Raising a Godly seed:
Another great purpose for marriage is that a godly generation will
be raised up to serve the Lord and accomplish His purposes on the earth. "And did not he make one? Yet had he
the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? THAT HE MIGHT SEEK A GODLY SEED.
Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the
wife of his youth" (Mal 2:15), God's desire is for you to marry a
born-again believer and produce godly descendants or seed. This is echoing the
command given to Adam to multiply and replenish the earth. The Lord expects you
to train your children in His word that they may grow up into faithful
believers, "And, ye fathers,
provoke not your children to wrath: but BRING THEM UP IN THE NURTURE AND
ADMONITION OF THE LORD" (Eph 6:4). Fathers have the greater duty to
teach and instruct their children though the mothers have a responsibility too.
Even throughout the Old Covenant God commands the Israelites to teach their
children the Law, "And thou shalt
TEACH THEM DILIGENTLY UNTO THY CHILDREN, and shalt talk of them when thou
sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest
down, and when thou risest up. Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul
diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest
they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: BUT TEACH THEM THY SONS,
AND THY SONS' SONS" (Deu 6:7; 4:9).
Companionship and
Enjoyment:
God made man and woman so that they can be friends and enjoy one
another's company. This enjoyment is both sexual and non-sexual, "Let your own fountain be blessed, and
enjoy the girl you married when you were young" (Pro 5:18 GW). The
Lord expects you to treat your husband or wife as a friend and not just limit
it to a placid and cold contract. God created sex for the husband and wife to
enjoy and reach the peak of human pleasure. Sex however is so sacred that God
reserves it for marriage. When the husband and wife are married God even makes
it mandatory for them to have sex regularly because He is the one who made it
and knows how it works to keep the two together, "The husband should FULFILL HIS
[MARITAL] DUTY to his wife, and the wife should DO THE SAME thing for her
husband. The wife does not have
[sole] authority over her
own [physical] body,
but the husband [also has his
right to it]. And in the same way, the husband also does not have [sole]
authority over his own
[physical] body, but the wife
[i.e., has her right to it, as well]. Do not deprive each other [of these marital rights], except by mutual agreement, so that you can spend the time in
prayer. Then RESUME [NORMAL SEXUAL] RELATIONS AGAIN, so Satan is not able to tempt you [i.e.,
to have an affair] because of
your lack of self-control" (1Co 7:3-5 AUV-NT). In marriage, sex acts
as cement to glue the husband and wife together. They are meant to enjoy and
not to endure it.
The Lord desires
for you to marry and enjoy all the benefits of marriage, "I desire therefore the younger women to marry, to bear children,
to manage house, to give not one occasion to him who opposes on account of
slander" (1Ti 5:14 ACV). The Lord wants you to avoid the deadly traps
of fornication and thus provides marriage as a legal way of having sex, "Certainly--but only within a certain
context. It's good for a man to have a wife, and for a woman to have a husband.
Sexual drives are strong, but MARRIAGE IS STRONG ENOUGH TO CONTAIN THEM AND
PROVIDE FOR A BALANCED AND FULFILLING SEXUAL LIFE IN A WORLD OF SEXUAL
DISORDER" (1Co 7:2 MSG). All these benefits will be yours only if you
marry the partner God has chosen for you and when you do it at the right time.
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