God's Purpose for Marriage

[Music] the institution of marriage is more important than the institution of the church we can't build this church on unhealthy marriages it's more important than the institution of government our government's falling apart because families were falling apart across America we don't have enough money to take care of the problems that broken families are causing it's more important than finance it's more important than anything else and so this is the institution that God set apart for himself Melissa some years so you say well marriage is first of all for God absolutely it is set apart for God number one the number one reason that Karen and I are married is for God the number one reason that Karen and I are married is not for our own pleasure it's not to get our needs met it's not about us the number one reason that we are married and we stay married is because we want our marriage to glorify Jesus Christ that's the reason that we're married but listen when it's no longer about God you can just find anything and the reason that our culture is so dramatically changing in people living together in different types of marriages and living situations the reason that we're changing it's no longer about God it's about us sexuality is the example did you know that your sexuality was created first of all for God and that kind of surprises some people it's like your way why Jimmy you're saying that God traded our sexuality for him absolutely the only thing that God gets out of all of creation is a family in the way that God gets that family is through our sexuality before our sexuality is about us it's about God and I'm telling you that marriage is sacred I'm telling you that the mother's womb is sacred it is a sacred place where God Almighty is working and so God God is coming now to the children of Israel he's saying this is no longer about me now this is no longer about you honoring me and you serving me and marry your marriage honoring me and you're committing abominations and your profaning the holy institution that I love and here's what I'm saying too because all of us you know all of us have issues in the area of marriage and none of us are perfect but I'm saying if you will love marriage God will bless you if you will make your marriage and your sexuality about God God will bless you this is a holy institution that he loves and to the degree listen I want to love what God loves and hate what God hates anybody with me [Applause] God loves marriage and it's Christian people we can't get down on marriage we can't be like the world we have got to be defenders and supporters of the holy institution that God loves and God has a perfect plan for marriage and this is what we love to tell people all over the world you have a 100% chance of success in marriage when you do it God's Way god never creates anything to fail god never creates anything to hurt people marriage is wonderful when you do it God's wife so let me talk about God's plan for marriage and this is Genesis chapter 1 God is telling us right here why he created marriage Justice 1:26 God said let us notice there the plural let us make man in our image according to our likeness let them have dominion over the fish of the sea the birds of the air the cattle over all the earth and over all the creeping things that creep on the earth so God created man in his own image in the image of God he created him male and female he created them then God blessed them and God said to them be fruitful and multiply fill the earth and subdue it have dominion over the fish of the sea over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves on the earth so Genesis 1 now is a big overview of creation and in Genesis 1 were shown that God created them male and female in His image and he gave them dominion so on so forth in Genesis 2 now it's the detail Adam is created first he names all the animals on the earth a helper has not found suitable for him then God takes a rib out and creates Eve and so the detail of Genesis 1 related a marriage is found in Genesis chapter 2 so let me tell you the four purposes of marriage here's why God created marriage number one is to replicate God's nature and image on the earth so God wanted the earth to be full of his image and the first thing that God ever said now in verse 26 is let God said let us let us make man in our image the word God there's the word Elohim now there's many words for God or Lord in the Bible but this word is the word Elohim and when you find the Hebrew word that has I am on the end of it it's masculine plural so I'm about a group of men like the Nephilim we talked about the Giants the Nephilim I am it means a group of men and so God Elohim was speaking among himself Father Son and Holy Spirit and he said let us make man in our image and then he says he made them male and female in his image and so let me have my couple come up Matt and Amy Spears and also we have the Father Son and Holy Spirit here and they're gonna help us to understand this Amy came over stand with me and Matt stand right up here if you would pastor Matt sitting right over here and then this is Lee come he's this our friendly Cummings from Kalamazoo Michigan radiant Church give him big hand and he come right over here right here this is the Father Son and Holy Spirit right here y'all staying close shoulder to shoulder because you're one remember that okay there you go so Elohim here the father signed the Holy Spirit triune God our God is three in one right everybody with me okay our Father Son and Holy Spirit Jesus is standing in the Jordan River the father says this is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased and the Holy Spirit descends on him lock it up there one but they're three persons okay so Elohim in Genesis chapter 1 said let us make man in our image so what God was trying to do when he made marriage was to replicate this okay so here's Adam over here this is pastor Adam it's that a mini okay so here's here's pastor man so Adam Elohim OSINT over there yeah sorry I wasn't waving you sorry state stay one so Elohim says let us make man in our image so Elohim makes Adam and in Genesis 2:18 out of all of creation in Genesis the end of Genesis 1 gusts all that he made he says very good except for this in Genesis 2:18 elohim looks at this and