The Sacredness of the Bond of Partnership
January 1st, 2025
Read Genesis 1-2; Luke 1
SCRIPTURE:
“Therefore, a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.” Genesis 1:24-25, ESV
OBSERVATION:
God had created all of creation including man and the common phrase that is consistently repeated was that God created an order that was after its own kind. In Genesis 1:11 vegetation from its seed multiplied “after its own kind.” Moses continues this thinking in Genesis 1:20-23, stating that all the creatures of the sea would reproduce after its own kind. The repeated phrase is that God saw this and stated it was good. In Genesis 1:24-25, it is now the creatures of the land that are to multiply after their own kind. Beginning in Genesis 1:26, God creates man in His own image and in 2:18 the Lord states, “It is not good that man should be alone, I will make him a helper fit for him.” The Hebrew word for ‘Helper’ is ‘ezer.” The noun used here [ezer] throughout the Old Testament does not suggest 'helper' as in 'servant,' but help, savior, rescuer, protector as in 'God is our help.' In no other occurrence in the Old Testament does this refer to an inferior, but always to a superior or an equal...'help' expresses that the woman is a help/strength who rescues or saves man."[1] While many devout Christians see a woman's function as a subordinate to a man, the word ezer in the original Hebrew overturns that idea. The woman was not created to serve the man, but to serve with the man. It has the connotation of “Sacred Partnership.” In a sense there is a “Sacramental” essence to the relationship between a man and a woman.
After God creates woman from the same tissue of man there is the hinge word “Therefore” that in light of everything there is a cause and an effect that a man leaves his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife and “they shall become one flesh.” To be 'one flesh' has natural and spiritual meanings.
The natural meaning alludes to the physical oneness of man and wife, which leads to procreation. This oneness in flesh in marriage, is biblically referred to as a "great mystery."
The often-cited biblical allusion to spiritual oneness of flesh refers to the fellowship that the Church enjoys with Christ in holiness.[2] I will discuss this meaning in my application.
APPLICATION:
There is a “Sacredness to the Bond of Partnership” that is between a man and a woman. In the Church where there is much debate on the place of man and woman, and we attempt to use terms like “Complementarian” or Egalitarian” to describe the ethos of the role of men and women in Hierarchical terms. This completely displaces the essence of this relationship that is truly a “sacred bond” that is powerful. This one flesh union is the most powerful bond that is created and when it is torn or violated through sexual immorality such as affairs it tears this one flesh union. Adam and Eve were not ashamed that they were naked because sin had not entered in, and they were doing life in the sacred bond of partnership that was created by God. My application this morning is God is reminding me never to lose perspective of the sacredness of my one flesh union (bond) with my wife. It is the gift to my aloneness that God has provided not only to me but also my intentional focus meeting that need for her. As I honor this bond with my bride there will be emotional and spiritual health for us and our children. As I honor this bond before my children and grandchildren it will make them more secure in their own sense of belonging. How many times when my sons struggled in their own walk with God, I thought by lecturing them further or reminding them how unbiblical their choices were was the fix to their drifting when in fact me publicly making them aware that the bond that I share with their mom is intact and will not be violated is the anchor that calls them back. May I always honor the sacred bond that I share with my bride Valerie.
PRAYER:
“Father God, I know that you are the author of genuine love that comes from You and You alone. You tell us that love is patient and kind, and that love endures for the betterment of the person that we are on the journey with that is my bride. It is with this understanding that I ask that You please help me to be all these things to my bride. Help me to honor Valerie to a greater degree and keep You at the center of our relationship. May my children and grandchildren witness this in such a way that they contagiously live this out for You. In Jesus' holy name, AMEN!”
Footnotes:
[1] Theology at Work blog: God Created Woman as an Ezer Kind of Helper (Genesis 2:18): https://www.theologyofwork.org/key-topics/women-and-work-in-the-old-testament/god-created-woman-as-an-ezer-kind-of-helper-genesis-218/
[2] Kawanza Fisher, What does it mean to Be One Flesh? Crosswalk: April 11, 2024: https://www.crosswalk.com/family/marriage/what-does-it-mean-to-be-one-flesh.html