If God gives a man a spouse, he has a home. It takes a home that is founded on the Word of God to stand. Though the rain descended, the flood came, and the winds blew and beat on it, it wouldn't overpower it for God Himself is amidst the voyage.

The way religion in conjunction with the world is handling or going about marriage in this generation is a huge concern for any man or woman that wants to walk in the perfect will of God.

The world has almost made the people of the world believe that marriage is a social thing; it has been adopted as a requirement for attaining responsible adulthood recognition. The world to a researchable extent sees marriage as an adventure of human theology of one scholastic group of philosophers in human history.

Believers of the Faith in Christ seem to have imported the idea of worldly marriage or marriage of men into the church as personal possession or achievement or business venture we have brought before the Lord asking God to bless it for us, the works of our hands.

If we will enjoy the bliss or the honey of marriage institution as it was for Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, and other men of God in the Bible history and post-Bible time, then we must seek to understand marriage from the perspective of God; what are God's ideas behind marriage, His guidelines, the how of it, and the blessings that are in it for our comfort and pleasure.

Praise God!!!

2. I WILL MAKE: GOD'S CHOICE FOR MAN

"Now the Lord God said, it is not good (sufficient, satisfactory) that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper meet (suitable, adapted, complementary) for him" (Genesis 2:18, AMPC).

This was not limited to Adam alone, even if there were to be 10 billion people on the face of the earth today, the Bible is true for all of us: "What I say to one, I say to all ".

God has this attribute that does not change in Him regardless of place, or the form He communicates with any generation: 'God is Always Faithful."

When Jacob was speaking concerning the faithfulness of God to him; in his life, his marriage, and home generally, anyone could think to ask, what did Jacob, that supplanter, a cheat, a liar, has done to merit such favour. See what the Bible says:

Then Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the Lord who said to me, ‘Return to your country and your family, and I will deal well with you: I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and if all the truth [FAITHFULNESS] which You have shown Your servant; for I crossed over this Jordan with my staff, and now I have become two companies" (Genesis 32:9-10, NKJV).

Sir/Ma, it is not according to what anyone has done, but according to Divine ordination, election, and God's foreknowledge. God was looking beyond Jacob to behold the nation 'Israel' that would be born in the future — the 12 tribes.

Though his past didn't merit it, there was an intention of God that Israel would be born in him.

God is faithful to his own, and His faithfulness is tied to His intention, His purpose for man's essence or relevance in His eternal Will.

God saw the silent quest, yearning in Adam, though, he was not making noise about it here and there, or trying to figure it out his way, nor among the class of Ape. The living creatures were not comparable to him. Anyways, they could be good for sexual satisfaction, but that is not all that marriage has to offer according to the eternal Will of God.

Look at it, sometimes we could be tempted to think that "If I leave my choice of a life partner into the hand of God, what if the woman or man he gives me is not to my taste?"

Wait a minute, God has never proposed a low-to–match spouse for anyone before. God said, "I will make for him a suitable helper", we can replace this make with 'choose': " I will choose for him a suitable helper. " God has never viewed marriage as an opportunity to get back on anyone or torment a man with a choice that does not make sense. No, even when the flesh, the appetite of the flesh is saying concerning Divine choice in the life of God's children, "the choice is not fine". If you are careful to look beyond the present in God's choice of a spouse for His own, the elect, it is to serve his or her life's needs to the uttermost so that both of them can function maximally in the purpose that He has intended for them.

THINGS TO NOTE ABOUT THE CHOICE THAT GOD MAKE FOR HIS SONS AND DAUGHTERS IN MARITAL UNION

A. GOD looks beyond the flesh — The body of every man or woman is just a wrapping sheet, the content is inside. You must unwrap him or her to see the gift inside.

 

B. God's choice is based on the intended purpose — that was why a gorilla, though, has some measure of intelligence but is not a match for a man in a marital union. When Eve came or was brought or revealed to Adam, God didn't give her another task, that is to tell us that it was the purpose committed to man, Adam that necessitated God's choice of marriage for the man.

