MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY

By Ben Berto

So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” Matthew 19: 6 NIV  

Marriage is divinely instituted by God in the Garden of Eden, when He created Adam and Eve, our first human parents. That  6^th day of Creation, God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve. “Scripture “(the Bible) “describes marriage as a decisive actof both detachment and attachment. One shall “leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh.”” Gen. 2: 24 KJV (italics mine)

The Seventh-day Adventist Church Fundamental Beliefs, 22, states thus, “Marriage was divinely established in Eden and affirmed by Jesus to be a lifelong union between a man and a woman in loving companionship. For the Christian, a marriage  commitment is to God as well as to the spouse, and should be entered into only between partners who share a common faith. Mutual love, honour, respect, and responsibility are the fabric of this relationship, which is to reflect the love, sanctity, closeness, and permanence of the relationship between Christ and His church. Regarding divorce, Jesus taught that the person who divorces a spouse, except for fornication, and marries another, commits adultery. Although some family relationships may fall short of the ideal, marriage partners who fully commit themselves to each other in Christ may achieve loving unity through the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the nurture of the church. God blesses the family and intends that its members shall assist each other toward complete maturity. Parents are to bring up their children to love and obey the Lord. By their example and their words, they are to teach them that Christ is a loving disciplinarian, ever tender and caring, who wants them to become members of His body, the family of God. Increasing family closeness is one of the earmarks of the final gospel message.”

I would like to borrow the words from the book, Seventh-day Adventist Fundamental Beliefs, pg. 295, to make clear that we are serious about the sanctity of marriage. “The home is a primary setting for the restoration of the image of God in men and women. Within the family, father, mother, and children can express themselves fully, meeting each other’s needs for belonging, love, and intimacy. Here, identity is established and feelings of personal worth are developed. The home is also the place where, by God’s grace, the principles of real Christianity are put into practice, and its values transmitted from one generation to the next. The family can be a place of great happiness. It can also be a scene of terrible hurt. Harmonious family life demonstrates the principles of Christianity lived out, revealing the character of God. Unfortunately, the manifestations of these characteristics is altogether too rare in modern homes. Instead, many families demonstrate the thoughts and intents of the selfish human heart— quarrelling, rebelliousness, rivalry, anger, impropriety, and even cruelty. Yet these characteristics were not a part of God’s original plan. Jesus said, “From the beginning it was not so.” Matthew 19: 8. But sin destroyed the original plan of peace and harmony in the home. Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating the fruit of the Forbidden Tree. This disobedience was the beginning of sorrows in marriage up to now. Infidelity, adultery, and divorce with their. concomitant problems multiplied.. No person alive can solve marital and family problems. Only God can, but that will be in the next topic. .(Italics mine)

To contact us: Our website is www.abundantlifeadventist.ca. Worship with us every Saturday Sabbath, the seventh day of the week. Genesis 2: 2, 3, Exodus 20: 8-10, Isaiah 58: 13, 14; Isaiah 66: 22, 23; Matthew 5: 17-19; Revelation 22: 14, John 14: 1-3, Rev. 6:6-12, Romans 8: 35-39