One Flesh

The following is part of the book, Why Adam Cannot Be Saved, whose sections can be accessed here.

Man’s Relationship with Woman

“Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” Genesis 2:24

Here we see the institution of marriage being established for the first time as that which was created male and female is now husband and wife.

One might ask, “Why is Adam making such a statement? What did he know about a relationship with earthly parents or about becoming one flesh with his wife?” Yet, we know that Adam had access to the logos of God. The same Spirit which inspired him to name the animals enabled him to make that prophetic statement. These were not Adam’s words, but God speaking through Adam to proclaim His will for marriage.

“And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed.” Malachi 2:15a

In Genesis 1 & 2, God makes clear His purpose for the earth: it was to be filled with the knowledge of the Lord and reflecting His glory. Crucial to this objective was the establishment of the family unit. God would use the union of the husband and wife to produce a godly seed from which He would reap a harvest (James 5:7).

Is it any wonder then why Satan so ardently attacks marriage, and by extension the family? What Satan attempted in the Garden he still tries today: pervert the marriage union so as to prevent a godly seed. In all the days of creation, Satan did not rear his ugly head. Yet as soon as the institution of marriage is in place, he comes swiftly to deceive.

The world would have you to think that marriage is a civil liberties issue, to be defined as we choose. However it is not man who defines marriage, but God, for He is the one who established it. God says marriage is not a “right” one possesses as a function of government or civil law. Marriage is a covenant made before God covering the sacred union of one man with one woman which is meant to last a lifetime (Malachi 2:14).

“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? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.” Matthew 19:4-6 (Also Mark 10:6-8)

It is God who determined to make man “male” and “female” and it is God who stated that they would be brought together to become “one flesh”. When governments say it is discriminatory to limit marriage to one man and one woman…when entertainers cross-dress for your amusement…when the media blurs the lines between genders and promotes androgyny…when the schools teach your children that there are many different kinds of families…when the President of the United States says that he supports gay marriage…know that you are seeing Satan’s continued attacks to prevent a godly seed.

The very thing God desires to see in the earth is that which Satan works against.

Question what God has decreed: Did God really limit marriage between one man and one woman? Didn’t Jesus say that love fulfills all of the law? Shouldn’t we allow any who are in love to celebrate that love in marriage? It’s just all about love, right? How can “love” be wrong?

Question even God’s righteousness: Is it fair that homosexuals, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgenders cannot enjoy the benefits of marriage? Aren’t we all children of God? What kind of God would prevent people from being happy and enjoying life?

Satan will try to get you to do anything but believe and obey God’s words.

“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” Revelation 4:11

Man’s problems begin when he deems to take what God has created – even his own life – and thinks that they are his to do with as he chooses. Yet, everything God created was for His pleasure; and that includes the institution of marriage. While everything God has given man is good and for his good, there is a higher purpose for God's creation that does not revolve around what man wants or thinks.

“What? Know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? For two, saith he, shall be one flesh. But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.” I Corinthians 6:16-17

“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. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.” Ephesians 5:31-32

The union of one man and one woman in marriage contains a “great mystery”. It reflects how the church is brought into union with Jesus Christ. As the man and woman become one flesh, those united with Christ become one spirit. The family unit (one man and one woman becoming one flesh to produce godly seed) is a picture of how Jesus Christ joins supernaturally with His Bride, becoming one spirit to bear godly fruit (John 15:5). Apart from Christ we are barren, we can do nothing. Being made one with Him, we can do all things. The pattern of marriage is an illustration to us of God's desire for us to be in union with Him.

“Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. 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. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.

Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.” Ephesians 5:22

“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” Genesis 2:23

Do we not understand the mystery God has used the institution of marriage to reveal to us and the significance of the order which is imbued in it? It is all to glorify God, to manifest His great love for us, and to make plain the way for us to be joined together with Him in sharing that great love. It is for our benefit, but for His glory.  Christ claims us for His own and we become part of Him, just as a wife is joined to and becomes one with her husband.

Nothing was done by happenstance; not God’s determination for there to be “male” and “female” nor the joining of the two together to become one flesh. It all has meaning and purpose in making known to man the Kingdom of God in the earth and our role in that Kingdom. Any other union is an abomination primarily because of how it perverts the image of God. When we pervert the nature of marriage, we are by default perverting the nature of the “great mystery” of our redemption in Jesus Christ.  God not only desires the best for man, but He paid the price to enable us to have His best, even using the very creation He established to illustrate that best to us.

In Adam’s proclamation in Genesis 2:24, we see God’s intent in defining marriage between one man and one woman. Not only was such essential to the very survival of the human race (Genesis 1:28, 6:19), but it was the foundation upon which God determined to bring forth godly seed. He used marriage to reveal to us the mystery which would unfold of Jesus Christ reconciling man unto Himself.

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