God’s Wonderful Marriage Math Equation
There are more than a few Bible numbers that for many just don’t add up. The numbers 6 (days of Creation) and 6,000 (approximate age of the earth) present insurmountable obstacles for the evolutionary mind and society; 5 (barley loaves) and 2 (fish) cannot be multiplied to feed 5,000+ people. A God who is triune (3 divine persons, yet 1 almighty God) flies in the face of human math and logic.
Yet our God, whose thoughts are as high above ours as heaven is above the earth (Isa. 55:9), is not bound by the limits of man’s mathematical and scientific laws.
God’s marriage math has also fallen out of favor with natural man and our humanistic society. Yet for the child of God it ever remains God’s scriptural equation for a blessed Christian marriage. “And the two shall become one flesh” (Gen. 2:24).
To put it simply, marriage in God’s sight is:
One + One = One
The world has devised its own equations which it views as preferable to God’s marriage equation. One of them is: 1 + 1 = 3 or more. The world sees no problem with adding a party or two to the marriage relationship. Adultery, extra-marital relationships, and other forms of immorality all do that very thing.
Between those who approve, promote, and live such lifestyles and those tolerant or indifferent to them, it is clear that American moral and marriage standards are waning.
There is another marriage equation which at first hearing sounds very reasonable: 1 + 1 = 2.
And yet God did not say: “The two shall become two.” Couples are already two before marriage. In marriage they become something they never were before–one.
The world likes the sound of 1 + 1 = 2. To each party it would say: “Stay independent; become liberated from bondage to someone else; do your own thing; go your own way; follow your dreams; find fulfillment in yourself.”
While such an attitude has great appeal to the flesh, it is a formula for marital disaster and is clearly in conflict with God’s Genesis design: 1 + 1 = 1.
Marriage Math Applied
One + one = one. What does God mean by that in marriage? Simply this–that it is His design, purpose, and will regarding marriage that husband and wife become one in many ways:
* they are bonded together in life's most intimate union and
relationship--physically, emotionally, and (we pray) also
spiritually;
* they become part of each other so that nothing ever separates
them until death;
* they cherish and care for each other as Christ does the
Church;
* each other's needs, desires, and dreams become their own;
* each willingly sacrifices self, and anything else, for the
other;
* they joyfully and faithfully carry out their complementary
biblical roles as husband and wife.
All of this is God’s description of marital love in Scripture–a permanent, heartfelt, unwavering, unselfish, sacrificial bond and commitment patterned after Christ’s love-commitment to His beloved bride, the Church.
And since God is the perfect Creator, Designer, and Implementer of Christian marriage, we do well to hear and heed His counsel as the ultimate authority on the subject.
While this ideal and intimate marital union meets daily opposition from both our society and our own sinful hearts, our hope in Christian marriage–as in life–always remains the forgiving love of our God and Savior.
His great love is the true foundation for all earthly love, including marriage. He alone can fill our hearts with the kind of love for Him and for our spouses that it takes to make life and marriage work.
May God’s wonderful marriage math equation (1 + 1 = 1) add up in our hearts and lives to a God-pleasing and blessed Christian marriage.
–Pastor David Schierenbeck