The says more about marriage and in this article are 7 Important things the Bible say about marriage
Love is something that is born innately within you, but sometimes different circumstances in life make it difficult to bring it out. Discover the 7 Important things the Bible says about marriage in this post.
The following Bible Study will give you an explanation about the meaning, origin, and characteristics of Marriage in the Bible.
What does the Bible say about marriage?
Marriage was the first institution formed by God according to the Bible and the only one established for humanity before it fell into sin. This divine idea is instituted with the first man and the first woman ( Ge 2: 18-25 ) and is the basis of human society.
Therefore, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh ( Genesis 2:24 ).
The description of “coming together” to form “one flesh” describes marriage as a bond of love between man and woman, forming a communion of permanent interest and fidelity ( Ge 2:24 ).
For this reason, God’s creative work was not complete until he created a woman, for he was able to create her from the dust of the ground as he did with man. However, he decided to create it from the bone and the flesh of man, to illustrate in this way that the marriage between a man and a woman becomes symbolically one flesh.
On the other hand, God also created this union with two very important purposes: to honor God and to multiply procreating life in the world.
7 Important things the Bible say about marriage
Here are all seven, each with just a glimpse of why they’re so important.
1. Genesis 1:27
“God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female created he them.”
From the beginning, God made men and women with equal dignity as human beings and glorious complimentary differences as men and women. God did not make men and women essentially androgynous human beings, with some male or female accessories, added at the end. Rather, we are all men or women to the core, in every cell of our body. We are different, wonderfully different, in our physiology and our psychology. And these differences don’t make men better than women, or women better than men, but they do make men and women better together.
After forming the man, God placed him in the garden and gave him the moral vision of life in the world: “Then the LORD God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him” (Gen. 2:18). Throughout the creation narrative, at the end of each day, God declared his work to be good, good, good, good, good. Then at the end of day six, well in a big way. But a man alone? That is not right. At least for the first man, and most of us.
2. Genesis 2:24
“Therefore a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.”
After God made the first woman and entrusted this extraordinary gift to man, God instituted what we call marriage: two people becoming a new entity. A man and a woman form the most fundamental human relationship in the world created by God, a relationship even more fundamental than that of parent-child. A man will leave his father and mother and cling to his wife. Under God, she is now his most fundamental commitment. So too, the woman leaves her father’s house (Ps. 45:10) to establish a new family unit with her husband. Under God, he is now your most fundamental commitment.
However, although everything starts very promising, sin entered the world. The man failed to protect the garden. He lowered his guard and allowed the snake to take over his wife’s ear, and she was deceived. Then the man himself, having heard God’s command firsthand, listened to the voice of his wife and sinned against God. And now, in this fallen and cursed world, marriage, the most fundamental relationship, is not without serious pain and difficulty (Gen. 3:16).
3. Matthew 19:6
“So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no man separate.”
Now we are ahead thousands of years to the words of Jesus. Even though sin has invaded God’s creation, and husbands and wives often find themselves tragically at war with each other, Jesus reinforces God’s view of marriage from creation: “What God has joined together, no man separate”. Sin may challenge, but it does not nullify God’s original design. Marriage is made to endure sin. God wants the two to become one, not one to break into two.
God calls husbands in particular, as men, to fidelity in what the first man failed. God calls every man to care for and protect his wife and marriage with holy zeal, first from his sin, and then from others. Her failures are no excuse for yours. And for wives, his failures are no excuse, either. The man and the woman unite “as long as they both live”.
Inevitably, they will sin against each other. Maybe before the wedding day is over. Probably before the honeymoon is over. Sin will challenge the harmony of your relationship in some way. But God designed this marriage covenant to keep them together in difficult times. Hard times don’t come as a surprise in marriage. Marriage was made for hard times. Covenants are not primarily for easy times, but rather for the hardest.
4. Ephesians 4:32
“Rather be kind to one another, merciful, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you.”
This may be the most important verse for my marriage of twelve years. I suspect that kindness is greatly underrated in many other marriages as well.
In God’s vision for marriage, there is no room for wickedness or contempt between a husband and wife.
Because of the wonderful boundaries and compromises of the marriage covenant, spouses can feel the urge and temptation to be mean to each other, to lash out at that stubborn spouse who is always there and seems to make life more difficult. However, in God’s vision for marriage, there is no room for wickedness or contempt between a husband and wife. Yes, loving correction. Yes, difficult conversations. Yes, forgiveness is requested and granted regularly, even daily. But never evil.
