Understanding God-Honoring Marriage Principles

Welcome to session two of our session on family. We're going to be talking about a God-honoring marriage. And by the way, my name is once again Pastor Ariel and I'm happily married for about 34 years to just but one wife. And we have been blessed with four children. We have Bea, who is 32 years old. Jerome, who is now waiting for us in heaven. He passed away about 20 years ago when he was 8 years old. Then we have two more daughters, Anna, who is now 18, and then Andrea, who is 17, as of this shoot for this particular class. Well, we're going to be looking at God honoring marriage. And I believe that you... You who are studying, watching this, you may be married or you may actually be single right now. But nonetheless, I believe that this is a very important topic for us to be able to learn, understand, and appreciate how God has instituted and designed marriage for us. Whether you're a single, and I believe that if you're a single right now, this may actually be a stage wherein you are in waiting. I don't know, maybe you are also gifted with being single for life, but nonetheless, I believe that, you know, this is a very good time for us to really appreciate how God has designed marriage. And, you know, being single does not make you less of a person because, you know, marriage does not complete us. It's Christ that completes us. I know that you've probably watched that in a movie somewhere. You complete me. But the reality is when you talk about you completely, who are you talking to? I think it's always best for us to be always referring to Christ, completing us. And marriage happens to be one of the aspects of how God uses to make us holy as well. And so I hope that those of us who are watching will be convinced that, you know, marriage is definitely a gift from God and there's no perfect marriage. We definitely need a Christ, and it has to come from us, the desire to honor Him through our marriage. So, somehow, culture that we live right now is pushing all of us to get married. Sometimes even our titos and titas in the parties, you know, sometimes if you're married, they'll ask you, Okay, when are you going to get married? The pressure is on, but the reality is, if God has not called you to marriage yet, then there's no pressure. Because it's better for you to remain single and happy than to be married and miserable. You know, marriage does not automatically make someone happy. Because it is not about... the marital status in life that makes one happy. It's all about us being part of Christ, being part of Him, Him being in us and we in Him. So just for our introduction, every believer's goal in life is to honor God. We know that we desire to honor God in the way we live, in the way we conduct our life, in the way we, you know, with our speech, our thought, and even with our status in life. So whether you're single, married, in a relationship, or possibly widowed or may have been separated, we live and desire to honor God. That is our goal. We want to honor God. And this somehow extends to God-honoring families, which was the focus of the discussion in the previous session. In connection with this, our marriages should always reflect God's honor. And so... I believe that the prerequisite to a God-honoring family is a God-honoring marriage. You can't separate the two. You can't dichotomize the two. It has to be both. In order for you to have happy children, secure children, children that are obeying in the Lord, children that are raised up in the ways of God, you both have to make sure that this first relationship, after God, you and your spouse... is God-honoring. And so hopefully this teaching would help us better understand and appreciate how God has designed marriage to be. Now this connection between a God-honoring marriage and a God-honoring believer's life has its roots planted in Ephesians chapter 5 verse 31 and 32 which says, therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife or clean to his wife. and the two shall become one flesh. History is profound, and I am saying this refers to Christ and the Church. Thus, as the marriage that we have, it's an illustration or a picture. The marriage that we have right now with our spouse is a picture of the marriage of the Church with Christ as the groom. So, the goal of marriage is holiness, not just happiness. God wants us to be holy. Not just happy. In fact, the reason why we have the Holy Spirit and not the Happy Spirit is that's exactly what He's doing to us. He's sanctifying us. He's using relationships in our life to be instruments and agents of change so that we would be holy. You know, the status of holiness has been given to us by justification, but yet in the sanctification process, guess what? God uses your spouse, your husband. your wife to make you holy in Christ. So, there's no reason for us to ask if we are holy because Jesus paid the price. We know that. But yet, the work in progress, the process of us being perfectly made holy unto Him is also found in our relationship. And if you are married, guess what? That is one of the primary ways of how God... makes us holy. Marriage is designed to reflect Christ to the married couple, their family, and others around him. So marriage is not just an avenue to reflect Christ. In fact, I want to submit to us today that marriage is also an avenue where Christ is actually formed in us. It's a way of God using the you know the the pressures the the trials the challenges in life through marriage and in marriage that actually helps us shape or helps shape in us the character of christ so christ likeness i believe becomes evident as the husband and the wife will just go through life and try to be faithful to him first of all to christ and to one another so in a god-honoring marriage the husband and the wife will also experience, let me promise you this, there's so much grace in the marriage. And we will see this later on in the picture that the marriage is a picture of Christ as a relationship with the Father and his relationship with the church. So let's move on. Marriage in the Bible is closely connected to this flow of redemptive history. The fall of man resulted in a world, including marriage, deviating from God's will. Because of the corruption of sin, God's design for marriage was not followed. Human sinful nature brought sexual immorality, polygamy, divorce, and other unfaithfulness to God and His plan for marriage. So, we will see that somehow the objective observation of marriage in the stretch of the Old Testament from Genesis 3 until the end of the Old Testament somehow is looking at this particular cultural practice. You know, there used to be like polygamy, multiple relationships, unnatural partnerships like homosexuality. Partnerships outside marriage is described as sexual immorality and the dissolution of partnerships which is also described as divorce. Now undeniably, polygamy was practiced during the early stage of the patriarchs. But this is in no way God accepting that as the norm that is somehow a practice of the culture during the time. God knew that because of the sinfulness of humanity and the corruption caused by sin, humans are unable to live out God's design. That's why he gave laws to us as guides, as a boundary that we can't go out from because as long as you're inside the... boundary, then there is peace, there's freedom, there is life. So there's a lot more to talk about that, but somehow if we will just stay within the bounds of what God's design is in marriage, then there's happiness, there's fulfillment. You know, somehow when you talk about marriage, it's very simple. It's God bringing two people, a husband and a wife, a man and a woman within the bounds of marriage, and they are to express their love for one another. and they are to be faithful to each other, living under the grace of God with no other people involved. And that is a design that they can enjoy. Intimacy and sex within the confines of marriage, and that is a God-honoring marriage. As they live out the plans of God and the design of God, then I believe it's the starting point of marriage. It's interesting that in Matthew chapter 19, verse 3 to 9, it's somehow talking about separation or divorce. And, you know, divorce is not really the original plan of God. It's actually just a, it's allowed as a concession. to protect those who have been abused or to protect the innocent somehow. But yet, if you look at the particular scripture, it says here, And the Pharisees came to him and tested him by asking, Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause? And he answered, Have you not read that he who created him from the beginning made them male and female and said, Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one. One flesh. So they are no longer two but one. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate. They said to him, why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce to send her away? He said to them, because of your hardness of heart, Moses allowed you to divorce your wives. But from the beginning, it was not so. In fact, it was not God's design for people to separate, for man and woman to separate. They are to be faithful to one. one another. And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife except for sexual immorality and marriage another commits adultery. So in the same way, if a husband does not fulfill his marital obligation to his wife, such as abuse or not providing, then that could be another ground for separation or divorce. But we don't have to take that route. So let's move on. The Lord's redemptive work is so comprehensive that it also brought and bought the redemption of marriage. And this is where we see the grace of God. Many of us probably have been married before we got saved, or some of you got married after you got saved. So wherever you are, the grace of God works in us. And I don't know your situation, but somehow if we put God first, the Bible says, unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. And we acknowledge that it is not us, husband and wife, just building this relationship together. God has to be in the picture, Jesus has to be the center, and as we give our life first to God, submit to Him, and submit to one another, then we will actually find the grace in our marriage. Let's talk about original design. Marriage was designed for, in your blank, God's purposes. Marriage was designed for God's purposes. In Genesis chapter 2 verse 18, 21 to 23, let me just read that. Then the Lord God said, It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make him a helper fit for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept, took one of his ribs, and closed up the place of flesh, and the rib that the Lord had taken from the man, he had made into a woman and brought her to the man. And the man said, This at last is... Bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh, she shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. I guess when Adam was, you know, sleeping and God poked him, God took a rib, and then when he awoke and he saw there's another being beside him, he just actually exclaimed, whoa, man! You know, it's because of the beauty and the masterpiece of what God has given to him. in the person of Eve. I believe that your wife, if you're a husband here, your wife is a gift from God. She's a masterpiece brought to you by God himself. But yet, when you talk about marriage, marriage was not our idea. Marriage was not man's idea. It's God's idea. It's God's design. God purposed it. He's the architect. He's the storyteller. He's the author of marriage. He designed it. He has a purpose. Guess what? Adam was not even included in the planning of marriage. It was not his idea. It was God's idea. And in the same way, I believe that you... You may have pursued your wife, you may have seen her in your high school or in college or maybe in your gym and pursued her or in the church and courted her and you eventually got married. Guess what? It was God who put things and situations together so that you can meet and actually put circumstances around you so that He could actually author and make sure that you actually can have that relationship. And God somehow... has designed for you to be together. And the outcome is you need to continue to live it out, be faithful to Him, be loyal to one another, and honor God through your relationship. Number two, marriage was designed for partnership and companionship. In Genesis 2, verse 18, Then the Lord God said, It is not good for a man that a man should be alone. I will make him a helper fit for him. God has a great purpose for humanity to fill and to govern the earth. In Genesis chapter 126, it says, Then God said, Let us make mine our image after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the heavens, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. Furthermore, God gave individual human beings like Adam specific God-ordained tasks. He placed Adam in the garden and he allowed him to take care of it, to tend it, and to keep it. So we see that in Genesis 2, verse 15, The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and to nourish and to keep it. However, none of this could be accomplished alone. I believe that you, you know, if you are maybe doing a project or if you're a boss, you need a team with you. In life, we need a partner. And I believe that if God calls us to higher things, then God places people. with us so that we can actually accomplish more things together better stronger and even faster so therefore God designed people to work together in community to part together in accomplishing God's purposes marriage is one of those partnerships or those team groups that God designed to mutually help in accomplishing his purpose for humanity And in marriage, the husband and the wife are to partner with each other in accomplishing God's purpose. Now, furthermore, as we read along, God designed marriage for companionship as well, not just partnership. Since humans are created in the image of God and God is a triune being, a community of three persons in one God, humans, that's you, that's me, those of us who are in the class, humans are also designed for community. We need each other. We need one another. No one can live alone. This is why there is an intrinsic need for people, for companionship, and why it is good for humans to be alone. Though there are many kinds of relationships that... God uses to meet these needs. I believe that marriage is a relationship wherein God meets these needs in the purest, most intimate, deepest form, in the deepest way. In marriage, we have someone to be intimate with, that we could grow with, that we could dream with, that we could walk with, that we could travel with, that we could have, you know, a multiple babies with and that we could actually grow old with. What an awesome gift and a privilege for us who are called to be married. All right, and so let's move on. I just want to maybe give a short, maybe comment on the word helper because maybe some of us who are watching may be... thrown off a bit, you know, what do you mean that a wife is a helper or a helpmate? You know, does that make us, the woman, lower in terms of position or value? I don't think so. Because if you look at the Hebrew word for that, it does not really mean an assistant. It just means that he actually helps the man fulfill the role that God has given to them. In fact, when you talk about helper in the Bible, 16 times. God is referred to as the helper or the rescuer of his people. So, in other words, God himself is our helper. He is the one who helps us attain victory and he is the one who protects his people. So, that is somehow how God sees a woman, a helper, somebody who stands with the husband to protect him. In case of an impending danger, in case of sometimes husbands could be dense or not be aware of surroundings. And women have been gifted by God most of the time to be so discerning and to warn ahead the husband of the danger that's coming. So these are some of the things that we can actually even dig deeper in the future lesson. So number three, marriage was designed to be a priority. of the husband and wife after God. Marriage should not supersede a relationship with God. God first and then marriage after. After God, the marriage of the husband and the wife should be the priority over things and over other people. So in other words, if you are married, out of all the relationships on this planet, Out of 8 billion people, your wife or your husband should be the most important priority after God. That is the way we treat our spouse. Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother, hold fast to his father, wife and they shall become one flesh. So though this passage was primarily directed toward husbands being of one flesh with each other, implies the idea of leaving one's parents, both parents, so that the husband and the wife could be united and form a new family. So here we see that it's not, of course, our culture would say one big happy family, but in reality, in the scripture, it's three. Happy families. The family of the husband, the family of the wife, and the new family formed together by the husband and the wife. And that is how we should view marriage. And this verb leave or to leave behind, it communicates the more important relationship that the husband and the wife should have once they're married. In marriage, the husband and the wife should put more weight on their relationship, more than any other relationship, including... their parents. So what we're saying is we're not cutting off their relationship with their parents or with their old friends or with whoever, but their loyalty is now put in place into a new relationship, which is this marriage. They're still loving. They still love their parents. They're still faithful to their parents. They're still loyal to their parents. But guess what? They are now more loyal to this. new relationship, this marriage relationship, which is to their spouse. Okay, so that speaks a lot of the change or the shift in the way we think that our loyalty should no longer be mommy and daddy. If there's a problem, for example, in marriage, you don't go back to mom and dad. You fix this marriage and you actually just ask help in case you can't fix it among yourself. That's a time that other people can actually come into the picture. Of course, you deal with this, you ask God, then you pray, you humble yourselves. But if there's like a stalemate, then you bring in other people. to help you in that particular discussion. So furthermore, the husband and the wife should think about each other's interests more than any other human interest. Number four, marriage was designed for permanence, not just temporary permanence. Permanent is, I believe, what we need to see marriages happening all across the world. Unfortunately, because of sin, because of the brokenness of humanity, we don't see it happen. And, you know, we see a lot of breakups in relationships and in marriage just happening all around us. Genesis chapter 2, 24, it says, As I have been mentioning this same scripture, Therefore a man shall leave his mother and mother and be... united to his wife and hold fast. The two will become flesh. Hold fast to his wife or cleave to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. Gordon Wenham wrote that to be united in ESV is to hold fast, could literally mean to stick. In other words, super glue. Super glue. There's a super glue coming from heaven that has put, you know how it is, have you tried putting a mighty bond on your two fingers? It's kind of hard to... separate those two, right? Unless you like maybe get a small piece of cutter and you know, just cutting that particular point where you are connected. Guess what? God is the one that makes you gel together. He's the glue in your marriage. That's why he's always saying what he has put together Together, let no man separate. That's why in the wedding ceremonies, you always hear these words, Till death do us part. And only death should be the one that could separate the husband and the wife. So what God has joined together, let man not separate. That's from Mark 10, verse 19. Let's move on. Number five, marriage was designed for purity. It was designed for purity. God designed marriage so that he can use marriage to make us pure. We don't come into the marriage pure. How many of you realize that already? That it's marriage that somehow is the one that purifies us. We see again in the verse, Genesis chapter 2 verse 24, they shall become one flesh. And we can see that the nature of sexual relation in Genesis chapter 2 verse 24, the phrase one flesh has something to do with sexual relationship. Regarding this, Wenham also wrote, God created only one Eve for Adam, not several Eves or another Adam, thereby indicating a divine disapproval of polygamy and homosexual practice. In other words, a sexual relationship is right only within the confines or the marriage between a man and a woman. Marriage as an institution was originally intended to be a relationship between a man and a woman, which is technically called monogamy. Only one. Unfortunately, during the fall of Adam and Eve, somehow it affected how marriage has been lived out by the rest of humanity. This sinful nature of humans has caused us to live far away from God's original design, but yet despite this fallen... condition. God does not give up the standard. There is still a standard for marriage because it is a reflection ultimately of the relationship between Christ and the church. That's why the Sexual union between the husband and the wife is designed and ordained by God. I believe that it is a gift from God, first of all. Secondly, it is holy and it is to be pure. Only within the confines of marriage. Only between the husband and the wife. Your eyes ought to be husband. I'm talking to you. Your eyes ought to be just dedicated to your spouse. And same thing with the women. Women, your wives, your eyes ought to be dedicated. and focus only on your husband. All right, so furthermore, although sex was designed also for the mutual pleasure of the married couple, it also has another purpose in marriage. So God designed that a man and a woman in marriage should be intimate. But there's another purpose for that in number six, talks about that. Marriage was designed for procreation and perpetuation of humanity. And God blessed them in Genesis. Genesis 1.28, and God said, Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth. As mentioned in session one, marriage and family was designed by God for the purpose of the perpetuation of humanity, for us to be able to magpaname, for us to have a lot of people. And you know, there's no problem of space in the world because God has given us space. I believe that there's no problem. But he... was the one who commanded people to multiply. It is in marriage that sexual relationships are holy and pure. And God designed the marriage union to provide a stable environment for the raising up of children. I believe that if we, as husband and wife, has a strong marriage, our children will be able to look at us and follow that example, and so we can actually lead them into the right path as well. let's talk about uh the redemption part here before the messiah came corruption of the whole creation including marriage resulted from the fall of man and the ripple effect of man's sin led to the tampering of god's original design for marriage and consequently the goal to honor god in marriage was lost we believe that god intended to redeem his creation including humans even right after the fall of man there are thus a section from genesis chapter 3 to the end of the book Testament is roughly considered in covenantal perspectives as one leading to redemption. And to the believers, the coming of Jesus fulfills the redemption promise of God. So in this particular stage, the correction on marriage that the Redeemer thought is still to come. However, God's disapproval of unfaithfulness is very evident. That's why there's laws that value the sanctity. of marriage that were given to us. Number one, marriage should be lived as a covenant relationship. Marriage is a relationship in the highest and most sacred form. God established it as a covenant relationship, not just as a transactional partnership, not just as a mutual consent type of a relationship. It's a covenant. It's deep. When you talk about covenant, there's something that's cut. There's something that is shared. There's something that is sacrificed. There's something that is given. And so also, faithfulness to the parties involved is required. Most of all, God himself guards the sanctity of marriage. You know, you say in Malachi 2.14, but you say, why does he not? Because the Lord was witness. between you and the wife of your youth to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife, by covenant. God honors the covenant of marriage. You know, when you have shared your vows to those of us who are married, to your spouse during your wedding day, guess what? You are not just sharing those vows to you and your spouse. God is the witness. And He is right there as you have... given your vows and your covenant relationship with each other. In the many prophetic books of the Bible, God's anger towards Israel's unfaithfulness to him is illustrated like unfaithfulness in a marriage relationship. This is because God highly regards the