C. God's choice is not to punish anyone but to complement the man or woman He has made an individual. (Matt. 19: 4—6.)

D. The best choice you can make for yourself is the worse that God can offer you.

E. The Choice of a life partner or spouse is God's prerogative. He didn't even inform Adam to mention or name his preference, like many of us had done before or are doing today. God sees beyond today to the end of every man or woman.  The fact that you can do without much pepper in your meal today doesn't mean you would like pepper all through your life, but God always knows.

God knows if a particular man will die a blind man, so in His wisdom does not need to give him a woman that situation of life could render her blind also at her old age (either spiritually or physically). No man can figure out by himself what his life or her life will be or become in tomorrow. We must trust God for this, that He does not do us wickedness nor will He give a defective gift to His children.

 

F. If God were to allow anyone to make 100 choices of a spouse, he will not still pick the right spouse for his or her destiny.

3. THEY SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH

"Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh" (Genesis 2:24, NKJV).

We want to look away from the process of becoming ONE FLESH to concern ourselves with the result: "They shall become ONE FLESH".

It is one mystery of marriage that is beyond the ability of man. That's notwithstanding, God commanded it, so, when it is obeyed by man, you will get the result just as He has spoken it.

The process is similar to what we experienced at New Birth. Nicodemus asked Jesus, " How can this thing be possible?" (See John 3:9.)

Of course, with man, it will be great and endless labour, but because God commanded it, none of us who humbles himself or herself to obey the Word that will not get the result.

"ONE FLESH"

FLESH as used in the scripture connotes several meanings, but if we must understand the mind of God, our Father, as regards "ONE FLESH" in marital bliss, then it is necessary we press into Him to search out what the Lord is saying to us here.

Flesh in the scripture as we have seen in Genesis chapter 2 means the formed body:

"And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being" (Genesis 2:7 NKJV).

But can we say that is what the Lord God was referring to in Genesis chapter 2 verse 24?

Don't forget, that the Bible says, "He that is joined to Christ [the Lord is one spirit with Him." That is spiritual joining. (See 1 Cor. 6:17.)

But in another light of the scripture, the Bible says, "He that is joined to a harlot is one body with her" (1 Cor. 6:16) — carnality.

FLESH also in Galatians chapter 5 from verses 19 to 21, the flesh is pictured as fruits of a kind of life, or work, activity.

Let's see it together:

Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

That's so bad, the end is not palatable at all. This pictured the flesh as nature, as a person, an entity, a government, a life that could be lived, a government that could lobby or campaign for obedience.

Another place we can still find an account about the flesh, talks of the flesh as an institution, a container that can house lustful desires according to Romans chapter 6 verses 12, Ephesians chapter 2 verses 3, and James 4 verses 1, see what the Bible says:

Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. Among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?

Members taking about the human 5 senses: the eyes, for seeing, ears, for hearing, skin, for feeling, nose, for smelling, and tongue, for tasting.

But if we want to see clearly as the Holy Spirit will be helping us concerning understanding the 'ONE FLESH', to know which the Lord is referring to, the text that talks about God's attitude to the FLESH as nature, as a desire, and as lord, will prove to us the direction that God has in mind when He was talking about "ONE FLESH " in Genesis chapter 2 verses 24.

According to Romans chapter 8 verses 8, see what the Bible says, "Those that are in the FLESH cannot please God."

Those that are in the FLESH, a man and woman that are in the FLESH, that are controlled by the flesh, self-nature can't please God.

In Genesis chapter 2 from verses 15 to 19, we saw a man at the center of God's will, doing spiritual service to God as commanded.

It then means that the ONE FLESH is not talking about a state where the man and his wife will no longer be able to please God. It is not talking about self as a nature, self as lust, self-based activities, and walking in all the lust thereof.

Paul the apostle added in Galatians chapter 5 verses 16 as led by the Spirit that "When we walk in the Spirit, we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh".

Conclusively, God was not talking or referring to the FLESH in the sense of personal likes and dislikes, but as a body, a container for the spiritual union to find expression together in one focus, interest, purpose, and passion so that both will be able to flow in one direction, one focus, one purpose, one interest like a car that is going in our direction regardless of how many passengers are in the vehicle.

