There was one. One that was fully loving, perfectly harmonious, one hundred percent supportive and fulfilling of the needs of the other. The one marriage that followed God’s plan to a tee. The union between Adam and Eve.
God took the rib from Adam in his sleep and created his wife Eve. This made them fit together like puzzle pieces, as is often said.
And they lived happily ever after … until the fall. In the next chapter of Genesis. We don’t know exactly how long their sinless state and idyllic marriage lasted. Adam and Eve enjoyed it for a while, but then it came to an end. The breaking of their perfect bond with . . . . God also quickly led them to tempt each other, blame each other, and into an “out-of-balance” relationship in general. So it’s been with all marriages ever since.
We don’t expect marriages to be perfect after the fall. In fact, many wedding sermons go to great lengths to point that out and dispel any illusions of it all being an easy path with no effort involved.
Apparently, the divorce rate in the U.S. recently reached a 50-year low, which is great news. However, the marriage rate also reached a new low about the same time. This probably shows a lack of confidence in marriage among some people that has been increasing for decades. Into the gap have stepped all kinds of other “new” ideas of how to have a relationship other than the marriage union between a man and woman God gave us. But as one popular commentator on marriage mentioned, no one has ever come up with a better alternative.
One of the most powerful pictures of the relationship between God and his people in the Bible is marriage. God is married to his people (Isaiah 54:5). Husband and wife are like Christ and the church (Ephesians 5:31-32). Heaven is the wedding supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9).
As people contemplate how they will lead their lives, let’s be strong advocates for one of God’s earliest gifts to the world. Pray for, support, and live out under God’s grace Christian marriage. God’s plan from the Garden is still the best one out there!
That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. (Genesis 2:24)