relationship in a covenant. In fact, the command... you shall not commit adultery, is part of the fundamental laws of God, which is part of the Tenth Commandment. I hope you're familiar with that. Number two, because marriage is a covenant relationship, blessings and curses could result from faith. faithfulness and unfaithfulness respectively. I guess all of us who are married, and even for those of you who are not married yet, you would like to live in the blessings of God. And blessings normally come from being faithful to the design of God and the commands of God. So we can actually further elaborate this. If you look at the scripture in Leviticus 20, verse 10, What a harsh punishment back in the Old Testament. But somehow, that is a picture of how God takes things seriously when you talk about marriage. Because though we don't do that now in the New Testament, guess what? When you are unfaithful, there's something that dies. Things are affected around you. Your families. And if you think that, eh, ako lang naman to. It's only me that's being affected. No. Think again. People around you will be affected. Things around you will die. There are things. Your families. will eventually experience death if you are not faithful to your spouse. So I hope that I pray that God will put the fear of God in us so that we will be faithful in our marriage relationship with our spouse. So when the Messiah came, when Jesus came, Jesus' earthly ministry includes his teaching and the revelation of God's will on a lot of things. He also spoke about the original design of marriage. Furthermore, his death, resurrection gave new hope for the restoration of marriage. Number one, God wants to restore marriages according to his original design. Guess what? If whatever's happening to you right now, there is still hope. Don't ever give up. Hold on to him. God wants to restore. Marriage is such an important creation of God that it is used in the Bible to illustrate Christ's connection with the church. And the illustration even includes the dynamics of a marriage relationship. You can just read through the verses in Ephesians chapter 5 verse 22. It's a rather lengthy verse, but this somehow describes the relationship of Christ and the church and somehow our roles as husband and the wife. And what's highlighted here is, Wives submitting to the husband as to the Lord. And the husband loving the wife as Christ loves the church. And that's very important for us to take home or to meditate on. And sometimes we feel like the woman is on the losing side of this deal because why will I submit to a man if he's not fully submitted to God? Guess what? It's both. It's... One or the other, it should happen both in marriage. And I believe that for the man, we want to look at the man. If a man would love his wife as Christ loved the church, I believe it's going to be easier for the woman to submit to the man. Let's move on. In Mark chapter 10 verse 29, I'm just sipping some verses here, it says, Because of the hardness of your heart you wrote this commandment, but from the beginning of creation God made a male and female. Therefore a man leaves his father and mother, a whole father and his wife. We've been reading that same scripture. But yet this thing only emphasizes purity and marriage. And I believe that the same God who designed this in the Old Testament is still the same God we have right now. He does not change. Same standards are there. And God expects purity and faithfulness in our marriage. Hebrews chapter 13 verse 4, it says further, the author says, Let marriage be held in honor. among all and let marriage bed be undefiled for God will judge the sexually immoral and the adulterous. Number two, God honors a marriage covenant regardless of how the relationship was formed. As I said earlier, some of us were married before we became a believer. And so whatever stage in life you are in, God uses that stage so that he can exemplify the grace of God in that marriage. Okay. So you can further read 1 Corinthians 7, verse 12 to 14, that, you know, when a brother has a wife who's an unbeliever, she consents to live with him, then he should not divorce her. In fact, stay in the stage where you're in. when you got saved. And I believe that you will see further the grace of God manifest in that particular relationship as you pray for your spouse, as you continue to be faithful to Christ, let Him move in that marriage and heal and restore that relationship. Number three, the Bible provides direction on the relationship between a husband and the wife. Marriage is not merely a cold or a stiff legal entity. God's will is that marriage should be fulfilling in both the husband and the wife. Thus, direction was given. A wife should live under the headship of the husband as part of God's design. Wives, submit to your husband as to the Lord. And we see that in Ephesians chapter 5, verse 22 to 24. Wives should not only acknowledge the headship of their husband as part of God's design for marriage, they should live under that leadership. In other words, when you talk about submission, it's not just you having a passive submission. There should be an active submission that you will desire and you will delight in submitting to your husband by honoring and by respecting him as well. And the husband should understand God's design of headship as loving leadership. And I want to just put a little bit more emphasis here. Because the husband's headship is not about becoming a dictator or a tyrant in marriage. Husbands, help your wife. to submit easier to you by loving her as christ loved the church it's an easy you know if you look at the standard uh i i think that we have it's easy to understand but it's hard to to practice in this particular case the headship is about loving the wife and the apostle paul talks about the description of how christ loved the church and how did christ love the church very simple he died for the church husbands you want your wife to submit to you, easy, die for her. Sacrifice for her, serve her. Have an unconditional love for her. You know, basically our love for our spouse should be a serving kind of love, a selfless kind of love, and a sacrificial kind of love. As further explained by the apostle, the husband's leadership should bring the wife to spiritual growth. And I believe that God calls the man to leadership, not just to... to make decisions in the home, but in the area of spiritual leadership as well. So my challenge for the husbands is this, lead your wife, lead your children, be the spiritual leader of your home. You are the prophet, the king, and the priest of that home. And that's really what leadership is all about. You expect your wife to submit to you, then go and lead her lovingly the way Christ has led his church. Okay, so let's just, as I wrap up and end, you know, marriage, in other words, is not really our idea. It's not supposed to be the culture dictating how to live marriage. The examples that we follow. should not be the examples that we see just around us. I believe that there's a biblical example in marriage that we need to follow and pursue. And the most, I believe the perfect example of marriage is really how Christ loved the church. He is our bridegroom. We are the bride. And guess what? God's desire and design for marriage is so important. that when you look at the scripture, it's permeated with this marriage relationship from beginning to end. In fact, the Bible started with marriage in the garden. The first miracle of Christ is in a wedding. And the last pages of the scripture talks about the wedding banquet between the bride, the church, and Christ himself. So let me just encourage you, if you are married, Have hope. Be faithful to one another. Be faithful to the Lord. Always pray for the best, not only for your marriage, but for your children and the children to come. And also for those of you who are single, let me just encourage you as well that maybe this time is a season for you to prepare. Because maybe you're called to be married one day, so it's always good for you to be able to know what you're getting into. My encouragement for you is let's continue to honor God and the way we live our life. And may God use our marriages, those of us who are married, to honor Him. So that we can be God's examples and be a showcase to the world that indeed God can use even our relationship with our spouse to honor Him. and to even share the good news of God to others. Thank you so much. Have a good day.

