Understanding The Covenant of Marriage - Ephesians 5:22-33

Facts about Marriage

1. Marriage Is A Covenant Of Three People – Man, Wife & God
   (Because God Is The Initiator And Maker Of Marriages)
   Genesis 2:18, 21-23
   18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
   21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
   22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
   
   23 - And Adam said, THIS IS NOW BONE OF MY BONES, and FLESH OF MY FLESH
   
   
2. Marriage is a Covenant To Become One Fresh.
   Genesis 2:24 - Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave (Joined) unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. (Repeated - Ephesians 5:31)
   
   

No Place For Divorce: -
God Is A Covenant Keeping God; He Expect The Same In Marriage
(Psalms 89:34-My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips)
Mark 10:6-8
6 But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.
7 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife;
8 And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh.

9 What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. (KJV)
(9 What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate." (WEB))

3. Marriage Is A Covenant Of Responsibilities.
   
   The Man: The Husband
   (1) Love and Sacrifice
   Ephesians 5:25, 28
   25 - Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
   28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.
   
   
   (2) Sanctify and Cleanse
   Ephesians 5:26-27
   26 -That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
   27 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.
   
   
   (3) Nourish and Satisfy
   Ephesians 5:29 - For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth (Feed) and cherisheth (Take Care) it, even as the Lord the church
   
   (4) Dwell With Her
   1Peter 3:7 - Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife.
   
   (5) Know Your Wife
   1Peter 3:7 - Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife
   
   
   The Woman: The Wife

Submission:
Ephesians 5:22 - 23
22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church:

Note:
Submission does not mean saying Yes All The Time!
It is not becoming a door mat! – a Wife is a HELP MEET

One of the Signs of Maturity is the ability to SAY NO.


Both Husband & Wife
Training Up Their Children.
Proverbs 22:6 - Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Finally

4. Marriage Is Honourable
   Hebrews 13:4 - Marriage is honourable in ALL
   4 Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled; for God will judge the immoral and adulterous. (RSV)
   
   
5. Marriage is sustained by Thanksgiving and Appreciation.
   
   A good wife or a good husband is NOT an ACHIEVEMENT.
   It is a “RECEIVEMENT”

Every Good Thing comes from Above.
James 1:17 - Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above,