said that's not good that's not good it's not good for that man what I'm asked you a question does this look like this answer's no this doesn't look like that does so the Lord took a rib out of Adam side and he made eat okay so here's he well let me ask you a question no look at this three-in-one does this look like this the answer is no it doesn't let me ask you a question but what if you had a christ-like man a holy spirit like woman and God in the middle does this look like this it does so Elohim said let us make man in our image and he made a christ-like man a holy spirit life woman and he was in the middle of it and when God sees a Christian marriage this is what he sees and when the devil sees a Christian marriage this is what he sees and when Adam was by himself the devil never attacked him and Adam was on the earth for quite a while before Eve because he named all the animals before she was there but as soon as this woman showed up the devil saw this and he attacked their marriage in Genesis 3 in Genesis 3 is not the the record of the fall of man if the devil would have attacked Adam by himself that would have been the fall of man Genesis 3 is the record of the fall of marriage when Satan saw the image of God being replicated in Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden he went crazy and this is why he hates your marriage because your marriage looks like God Elohim made this so the whole earth would be full of the image of God thank you guys great job that's such a great picture to get in your head because when you when you're reading the Bible and it says let us make man in our image and he makes Adam and Eve it's like how has it worked marriage is a threat to the kingdom of Satan everything God does in society he does on the foundation of marriage and the devil understands that he's a strategist so he knows if he's going to have his way on the earth he has to destroy marriage [Music] since 1994 marriage today has used every medium at its disposal to strengthen families and marriages through its diverse ministry outrages every day across North America and around the world we provide help and hope through television live events social media crisis coaching and over 100 unique resources there's a fierce battle being fought for marriage right now but we can win it we want to raise the standard we want to unite families restore marriages and conquer divorce and marriage today we believe every marriage has a 100% chance of success if you do it God's Way [Music] [Music] in 1947 Carl Zimmerman who is a Harvard sociologist he issued a report in 1947 warning America that we were going the same way as Rome Greece Egypt Babylon Samaria and all the great civilizations that fell from within and he was a sociologist he understood world history and so he said in he studied every major civilization that became great and then fell from within and here's what he says every society that becomes great becomes great on a conservative biblical model it doesn't matter if they were Christians or not Rome Greece Egypt Babylon all of them became great when they had strong families and strong marriages and every family every society that Falls from within has the same seven things that they do and let me say this another way we're not enlightened as a society we're going down the same dark alley as all those other societies did in liberal laws or leading us through when I say liberal I'm not saying democrat or republican I'm just saying liberal they're there against the Word of God so here are the seven signs of an atomistic age this is Carl Zimmerman this is a Harvard sociologist in 1947 that was warning us back then that we were going the wrong way here's the number one sign when he calls an atomistic ace that means it's falling apart marriage loses its sacredness as it is frequently broken by divorce that's the number one thing that had the devil again he's a strategist he knows if he can destroy marriage he can destroy society so the first thing that happens when the devil begins to destroy society marriage loses its sacredness number two the traditional meaning of marriage is lost in alternative forms of marriage you know cohabitation all those things become number three the feminist movement abounds and women lose their inclination for childbearing did you know in Japan in Italy in Germany and the Netherlands there depopulating they are not having enough children to replace themselves in a society have to have 2.3 children per couple to keep your population what it is that's what we have in America right now we are not we are not increasing in population we're not having enough children to do that but did you know that before societies do populate all of them have liberal family laws and this is what happens women become feminists because marriage marriage makes women feel secure it makes them feel secure to have children and that the husband is going to be there to help them raise the kids but when there's no marriage the children to women lose their inclination for that number four there's an increased public disrespect for parents and if what is that happening yeah number five there's an increase in juvenile delinquency promiscuity and rebellion number six the hostility of pseudo-intellectuals to the traditional family soon spreads to the common people sealing the doom for society by boys pseudo-intellectuals that's what he calls liberals okay is they think they're smart but they're not now it marries our headquarters of marriage they're in South Lake Texas in Dallas and so we have a marriage on the rocks certification course that I teach a couple two or three times a year and people come in from all over the world to that course and so we had this couple that flew in to come to the course and they were checking into their hotel and the man behind the counter of the hotel said what brings you to South Lake and they said what we're here for Jimmy Evans marriage of course and the guy behind the counter said does anybody care about marriage anymore contempt for marriage has spread to the common people in our society it's no longer just think-tank people at Harvard or somewhere else the average person in America today no longer believes in marriage by the way in 1930 83% of adult Americans were married today forty-nine point seven percent of adult