The ONE FLESH is in the sense of one body, as a unified vessel, with a common drive of purpose just like one steering. The body is meant to house both spirits as it was in Genesis chapter 2, for common direction, blessings, fellowship, and common voyage.

God desires that every Christian marriage walks in line with His vision, purpose, or destiny. And every couple has this responsibility of seeking to know the why and how of their union, the very message or manifestation of God's intention for their union to birth on the face of the earth.

It is not enough to be happy that you are getting married, or that you are married. It is a cross on you, and every one of us has the task of seeking the face of God to know the why and the how of our being joined together by God.

4. WHAT GOD HAS JOINED TOGETHER

This is the place where religion has helped us to omit God's factor in the matter of marriage in our time.

"And Jesus answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh?  So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let not man separate" (Matthew 19:4-6, NKJV).

The question for us to meditate on is this if what God has joined together is commanded to stand, and everyone including demons and religious doctrines and belief systems is to have regard for it, what do you think would happen if man joined together?

One interesting about the expression or teaching of Jesus according to Matthew 19 is that GOD did not put a middleman in the joining process at all, so that none of us could wake up one day and say, it was our pastor that joined us together, it was the judiciary system, let's go there and get paper of divorce so that you will go your way, and I will look for another thing to begin to do with my life. There was no middle ground at all. He made them male and female, and He did the joining, and all that is required for the two to get into their oneness and joint fulfillment and reward is to accept the choice of God for them and seek the consent of who is parents to leave for marital bliss. Every other thing we do is just to fulfillment of all righteousness, religious rules, and traditions of the elders. And what that has been able to do for us is eliminate God's fear in our marriage Union, because we think it was our choice, and we can do anything without the consciousness that God is waiting for accountability on the day of reckoning how we have lived the marriage He gave us and the fruits of it.

Don't forget, that Jesus said, "Every plant that is not planted [established, commanded] by My Father shall be uprooted".

This is not a matter of whether it will or it will not, Satan has 100% permission to fight and prevail over any marriage that is put together or joined by a man, even if the man were a bishop.

I do not forget the scripture that says, "Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven" (Matthew 18:19).

Sir/Ma, this does not include making right a wrong MARITAL Choice. And we must not also forget that there is no man that God is obligated to bless whatever he or she has done outside the Will of God. (See 1 John 5: 14—15.)

The earlier we learn from our Master, the Lord Jesus, His lifestyle, choices, and ministry the better for us, so we don't continue to multiply divorce and rebellion against God on the earth.

Jesus said, "I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me. Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner" (John 5:30, John 5:19).

Meaning if Jesus were to be a General Overseer (G.O) in any denomination on the earth today, He will not pronounce blessings over any marriage that, His Father, has not commanded: that He has not seen the Father joined.

It is unfortunate today across denominations, we are so carried away, occupied, with the physical, the material aspects. As long as anyone can pay the demands of the fellowship, and attend premarital classes, the fellowship pastor will wed the and the woman. But in the beginning, it was not so. It is a misfit; it is gross misconduct of spiritual service for any man of God to pronounce the Union of a man and woman whom he is not sure the Lord God has joined in holy matrimony.

Sometimes, we think it is the wedding ceremony that is the joining, no, it is not. The religious service we called a wedding is just a celebration to mark the physically coming together of a man and his wife that God has joined together according to Divine choice revealed.

Wedding at its best is a public declaration that these two have been joined by the Lord, and the Church must be sure God permitted it, if not, it is a rebellion even if heaven does not fall or God didn't say anything. Such union can't fulfill any destiny for God, even if they were able to build a 3-bedroom flat in the sun or moon. It is only the Word God that can establish any union or event on the earth for eternal profiting and marital bliss as commanded by God in Genesis chapter 1 verses 27 to 28 saying, " So God created man in His image; in the image of God, He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

 And the gate of hell will not be able to prevail over it. Not even Satan can uproot it in all its rage.

5. I, THE LORD, AM A WITNESS

Yet you say, “For what reason?” Because the Lord has been witness Between you and the wife of your youth, With whom you have dealt treacherously, Yet she is your companion And your wife by covenant. But did He not make them one, Having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring. Therefore, take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth. “For the Lord God of Israel says That He hates divorce, for it covers one’s garment with violence,” says the Lord of hosts. “Therefore, take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.

