Further Study: Marriage: A Gift From Eden
In many ways, a proper understanding of morality, especially sexual morality, is 
clearly tied to a proper understanding of our origins. For example: evolutionary philosophy does not provide an objective basis for any link between sexual activity and morality. Animals have many different types of “mating systems.” Some species are polygamous, many are promiscuous. A few species are mostly monogamous, but genetic studies have revealed that many species that appear to be monogamous are not actually so. In many species, a female may give birth to a group of offspring that are not all fathered by the same individual. Without the objective standard of morality given by the Creator, we would have no basis for the evaluation of sexual behavior as morally good or bad. The current push to approve homosexual partnerships illustrates this point. It is only in the light of Creation that marriage is properly understood.
“In both the Old and the New Testament, the marriage relation is employed to represent the tender and sacred union that exists between Christ and His people. To the mind of Jesus the gladness of the wedding festivities pointed forward to the rejoicing of that day when He shall bring home His bride to the Father’s house, and the redeemed with the Redeemer shall sit down to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”-Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 151.
Discussion Questions
- Darwinism denies anything like the biblical creation. What rules for sexual behavior, if any, does Darwinism provide, and how do they contrast with the biblical ideal?
- What are some biblical examples of good marriages and happy homes? Name some biblical examples of unhappy marriages and homes. What can we learn from both?
- Review the description of the virtuous wife in Proverbs 31:10-31. What should be the character of the husband of such a wife?
- In what ways can your local church be a place that can help to affirm and strengthen the ideals of marriage? What practical things can your church do in order to accomplish that goal?
(1)
If we realize our origins we will surely understand and keep the moral standards of our creator and clearly understand the kind of marriages that our families should poses and God will be pleased with us.
God glorified us with the holy marriage institution, nevertheless, people are continually drifting from such a nobble holy gift. The dominion which was there seem to have been lost, such that a "brother sheep" can distinguish between other sheep that this is my "mother and sister sheep", therefore i can not mate with them. The people today need great restoration to move back to Eden, may the good Lord keep His mercy upon the sin corrupted nusty marriages of today.
It is good to lead a chaste life. Oh Lord plz help we the Adventist youth in order to lead a holy life in Jesus name I pray amen
we must remember that marriage and family was conscieved in the mind of God when creating human beings. Therefore when you look into marriage , the relationship, you will definitly see that it will potray the relationship between God and men. And if you mess up with your marriage relationship, you must know that you are not experiencing the relationship that God had with men. And therefor you must build your relationship daily with God and your family through family alter.
i want to ask a question here: Is it sin to merry a non-christian or a non-adventist? please i need answers.. thankyou.
in response to your question....the bible does say that we are children of the light and as we kno light can not have anything to do with darkness!! marrying a none-christian would most likely create problems in the family! this would be an example of what we call "being unequally yoked with unbelievers" 1 Corinthians 6:14 and downwards...good response to your question!!
I wouldn't say whether or not it was sin to marry a non christian and or non advantist but the problem comes when you would have to make life choices like if you started a family how would you bring them up ? We all know the role played by mothers,a non praying mother would have problems teaching her children to pray and giving them Godly values. Even before children come there is the issue of submissiveness and respect. Unless like Ruth she says your people shall be my people and your God my God, personally my brother I think you shouldn't tie yourself with an unbeliever hoping they will change but then again you have a choice but use your gift to choose wisely and let God guide you not emotions or how you feel for this person. This way you will avoid untold heartache for both of you. May God help you as you seek a life partner
The way marriage institution look now is another indicator to tell us that the time is near for Jesus to come back. We find a person marrying herself or engage with an animal while God saw that it was not good for Adam to be alone with animals. Oh! Mighty God help us.
In Ephesians 5:22-33 The man is commanded to Love his wife while the wife is told to Honor her husband and reverence him. My question; Where is it that the woman is to love her husband? is she required to Love her husband or does it matter as long as she Reverence him?
Col 1:15-17 if i m not mistaken, tell us that in Jesus, all things hold together. Marriage without Him, is doomed to failure GUARRANTEE. To my brother, the bible is clear on not to marry unbelievers. Look back at what happened to the great king Solomon.
A wife is a gift from God. As long as you have trust and faith in God, don't look at a gift horse in the mouth. God is faithful and He will give you a befiting partner fof life. Did you know that they are people out there, devout Christians (and non SDAs) praying to be married to SDAs? Happy Sabbath!
Our marriages need earnest, fervent prayer to resist the ungodly influences of evolutionary philosophy and other darts that Satan is throwing at our homes. I'm thankful for this past week's lesson and pray for our marriages to become rooted and grounded on the foundation of Jesus Christ.
Are all marriages put together by God? If not, based on the question above should we divorce?
Tanisha, all marriages may not be according to God's ideal. People make mistakes in their choices of partners. But when the partners make a holy vow before God to be faithful to each other, then the marriage is, indeed, "put together by God," and no man is free to dissolve it. Often the marriage resulting from a mistake can be the very means to learn important lessons of self-denial and submission to Christ.
Through the Prophet Malachi, God said, "I hate divorce." (Mal. 2:16) And Jesus said that divorce is not recognized before God, except for adultery. (Matt. 5:32)
On the other hand, I believe that there are circumstances that are grounds for separation and perhaps even divorce. Each human being belongs first of all to God. Our bodies and persons belong to God. In cases of spousal abuse, the abused spouse should recognize the lordship of Christ in her life and may have to leave the abuser in order to honor God in her life. She must obey God, rather than man, even if the man is her husband. It is a matter to be decided prayerfully, and no one outside the situation is justified to dictate to the abused person. I believe that not even a pastor has the authority to tell an abused spouse to stay with the abuser.
Inge,
I have never heard it put the way you did, "But when the partners make a holy vow before God to be faithful to each other, then the marriage is, indeed, “put together by God,” and no man is free to dissolve it." I've never seen it expressed so simply and beautifully.
You also said, "Often the marriage resulting from a mistake can be the very means to learn important lessons of self-denial and submission to Christ. " Unconditional love is one of the hardest lessons for us carnal human beings to learn. All marriages are the place to learn self-denial but especially marriages where there may not be some of the things the human heart yearns to share: companionship, sexual relationship, parenting, for some diet and lifestyle, spiritual interests and lastly emotional experiences like happiness, joy and laughter. There are so many problems in marriages today.
In the "Old Fashioned" vows, we did say, "Until death do us part." So that means all of us no matter what we ended up with in marriage. There is no way to understand everything about a person before you are married. Some of us grow and change and if a spouse doesn't accept that experience it can be a real strain on the marriage.
I am excluding all forms of abuse. That is never acceptable and when someone experiences that they really need to pray and get good counseling. I've seen separation bring lasting results in the people involved and it sometimes end in divorce but I have seen it end in remarriage.
Thanks so much!
Wut a lovely lesson!May God help us adventists youth to love our wives and keep the marriage bed undefiled cuz dats God's
desire