– WHAT IS A CHRISTIAN HOME?

                             WHAT IS A CHRISTIAN HOME?

CHAPTER 1

                                       MARRIAGE

           Let’s think together about the Christian marriage. Marriage was God’s idea. Let’s look at what makes a Christian marriage and

a Christian home. What does it mean to be

married – from God’s viewpoint? What is the duty of each member of the family? According   to the Bible, what is each member to do in order to maintain a proper Christian perspective and responsibility as a part of the family? Let's start where God started it all. We call it

“Marriage”.

Marriage is the only institution that has come

down to us from the other side of the fall

of man in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:21-25). God ordained marriage before sin entered the world and intended for it to be the fullest, richest and most

joyous life on planet earth. If it fails in being this, the fault is not in the

institution itself but in those who enter into it carelessly and fail to fulfill its conditions. In fact, marriage is so important to God’s plan that

He makes a comparison in the book of Ephesian  ans between marriage and the Church. “The husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ

is the head of the Church; and he is the savior of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let wives be to their own husbands. Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself

for it... So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself” (Ephesians 5:23-25; 28). The Church

should be a reflection of the home, and the home should be a reflection of the Church.

P                  Re-Marital Check List

Expectation in marriage varies in many ways. Some get married for the wrong

motives such as: physical attraction, financial security, physical security, emotional stability,sexual compatibility, freedom from parents,escape from a bad home, a poor self-image, approval and the list continues.Sooner or later these motives

will surface and will put the marriage in jeopardy. Each should be absolutely honest and open with each other before marriage. They should have the liberty to as

k questions whether they are social, spiritual, physical or anything that might be a part of the others past. Honesty will prevent future

shocks that may save the marriage. In fact,every romantic relationship requires the test of time, as well as the test of an occasional separation. This

is a fundamental practice in determining God’s will. Time apart will make

the heart grow fonder, either for the one you plan to marry or for someone else. Make sure your relationship has experienced the time test. God planned for many of our individual needs to be met through marriage. The need

for companionship, family, social acceptance, sexual intimacy and many other needs are met

through marriage. “For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be

joined unto his wife, and these two shall become one flesh” (Ephesians 5:31). God ordained

marriage for the comfort, happiness and well being of mankind. It is a part of God’s original

plan. It is not a relationship that evolved. It is not a custom into which men fell into during

the early days of the human race. It is not a mere arrangement or relationship that is

temporary and man-made. It is of Divine origin as a part of God’s creation, which God

ordained to be a life-long commitment to each other. “What God has joined together let no

man put asunder” (Mark 10:9). It is His ordained institution for men and women to join in a

physical and emotional relationship and to have the privilege of bringing forth children into

the world. There is no relationship on earth so close and

sacred as the relationship of marriage. It supersedes the relationship of a child to mother or

father. Our Savior, Himself, directed that a man should forsake father and mother and cleave

unto his wife (Genesis 2:24). This is not to be taken as meaning that a man should neglect fath

er or mother - far from that. It means that the marriage relationship and obligations come

first. From the moment a man and woman stand at the marriage altar, thei

r highest duty is to each other.A minister of the gospel should perform

a Christian marriage. It is a ceremony so solemn, so fraught with possibilities of good

or evil, so bound up with the eternal destiny of the lives of people that a cheap or flippa

nt mode of entrance thereupon should not be tolerated. In marriage, two hearts and lives

are being joined, becoming one for their lifetime.This was God’s original plan for marriage before

the fall of man into sin. “For this cause a man shall leave his father and his mother and

shall cleave to his wife: and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). One is

the only number that is not divisible. Here is a famous quote that gives God’s perspective on marriage. 

    “If God meant for

woman to rule over man, He would have taken her out of Adam’s head. Had he designed her

to be his slave, He would have taken her out of his feet. But God took 

woman out of man’s side, for He made her to be a helpmate and an equal with him” (Augustine).              

 Commitment

Marriage is a bond that can only be dissolved by death. The ceremony is focused on a

covenant between two people who exchange vows and pledge to each other to “love, honor

and cherish until death do us part”. The ceremony anticipates commitment exclusive of future

events regardless of what happens. “For better or for worse, in sickness or in health, for

richer or for poorer.” These two people stand before God and form a covenant that only death

can annul. It is not difficult for us to think that the angels

of heaven hush their songs and grow silent in wonder while holy vows are take

n, and two hearts and lives are thus joined by

Divine appointment. A ceremony so holy, so sacred, so filled with destiny that as Christians,

it should only be done in the presence of Christians who understand the sacredness of this occasion. Let’s not be guilty of treating this Divine plan lightly.