The First Marriage (Part One)

By Clifton Angel       They did not have the book His Needs, Her Needs by Willard F. Harley. They did not have the book The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman. They did not have the book You’re Singing My Song by Glenn & Cindy Colley. They did not have the book Living Together in Knowledge by Don & Jane McWhorter. They did not have the motivating movie, Fireproof. But, they had the Word of JEHOVAH. Their names? Adam & Eve. What are some lessons we can learn about marriage from the first marriage?     It was male and female.     "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them" (Genesis 1:27). Unfortunately, the world says marriage does not have to be male and female. Such a claim is a departure from God’s wisdom and design. By inspiration of God, Moses gave record: “And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him ... And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam 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” (Genesis 2:18, 21–23). Later in the record of the Book of Genesis, we read, “This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created” (Genesis 5:1–2).     Fast-forward to the days of Jesus. Concerning marriage, Jesus asked, “Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female” (Matthew 19:4). Mark’s account records Jesus’ words in the form of a statement: “From the beginning of the creation God made them male and female” (Mark 10:6). Some, today, claim Jesus did not explicitly condemn same-sex marriages. First, to heed the words of Jesus, we must heed the whole of Scripture and, particularly, the whole of Christ’s doctrine in the New Testament. God’s disdain for homosexuality is seen under every dispensation: Patriarchy (Genesis 19; cf. Genesis 1:27; 2:21–23), Mosaic (Leviticus 18:22; 20:13), Christian (Romans 1:26–27; 1 Corinthians 6:9–10; Galatians 5:19–21; 1 Timothy 1:9–11). Finally, an honest examination of Jesus’ explicit words at Matthew 19:4 and Mark 10:6 reveals that He does condemn same-sex marriages by authorizing and endorsing marriages between male and female, only.     May these truths bless your marriage and glorify our God.

- Clifton Angel preaches for the Coldwater Church of Christ in Coldwater, MS. He may be contacted through that congregation's website: http://www.coldwatercofc.com/