Adam and Eve: God’s Plan, Part 2

Jul 15, 2013 by Jim and Jerolyn Bogear

“Learn to love well to be well loved.”

We began this series on Adam and Eve last week. If you missed it, read Part 1 (God’s Plan)

As we continue with Adam and Eve and the lessons they teach us about marriage, we look at the second powerful principle of God’s plan —

Marriage is designed as a covenant and not simply a contract.

Scripture tells us how God made man and then made woman from man’s rib. Then it continues with, “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.” A covenant marriage, not simply a contract.

Contracts are important but it seems they have been devalued these days. Some of us are old enough to remember, and still live by the principle, that our word is our bond and if we commit, we will honor that verbal, binding contract. But today it seems we have lessened the value of a contract. I enjoy following sports, but it seems that too often an athlete is talking re-negotiation of the contract before the ink is dry on the signature of the current contract. There doesn’t seem to be the importance of the contract being honored, and at anytime either one of us can break it and go on as if it never happened with no consequences of breaking the contract. That is why we believe marriage is not simply a contract that can easily be broken, rather a covenant that is to last until one of us is no longer on this earth.

Now, we must say:

Yes, divorce happens. It is a reality, and some are necessary. But now let’s look at marriage from a fresh start with the relationship we are in currently or potentially in? What will we choose from this day on in our commitment to marriage? We are not condemning those who have dealt with this difficult tragedy, and we encourage you to continue on and choose to enter into a covenant marriage when the time is right. We want to support each other and help each other grow from where we are currently not confront something that is in the past to cause hurt.

Back to the covenant…in its original inception it was so much more than a contract.  It was a no-way-out commitment that people would die before breaking or actually suffer severe consequences if breaking. It was so serious that they would make it a major statement by even taking the name of the other person as their own along with many other significant forms of showing their commitment to this covenant. For more on Covenants see Jim Garlow’s book, The Covenant (Beacon Hill Press, Kansas City: 1999)

The covenant was a vow before God and others. Sounds a little familiar – something called a wedding ceremony. We make a vow to each other that we are in this thing until death separates us. I love you; I choose to love you and will stay with you.  I vow myself to you. That is more than a contract; it is a forever covenant.

Something we often say is, “Success in marriage happens when we surrender to Scripture.” Now some couples may not even believe in the Bible, but if you look at their marriage, you see that they have committed in many ways to the way God designed and Scripture describes a covenant marriage. They may very well be living out a covenantal marriage without even realizing it.

All of our marriages need to be surrendered to Scripture. God’s plan is best for us. He says the only true marriage is between one man and one woman — honoring, cherishing, and being there for one another. Scripture gives us clear direction on how to live in a covenantal marriage. We, together, win when we surrender to Scripture in our marriages.

I love the way Jerolyn shares her definition of a Covenant Marriage:

A biblical marriage is one man and one woman that say we are in a non-negotiable, bomb-proof, never-ending, no one, no-how coming between us; I will grow old with you in the nursing home; I will stand by you in a wealthy country club or in the soup line; stuck to you, laughing and crying with you forever and forever kind of covenantal marriage. That is a marriage that is surrendered to Scripture.

• How sacred and serious are your wedding vows?
• In what ways are you demonstrating a commitment to live out a covenant marriage rather than a contractual agreement between two people?

Read Adam and Eve: Their Lessons, Part 3 on Thursday, July 18th. You can watch the entire Adam and Eve sermon here.

~Jim and Jerolyn