Today there are many definitions of marriage. An English dictionary says marriage is “a legal contract, entered into by a man and a woman, to live together as husband and wife.” In this lesson, we are concerned about what God says marriage is. We believe that God created the world and everything in it. The last thing he created was a man and a woman.
So God created man in his own image…male and female He created them (Genesis 1:27).
At first God made the man. Knowing how lonely Adam was, God caused him to sleep and took one of his ribs and created a woman, Eve, to be his helper (Genesis 2:20-23). Marriage was the first institution God made, long before governments, schools, churches and businesses. He wants your marriage to be a blessing!
God gave a definition of marriage for Adam and Eve which also applies to us today.
For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh (Genesis 2:24).
Let us examine more closely God’s definition of marriage. There are 3 parts. We could give an example of a stool that has three legs. Each leg is very important for the stool to stand and be used. Marriage is like that stool. Each part of the definition of marriage is important if the marriage is to succeed as a marriage.