Americans are married most adults in America are not married right now number seven there's an increased acceptance of adultery and sexual perversion and every society that has fallen from within has those seven things let me ask you a question do we have those seven things we have every single item let me say this America is not doomed because Jesus Christ is still Ward in heaven and we believe that God if but let me go back to number one it says that marriage loses say Ternes we are fighting it mary's today to raise the standard to make marriage sacred again in our society and help people understand what it is and that's even what I'm doing right now with you in this mess because I know you believe in marriage I know your Christian people don't believe in it but I'm saying we must stand for marriage because when marriage Falls society Falls and we've got to stand for it this is number three reason for a marriage is two generationally perpetuate the nature of God and the values of his kingdom marriage makes us act like God and look like God marriage causes us to behave differently and anybody here who's married is successfully married here's here are the things that marriage requires of us number one sacrifice marry marriage doesn't work for selfish people if you're selfish stay single I'm just saying it will not marriage his brutal on selfish people number one is sacrifice marriage is a covenant and the word covenant means to cut it means a sacrificial permanent relationship the second thing that marriage requires is commitment that's why I'm a lot of people live together they've not getting married they're not committed if you're committed you'll get married and so it requires commitment God says in Hebrews 13:5 day one of our relationship I will never leave you I will never forsake you how many of you are glad that God's committed us like that anybody glad I'm glad I will never on your worst day he will never leave your forsake you that's what you call commitment it's God like service we have to serve each other selflessness cooperation faithfulness and generosity God put his image on Adam and Eve and then commanded them to multiply before they were qualified to multiply they had to bear God's image well part of that is what I showed you earlier the other part was his character parents are image bearers to their children of God and when parents are married and their their marriage is full of sacrifice and cooperation and service and selflessness children are seeing the image of God and not only will the children love the parents but also the children will love God but when society rejects marriage were not just rejecting marriage we're rejecting the character of God in our society and in our homes and when I said earlier that one of the signs of an atomistic age is rebellion in children and disrespect of authority you know why children become rebellious and disrespectful toward Authority as there's nothing to respect their parents are so selfish that their parents value their own pleasure over their children's well-being you know there comes a point in the child's life that they really just don't care how happy we are they carried that were there and we do our job and for children to be healthy they need parents that are willing to sacrifice for their well-being and not lay them on the altar of their pleasure and that's what's happening a lot in our culture number four to multiply cumin family with righteous offspring and the God says it this is Malachi - did he not make them one talking about a married couple having a remnant of the Spirit by his Spirit make them one and why one he seeks godly offspring marriage is best for kids and at the end of the day children when a marriage fails children are hurt by that and our society devalues that and I know that there are single parents here and single parents can raise terrific kids but you know it's harder it's harder because you're by yourself but so the Heritage Foundation released a report talking about marriage and its effect on children and here's part of their report here because when God says I want them to be one in marriage why because I want righteous offspring here's what the Heritage Foundation and think-tank says about parents and children children raised in intact families have on an average higher academic achievement better emotional health and fewer behavioral problems fathers of intact families spend on average more time with their children teens who frequently have dinner with their families or lower risk for substance abuse adolescents from intact families are less likely to become sexually active children raised in intact families by happily married parents tend to be more religious in adulthood children raised in intact families are more likely to have stable and healthy romantic relationships as adults intact families were more likely to provide a safer home for children married mothers tend to create a better home environment for their infants married mothers are less likely to experience abuse and violence and married fathers tend to have better psychological well-being well you may be divorced remarried great you're not that's great this this might not be your first marriage maybe it's your third or fourth I hope it's your last and I hope you'll fight for it and if you are divorced and single I hope that you will believe God to bring you a spouse that you can have this kind of marriage I would be divorced but if it weren't for the grace of God so I'm not being self-righteous all I'm saying is children are better off when they have their parents they need their mom and dad and the reason the devil attacks your marriage number one is because it looks like God number two is it makes you act like God and number three is he wants to break your child's heart we must fight for the holy institution that God loves and if we've made mistakes thank God that we have a forgiving God and if we're broken right now thank thank God that we have a redemptive God that can put us back together but we as believers and we as a society we must come back to the place of understanding marriage is not just another relationship it is the foundation of society and it is the holy institution that God loves somebody say Amen [Applause] [Music] thank you for watching today stick around we have more