Marriage - A New Sheriff In Town!

When God officiates the very first wedding in human history – the wedding of Adam and Eve in the beautiful Garden of Eden - He clearly gives the purpose for marriage.  In Genesis 2:24-25, He says, “For this cause…”  Stop!  For what cause is He talking about?  If you go back earlier in the chapter we see the fact that God made Adam with a need for companionship which can only be truly fulfilled through a wife.  Now keep reading.  “For this cause, a man shall leave his father and mother and shall cleave to his wife and they shall become one flesh.”  Verse 25 then adds, “And the man and his wife were both naked and not ashamed.”

 

Over the next few blog posts I want to show you from theses verses four purposes for marriage.  Before I give you those four purposes, I want you to understand that the purposes we're going to see in these verses have never changed.  Our culture has tried to change them.  Even churches have attempted to change them.  The truth is that God's purpose for marriage stated at that very first wedding has never changed.  How do I know that? 

I know this because a couple thousand years after the first wedding, when Jesus is walking on the earth, He repeats this very purpose.  In Matthew 19, someone tried to trap Jesus with a question concerning divorce and Jesus said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female?”  He then quotes right from Genesis 2:24, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh.”  The purpose of God had not changed. 

In fact, not only did Jesus repeat it, but after the death and resurrection of Jesus and His ascension back in to heaven, the Apostle Paul also repeated the same purpose.  In Ephesians 5:31 Paul quotes word perfect from Genesis 2:24 – “For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh.” 

What does all this tell me?  It tells me that God's purpose for marriage has never changed.  The same purpose that God speaks in Genesis 2:24 is the same purpose that God has for marriage yet today.  Based on this, let's look at four purposes for marriage from those ancient but extremely applicable verses.

Purpose number one we're going to call severance.  “For this cause,” the Bible says, “a man shall leave his father and mother.”  What is God saying?  To put it in the lingo of the old, Wild West, it means that the moment you say, "I do," there's a new sheriff in town.  Think about it this way - growing up who was the most important human relationship in your life?  More than likely it was your parents.  Understand that according to the Bible the moment you said, "I do," a new sheriff came to town.  Because you see, folks, the moment you say "I do" there's a new priority in your life.  From that moment on, the most important human relationship in your life must be your spouse – “A man shall leave his father and mother.”  Do we still honor our parents?  Absolutely.  Do we still love our parents?  Absolutely.  But there's a new sheriff in town. 

Why is this important?  I've seen a lot of marriages go through troubles because they couldn't figure out this purpose.  Even if you're a daddy's girl, after you marry the most important human relationship in your life must be your husband.  Even if you're a mama's boy, after you marry the most important human relationship in your life must be your wife.  Folks, listen, if you ever have to choose between making your spouse happy or making your parents happy, choose your spouse. 

As parents, we need to release our children to obey God.  We should never make our adult married children choose between us or their spouses.  We should never resort to guilt and manipulation in order to try to get them to sway our way as parents.  We need to release our adult children to obey God and to make their spouse the most important human relationship in their life.