Perfect Marriage

“For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God.” (1Co 11:12 AV)

This is a tremendous truth.  A perfect description of the nature of marriage each spouse to the other and both towards God.  It gives the purpose, inter-dependency, and cohesiveness of a divinely ordained union.  The most beautiful words in this verse (at least in my humble opinion) are the words ‘is of’, ‘also by’, and ‘of God’.  Let me explain.

The truth that the woman is of the man is not a demeaning one.  This is often how the unregenerate world sees it.  Paul is referring to Eve’s creation in the garden.  She was formed from a rib from the side of Adam.  God did not form her from the dust of the earth, but rather, from the flesh of another.  God did not create Eve from a less glorious material like dirt.  Rather, she came from human flesh.  In this, she finds her value.  She finds her value in that she was formed as an expression of God’s perfect creation.  She is of the man because that is where she finds her origin, purpose, and worth.  She was not formed to feed the animals.  She was not formed to farm.  She was formed to give humanity beauty and personality.  She was formed as an expression that completes man.

Man is by the woman.  He is dependent upon her.  When God formed Adam, it was the only time He said that something was not good.  It was not good that man should be alone.  There was something missing.  All other species could exist with only one gender.  And some do.  God didn’t say it was not good that single celled individuals was not good.  When it came to mankind, man is deficient without woman.  No matter how independent and self-sufficient us males think we are, we are not.  We survive by the provision of a woman.

To give the entire relationship the balance it needs, no matter whether we are a husband or wife, the marriage is established, survives, and grows because God says so.  Without God, it doesn’t work as it should.  The LORD has established the functions of a wife and those of a husband.  He has established the purpose of the woman and the man.  He has done so and it is what is should be because God is at the center of it.  Too much today is debated on the role and worth of one gender against the other.  Genders and their roles really wouldn’t matter without the LORD who guarantees it all!