practical and encouraging marriage content coming up in a minute at marriage today our passion is to equip families with the teaching and the tools they need to succeed you can support that mission through either a one-time gift or by becoming a reoccurring monthly partner help us spread hopes of families all over the world make a one-time gift of any amount today and we'll send you one of our best-selling marriage teachings for a gift of $45 or more we'll send you a full series on CD from our library of in-depth teachings plus one of Jimmy Evans best-selling books for one-time gift of $75 or more we'll send you a full series on DVD and a book as our way of saying thank you another option is to give a reoccurring monthly gift to marriage today your partnership with us plays a vital role through practical resources television live events and an online community we are healing marriages and creating families 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in a family where divorce was common throughout several generations and marriage was not respected how can I hope for a healthy marriage and that's a great one yes it is and I think so many people can relate to this question absolutely because we tend to default to whatever we saw like whatever we grew up with even if it wasn't healthy we tend to repeat a lot of those same habits we go back to what we know and so what do people do when they didn't have that good example when there isn't there aren't people in their family that they can look to and say I want a marriage like that where do you look I think you have to look to the Lord you know you have to realize that you know yes we are affected by how we're raised and and by the surroundings that we grew up with but that does not define our life that God is calling us to something that maybe look different than our own family and that we need to pray about that we need to talk to the Lord and look to the word you know the word is what defines marriage not what we've seen in our life not whatever social media says or whatever you see on TV it's what God says because God is the one who designed a marriage and when we look in the word it's a beautiful covenant it's a wonderful relationship between a man and a woman and there's so much I look forward to there and I think instead of looking at all the mistakes maybe we've seen represented in the relationships within our life we need to look to what the Lord is calling us to do that's right that you are not doomed or defined by your past or by what the people in your family have done you have the power to make your own choice to to shape a new future to create a new tradition in your family and God wants to help you get there as you continue to pray study his word and then look for mentor couples this is something that's helped us even though thankfully we had some great examples in our own family to look to but we've also looked to mentor couples friends who are further ahead than we are to have the kind of family that we'd like to have not an exact replica they're living out principles that we want to learn from and then we just put ourselves around those folks and kind of said hey be our friends you know teach us what you know that's helped us so much you don't have to figure this out on your own find somebody that's a few steps ahead of where you are and learn from them and I would say to surround yourselves with couples who also value marriage and you know a lot of times this happens in in small groups within churches and I just think that's a beautiful thing I know we've always had a small group that we've been part of and all those couples value marriage and family and we've learned so much from one another a lot of times we do marriage studies together and it just helps you to keep on growing together in the Lord and also in your relationship so good and that leads into the second question which is this I want my children to know what a successful marriage looks like what are some practical ways we can teach our kids even at an early age that marriage is fun and something to look forward to and I love this question because I think that part of the reason why there's a generation of young folks coming up now that aren't interested in marriage is simply because they didn't see good examples that they grew up in a house for maybe that marriage was not healthy and they think if that's what marriage is then I'm not gonna do it I might live with people I might just be in relationships but I don't want to do marriage but we have an opportunity as parents and as husband and wife to model the kind of marriage that makes our kids want to get married someday excited to get married someday and it's not because we're we're perfect we're far from it but we can model that it's fun that it's healthy that it's real and that it brings out the best in the family and I think some practical ways we can do this is by valuing our time with our spouse and showing our kids that this is important one practical way you can do this is by making date night a priority and also by making just time with your spouse a priority and I know we've talked about this before but putting your kids to bed a little early and saying this is now mommy daddy time you know I want to have a little time with your mom or with your dad it just shows them that you value your time and you value your marriage you want to invest in your marriage and let your kids see you kiss yes you could see affection Roza balance is healthy make out incredible there's certainly boundaries but it is good to show your kids that you enjoy each other that you want to be together that is so healthy and it makes them look forward to marriage one day so we're gonna have to wrap this up because she's dying to make out with me right but thank you so much for tuning into this you guys keep investing in your marriage and we'll see you next time [Music]

Channel: XO Marriage

Views: 86,637

Rating: 4.9049358 out of 5

Keywords: marriage, marriage counseling, marriage help, marriage advice, relationships, relationship help, counseling, Christian counseling, divorce, husband, wife, issues, fixing your marriage, love, marriagetoday, Jimmy Evans, wedding, wedding planning

Id: iHBrdn1naxg

Length: 26min 45sec (1605 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 05 2018