CHAPTER 7

WHAT DOES MARRIAGE PICTURE?

The man-woman relationship is not the most important relationship in life. Close fellowship with a man or a woman is not the most joyful or blessed kind of fellowship a person can share in. Love for a member of the opposite sex is not the greatest kind of love. Who did the Lord Jesus say we are to love first of all (Matthew 10:37 and 22:36-38)?________________________________The most intimate and joyous kind of fellowship is truly with whom (1 John1:3-4)?________________________________________ What is the most important relationship a person can have, both now and forever (John 17:3)? _______________________________________________________   Yes, the living God wants to be your most important Person (the One who is closest to you, the One who is loved supremely, the One who is Number 1, the One who is the Dearest and the Best).

This wonderful relationship between a man and His God can be illustrated as follows:

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God’s desire is that CHRISTIAN MARRIAGE might picture this precious and intimate relationship between the believer and his/her God. We have already studied how the parent-child relationship should picture a far greater relationship (see Chapter 5). Now we want to consider how the husband-wife relationship should picture and portray something far greater and far better:

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Read Ephesians 5:22-33 and find the verses which correspond to the letters above:

  1. ________________________________

  2. ________________________________

  3. ________________________________

  4. ________________________________

  5. ________________________________

  6. ________________________________

  7. ________________________________

  8. ________________________________

    9.

God wants marriage to portray the proper picture. Consider the following hypothetical situations and show how each of these perverts and distorts what marriage should really picture. Place in each blank the proper number from the numbered list which follows. Some of these sentences may seem similar, but try to choose the one which seems to fit best.

_____ The husband is too lazy to work and provide for his family.
______ The wife seems to never listen to her husband and rarely does what he says.
______ The husband separates from his wife and lives in an apartment complex miles away.
______ The wife leads the household and tells the husband what to do.
______ The husband submits to the authority of the wife, and lets her be the boss and the head of the home.
______ The wife goes around with other lovers and the husband does not even care.
______ The husband divorces his wife and says, "I don’t love you anymore and you no longer belong to me!"
______ The wife demands "equal rights" in the home, and refuses to be under the husband’s authority. She wants to be the co-authority!
______ The husband tells his wife not to go to church.
______ The wife obeys her husband 90% of the time (the husband’s requests are fair and reasonable, even in the requests that she disobeys).
______ The husband never leads the family devotions, but instead the wife always does this.
______ The wife criticizes her husband in public.
______ The husband gets a sprained thumb and he goes to the nearby hospital to get the finest of medical care. His wife has suffered for years with back pains and he does nothing for her.
______ The wife gives the orders, and the husband does whatever the wife wants.
______ The husband comes home from work and does not even show an interest in his wife (how she feels, how her day went, what her problems are, etc.).
______ The husband and wife rarely spend time together. They keep their distance and each do their own thing.
______ The wife wears short hair and the husband wears long hair, thus showing the man’s submission and the wife’s authority (1 Corinthians 11:14-15).
______ The woman complains every day about her duties as a wife.
______ The husband says, "Wife, whatever you say, that I will do!"
______ The wife wants to please herself, not her husband.
  1. God should submit to man because man is Lord and God is not (but see Romans 14:9).
  2. God is Lord and so is the believer (but see Ephesians 4:5)
  3. The Lord does not provide for His own (but see Philippians 4:19).
  4. Believers should let the world know what a terrible God they have (but see Mark 5:19).
  5. The believer should teach God all about spiritual truth (but see Romans 11:34).
  6. God and the believer do not enjoy a very close relationship (but see John 14:20).
  7. God does not care for the believer and is not really interested in his problems (but see 1 Peter 5:7).
  8. The believer wants to please himself not the Lord (but see I John 3:22).
  9. God is not a jealous God (but see Exodus 20:3-5).
  10. God does not expect us to obey Him IN EVERYTHING (but see Matthew 28:20 and compare Ephesians 5:24).
  11. It is possible to be separated from the love of the Lord (but see Romans 8:38-39).
  12. God must submit to the authority of the believer, because this is the proper order (but see 1 Corinthians11:3).
  13. God says, "Not My will, but man’s will be done!" (but see Luke 22:42). "Whatever man says, that shall I do!"
  14. The believer should murmur and complain about serving the Lord (but see Philippians 2:14).
  15. Believers should tell God what to do, and God should go along with whatever we say (Peter tried this in Matthew 16:22, but it did not work!).
  16. God is the believer’s willing slave (but see I Corinthians 6:19-20).
  17. Sometimes God’s commands are not for our highest and our best (but see Deuteronomy 6:24).
  18. When a believer suffers, the Lord does not feel it (but see Acts 9:4-5--when the body suffers, the Head feels It!).
  19. God sometimes casts out those who come to Him and refuses to be their God (but see John 6:37).
  20. The believer does not need to hear and obey God’s Word (but see James 1:19-22).

In the next chapter we shall see how man has perverted the picture of marriage even more, by turning something very beautiful and precious into something very ugly and distorted and sinful.

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