Husbands and wives who are in Christ know that God deals kindly with them at every turn. That doesn’t mean that life together won’t be difficult, but all God’s sovereignly appointed difficulties in the lives of his children are done with kindness, as strange as they may seem. So too, in Christ, we should always seek to be “kind to one another.”
5. Colossians 3:19
“Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them.”
God’s specific call to the husband is to love his wife. Love is not just spontaneous affection. It is affection, and never less, but it is more than that. It is also loyalty to the pact and acting in sacrifice. In a husband’s worst moments, he will be tempted to be passive or harsh. What his wife needs from him, and what God calls him to do as a man, is to be gentle and not harsh; active, not passive. Be active gently. Kindness is not weakness. Gentleness is strength under control for life-giving ends. Gentleness is an admirable force that the Spirit of God develops into a more admirable maturity.
Marriage is not meant to make our lives easier (and worse), but to make them harder (and better).
Marriage is not meant to make our lives easier (and worse), but to make them harder (and better). The wife is an heir with her husband of the grace of life, and God calls him to live with her fully, showing special honor and care towards her (1 Pet. 3:7).
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6. Colossians 3:18
“Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.”
God’s call to a wife is to affirm, welcome, and nurture her husband’s loving leadership in the marriage. Her husband is unique to her. God does not call a wife to submit to all men; no way. Only to her husband (Eph. 5:22; Tim. 2:5; 1 Pet. 3:1, 5). And her submission to him is not absolute. Colossians 3:18 says “as is fitting in the Lord.” Jesus Christ is her ultimate loyalty and authority, just like for her husband. And if the husband is obedient to Christ and self-sacrificing like Christ, he and she will prosper together in the dance of marriage as she affirms him, strengthens him, and makes him a better man than he could ever be without her.
Godly submission is not passive or weak. It is one of the most difficult things that proud modern people could do. And that is precisely what we all do when we say that Jesus is Lord.
7. Ephesians 5:32
“Great is this mystery, but I speak regarding Christ and the church.”
We have saved the best for last. When God says that marriage is a mystery, He is not saying that it is confusing and enigmatic, or that we really cannot understand the depth of its meaning. It says that it was a mystery for thousands of years, but now, with the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, marriage is no longer a mystery. The mystery has been revealed.
God knew that he would send his Son to save us from our sin, and he designed marriage to anticipate that, to prepare the world for the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The mystery was this: why did men and women make a pact with each other while they lived? Why did God make it this way? Why build a human society in this way? The answer is that thousands of years before he sent his Son, God embedded something that points to Jesus into the very basics of human life. God knew from the beginning that he would send his Son to save us from our sin, and he designed marriage to anticipate that, to prepare the world for the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The meaning of marriage is that Jesus has given his life for his people, his bride. The calling of a husband—to be a leader who gives and does not take—shows us Jesus, who did not protect himself or his comfort, but sacrificed himself for us. Jesus is the husband who does not demand special privileges but takes more responsibility: to love his wife with affection, loyalty, and deeds.
Jesus’ love for his church is the ultimate meaning of marriage. This is the message and the drama that Christians seek to live and show to the world as we make our vows and anticipate the coming marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:9). This is the story of a marriage.
What is the Origin of Marriage according to the Bible?
Today marriage is part of the life of many people and knowing its origin helps us understand it correctly.
Therefore, according to the Bible marriage originates biblically with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and not by any human culture. For after God formed Adam from the dust of the ground, he created Eve from one of his ribs to establish her as his helpmeet ( Ge 2: 7-8 ).
And the Lord God said, It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make a helper meet for him ( Genesis 2:18 ).
Then Jehovah God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and while he slept, he took one of his ribs, and closed the meat in its place. And from the rib that Jehovah God took from the man, he made a woman, and brought her to the man. Then Adam said: This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; She will be called Woman, because she was taken from man ( Genesis 2: 21-23 ).
Therefore, the Lord Jesus confirms the origin of marriage with the Word of God: «He answered and said to them: Have you not read that he who made them at the beginning, male and female made them, and said: man will leave father and mother and will be united to his wife, and the two will be one flesh? ( Matthew 19: 4-5 ).
