October 8 – LD 41, Day 1: Marriage – A Creation Ordinance
by Pastor Steven Key
Genesis 2:18: "And
the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should
be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.”
We now consider the most
profound and blessed institution given by God to His people — the institution
of holy marriage. The purity of this holy bond must be maintained by us, no
matter whether we are married or single; young or old. As we stand before
marriage, after all, we stand before the fountain of life as far as human
relationships are concerned. To maintain the purity of this fountain,
therefore, is critically important and has far-reaching implications. All the
more is that true when we understand the significant symbolism of that
God-ordained bond. For as Eph 5:32 expresses it, Marriage is a great mystery,
revealing the amazing and glorious relationship between Christ and the Church.
The seventh commandment maintains the sanctity of that holy bond.
Marriage is not a
sacrament instituted by Christ; but a creation ordinance. Along with the
Sabbath day, marriage belongs to the treasures established by God for His
people at the time of creation. Already then, as Christ emphasizes in Matt 19,
marriage was instituted and established as a precious gift of God, an
unbreakable bond which would also serve to reflect the relationship in which
man stood to God Himself. At the very beginning of time, God created male and
female. He created man first, and then in that great act of mercy, He gave man
a wife, creating her out of the man. God did so, “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? Wherefore they are
no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not
man put asunder” (Matt 19:5,6). That is Jesus
explaining and maintaining that creation ordinance of God.
With all the attacks upon
marriage in our day, we must be clear that this institution is not open to
reinterpretation. Marriage is not a relationship that man established. Marriage
is not a relationship that man can redefine. It is a divinely-ordained
institution established by God Himself at creation, a one-man-with-one-woman
relationship to serve God’s glorious purpose.