ONE FLESH MARRIAGE

“Wherefore they are no more two, but one flesh.
What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder”
Matthew 19:6).

God designed marriage:

1. DIVINELY

The Creator of male and female divinely designed His perfect plan. It is God who joins the man and woman in marriage: “What therefore GOD hath joined together.”

2. PROPHETICALLY

God revealed His plan in the beginning for all future marriages: “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” Where were the father and mother? They were nowhere on the scene when God spoke these words. Adam and Eve had never seen a father and mother! God prophetically revealed His plan and how it would work for all future mankind.

3. INTENTIONALLY AND FACTUALLY

God unmistakably states His plan: “They two (the man and his wife) shall be one flesh. Wherefore they are no more two, but one flesh.” It does not matter what mere man thinks, it is what God states! His Word is eternal. It doesn’t change from the beginning to the end.

4. EMPHATICALLY

There are no “if, buts, or maybes,” but “And God said.” Not man (the created), but God (the Designer and Creator) has the first and last say!

5. PHYSICALLY

The coming together of male and female to be “one flesh” in marriage is a perfect fit. The sexual organs of male and female are opposite, (the man’s external and the woman’s internal), but they fit perfectly by God’s design. Male and male or female and female are not a perfect fit. This lifestyle is outside the Creator’s design.

When Jesus answered the questions of the Pharisees He said: “Have yet not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, FOR THIS CAUSE. . .” It was FOR THIS CAUSE (because He created them male and female) that the man cleaves to his wife. Please notice the words “man and wife,” not two of the same sex.

6. GENERATIONALLY

The coming together as “one flesh” results in the potential procreation of children and children’s children. From the two come one, or many, each bearing genetic genes of both the father and mother. This is impossible in a homosexual relationship which is outside of God’s blessing. These relationships end in nothingness and future destruction.

It is the male and female oneness that God blessed: “Male and female created he them. And God BLESSED them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.” Children only come through the blessing of God.

7. DELIGHTFULLY

God must have been filled with joy and delight when He designed the “one flesh” marriage. Who but our amazing God could plan for the man and his wife to experience such ecstatic joy, fulfillment, and wonder together? Proverbs 5:18,19 speaks of the married couple ravishing and intoxicating one another with their love.

8. EMOTIONALLY AND MENTALLY

Human beings are not animals. We are created in the image and likeness of God. We are body, soul, and spirit. Because God created us with a heart, mind, and soul, the “one flesh” statement is more than physical. It is also a oneness of soul. I am not whole without my husband. He is not whole without me for “they are no more two, but one.” We complement one another and each one brings different strengths to the marriage to make it complete.

9. SPIRITUALLY

Our bodies are only the house of the real person, the spirit--the part of us which was made for fellowship with God. God’s highest purpose for us in marriage is to become one together in spirit--connected to one another by our spirits and God’s Holy Spirit. We are to be glued together as one.

10. PURPOSEFULLY

God brings the male and female together to accomplish His purposes. God’s primary purpose for male and female is to have children. As husband and wife, and together with their children, they are to be fruitful, fill the earth, and “subdue it: and have dominion.” Purposefully together they advance God’s kingdom in the earth, reveal His image and likeness, and bring more of His love, truth, justice, and peace to the earth.

11. UNDEFILEDLY

Marriage is called “holy matrimony” and the marriage bed is holy and sacred. At the beginning of the wedding vows, the minister says: “Into this ‘holy estate’ these two persons come now to be joined. Therefore; it is not to be entered unadvisedly or lightly, but reverently and soberly.”

Marriage is God-mandated and to be enjoyed according to God’s pattern, but it is designed only for male and female. Hebrews 13:4 (ESV) states: “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.” God created the sexual act to be totally fulfilling without the use of “toys,” alternative ways that are not according to God’s Word, or anything that violates the conscience.

12. UNENDINGLY

The traditional wedding vows state: "I take thee . . . to love and to cherish, till death do us part (or, as long as we both shall live), according to God's holy ordinance.”

Sadly, we don’t live in a perfect world and there are times when it is no longer safe to live in a marriage where one of the two continues in a despicable, ungodly, and unrepentant lifestyle. Jesus admitted when talking to the Pharisees that Moses allowed divorce because “of the hardness of your hearts,” but He continued, “From the beginning it was not so.” It was never God’s plan.

Jesus also forcefully stated: “What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder (or separate).” Or, let no man or woman, no organization, no church, no Facebook, or anything at all separate a man and wife from each other. They are to be fused as one.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell
www.aboverubies.org

PRAYER:

“Thank you, Holy Father, for your perfect design for marriage. You created male and female to come together as one. Thank You for your glorious design. Please help my husband and I to be a living picture of the relationship between You and Your bride, the church. Amen.

AFFIRMATION:

I embrace God’s highest design of a one flesh marriage.

SCRIPTURES:
Read the following Scriptures referred to above: Genesis 1:26-28; 2:23, 24; Proverbs 5:18, 19; Matthew 5:27, 28; 19:4-9; Mark 10:2-9; 1 Corinthians 6:16,17; 7:1-5; 11:8, 9; Ephesians 5:31-33; and Hebrews 13:4.