark 10:6-9 [NKJV]
We live in a culture where many seem to dismiss marriage as irrelevant. When marriage, between a man and a woman, does occur a large number have been involved in sexual activity, fornication, beforehand. Throughout the ages has marriage ever been given its true value by any society or culture. However, its true worth has stood the test of time and will continue to do so with our God its sole designer. It will continue to endure as created by our God and for His purpose.
As we lead life, we generally seek to follow the rules e.g. when driving -stay within speed limits, park where allowed, if we don’t the results could be costly. You will, undoubtedly agree this should also be the case for those who know Jesus and seek to follow the Christian life – we need to follow the rules. But, for some the Holy Bible is rarely opened, and it is left to church leadership to “feed the word”. Throughout the year there is the need to educate/equip all in the church on His rules for marriage, for marriages to thrive not only for the benefits to the individuals/families of stability, health, etc but also for the glory of God and showing those around that image of Christ’s love for His church.
Right at the beginning, after the creation of marriage, we have in Genesis 2:24 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” [NKJV] Over the years a number of marriages faulter where the man does not leave his father and mother. A pastor in USA who included in the marriage vows “Do you pledge to leave your father and mother and all others and to cleave unto ……….. as long as you both shall live”
Then we come to the question of sex, which we know God intends to be within a married relationship only, that is between husband and wife. We also know God’s view on fornication and adulterous relations as mentioned in many scriptures in both the Old and New Testaments.
The above are just two foundational areas of marriage. The roles of the husband and the wife, father and mother are well covered in scripture but as ever we need to ensure that the right interpretation as well as the whole context is given.
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