10/01/2024
UNLEASHED: THE RELEASE WITH A PURPOSE
Topic: Let's visit Adam and Eve (Genesis 4:1) – Part Three (3)
Lessons from the first marriage.
The First Marriage👇
From our previous visit, we saw that God created human beings for relationship; first, to relate with Him, God, and also to relate with ourselves. We concluded that home is the hub for releasing us to good relationships, and that any kind of relationship between humans should best start from the home.
Our skills at good human relations should have their roots from the home. How we relate, first with our spouses, then with our family members, should translate to how we relate with people outside. If you are good at relating with people outside the home, but a monster in the house, then you are deficient, a sycophant, or a pretender.
Today, we want to further look at relationship in the marriage and glean some lessons from the first couple, Adam and Eve.
Getting a Suitor👇
Adam and Eve had a wonderful marriage. First, God made a woman who was suitable for Adam. This indicates that before anyone sets out for the journey of marriage, they must first consider someone who is suitable to them. This calls for knowing who you are, your mandate on earth, your vision, and your destination. What is it that God wants you to achieve? Then you look for a partner that will best fit for that divine assignment here on earth. The Puritans considered marriage to be a ministry to affect lives, that should be our ultimate aim as Christians.
Now, Adam was put into a deep sleep before Eve was presented to him.
The lesson here is that a man should wait until his woman becomes a wife before seeing her nakedness. God didn't allow Adam to see the rough and raw Eve until she was 'clothed' and presented to him. God presented the wife to the husband.
Dear sister, allow your parents to mould and 'clothe' you, and present you as their pride to the man who desires you. Don't rush into his piercing view.
The right form of marriage is when the parents' consent has been sought. God, the Father of the wife or the woman, presented her to her husband to be.
And when Adam got the wife, he accepted her by declaring that she is the bone of his bones and the flesh of his flesh. The lesson here is that no one should have a woman imposed on him. Adam had to officially accept Eve, even though God presented Eve to him. Every man must first accept the woman that comes his way. And that is why it is not enough to receive prophetic messages and directives from others concerning that who will be your future spouse or that whom you are to spend your whole life with. If you do not have a confirmation within your heart and in your spirit, that person shouldn't be a spouse.
Openness and Sharing👇
We pick from this couple that when Eve was deceived by the serpent, immediately she ate the fruit; the fruit that to her was to give her knowledge of good and bad. The fruit that was pleasant to the eyes and good to taste. She did not hide it from her husband.
In our world today, the average spouse, when they get something good, especially the wife, would hide it from the husband. If this tree was to give Eve knowledge of good and evil, some women, some wives would have capitalised on that and kept it for themselves. They would have coveted being wiser than their husband and kept it all to themselves. But the virtuous Eve, the wife who loved the husband, and submissive to the husband, even in deception, decided to honour her marriage by giving the fruit to Adam.
Putting God First before Anything else👇
Unfortunately, Adam should have stamped his authority as the man of the home, the one who was giving the specific instructions regarding the tree.
Because at the time the instructions on the tree was given, Eve was not made. It was only Adam who was there.
Could it be that Adam missed the instructions regarding the tree or decided to embellish God's instructions? That would be a lesson for another time. However, I want to stress that Eve did not hide the goodies, the b***y from her husband.
Focusing on the Union than Crisis👇
Even when God has dismissed them from the garden, we did not read that their marriage was affected. In fact, the next thing we read about this couple was that 'Adam knew his wife'. They continued with marital affection.
Eve did not accuse the husband for being irresponsible, for not stamping his authority in the home. Adam did not accuse the wife of destroying their future, but the two of them reconciled and focused on their life together and marital bliss.
We all need to learn from this couple. Overly focusing on marital crisis instead of considering how to build the marriage, has been the bane of many homes. Sometimes we may not get it right in our relationships; we may offend each other. Sometimes issues will come up, but it is always key to reconcile and focus on building a home. If Adam and Eve had dwelt on this issue and destroyed their marriage, if they had carried their earlier accusations and passing the buck attitude, their marriage wouldn't have worked and humanity would have been destroyed. God's plan for humanity would have been thwarted or God would have been compelled go into creation business again.
Because these two couple united and made sure their marriage survived, here we are today. These are golden lessons we can pick from this couple, even in the midst of their calamity and faults.
God still hates divorce. Don't be deceived. If we once loved, we can always love. Focus on reconciliation not the crisis.
God be with us