Jerome, who is now waiting for us in heaven. He passed away about 20 years ago when he was 8 years old. Then we have two more daughters, Anna, who is now 18, and then Andrea, who is 17, as of this shoot for this particular class. Well, we're going to be looking at God honoring marriage.

And I believe that you... You who are studying, watching this, you may be married or you may actually be single right now. But nonetheless, I believe that this is a very important topic for us to be able to learn, understand, and appreciate how God has instituted and designed marriage for us.

Whether you're a single, and I believe that if you're a single right now, this may actually be a stage wherein you are in waiting. I don't know, maybe you are also gifted with being single for life, but nonetheless, I believe that, you know, this is a very good time for us to really appreciate how God has designed marriage. And, you know, being single does not make you less of a person because, you know, marriage does not complete us. It's Christ that completes us.

I know that you've probably watched that in a movie somewhere. You complete me. But the reality is when you talk about you completely, who are you talking to?

I think it's always best for us to be always referring to Christ, completing us. And marriage happens to be one of the aspects of how God uses to make us holy as well. And so I hope that those of us who are watching will be convinced that, you know, marriage is definitely a gift from God and there's no perfect marriage.

We definitely need a Christ, and it has to come from us, the desire to honor Him through our marriage. So, somehow, culture that we live right now is pushing all of us to get married. Sometimes even our titos and titas in the parties, you know, sometimes if you're married, they'll ask you, Okay, when are you going to get married? The pressure is on, but the reality is, if God has not called you to marriage yet, then there's no pressure.

Because it's better for you to remain single and happy than to be married and miserable. You know, marriage does not automatically make someone happy. Because it is not about...

the marital status in life that makes one happy. It's all about us being part of Christ, being part of Him, Him being in us and we in Him. So just for our introduction, every believer's goal in life is to honor God.

We know that we desire to honor God in the way we live, in the way we conduct our life, in the way we, you know, with our speech, our thought, and even with our status in life. So whether you're single, married, in a relationship, or possibly widowed or may have been separated, we live and desire to honor God. That is our goal.

We want to honor God. And this somehow extends to God-honoring families, which was the focus of the discussion in the previous session. In connection with this, our marriages should always reflect God's honor. And so...

I believe that the prerequisite to a God-honoring family is a God-honoring marriage. You can't separate the two. You can't dichotomize the two. It has to be both. In order for you to have happy children, secure children, children that are obeying in the Lord, children that are raised up in the ways of God, you both have to make sure that this first relationship, after God, you and your spouse...

is God-honoring. And so hopefully this teaching would help us better understand and appreciate how God has designed marriage to be. Now this connection between a God-honoring marriage and a God-honoring believer's life has its roots planted in Ephesians chapter 5 verse 31 and 32 which says, therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife or clean to his wife. and the two shall become one flesh.

History is profound, and I am saying this refers to Christ and the Church. Thus, as the marriage that we have, it's an illustration or a picture. The marriage that we have right now with our spouse is a picture of the marriage of the Church with Christ as the groom.

So, the goal of marriage is holiness, not just happiness. God wants us to be holy. Not just happy. In fact, the reason why we have the Holy Spirit and not the Happy Spirit is that's exactly what He's doing to us.

He's sanctifying us. He's using relationships in our life to be instruments and agents of change so that we would be holy. You know, the status of holiness has been given to us by justification, but yet in the sanctification process, guess what? God uses your spouse, your husband. your wife to make you holy in Christ.

So, there's no reason for us to ask if we are holy because Jesus paid the price. We know that. But yet, the work in progress, the process of us being perfectly made holy unto Him is also found in our relationship.

And if you are married, guess what? That is one of the primary ways of how God... makes us holy. Marriage is designed to reflect Christ to the married couple, their family, and others around him.

So marriage is not just an avenue to reflect Christ. In fact, I want to submit to us today that marriage is also an avenue where Christ is actually formed in us. It's a way of God using the you know the the pressures the the trials the challenges in life through marriage and in marriage that actually helps us shape or helps shape in us the character of christ so christ likeness i believe becomes evident as the husband and the wife will just go through life and try to be faithful to him first of all to christ and to one another so in a god-honoring marriage the husband and the wife will also experience, let me promise you this, there's so much grace in the marriage. And we will see this later on in the picture that the marriage is a picture of Christ as a relationship with the Father and his relationship with the church. So let's move on.

Marriage in the Bible is closely connected to this flow of redemptive history. The fall of man resulted in a world, including marriage, deviating from God's will. Because of the corruption of sin, God's design for marriage was not followed. Human sinful nature brought sexual immorality, polygamy, divorce, and other unfaithfulness to God and His plan for marriage.

So, we will see that somehow the objective observation of marriage in the stretch of the Old Testament from Genesis 3 until the end of the Old Testament somehow is looking at this particular cultural practice. You know, there used to be like polygamy, multiple relationships, unnatural partnerships like homosexuality. Partnerships outside marriage is described as sexual immorality and the dissolution of partnerships which is also described as divorce.

Now undeniably, polygamy was practiced during the early stage of the patriarchs. But this is in no way God accepting that as the norm that is somehow a practice of the culture during the time. God knew that because of the sinfulness of humanity and the corruption caused by sin, humans are unable to live out God's design.

That's why he gave laws to us as guides, as a boundary that we can't go out from because as long as you're inside the... boundary, then there is peace, there's freedom, there is life. So there's a lot more to talk about that, but somehow if we will just stay within the bounds of what God's design is in marriage, then there's happiness, there's fulfillment. You know, somehow when you talk about marriage, it's very simple.

It's God bringing two people, a husband and a wife, a man and a woman within the bounds of marriage, and they are to express their love for one another. and they are to be faithful to each other, living under the grace of God with no other people involved. And that is a design that they can enjoy. Intimacy and sex within the confines of marriage, and that is a God-honoring marriage.

As they live out the plans of God and the design of God, then I believe it's the starting point of marriage. It's interesting that in Matthew chapter 19, verse 3 to 9, it's somehow talking about separation or divorce. And, you know, divorce is not really the original plan of God.

It's actually just a, it's allowed as a concession. to protect those who have been abused or to protect the innocent somehow. But yet, if you look at the particular scripture, it says here, And the Pharisees came to him and tested him by asking, Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?

