Genesis 2:24(NLT)
“This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.”
God’s plan for unity among us cannot be overlooked. The Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit are One, and Ephesians 1:9-10 tells us that God’s magnificent plan for all His creation is to bring everything that exists together in Christ, this includes both things in heaven and within the earth. Revelation 1:8 declares that God is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. He knew the end at the very beginning, and He knows the beginning at the very end. Nothing escapes Him. He knows every detail of every person’s life, and He knows what we’re going to do before we do it. In the very beginning of creating the earth and the first man, Adam, God said in Genesis 2:18(NLT), “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.” Unity among human beings began then and there, and through Jesus Christ, He has established the solid rock on which every successful marriage must exist.
Unity is immeasurably important because it supports the masterful plan of God. Some of us may think that this unity in Christ that God has ordained is negotiable, but it most assuredly is not. The time that we have spent at this current level of spiritual maturity and growth is winding up, and the degree to which we recognize this and pay attention to God’s requirements will determine the rewards we hope to receive. What does this mean for the single Christian woman that is praying to cross paths with her future spouse? It means that if you haven’t met him yet, you’re still in the process of preparation.
This isn’t the easiest thing to swallow, but right now it is the realness we must grasp. All you and I have is right now. The past is gone and will never come again. The future is just that, the future. So, we have no other choice but to cast our eyes upon where we are at this very moment. We must come front and center with the reality that where we are today is a result of the decisions we made in the past. Where we will be in the future is a result of the decisions and choices we make today.
God established that the definition of unity is a bond that is produced when two or more come together with a cohesive purpose, all cooperating, functioning, and becoming one. Unity is harmony, but not just this, it is the aspect of God’s nature that allows perfect union and fellowship with us, His children. It should be no secret then that marriage shows us the level of commitment, submission, surrender, dedication, loyalty, and love that God expects in the relationship we have with Him through Jesus Christ.
Marriage is a mirror that will show us what we’re getting right in our relationship with God through Jesus Christ, and what we need to work on as well. It will always prompt us to reflect on the wisdom of God’s Word in Amos 3:3(NKJV) which begs us to answer the question, “Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?” The answer is of course “no”. Two people cannot operate together, functioning as one, in order to accomplish God’s purpose if they do not agree to do so. They must agree on their destination in order to walk in harmony and lockstep with one another. You and I don’t choose the destination, God has chosen it for us, and our destiny is to be in a place of wholeness and abundance in Christ so that we are untangled and unhindered as we move in God’s purpose.
Sometimes, we begin walking together with someone without having the destination that God has ordained as our motivation. The chief motivation for many single individuals is about the flesh and its pleasures, and this line of thinking isn’t going to hold a marriage together, and ultimately, it is not going to make us fulfilled in the relationship; if mastering the physical aspect of a relationship was all it takes, more marriages would last.
We have to realize that the motivation to please God is not something we can get around to on the back end. It can’t be an afterthought. It’s how we start a race that determines how we finish it. How we start a race determines if we have what it takes to endure until the end. Preparation is the process whereby the motivation to be like Christ is firmly anchored in our hearts. We have to see this, because Jesus Christ is the solid rock on which our future marital relationships must be built. He teaches us in Matthew 7:24-27(NLT), “24 Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. 25Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. 26 But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. 27 When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”
It can be said that there is no greater relationship between two people than marriage, and it begins with both individuals agreeing to walk together. This is one of the reasons that our Lord and Savior instructs us to first develop a heart that is faithful to God, and clings to Him continually, because God will cause the couple’s agreement to flourish. We have seen so many marriages destroyed, and for many of us, the first time we saw it happening was in our own parent’s marital union. Because of what we’ve witnessed and heard about, we come up with all kinds of workarounds that deviate from the unity that God has ordained in a marriage. We’ve allowed society to convince us that very few marriages make it. The reality is that marriages work for individuals that work the Word.
A marriage built on the solid rock of Jesus Christ is not an emotional or financial drain. It is an institution that God founded upon the pillars of His love, faith, and unity, and He’s woven all of these in the hearts of His people. Be careful that you are not making worldliness and things of the flesh your foundational requirements to finding a companion, because this would be a house built on sand, and it will collapse. We must not expect that marriage will give us someone that makes us whole. Rather, we must be confident in the truth that God has made us whole through Jesus Christ. We are being prepared to walk in this fully ourselves and to help our spouses do the same.■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
“Built on Solid Rock” written by Kim Times, edited by Fran Mack for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2021. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!