 (Malachi 2:14-16, NKJV.)

What makes the Lord a witness between a man and his wife is because He was responsible (or He is responsible) for their joining.

God is not a witness to a marital union that is joined by men without His consent. If He were, there won't have been a marriage issue in the world today — there won't have been endless divorce cases here and there.

Of course, check carefully and see, did Adam divorce Eve despite the terrible thing that happened in their union? If Adam were to be one of us in this generation today, there would be no way his communion with Eve would have continued.

 

Did Abraham divorce his wife, what about Isaac, what of Jacob regardless of his large family?

Even when Abraham was almost running into issues with Serah, his wife, God quenched the fire. GOD knows how to save any man or marriage that He has joined from a shipwreck.

When Abraham was talking with the Lord over his family issue, the Lord God said to him according to Genesis chapter 21 verse 12, see what the Bible says, "But God said to Abraham, “Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice; for in Isaac your seed shall be called."

And the situation was calmed immediately. But God is not under any obligation to anyone to watch over what He didn't join.

It is unfortunate what we, the children of men do today, we go about to buy or receive our spouse according to the imagination of our mind and desires like minister Samson according to Judge's chapter verses 1 to 3, see what the Bible says:

Now Samson went down to Timnah and saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines. So, he went up and told his father and mother, saying, “I have seen a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines; now, therefore, get her for me as a wife.” Then his father and mother said to him, “Is there no woman among the daughters of your brethren, or all my people, that you must go and get a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” And Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she pleases me well.

 “She suits me well, marry her for me." And we come or gather together to pray over the wedding ceremony, and ask God to bless the Union. And because we think that God is purposeless like us, He would then draw near to bless what He has not commanded, which He shares no glory in, if God were to do that, then the world will be right to record injustices with God if He didn't bestow His blessing upon marriages that are done all over the world. (I speak as a man, there can never be injustices with the Almighty.)

We must understand the place of God's Will in marriage, and be sure a particularly intended couple has been joined by God before we gather ourselves to celebrate their union and wish them God's speed and blesses. If not, we are only multiplying emptiness and purposelessness on the earth through marriage.

Any marriage union that is not joined by the Lord has no future in the eternal Will of God. Jesus said, "Whatever is not planted, intended by my Father will be uprooted." Anything can uproot it, what uproots it doesn't matter but anything can.

Marital blessings or bliss is not just you being able to buy cars, build houses, send children to the best schools, or travel far and wide, even unbelievers do likewise. Marital bliss covers all that the Lord God bestowed upon marital union according to Genesis chapter 1 verses 27 to 28:

So, God created man in His image; in the image of God, He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.

 

6. LET NO MAN SEPARATE

And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh?  So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let not man separate.

(Matthew 19:4-6 NKJV.)

GOD is not begging anyone not to put them apart, and it is not as if there may not be Storm to vex against the union, but the Bible speaks about a wise builder who builds on the Rock, the Will, the choice for of God in this light,

"He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock" (Luke 6:48 NKJV).

That solid rock, the foundation is the Word of God — Christ. God, Himself has committed Himself as a witness to the union, and it shall not be wrecked, it shall not fail.

No man, this does not exclude the man or woman in the union, it is not anyone's right to say, "it is my own, I will do to it as it pleases me", they must not put it asunder. Divorce is not an option; Grace is all EVERYONE of us requires to overcome and enjoy the honey of marital union in the Will of God.

In conclusion, marriage is not a product of men's adventure or intellectual capacity. It is the design of God to meet the need of man. It is spiritual and meant for the sons and daughters of God to enjoy to the fullest in the Will of God for them in their fellowship with the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, In the fulfillment of the Divine destiny or purpose for both of them in one body. We must never exclude God from the union from the beginning to the end of our life.

Praise the Lord!!!!

Thanks for the gift of your time, I am John Ojoagbene!

Feel free to share your thoughts or testimony in the comment box below. I promise to respond to them as soon as possible!