What does the Bible
say about marriage?
The institution of marriage is recorded in Genesis: "The man said, ‘This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called “woman,” for she was taken out of man.’ For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh" (Genesis 2:23-24). God created man and then made woman. God took one of Adam's "ribs" (Genesis 2:21-22). The Hebrew word for “rib” literally means the side of a person.
Therefore, Eve was taken from Adam’s side and it is at his side that she belongs. "So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found" (Genesis 2:20). The word “helper” is from the Hebrew ezer and means to surround, to protect or aid, help, succor. Therefore, it means to help, assist or aid. Eve was created to be alongside Adam as his "other half," to be his aid and his help. A man and woman when married become "one flesh." The New Testament adds a warning regarding this oneness. "So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate" (Matthew 19:6).
There are several epistles written by the Apostle Paul that refer to marriage and how born again believers are to operate within their marriage relationships. We find one such passage in 1 Corinthians chapter 7 and another in Ephesians 5:22-33. When studied together these two passages provide the believer with biblical principles that form a framework for a God-pleasing marriage relationship.
The passage found in Ephesians is especially profound in its scope in reference to a successful Biblical marriage. "Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior" (Ephesians 5:22-23). "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her" (Ephesians 5:25). "In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church” (Ephesians 5:28-29). “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh” (Ephesians 5:31).
When a husband and wife who are born again believers institute God’s principles, a biblical marriage results. This is not a lopsided relationship, but one that is in balance with Christ as the head of the man and the wife together. Therefore, the biblical concept of marriage is a oneness between two individuals that pictures the oneness of Christ with His church.