And he answered, Have you not read that he who created him from the beginning made them male and female and said, Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one. One flesh. So they are no longer two but one. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate. They said to him, why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce to send her away?

He said to them, because of your hardness of heart, Moses allowed you to divorce your wives. But from the beginning, it was not so. In fact, it was not God's design for people to separate, for man and woman to separate.

They are to be faithful to one. one another. And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife except for sexual immorality and marriage another commits adultery. So in the same way, if a husband does not fulfill his marital obligation to his wife, such as abuse or not providing, then that could be another ground for separation or divorce. But we don't have to take that route.

So let's move on. The Lord's redemptive work is so comprehensive that it also brought and bought the redemption of marriage. And this is where we see the grace of God.

Many of us probably have been married before we got saved, or some of you got married after you got saved. So wherever you are, the grace of God works in us. And I don't know your situation, but somehow if we put God first, the Bible says, unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. And we acknowledge that it is not us, husband and wife, just building this relationship together.

God has to be in the picture, Jesus has to be the center, and as we give our life first to God, submit to Him, and submit to one another, then we will actually find the grace in our marriage. Let's talk about original design. Marriage was designed for, in your blank, God's purposes.

Marriage was designed for God's purposes. In Genesis chapter 2 verse 18, 21 to 23, let me just read that. Then the Lord God said, It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make him a helper fit for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept, took one of his ribs, and closed up the place of flesh, and the rib that the Lord had taken from the man, he had made into a woman and brought her to the man.

And the man said, This at last is... Bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh, she shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. I guess when Adam was, you know, sleeping and God poked him, God took a rib, and then when he awoke and he saw there's another being beside him, he just actually exclaimed, whoa, man!

You know, it's because of the beauty and the masterpiece of what God has given to him. in the person of Eve. I believe that your wife, if you're a husband here, your wife is a gift from God.

She's a masterpiece brought to you by God himself. But yet, when you talk about marriage, marriage was not our idea. Marriage was not man's idea. It's God's idea. It's God's design.

God purposed it. He's the architect. He's the storyteller.

He's the author of marriage. He designed it. He has a purpose.

Guess what? Adam was not even included in the planning of marriage. It was not his idea.

It was God's idea. And in the same way, I believe that you... You may have pursued your wife, you may have seen her in your high school or in college or maybe in your gym and pursued her or in the church and courted her and you eventually got married.

Guess what? It was God who put things and situations together so that you can meet and actually put circumstances around you so that He could actually author and make sure that you actually can have that relationship. And God somehow...

has designed for you to be together. And the outcome is you need to continue to live it out, be faithful to Him, be loyal to one another, and honor God through your relationship. Number two, marriage was designed for partnership and companionship.

In Genesis 2, verse 18, Then the Lord God said, It is not good for a man that a man should be alone. I will make him a helper fit for him. God has a great purpose for humanity to fill and to govern the earth. In Genesis chapter 126, it says, Then God said, Let us make mine our image after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the heavens, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. Furthermore, God gave individual human beings like Adam specific God-ordained tasks.

He placed Adam in the garden and he allowed him to take care of it, to tend it, and to keep it. So we see that in Genesis 2, verse 15, The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and to nourish and to keep it. However, none of this could be accomplished alone. I believe that you, you know, if you are maybe doing a project or if you're a boss, you need a team with you.

In life, we need a partner. And I believe that if God calls us to higher things, then God places people. with us so that we can actually accomplish more things together better stronger and even faster so therefore God designed people to work together in community to part together in accomplishing God's purposes marriage is one of those partnerships or those team groups that God designed to mutually help in accomplishing his purpose for humanity And in marriage, the husband and the wife are to partner with each other in accomplishing God's purpose. Now, furthermore, as we read along, God designed marriage for companionship as well, not just partnership.

Since humans are created in the image of God and God is a triune being, a community of three persons in one God, humans, that's you, that's me, those of us who are in the class, humans are also designed for community. We need each other. We need one another.

No one can live alone. This is why there is an intrinsic need for people, for companionship, and why it is good for humans to be alone. Though there are many kinds of relationships that...

God uses to meet these needs. I believe that marriage is a relationship wherein God meets these needs in the purest, most intimate, deepest form, in the deepest way. In marriage, we have someone to be intimate with, that we could grow with, that we could dream with, that we could walk with, that we could travel with, that we could have, you know, a multiple babies with and that we could actually grow old with. What an awesome gift and a privilege for us who are called to be married.

All right, and so let's move on. I just want to maybe give a short, maybe comment on the word helper because maybe some of us who are watching may be... thrown off a bit, you know, what do you mean that a wife is a helper or a helpmate? You know, does that make us, the woman, lower in terms of position or value? I don't think so.

Because if you look at the Hebrew word for that, it does not really mean an assistant. It just means that he actually helps the man fulfill the role that God has given to them. In fact, when you talk about helper in the Bible, 16 times. God is referred to as the helper or the rescuer of his people. So, in other words, God himself is our helper.

He is the one who helps us attain victory and he is the one who protects his people. So, that is somehow how God sees a woman, a helper, somebody who stands with the husband to protect him. In case of an impending danger, in case of sometimes husbands could be dense or not be aware of surroundings. And women have been gifted by God most of the time to be so discerning and to warn ahead the husband of the danger that's coming.

So these are some of the things that we can actually even dig deeper in the future lesson. So number three, marriage was designed to be a priority. of the husband and wife after God. Marriage should not supersede a relationship with God.

God first and then marriage after. After God, the marriage of the husband and the wife should be the priority over things and over other people. So in other words, if you are married, out of all the relationships on this planet, Out of 8 billion people, your wife or your husband should be the most important priority after God. That is the way we treat our spouse. Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother, hold fast to his father, wife and they shall become one flesh.

So though this passage was primarily directed toward husbands being of one flesh with each other, implies the idea of leaving one's parents, both parents, so that the husband and the wife could be united and form a new family. So here we see that it's not, of course, our culture would say one big happy family, but in reality, in the scripture, it's three. Happy families. The family of the husband, the family of the wife, and the new family formed together by the husband and the wife. And that is how we should view marriage.

And this verb leave or to leave behind, it communicates the more important relationship that the husband and the wife should have once they're married. In marriage, the husband and the wife should put more weight on their relationship, more than any other relationship, including... their parents. So what we're saying is we're not cutting off their relationship with their parents or with their old friends or with whoever, but their loyalty is now put in place into a new relationship, which is this marriage. They're still loving.

