The Story Behind The Study

If you are looking for something new in this plan, you will be sorely disappointed. God’s truth is not new and not old - it is eternal! We pray that in these few days, you will gain a fresh glimpse of what God intended marriage to be from eternity past and for all of time.

Psalm 68:6 says,“God setteth the solitary in families.”It was God who established marriage in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 1:27-28), and like every good thing that we enjoy - it was God’s idea! From the beginning, the Creator designed marriage to be a relationship of spirituality, intimacy, integrity, and purity. Genesis 2:21-25 tells us,

“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. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.”

Sin has tainted marriage horribly; it is often unrecognizable from His design. In today’s culture, marriage has been minimized, corrupted, and redefined. This is why we must return to the original pattern laid out in Scripture.

The Bible and Your Marriage.

Marriage is holy. It is to reflect the beautiful and powerful union of Christ and His church (Ephesians 5:22-32). The first institution ordained by God is the foundational building block of family and all of civilization. It is a revelation of what matters most to Him - and what should matter to us.

The Old and New Testaments are full of married couples who provide positive and negative examples. These husbands and wives illustrate principles that we all need. A strong marriage must be built upon Bible principles. It cannot be built upon experience, emotion, or events - all of these are changeable. Only the eternal truth of God’s Word provides a foundation upon which to build.

Each couple we meet on the pages of Holy Scripture are real people with real problems. Every marriage has its stress, struggle, and strain. There are no perfect people, and there are no perfect marriages. Comparison will destroy your contentment. We all have issues to deal with, yet God has promised that as we obey His principles, He will meet every need.

What is true in one generation is true in every generation (Psalm 100:5; Ecclesiastes 1:9). While each couple is unique, each family’s basic needs are the same. Those who know Christ, and have access to the Word of God, have everything they need to build a godly home (2 Peter 1:3). The institution of marriage was established in the Old Testament, and the instruction for marriage enlarges in the New Testament. The New Testament builds on the foundation laid in the Old Testament. God’s Word is a progressive revelation - it widens and deepens as it goes. New Testament Christians should desire to have a New Testament home. Those who have entered into a covenant with Christ should more deeply understand the marriage covenant.

Your Marriage Covenant.

The God of the Bible is a God of covenant. He not only makes covenants, He keeps them. Moses said,“Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations” (Deuteronomy 7:9).

God made covenants with Adam (Genesis 3:16-19), Noah (Genesis 9:8-17), Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3), and David (2 Samuel 7). Ultimately, He made a New Covenant that is fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the Messiah (Hebrews 9). The word “covenant” is the same as “testament.” As New Testament believers, we have entered into Christ’s New Covenant.

New Testament Christians should understand that God’s covenants are both joyful and sobering. This is serious business! Modern marriage is often viewed as a contractual agreement, but biblical marriage is a covenant between two believers - a man and a woman - and Almighty God. In a world of broken promises, we must recognize that covenants were not made to be broken.

Sadly, too many couples give attention to the wedding day and very little attention to the marriage. “Holy matrimony” is not just a sacred event; it is the lifelong pursuit of a godly home.