Introduction

The first marriage
“And the Lord God said, it is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. 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.” Gen 2:18-24

The above depicts the first marriage and the reason for it. Whatever God made, he gave a responsibility.
The Bible says the responsibility of the first couple was to be fruitful and multiply, to replenish the earth. This is God’s way. He has designed men and women so that they might fulfil this commandment.
Marriage is the foundation of all civilization. When the divine design of marriage is tampered with, we are left with a reconstructed society that lives according to its own beliefs and values.
Children are going to be bombarded with what they have been told is the majority opinion, and it will differ from your opinion. We must firmly fix in their minds that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God, that it is God’s Word for all time, and that God’s children, with God’s help, must seek to adhere to the standards of God’s Word.
Notice the Bible states that, “Male and female created he them.” A man is to marry a woman; a woman is to marry a man. A man is not to marry a man, and a woman is not to marry a woman. Do not be so naive as to think that your children are not going to come into contact with other children who are growing up with a completely different value system than your children. Your children are going to be challenged about what they believe and what they have been taught. If your children do not see a Christian marriage lived out in your home, no amount of Sunday School, and no amount of church attendance will be enough. If we are going to have marriage according to God’s design, we must follow the pattern God has given.
In Matthew 19:3-9, the Bible gives us the Lord’s view on the permanency of marriage. The Lord Jesus Christ, from the beginning, said emphatically that it was God’s design for a marriage to be permanent.
We are living in a wicked society where many do what is right in their own eyes and justify their actions fully.
This is why it is much more important for those of us who claim to be Bible-believing Christians to speak the truth in love and not try to accommodate the decaying morals and behaviour of our present world.

Main Message: The idea, invention and the institution of marriage was done by God, with a deliberate purpose which leads to fulfilling the perfect will of God. Because of the perfect nature of the work of God, any deviation causes disruption and serious trouble in the society.

Exploration

Genesis 2:24 ESV
Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

1 Corinthians 7:1-40 ESV
Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.” But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. …
Hebrews 13:4 ESV
Let marriage be held in honour among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.
Proverbs 18:22 ESV
He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favour from the Lord.
2 Corinthians 6:14 ESV
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 ESV
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Application
Determine today that you are going to live the rest of your life with your mate and put the principles of God’s Word to work in your marriage.