Covenant #3

COVENANT #3

Relationships that Matter

Marriage is the first institution created by God.

Contract – protect my rights and limit responsibility

Covenant – we give up our rights and pick up responsibility

Gen 2:21-25 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the Lord God took out one of the man’s ribs^[d] and closed up the opening. ²² Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man.

²³ “At last!” the man exclaimed.

“This one is bone from my bone,
    and flesh from my flesh!
She will be called ‘woman,’
    because she was taken from ‘man.’”

²⁴ This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.

²⁵ Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame.

WHAT RIGHTS DO WE GIVE UP?

1. The right of priority

Matt 6:33 Seek the Kingdom of God^[a] above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

I John 4:19 We love each other^[a] because he loved us first.

• A strong, God honoring marriage supplies kids with a blueprint to follow.

2. The right of ownership

• It moves from mine to ours.

I Cor 7:4 The wife gives authority over her body to her husband, and the husband gives authority over his body to his wife.

3. The right to privacy

• There ought to be enough grace and security in marriage that we are 100 percent committed to living this thing out.

John 15:15  I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me.

WHAT RESPONSIBILITY DO WE PICK UP?

1. UNCONDITIONAL LOVE

Romans 5:8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

2. EQUAL HONOR

• Holy – to set apart as something as value

1 Peter 3:1-7 This is how the holy women of old made themselves beautiful. They put their trust in God and accepted the authority of their husbands. ⁶ For instance, Sarah obeyed her husband, Abraham, and called him her master. You are her daughters when you do what is right without fear of what your husbands might do.

⁷ In the same way, you husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat your wife with understanding as you live together. She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in God’s gift of new life. Treat her as you should so your prayers will not be hindered.

3. MUTUAL SUBMISSION