The Big Picture

What the Bible Teaches about Marriage: The Big Picture * PCJB PP Presentation devised and prepared at Gujranwala Theological Seminary may be copied for non-commercial use only September 2008

To Discuss

(Let’s start at the beginning!)

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• Who invented Marriage? • And why?

How Marriage??? Some marriage books (the more practical ones) focus on: The “How?” questions. How can we communicate better? How can we resolve conflict? Even: How can we have a better sexual relationship?

What is Marriage? Other marriage books (the more theoretical ones) focus on: The “What?” questions. What is marriage? Does it have boundaries? Is cohabitation the same as marriage?

Why Marriage? We will start with: The “Why?” questions (the theological issues) To begin with, we cannot understand the true purpose of marriage unless we know what the Creator intended when He made it.

Why Marriage? This is different from asking what purpose people have when they marry, with their various expectations, hopes and dreams. Equally this is not the same as asking what the socially accepted purposes of marriage are.

To Discuss

(What’s it all about?)

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• Why do people marry? What are some of the less obvious reasons for getting married? NOTE: All Discussion Questions should be discussed

Expectations: Marriage Plans When two people enter the marital union they do so with an almost endless list of expectations They may be openly expressed or secretly cherished, but each of us enters the relationship for our own reasons. We all, consciously or unconsciously,

Expectations When one or more of these expectations is not met often the relationship flounders. So it is a good idea to consider What is the purpose of marriage?

Q 1: Why Marriage? The Church has normally claimed that marriage exists to meet human needs in three main areas: • Relational intimacy, (a Protestant priority) meeting a man’s need for • Companionship • Close friendship

Q 1: Why Marriage? • Procreation (Roman Catholic priority) meeting the social need for – Perpetuation of the human race

and the personal need for – A family

Q 1: Why Marriage? ^^ • The ‘public order’ (a secondary issue) meeting the pressure of the male sexual drive Marriage guards sexual desires from destroying society, so that society does not descend into sexual chaos (e.g. AIDS).

Drink from Your Own Well! (- Proverbs 5:15-18)

Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own welll. Should your streams overflow in the streets, your streams of water in the public square? Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers. May your fountain be blessed,

Q 2: Why Sex? Parallel answers: • Faithfulness rather than Selfishness: sex is for faithful intimacy, and intimate relationship is a good thing. • Children rather than Barrenness: sex is in order to have children, and children are a good thing.

Q 2: Why Sex? There are fallacies behind both answers: • Faithfulness in a loving human relationship is not dependant on sex. (cf. “the disciple whom Jesus loved”) Never confuse “love” with “sexual desire” simply because they are combined (rightfully) in marriage and (wrongfully) outside of marriage!

• Sex within marriage has a much wider

Why Marriage & Sex? Notice • All the answers so far are man-centred, concerned with the benefits to the man, his woman, and society? Also: • Is the marriage finished if either no children come, or one partner fails to meet the relational needs

Why Marriage? The most important question is not: What should we expect from marriage? but rather: For what over-riding purpose did GOD institute marriage?

How Marriage? The next most important question is: How can WE live a truly godly marriage?

How Marriage? We cannot live a truly godly marriage unless we enter into the relationship that we call marriage with the same goals that the Creator had

To Discuss

(Are we getting it right?)

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• How can we discover the goals that God wants to achieve in human marriage? • Do we find them simply by experiencing marriage itself? • Or should we look for an answer

Understanding What is Taught about Marriage Teaching: found in various kinds of writings from different parts of the Bible Consider first The Old Testament

Marriage in the OT The Old Testament provides • An Account of the inauguration of marriage – God’s original pattern for marriage

• Examples of godly and ungodly marriages • Laws about marriage and its aberrations • Advice about marrying and

Marriage in the OT Note: What the Old Testament Scriptures teach on Marriage is presented in various kinds of literature (genres) e.g.:

• Narrative • Law • Wisdom literature • Poetry, etc

Marriage in the OT Note: Each occurrence of the marriage topic needs the appropriate interpretation suited to the genre of its literary context. E.g. • Creation narrative as explanatory • Law as prescriptive

To Discuss

(Isn’t there a one-stop answer?)

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• Why do you think the Bible’s teaching on Marriage is scattered around many different books and expressed in many different formats? Why was it not presented as a guide or “Manual on Marriage” in a single book?

Marriage in the Bible Its Setting (Canonical Context)

• An important topic in the Bible set in a particular context

• The primary focus of divine revelation: God’s provision of salvation in Christ

The Bible’s Focus The theme of the entire Bible: The self-revelation of the God of love.

First Expression of God’s Love God’s Protection from Evil: In the garden of Eden, God commanded that "you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die"

Love’s Search We are not prepared, then, when God looks for Adam after his sin, calling out “Where are you?” to discover that God seeks Adam, not to put him to death, but to re-establish a relationship with him.

Love’s Solution God, the Lover, will not allow sin to stand between Him and His creature. He personally bridges the gap.

Love’s Rescue That seeking and bridging reaches its pinnacle when God sends his Son into the world to rescue sinners and to provide them with eternal life (John 3:16; Rom 5:7-8; Eph 2:1-5).

John declares, "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for

Channels of God’s Love God first "poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us" (Rom 5:5). God's love then awakens a response in those who accept it.

The Setting of Marriage: God’s Provision of Salvation Ultimately we cannot study what the Bible teaches on Marriage without asking how it relates marriage to God’s plan for our Salvation through Christ. The whole Bible speaks of this

The Setting of Marriage God’s Provision of Salvation

Note:

• OT looks forward through promises and anticipatory patterns to the Messiah

(Hebrew) • NT looks back to their fulfilment in Christ (Greek)

• Biblical teaching on Marriage must be understood in this

The Setting of Marriage: God’s Provision of Salvation

Christ is at the centre of the meaning and purpose of

Marriage

God’s Plan God’s plan of salvation through Christ depends for its fulfilment on the proclamation of the Gospel through the mission of Christ’s Church in obedience to

To Discuss

(Getting focused)

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• Why is it more important to ask about the “why” of marriage before we tackle the “what” and the “how”? • How do you think of

Christ as being at the centre of a Christian marriage?

Next Session

Genesis 1

Man Made in God’s Image

Why We Begin With

Genesis • Why start with “At the beginning of creation God Genesis? made them male • Jesus did (Mk. and female [Gen 10:6ff and 1:27]… and the Matt. 19:4ff) two will become one flesh. [Gen 2:24]”

The End