They still love their parents. They're still faithful to their parents. They're still loyal to their parents.

But guess what? They are now more loyal to this. new relationship, this marriage relationship, which is to their spouse.

Okay, so that speaks a lot of the change or the shift in the way we think that our loyalty should no longer be mommy and daddy. If there's a problem, for example, in marriage, you don't go back to mom and dad. You fix this marriage and you actually just ask help in case you can't fix it among yourself. That's a time that other people can actually come into the picture.

Of course, you deal with this, you ask God, then you pray, you humble yourselves. But if there's like a stalemate, then you bring in other people. to help you in that particular discussion.

So furthermore, the husband and the wife should think about each other's interests more than any other human interest. Number four, marriage was designed for permanence, not just temporary permanence. Permanent is, I believe, what we need to see marriages happening all across the world.

Unfortunately, because of sin, because of the brokenness of humanity, we don't see it happen. And, you know, we see a lot of breakups in relationships and in marriage just happening all around us. Genesis chapter 2, 24, it says, As I have been mentioning this same scripture, Therefore a man shall leave his mother and mother and be... united to his wife and hold fast. The two will become flesh.

Hold fast to his wife or cleave to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. Gordon Wenham wrote that to be united in ESV is to hold fast, could literally mean to stick. In other words, super glue.

Super glue. There's a super glue coming from heaven that has put, you know how it is, have you tried putting a mighty bond on your two fingers? It's kind of hard to... separate those two, right? Unless you like maybe get a small piece of cutter and you know, just cutting that particular point where you are connected.

Guess what? God is the one that makes you gel together. He's the glue in your marriage. That's why he's always saying what he has put together Together, let no man separate. That's why in the wedding ceremonies, you always hear these words, Till death do us part.

And only death should be the one that could separate the husband and the wife. So what God has joined together, let man not separate. That's from Mark 10, verse 19. Let's move on.

Number five, marriage was designed for purity. It was designed for purity. God designed marriage so that he can use marriage to make us pure. We don't come into the marriage pure.

How many of you realize that already? That it's marriage that somehow is the one that purifies us. We see again in the verse, Genesis chapter 2 verse 24, they shall become one flesh.

And we can see that the nature of sexual relation in Genesis chapter 2 verse 24, the phrase one flesh has something to do with sexual relationship. Regarding this, Wenham also wrote, God created only one Eve for Adam, not several Eves or another Adam, thereby indicating a divine disapproval of polygamy and homosexual practice. In other words, a sexual relationship is right only within the confines or the marriage between a man and a woman. Marriage as an institution was originally intended to be a relationship between a man and a woman, which is technically called monogamy.

Only one. Unfortunately, during the fall of Adam and Eve, somehow it affected how marriage has been lived out by the rest of humanity. This sinful nature of humans has caused us to live far away from God's original design, but yet despite this fallen...

condition. God does not give up the standard. There is still a standard for marriage because it is a reflection ultimately of the relationship between Christ and the church. That's why the Sexual union between the husband and the wife is designed and ordained by God. I believe that it is a gift from God, first of all.

Secondly, it is holy and it is to be pure. Only within the confines of marriage. Only between the husband and the wife.

Your eyes ought to be husband. I'm talking to you. Your eyes ought to be just dedicated to your spouse.

And same thing with the women. Women, your wives, your eyes ought to be dedicated. and focus only on your husband.

All right, so furthermore, although sex was designed also for the mutual pleasure of the married couple, it also has another purpose in marriage. So God designed that a man and a woman in marriage should be intimate. But there's another purpose for that in number six, talks about that. Marriage was designed for procreation and perpetuation of humanity. And God blessed them in Genesis.

Genesis 1.28, and God said, Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth. As mentioned in session one, marriage and family was designed by God for the purpose of the perpetuation of humanity, for us to be able to magpaname, for us to have a lot of people. And you know, there's no problem of space in the world because God has given us space. I believe that there's no problem. But he...

was the one who commanded people to multiply. It is in marriage that sexual relationships are holy and pure. And God designed the marriage union to provide a stable environment for the raising up of children. I believe that if we, as husband and wife, has a strong marriage, our children will be able to look at us and follow that example, and so we can actually lead them into the right path as well.

let's talk about uh the redemption part here before the messiah came corruption of the whole creation including marriage resulted from the fall of man and the ripple effect of man's sin led to the tampering of god's original design for marriage and consequently the goal to honor god in marriage was lost we believe that god intended to redeem his creation including humans even right after the fall of man there are thus a section from genesis chapter 3 to the end of the book Testament is roughly considered in covenantal perspectives as one leading to redemption. And to the believers, the coming of Jesus fulfills the redemption promise of God. So in this particular stage, the correction on marriage that the Redeemer thought is still to come. However, God's disapproval of unfaithfulness is very evident.

That's why there's laws that value the sanctity. of marriage that were given to us. Number one, marriage should be lived as a covenant relationship. Marriage is a relationship in the highest and most sacred form. God established it as a covenant relationship, not just as a transactional partnership, not just as a mutual consent type of a relationship.

It's a covenant. It's deep. When you talk about covenant, there's something that's cut.

There's something that is shared. There's something that is sacrificed. There's something that is given. And so also, faithfulness to the parties involved is required. Most of all, God himself guards the sanctity of marriage.

You know, you say in Malachi 2.14, but you say, why does he not? Because the Lord was witness. between you and the wife of your youth to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife, by covenant.

God honors the covenant of marriage. You know, when you have shared your vows to those of us who are married, to your spouse during your wedding day, guess what? You are not just sharing those vows to you and your spouse. God is the witness.

And He is right there as you have... given your vows and your covenant relationship with each other. In the many prophetic books of the Bible, God's anger towards Israel's unfaithfulness to him is illustrated like unfaithfulness in a marriage relationship. This is because God highly regards the relationship in a covenant. In fact, the command...

you shall not commit adultery, is part of the fundamental laws of God, which is part of the Tenth Commandment. I hope you're familiar with that. Number two, because marriage is a covenant relationship, blessings and curses could result from faith. faithfulness and unfaithfulness respectively.

