Marriage must always be understood from God's perspective rather than man's perspective.
Marriage must always be understood from God's perspective rather than man's perspective. Nearly every problem in marriage begins because people start with human needs, culture, emotions, or experience instead of beginning with God's eternal purpose.
God's Purpose, Design, and Decision Regarding Marriage
1. Marriage begins with God, not with man
2. God's purpose precedes man's need, come before man’s need.
3. "It is not good" reveals God's heart
4. Marriage is God's decision
One phrase receives special attention:
"I will make (for) him..."
This sentence is entirely God's initiative.
God does not ask Adam what kind of wife he wants.
Adam does not search for Eve.
Adam does not invent marriage.
God Himself says,
"I will make (for) him."
This reveals:
- God's decision
- God's will
- God's initiative
- God's sovereignty
Marriage therefore begins with God's decision and choice before it becomes man's experience.
The modern culture often begins with entirely different questions:
- Am I attracted?
- Am I lonely?
- Is the timing right?
- Does this person satisfy my desires?
But Scripture begins somewhere entirely different:
What does God intend?
We need to repent of viewing marriage primarily through personal desires or worldly expectations and instead to return to God's original thought.
5. Marriage exists to accomplish God's purpose
Because marriage originates with God, its purpose extends far beyond companionship.
There are at least several divine purposes for marriage.
Marriage exists so that husband and wife together may:
- express God's image,
- receive God's life,
- experience fellowship with God,
- learn dependence upon Him,
- represent His authority,
- fulfill His eternal purpose,
- and become proper stewards of God's creation.
Marriage is therefore viewed as God's training ground where believers learn to walk with Him.
6. Family is the sphere where we learn to walk with God
The introduction begins with Enoch.
This is significant.
Enoch:
- walked with God,
- had sons and daughters,
- lived ordinary family life.
Based on the story of Enoch, we need to correct the misconception that spirituality requires withdrawing from ordinary responsibilities.
Instead,
walking with God occurs precisely within the ordinary responsibilities God ordains.
Marriage and family become the place where believers learn:
- dependence,
- humility,
- obedience,
- fellowship,
- love,
- sacrifice,
- and the expression of God's life.
Rather than distracting from spirituality, marriage and family life becomes one of God's primary means of producing spiritual maturity.
7. Every marital problem must return to God's original design
One of the recurring themes we stress in the marriage is that human wisdom cannot ultimately repair marriage.
Even if psychological insights, communication techniques, or practical advice have value, they cannot restore marriage unless they return to God's original intention.
The reason is simple:
If marriage belongs to God,
then marriage must function according to God's design.
Therefore, the solution to marital problems is not merely better methods but a recovery of God's purpose, God's perspective, and God's provision.
The opening is to presents a distinctly God-centered thought of marriage. Marriage should not be understood primarily through the lens of human happiness or emotional fulfillment, but through God's eternal purpose. Marriage originates in God's heart, is established by His sovereign decision, and exists so that husband and wife together may fulfill His design for humanity—to bear His image, receive His life, express His character, and participate in His work. Consequently, every healthy marriage begins not with the question, "What do I want from marriage?" but with the deeper question, "Why did God create marriage in the first place?"