THE ROLES OF A MAN AND A WOMAN IN A MARRIAGE…PART 1, GENESIS 25

Love that lasts

How to make love last

I remember vividly that last time we gave a teaser, a sneak peek into one of the subjects that is undeniably very key with regards to life. The issue between the union of a man and a woman. Countless times if you are privileged enough to attend weddings they speak of two things without fail. Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church and wives submit to your husbands. Unfortunately in so many instances no one really elucidates what loving one’s wife as Christ is and what submission really entails. So people use tradition and culture to try and fit within the confines of scripture, speaking of which mostly both parties fail to find satisfaction in the word. Is the word wrong? No, definitely it can’t be. The problem is with the preachers!!!What really is the truth? Anything key regarding the church the word of God always reveal. May you read attentively the passage that follows.

(Gen 25:19-23 Now these are the records of the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham became the father of Isaac; and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife. Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and the LORD ANSWERED him and Rebekah his wife conceived. But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If it is so, why then am I this way?” So she went to inquire of the LORD. The LORD said to her, “Two nations are in your womb; And two peoples will be separated from your body; And one people shall be stronger than the other, NASU)

How to stay in love

(Gen 25:19-23 This is the family tree of Isaac son of Abraham: Abraham had Isaac. Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan Aram. She was the sister of Laban the Aramean. Isaac prayed hard to God for his wife because she was barren. God answered his prayer and Rebekah became pregnant. But the children tumbled and kicked inside her so much that she said, “If this is the way it’s going to be, why go on living?” She went to God to find out what was going on. God told her, Two nations are in your womb, two peoples butting heads while still in your body. One people will overpower the other, and the older will serve the younger, THE MESSAGE).

Brethren, look at this God created a man and a woman both in His image and after His likeness. This was not the case with formation. With formation the man was first and the woman came out of the man. Those who were with us as from Genesis 1 understand the difference between formation and creation. Today, we want for us to pay particular attention to the anatomy of the different bodies

1. A man is physically stronger than a woman.

2. A man has what carries the seed and the seed and the woman doesn’t have.

3. A woman has a womb/ man don’t.

4. A woman has breasts/ man don’t.

dating your spouse

God doesn’t form these differences just for the sake of it. God in creation encapsulated spiritual realities. It therefore calls for man to seek out why they are the way they are. We thank God for the scriptures, from it all truth is revealed. From the scriptures above we know Isaac is faced with a dilemma. He as a man is supplying the seed, the womb is receiving without producing results. In other words the womb was dead. What did Isaac do about it? We never hear of Rebecca entreating God over failure to conceive. She didn’t do that? Why was God careful to present the issue in such a way? Here is a parable in the bible. (Luke 13:6-9 Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’ “‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.'”) Now we have to understand that in the gospel a fig tree represented Israel. It is God who is the owner of the plantation Israel who send His Son to tend the garden. For 3 years He anticipated fruit and fruit wasn’t coming through. Jesus is the one who took care of the garden. In response to the unfruitfulness he pleaded to fertilize. In the book of Genesis Isaac typifies Christ

What then is the role of the man in a marriage setup? We said man is stronger physically. Man is therefore expected to protect the woman…fertilizing. What is the primary role of the man? Man is there to supply seeds into the womb of the woman. Marriage is not only for procreation, it is just but the minor. The major is the spiritual bearing. Let us go back to the book of Genesis. In Genesis 1:26-28, both man and woman were created in the image and likeness of God. Both were given the blessing to dominate. In genesis 2, Adam is formed first and given a garden to tend and instructions given to him. Be careful to note that though Eve wasn’t physically, spiritually she was in Adam. That is why in the NT Paul explains that Eve was created in the image of Adam. Is it a contradiction of the fact that both male and female were created in the image of God? No, it is not! Just understand further. The long and short of it is that man has the seed. What is the seed? The seed is the purpose or vision. The vision of a marriage union is with the man. That is why Isaac was seen praying pertaining the womb. In other words he was saying I have given the woman the vision but she is doing nothing so as to birth purpose. Vision is received first, vision is the conceived, and vision is then fed. Pertinent question. Is a woman without a vision? No, that is not the case. In a marriage union, both man and woman share the same vision. Remember it is Christ who wrote His purpose in the womb of His bride the church. Ideally, what we have is the church operating using the mind of Christ. It is not like the man was given the role to dominate and think for the woman. That is not it. Man was given the role to vision for the woman.

To be continued…..