I guess all of us who are married, and even for those of you who are not married yet, you would like to live in the blessings of God. And blessings normally come from being faithful to the design of God and the commands of God. So we can actually further elaborate this.

If you look at the scripture in Leviticus 20, verse 10, What a harsh punishment back in the Old Testament. But somehow, that is a picture of how God takes things seriously when you talk about marriage. Because though we don't do that now in the New Testament, guess what?

When you are unfaithful, there's something that dies. Things are affected around you. Your families.

And if you think that, eh, ako lang naman to. It's only me that's being affected. No.

Think again. People around you will be affected. Things around you will die.

There are things. Your families. will eventually experience death if you are not faithful to your spouse.

So I hope that I pray that God will put the fear of God in us so that we will be faithful in our marriage relationship with our spouse. So when the Messiah came, when Jesus came, Jesus' earthly ministry includes his teaching and the revelation of God's will on a lot of things. He also spoke about the original design of marriage. Furthermore, his death, resurrection gave new hope for the restoration of marriage. Number one, God wants to restore marriages according to his original design.

Guess what? If whatever's happening to you right now, there is still hope. Don't ever give up.

Hold on to him. God wants to restore. Marriage is such an important creation of God that it is used in the Bible to illustrate Christ's connection with the church.

And the illustration even includes the dynamics of a marriage relationship. You can just read through the verses in Ephesians chapter 5 verse 22. It's a rather lengthy verse, but this somehow describes the relationship of Christ and the church and somehow our roles as husband and the wife. And what's highlighted here is, Wives submitting to the husband as to the Lord.

And the husband loving the wife as Christ loves the church. And that's very important for us to take home or to meditate on. And sometimes we feel like the woman is on the losing side of this deal because why will I submit to a man if he's not fully submitted to God?

Guess what? It's both. It's... One or the other, it should happen both in marriage.

And I believe that for the man, we want to look at the man. If a man would love his wife as Christ loved the church, I believe it's going to be easier for the woman to submit to the man. Let's move on. In Mark chapter 10 verse 29, I'm just sipping some verses here, it says, Because of the hardness of your heart you wrote this commandment, but from the beginning of creation God made a male and female. Therefore a man leaves his father and mother, a whole father and his wife.

We've been reading that same scripture. But yet this thing only emphasizes purity and marriage. And I believe that the same God who designed this in the Old Testament is still the same God we have right now. He does not change.

Same standards are there. And God expects purity and faithfulness in our marriage. Hebrews chapter 13 verse 4, it says further, the author says, Let marriage be held in honor. among all and let marriage bed be undefiled for God will judge the sexually immoral and the adulterous. Number two, God honors a marriage covenant regardless of how the relationship was formed.

As I said earlier, some of us were married before we became a believer. And so whatever stage in life you are in, God uses that stage so that he can exemplify the grace of God in that marriage. Okay.

So you can further read 1 Corinthians 7, verse 12 to 14, that, you know, when a brother has a wife who's an unbeliever, she consents to live with him, then he should not divorce her. In fact, stay in the stage where you're in. when you got saved.

And I believe that you will see further the grace of God manifest in that particular relationship as you pray for your spouse, as you continue to be faithful to Christ, let Him move in that marriage and heal and restore that relationship. Number three, the Bible provides direction on the relationship between a husband and the wife. Marriage is not merely a cold or a stiff legal entity. God's will is that marriage should be fulfilling in both the husband and the wife. Thus, direction was given.

A wife should live under the headship of the husband as part of God's design. Wives, submit to your husband as to the Lord. And we see that in Ephesians chapter 5, verse 22 to 24. Wives should not only acknowledge the headship of their husband as part of God's design for marriage, they should live under that leadership. In other words, when you talk about submission, it's not just you having a passive submission. There should be an active submission that you will desire and you will delight in submitting to your husband by honoring and by respecting him as well.

And the husband should understand God's design of headship as loving leadership. And I want to just put a little bit more emphasis here. Because the husband's headship is not about becoming a dictator or a tyrant in marriage.

Husbands, help your wife. to submit easier to you by loving her as christ loved the church it's an easy you know if you look at the standard uh i i think that we have it's easy to understand but it's hard to to practice in this particular case the headship is about loving the wife and the apostle paul talks about the description of how christ loved the church and how did christ love the church very simple he died for the church husbands you want your wife to submit to you, easy, die for her. Sacrifice for her, serve her.

Have an unconditional love for her. You know, basically our love for our spouse should be a serving kind of love, a selfless kind of love, and a sacrificial kind of love. As further explained by the apostle, the husband's leadership should bring the wife to spiritual growth. And I believe that God calls the man to leadership, not just to...

to make decisions in the home, but in the area of spiritual leadership as well. So my challenge for the husbands is this, lead your wife, lead your children, be the spiritual leader of your home. You are the prophet, the king, and the priest of that home. And that's really what leadership is all about.

You expect your wife to submit to you, then go and lead her lovingly the way Christ has led his church. Okay, so let's just, as I wrap up and end, you know, marriage, in other words, is not really our idea. It's not supposed to be the culture dictating how to live marriage.

The examples that we follow. should not be the examples that we see just around us. I believe that there's a biblical example in marriage that we need to follow and pursue.

And the most, I believe the perfect example of marriage is really how Christ loved the church. He is our bridegroom. We are the bride. And guess what?

God's desire and design for marriage is so important. that when you look at the scripture, it's permeated with this marriage relationship from beginning to end. In fact, the Bible started with marriage in the garden. The first miracle of Christ is in a wedding.

And the last pages of the scripture talks about the wedding banquet between the bride, the church, and Christ himself. So let me just encourage you, if you are married, Have hope. Be faithful to one another.

Be faithful to the Lord. Always pray for the best, not only for your marriage, but for your children and the children to come. And also for those of you who are single, let me just encourage you as well that maybe this time is a season for you to prepare.

Because maybe you're called to be married one day, so it's always good for you to be able to know what you're getting into. My encouragement for you is let's continue to honor God and the way we live our life. And may God use our marriages, those of us who are married, to honor Him.

So that we can be God's examples and be a showcase to the world that indeed God can use even our relationship with our spouse to honor Him. and to even share the good news of God to others. Thank you so much. Have a good day.

Transcript for:Understanding God-Honoring Marriage Principles

Transcript for:
Understanding God-Honoring Marriage Principles