Biblical Marriage – Part Three Post author By skypilot47 Post date January 10, 2021
Biblical Marriage – Part Three – Godly Patriarchy
Contrast of Biblical and Cultural Marriage
BIBLICAL Marriage:
Based on God’s values
Man focused (androcentric)
Oriented toward family
Meets sexual needs and desires in the will of God
Enables the fulfilling of the creation mandate to reproduce and multiply
Has orderly structure and strength
Values the lives of others and the unborn
Demonstrates God’s love, mercy, grace, and justice
CULTURAL Marriage:
Based on humanistic values
Woman focused (gynocentric)
Oriented toward self fulfillment
Sexual needs are usually met selfishly and often not fulfilling
Minimizes the creation mandate in favor of personal and social goals
Seriously lacks stability and order
Devalues life, see Abortion on demand
Portrays humanism and self will, manifesting carnal characteristics
Of all the differences in the above list, the most significant one, is the most difficult to deal with. When this difference is conformed to God’s design and purpose, everything else begins to fall into place. Peace cannot truly reign in our marriages until the matter of ANDROCENTRIC vs GYNOCENTRIC is resolved in favor of androcentricity. Gynocentricity is diametrically opposed to God’s design for marriage. God designed marriage to reflect Him and His relationship with His people.
Conflict between men and Women in marriage
It is almost impossible for one to miss the friction that exists between men and women in western culture. Unfortunately, the same friction is prevalent in churches as well. You would have to be a Rip Van Winkle awakening from his 20 year sleep to miss the significant, in your face, publishing of the conflicts between men and women that are found in movies, music, magazines, family sitcoms, cartoons, and commercials. God designed marriage with structure that reflects the structure of the Godhead. God specifically established marriage to have a head, 1 Cor. 11:3, and that head is the man, the husband. The woman, the wife is the husband’s helper, Genesis 2:18, she is his equal in substance and value, but her position in the family is the subordinate position.
All of the Friction Between Men and Women starts here
The problem between spouses is the same as the problem between people and God. A measure of rebellion against established authority marks both relationships. Note carefully, in Genesis 2:16,17 God gave to Adam the command to NOT eat of the tree in the midst of the garden. But, it was not until Genesis 2:21,22 that God created Eve. Adam alone, received the command from God and he was therefore the only one responsible to God for obeying it. Eve received the command from Adam and she was responsible to Adam for obeying the command. Details are significant. Eve was deceived by the Serpent, she looked at the fruit, she reasoned that it was good food, and she believed the Serpent that it would make her wise. The hook that the Serpent got her with is in Genesis 3:5, “ye shall be as gods”. That issue is the very issue that is the heart of Lucifer’s rebellion against God. Satan/Lucifer wants to be in the place of God. He, as the Serpent, was telling Eve that she could be as Adam (replace him as head). Until Adam ate the fruit of the tree, with full knowledge, he was the god of this world. By eating the fruit, Adam was no longer the god of this world. He yielded his allegiance to Satan. That dominion now belonged to Satan/Lucifer. The Lord had made Adam, the god of this world with dominion over all God’s creation. Adam made Satan the god of this world. Satan is now one step closer to being god. The only thing that God reserved to Himself and not to Adam, was the tree of knowledge of good and evil. God is God, Satan is not. Adam is god, Eve is not. When Adam listened to the voice of Eve and disregarded the command of God, Genesis 3:9,17 death came upon all the world because of one man’s disobedience, Romans 5:19.
Friction Creates Heat
Eve chose the Serpents authority over Adam’s. Adam chose to listen to the voice of his wife instead of the Lord’s. They were both in the transgression, but Eve was deceived and Adam wasn’t. He was the responsible party, 1 Timothy 2:14. There were consequences for both Adam and Eve. For Eve, the Lord said there are three consequences, Genesis 3:16. 1. multiplied sorrow and conception (remorse, frustration, sadness for what had happened). 2. bringing forth children with sorrow (fear, worry, pain). 3. her desire to be as a god is subject to her husband and he will rule over her. This is not the source of the headship of Adam. Headship had already been established. This is the source of the conflict between husbands and wives, a struggle for power and dominance.
Eve’s desire to be equal to or superior to her husband in authority and power is a result of her sin and God’s judgement upon her. These three pronouncements affect women to this day. It is built into our fallen nature to have this conflict between men and women, but it is not God’s plan for His redeemed, born again people. Because of the enabling power of the Holy Spirit within us, we are capable of living in harmony with God and our spouse. He desires that we live as children of His light, not as children of darkness.
The daughters of Eve in today’s world have embraced feminism at one level or another. The unsaved daughters of Eve typically view marriage as woman centered. God’s Word teaches that although women are highly valued and important, marriage is man centered, just as the kingdom of God is God centered and not human centered. The born again, godly daughters of Eve often struggle with adapting to God’s design, just as the Lord said Eve would struggle with adapting to Adam’s position. The closer God’s daughters walk to Him, the less they struggle with His design for marriage.
I believe that men and women struggle to walk obediently and happily in God’s design, but when we do, our marriages are the closest thing to Heaven on Earth. Part four will deal with conflicts between modern marriage and Biblical marriage as well as how to restore the glory and joy of His design.
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