Marrige- A Life Long Commitment

MARRIAGE,
A LIFE LONG COMMITMENT
“NO OTHER OPTION”
Gen. 2: 18 – 25
18 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.
25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

Much that we know we learned from our parents. They have taught us by words, actions, and examples. Edgar Allen Poe once said, “I learned to love the flavor of good wine sitting at my fathers table.” Poe died an alcoholic.
Barney Moorhead told me in 1980. “You marry out of infatuation, and then you must grow and develop a love for one another.” He signed his book that day. He wrote, “When the going gets tough the tough get going.” I have never forgotten that and I have applied that to my marriage. I thank God daily for my wonderful wife. When we married we married with the attitude marriage was for life and there was no option.


I. NO OTHER OPTION
I read of a couple that had been married 40 years. The man was at his doctor and related the occasion. The doctor asked how could he be married to the same woman for 40 years? His answer was “Well, for us, there was no other option!” What a commitment.
There are many people that live by this “no other option” motto. Some chose to be grumpy, miserable and stub burned with one another. They live without conversation, affection, and physical contact. They have developed separate checking accounts, separate friends, separate dreams, and even separate private lives. They stay together because there is “no other option.” They say if not for heaven and hell they would have separated long ago. How sad they call this marriage and commitment. Hell could only be worse because it is for ever and ever with no change.
God never intended for marriage to be such a hell on earth. What if we made a commitment to marriage as “no other option in the Lord and make it work for the both of us”?
A. Many marriage councilors will tell you that it is a 100% commitment on both sides. If you only give 50% you will most likely not make it in anything you do.
B. If two people will give 100% in the Lord to make their marriage it is NEXT TO impossible for the devil to destroy it.




C. Matt. 19: 4 – 6 Jesus shows a total commitment to marriage.
4 And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?
6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
D. 1 Cor. 7: 3 – 5 NKJ Two who become one flesh in the Lord are
Inseparable for long.
3 Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband.
4 The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.
5 Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
Why are they inseparable, because they choose to be. Do we not understand that we make our marriage what it is? We make it either happy or unhappy.
E. Can a couple be happy without God in their marriage? Possibly, but not as happy as ones with God in their marriage. With God all things are made better and all things are eternal.
II. NO OTHER OPTION IN JESUS CHRIST.
A. MATT. 19: 8 – 9 Divorce has always been wrong in God’s sight.
8 He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.
9 And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.
Jesus said except for fornication, which is sexual immorality. Well can’t we separate and remain single. Yes, but you will never have the right to remarry another. Why go through all that when you can save your existing marriage.
B. Yes it will take work. Maybe more work than you have ever imagined. Yes it will take reviewing God’s plan and rules for marriage.
1. Prov. 18; 22 A wife or a husband is good to have.
22 Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD.
Solomon is not being derogatory or belittling woman when he says they are a good thing. If you have a good one you have the favor of the Lord. You must believe it is good to be married or you should not marry.


2. Gen. 2: 18 God saw it was not good for man to be alone.
18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
God saw that it was good for man and woman to marry and it is good today.
Woman was given as a help meet to man. NKJ says “a helper comparable to man.”
C. The Hebrew root for help is to surround. Webster says a helpmate is a companion who helps, an assistant, a wife. She should be the greatest blessing God has physically given to a husband. She is not the greatest in his life for that must be God. She should sure be next.
II. NO OTHER OPTION IN CHRIST AND MAKE IT WORK FOR BOTH.
A. Eph. 5: 25 Christ compares marriage to the church.
25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
This is a committed love. Think how much Christ loved His church.
1. He left heaven to come to earth.
2. He took on the body of mortal man.
3. He was rejected by his own people.
4. He was tortured and put to death on the cross for our sins.
5. He was buried in a barrowed tomb.
6. He suffered all this and overcame it that his church might be victorious.
How much should a husband love his wife? How much should a wife love her husband? “as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.”
B. Eph. 5: 22 – 24 Wives should submit unto their owns husbands with love.
22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
C. Matt. 19: 9 Sin Can Destroy Marriage. Sexual immorality can destroy a marriage.
D. Eph. 5: 31 Jesus says you can be one.
31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
E. God understands that if ones mate runs off with another in immorality there maybe nothing they can do but hurt. He understands that sometimes there are innocent beings left behind.
F. God understands in this society divorce is sometimes needed to protect the children’s needs. Deadbeat mother or deadbeat fathers that will not support their children accept with court order.
G. God wants us to search out the one we are dating. Give them time to show their true self. Some people spend more time researching a new car than they do a mate for marriage. Don’t forget their family.
You marry into a family. You need to know about this family. What about their marriage. Remember most of what your future mate has learned about marriage is from their family. Should it be any surprise that many marriages end up like their parents marriages.
H. True Love must be given time to grow and mature. It doesn’t just happen. It must be nurtured and developed with great understanding and patience and Godliness.

1 Cor. 13: 1 – 8 Paul writes: True love never fails unless we destroy it.
1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.
Love can be destroyed by a lack of patience, unkind deeds and words, envy, selfishness, rudeness, evil thinking and wickedness, immorality. You can both be wrong.
Love can also grow in patience, kindness, sharing and caring.
How will your marriage grow? Will you commit to one another with no other option in Christ and make it work for both of you? You both can be right.
You may say John, I’m not married so hoe does this apply to me?
Are you a Christian today? That is the beginning. Will you make that commitment to Christ. Will you come to Jesus and be baptized for the remission of your past sins?
If every marriage began with two Christians committed to Christ, fewer would fail.
Are you a Christian today but unfaithful to God? You have broken that commitment to the Lord.
Will you come back to your first love, Jesus Christ?
Think upon these things.