Transcript Lesson 9 for March 2, 2013 Before man was created, God said that everything He had created was “good” (Gn.

Lesson 9 for March 2, 2013
Before man was created, God said that everything He had created
was “good” (Gn. 1: 10, 12, 18, 21, 25)
Nevertheless, when He created Adam, He found something that “was
not good” (Gn. 2:18). That situation must be solved so everything
could be “very good” (Gn. 1:31)
How did God solve that problem (Genesis 2:18-22)?
THE PROBLEM
THE SOLUTION
“It is not good that man
should be alone”
“I will make him a helper
comparable to him”
“Out of the ground the Lord
God formed every beast of
the field and every bird of
the air, and brought them to
Adam to see what he would
call them”
“But for Adam there was not
found a helper comparable to him”
“He made a woman”
If we study the story of Creation we may find out that man has no common origins
with any other animal (even with those similar to us). Man and woman are a unique
species and share no ancestor with other creatures.
“And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on
Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and
closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which
the Lord God had taken from man He made into a
woman, and He brought her to the man” (Genesis 2:21-22)
• God wanted Adam to feel the need
of a companion like him; that’s why
He presented all the animals by
couples to Adam.
What can we learn
by studying the
process God used to
create the woman?
• God “cloned” Adam by taking a rib
from Him.
• God created both man and woman
from the same flesh because He
wanted them to join together “in
one flesh” and on an equal basis.
How did sin affect the marriage
relationship?
 It altered the equal basis of the marriage, “Your
desire shall be for your husband, and he shall
rule over you” (Gn. 3:16)
 It generates abuse within marriage.
 It destroys the relationship between husband
and wife by using infidelity.
Marriage is still a divine institution from Eden
despite sin. As believers, we must protect marriage
from the harmful effects of sin.
“God celebrated the first marriage. Thus the institution has for its originator the Creator of
the universe. ‘Marriage is honorable’ (Hebrews 13:4); it was one of the first gifts of God to
man, and it is one of the two institutions that, after the Fall, Adam brought with him
beyond the gates of Paradise. When the divine principles are recognized and obeyed in
this relation, marriage is a blessing; it guards the purity and happiness of the race, it
provides for man’s social needs, it elevates the physical, the intellectual, and the moral
nature”
E.G.W. (Patriarchs and Prophets, pg. 46)
Marriage is still an institution God established; it is protected by the
seventh commandment,
“You shall not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14)
Jesus was very clear about it; Any sexual relationship (either real or
imaginary) out of wedlock is a severe sin that makes us lose our right
to enter the Heaven. That includes adultery, pre-marriage
relationships, prostitution, pornography, etc.
“You have heard that it was said to those
of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’
But I say to you that whoever looks at a
woman to lust for her has already
committed adultery with her in his heart.
If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck
it out and cast it from you; for it is more
profitable for you that one of your
members perish, than for your whole body
to be cast into hell. And if your right
hand causes you to sin, cut it off and
cast it from you; for it is more profitable
for you that one of your members perish,
than for your whole body to be cast into
hell” (Matthew 5:27-30)
THE IDEAL FOR MARRIAGE
There is a reachable ideal for marriage in the Bible.
1. Man and woman must form a unit that is independent
from the rest of the family.
“For this reason a man shall leave his father and
mother and be joined to his wife” (Mark 10:7)
2. There must be physical and purpose unity between
man and woman. Everything that affects one spouse
affects the other too.
“and the two shall become one flesh’; so then they are
no longer two, but one flesh” (Mark10:8)
3. Marriage is a relationship for a lifetime.
“Therefore what God
has joined together,
let not man separate”
(Mark 10:9)
THE IDEAL FOR MARRIAGE
There is a reachable ideal for marriage in the Bible.
4. Man and woman must submit to one another.
“submitting to one another in
the fear of God” (Ephesians 5:21)
5. The woman must accept her husband as the
responsible head of marriage, always with
common consent.
“Wives, submit to your own husbands,
as to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:22)
6. The man must love his wife like Christ
loved His Church!
“Husbands, love your wives,
just as Christ also loved the
church and gave Himself for
her” (Ephesians 5:25)
“The Lord Jesus has not been correctly represented in His relation to the church by
many husbands in their relation to their wives, for they do not keep the way of the
Lord. They declare that their wives must be subject to them in everything. But it was
not the design of God that the husband should have control, as head of the house,
when he himself does not submit to Christ. He must be under the rule of Christ that he
may represent the relation of Christ to the church. If he is a coarse, rough, boisterous,
egotistical, harsh, and overbearing man, let him never utter the word that the
husband is the head of the wife, and that she must submit to him in everything; for he
is not the Lord, he is not the husband in the true significance of the term”
E.G.W. (The Adventist Home, cp. 17, pg. 117)
“Home should be made all that the word implies. It should be a
little heaven upon earth, a place where the affections are
cultivated instead of being studiously repressed. Our happiness
depends upon this cultivation of love, sympathy, and true
courtesy to one another.
The sweetest type of heaven is a home where the Spirit of the
Lord presides. If the will of God is fulfilled, the husband and
wife will respect each other and cultivate love and confidence”
E.G.W. (The Adventist Home, cp. 1, pg. 15)
““Return, O
backsliding
children,” says the
Lord; “for I am
married to you. I
will take you, one
from a city and two
from a family, and
I will bring you to
Zion”” (Jeremiah 3:14)
God compares His
relationship with His
people to a marriage
relationship many
times in the Bible.
1. An unfaithful church is
compared with a
prostitute, an unfaithful
wife (Jer. 3:20; Rev.
17:1-2)
2. A faithful church is
compared with a pure
woman, a faithful wife
(Is. 62:5; Rev. 19:7)
“God is the husband of His church. The
church is the bride, the Lamb’s wife.
Every true believer is a part of the
body of Christ. Christ regards
unfaithfulness shown to Him by His
people as the unfaithfulness of a wife
to her husband. We are to remember
that we are members of Christ’s body
(Letter 39, 1902)
The church is the bride, the Lamb’s
wife. She should keep herself pure,
sanctified, holy. Never should she
indulge in any foolishness; for she is the
bride of a King. Yet she does not
realize her exalted position. If she
understood this, she would be allglorious within (Letter 177, 1901)”
E.G.W. (SDA Bible Commentary vol. 7, EGW Notes,
Revelation 19)