He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord. (Proverbs 18:22)

God’s View Of Marriage

Adam lived in a garden of unparalleled beauty, grandeur and the magnificent glory of the Creator’s hand but he could not be happy without Eve. God looked on man and saw that he was alone and declared it was not a good thing. He brought all the animals to Adam to see what he would name them but still, a companion was not found. It was then the Creator formed woman from the rib of man to join two flesh into one and two hearts in a union of love and devotion. Adam knew immediately what the woman meant to him. He did not demean her, ignore her or abuse her. His first reaction was awe at the beauty of the creature that stood before him. While literally there was no woman on earth like her, she was all he needed. Adam did not ask God for another creature or to form the woman into another type of person. What God had created Adam embraced and loved her for who she was. His love was unlike the love defined today by the carnal eye of pleasure, desire, and like-mindedness. His choice was not a begrudging acceptance of life’s reality there was no other woman in the world. He knew he had found a good thing and he further recognized what he was blessed with came from the hand of God and he would treat the woman as such. It was a remarkable time for the newly created husband and wife. Sin had not cast its veil of darkness over the earth and the man and woman walked in the cool of the day communing with God. Their lives were filled with joy, happiness, and acceptance for who the other would be for them. Jealousy did not divide them, anger was not found in their home and fidelity was complete as their relationship with God was one. Before Eve was deceived by the devil to disobey God, their marriage was a union of peace, harmony and eternal love. Then sin came into the home. That is when the problems began because Adam and Eve made a decision to dishonor their Creator and paid a heavy price for their rebellion. God’s grace overshadowed their sin and the Lord made provisions for the seed of man to bring final destruction over the forces of evil.

Adam and Eve lived in paradise because they were dedicated to one another and to God. Often the story is told in respect to the fall of man, how Satan tempted Eve and the terrible consequence of disobedience. What is missed is what the world was like when marriage was in complete favor with God. It does not take a lot of imagination to think about how beautiful the world was at that time. There was no sorrow, no tears, no sickness and nobody died. They walked with God and talked with Him. He communed with them on a personal level and there was great joy in the first home. Surrounded by the love of God, the garden was a place of worship where God was exalted in every part of life. Realize that any part of marriage that is a challenge comes from one source and this is not in harmony with God – it is sin. Discord in marriage is because someone is not following the will of the Creator. Marriage is designed for the ultimate in man’s happiness and when the home is not filled with the joy of God the reason can only be that God is not the joy of the home. If a man is not in love with his wife he has failed to appreciate what God has given him and expected of him to fulfill in the marriage bond. Jesus said the design of the home is one man with one woman for life and that is where happiness is found. Anything that deviates from that pattern is going to bring heartache and sorrow. A man who finds a wife finds a good thing as a gift from God like Eve being brought to Adam in the beginning.

Happiness in marriage can only come from the right viewpoint of why God brought the man and woman together. Eve was created to show the favor of God upon the man. Without the woman, the man was helpless and alone. Together Adam and Eve became the perfect union in the creation of the world blessed by the hand of the Creator Himself when He declared all things He created as very good. Because of sin, two people who marry are joined with someone who (like themselves) is a sinner. The only perfect marriage in the history of man was when God created Adam and Eve. Every marriage after that was bound with two people who were imperfect, disagreeable, and in need of grace. The presence of God is what makes the marriage perfect, agreeable and the glory of grace. Someone said that Christian is not perfect but they are forgiven. This is true in marriage. The husband is not perfect and the wife is not perfect but they can be forgiven by God and by each other. Adam and Eve were created to showcase the perfect union of happiness within the realm of human relations. There is no reason this cannot be replicated in the world when God is the center of the home, the word of God is the foundation of the marriage and the spirit of love exists because what God has joined together no man should desire to put asunder. The man who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord.