Ribs and Marriage: Lessons from Adam and Eve

Turn your Bibles to Genesis chapter 2. Genesis chapter 2. We're going to continue our series of marriages made in heaven but lived on earth. And we looked last week at Adam and Eve and how God told them to tend the garden. And one of the gardens that God has given to us is the garden of our marriage. I if your plant is dying, if your plant is not producing fruit, it's not the plant's fault. It's the farmer. And the Bible calls the the husband the husband man, the farmer. It's another name for farmer. And as husbands, we are responsible to nourish and cherish our wives and our families and to help them to grow.

And if they're not, we can't get mad at them. We've got to say, what do I got to do to to take care of their needs so that they can produce the fruit that I would like to enjoy in our relationship? Now, the wife also has responsibilities. We'll talk about that more later, but uh it's it just used tending that garden is what we talked about last week. But I want to do another lesson from Adam and Eve. If you look at Genesis chapter 2 and begin with verse number 20, Genesis chapter 2, beginning with verse number 20, it says, "And Adam gave names to all the cattle and to the fowl of the air and to every beast of the field.

But for Adam there was not found to help meat for him. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam. He slept. He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh instead thereof." And then it goes on to say, "And the earth which the Lord g had taken, the rib which the Lord hath taken from the man made he a woman and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother and shall cleave to unto his wife and they two shall be one flesh." And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and they were not ashamed.

And so we see here that God created woman out of man's rib. Uh in Genesis 2 21-22 we see that and and somebody once said it this way. Women were created from the rib of man to be beside him. Not from his head to be over him not from his feet to be trampled by him but from under his arm to be protected by him near to his heart to be loved by him. And so God created the woman out of the man's rib. And uh in Proverbs chapter 5:1 18, the Bible says, "Let thy fountain be blessed and rejoice with the wife of thy youth." And so if you want to rejoice and enjoy your relationship, I think one of the things that's good to learn is learn to laugh together and uh and just to have fun together as well.

And and so I thought to get you laughing a little bit, I'd share with you some dad jokes this morning. All right. Uh about Adam and Eve. So here's the first question. When was the longest day in the Bible? When was the longest day in the Bible? It's the day Adam was created before there's no Eve. Thank you. Why were Adam and Eve Why was Adam a famous runner? Because he was the first in the human race. All right. How did Adam and Eve feel when expelled from the Garden of Eden? They were really put out. What did Adam say on the day before Christmas? Somebody's got to know this one. It's Christmas Eve.

There you go. It's Christmas Eve. All right. And then, uh, where's the first mention of insurance in the Bible? That's when God told Adam and Eve they needed more coverage. And what do you have? What What do you have? What do you and I have that Adam never had? Ancestors. Why was Adam created first? To give him a chance to say something. I knew that would give me trouble. Where is the first math problem mentioned in the Bible? It's where God told Adam and Eve to go forth and multiply. And why did God create man before the woman? because he didn't want advice. And the last one, at what time of day, at what time of day was Adam created?

Eve. A little before Eve. There we go. All right. So, Proverbs chapter 17 and verse number 22. The Bible says, "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine, but a broken spirit dryth the bones." One of the most romantic things that you and I can do as a couple in our marriage is to learn to laugh together. uh to tickle each other's bunny bone just to take time to enjoy uh laughter and joy in the marriage. And I think I see a lot of marriages that we've forgotten back in the dating years used to laugh and have a good time, but then we get married and life gets serious and all of a sudden we forget to enjoy life and and I think having time to laugh a little bit and having time to enjoy your relationship is important uh to any marriage.

and and and you also need to add flavor to that marriage or or spice. And in Job chapter 6 and verse number six, it says, "Can that which is unsavory be eaten without salt or is there any taste in the white of an egg?" Spice is what makes everything enjoyable. Uh adding the spices to it and then you need to enjoy your marriage. In Ecclesiastes chapter 9 and:es 7-10, it says, "Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart. For God now accepted thy works. Let thy garments be always white." In other words, the laundry is always done. And let thy head lack no ointment. Uh live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which heath given thee unto the son all the days of thy vanity.

for that is thy portion in life in this life and thy labor which thou takest under sun. The word vanity is the idea he's reminding us that our life is short. It it's here and it's gone. And and because we have just a short time, we need to make sure that we enjoy that time that we have together. Uh I said to my wife after all of our kids left and we were getting older now and and said, "We don't know how much time we're going to have left and everything." I said to her this. I said, "If we're going to live together, then we might as well be happy, too. we might as well be happy to. And and if you're going to live as husband and wife, then why not be happy as a husband and wife as well?

Why not enjoy that together? Uh make every day romantic, the everyday things. Uh make it romantic doing the dishes together. Make that fun. Make it fun cleaning the house together. Make it fun to go to the store together. Make it fun to make the bed and and and watch TV or whatever else you do. Make it fun. Enjoy it. If you're going to live together, then you ought to enjoy that time together as well. And for too many of us, our marriages become nothing but chores. It's nothing but things we have to do and and we don't do them enjoying one another. One of the things that I I remind people in my counseling and especially the husbands is that, you know, you can do something and get no brownie points.

you. It's like when my kids were little and and I tell them to go wash the dishes and and they would gripe and complain and pro and put it off at the last minute, have to be told 10 times to go wash the dishes. And by the time they finished washing the dishes, they did what they had to do. But nobody was happy, including me. And my house, this is what we have a saying in my house when my kids were little especially said, "If mom ain't happy, ain't nobody happy." Now, that doesn't mean that mama's a grump. It means if mom's not happy, I'm not happy. And if I'm not happy, I'm going to certainly make sure the rest of you guys aren't going to be happy either.

Uh so if you want me to be happy and mom to be happy and you to be happy, then you got to make us happy. But you know, if you're going to do things, then do them so you enjoy them together. The the joy of the the relationship and and enjoying that together. And then also in Proverbs chapter 5, turn over there. Keep your marker in Genesis 2. We'll come back there. But in Proverbs chapter 5 and verses number 18 through 20, Proverbs chapter 5 and:es 18-20, the Bible says, "Let thy fountain be blessed and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. Let her be as a loving hind and a pleasant row. Let her be her breast satisfy thee at all times, and be thou ravished always in her love."

And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished uh by with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger? The Bible says, "Listen, you ought to rejoice with the wife of the thy youth to enjoy the the physical relationship that God has designed within marriage." And and I believe it's important if you're going to enjoy your marriage, you make time and find time to flirt and to uh to uh have romantic time and physical time together and even trying new things together and putting that spice into your relationship. I I do want to mention that we have a book available out in the welcome center. There's a little booklet called Sex Problems and Questions.

A lot of couples will ask what's right and what's wrong in a marriage in the sexual relationship. And if you want to pick up a copy of this book, you can. Or you can download it at ohana.urch/ sex. Ohana.urch/ex. It's for married couples only, but um you can pick that up back there. But you see, God wants us to enjoy the relationship, not just tolerate it. God wants us to rejoice and have fun together. Whether it's in the living room or in the bedroom, God says, "I want you to enjoy that wife and that husband and enjoy your time together." God created us to enjoy marriage. Go over to Romans chapter 14.

I titled the message today. I titled it uh ribs and marriage. How many of you here like ribs? Raise your hand. Uh I I I like ribs. I I just recently got a smoker and that's one of my next ones is I I want to smoke the ribs and see how they come out that way as well. And uh you know there's the thing about ribs is this is is I like them so much I I don't know if I could give them up, you know. Uh but in Romans chapter 14 beginning with verse number 17, Paul says this, for the kingdom of God is not meat or drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. For he that is these things seeth serveth Christ is acceptable to God and approved of men.

Let us therefore follow after things which make for peace and things wherein to one may edify another. For me destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure. But if it's evil for that man who eateth with offense it it is good neither to eat flesh nor to drink wine nor s nor anything whereby that brother stumble or is offended or is made weak. Paul said, "I like meat, but if I need to, I'm going to give up that meat in order not to be a stumbling block." And the challenge I want to give you in your relationship is to realize that there's nothing outside of that marriage is more important than that marriage.

And sometimes with because of the amount of time we invest in it, amount of money we invest in it, the amount of uh ourselves we invest in it, we are saying to our spouse that this is more important to you. Uh for some people, it's video games. It's more important for me to play video games than it is to spend time with you. It's more important for me to watch TV than it is to spend time with you. It's more important to me to go to this uh activity than to spend time with you. And there's nothing wrong with those things. And Paul wasn't saying you should not eat meat, but he said, "Listen, I I don't want to make that a a priority.

I I don't want to make it a priority over our relationship." Sometimes the most romantic thing that you can do is to give up something for your spouse. to either give it up or to limit it and say, you know, this is not more important than spending time with you. And and so Adam and Eve, they started out in in the garden there and they had to learn the process of this uh and looking at that and and and dealing with it. So Eve was made from Adam's rib. But Adam, he was made from dirt, which my wife says explains a lot. Explains why I have to clean this house all the time because men are made from dirt and we leave it everywhere.

Um, Genesis chapter 2 and verse number 7. Turn back over there. Take a look at it. Genesis chapter 2 and verse number 7. Genesis 2 and verse 7. And the Lord God turn made man of formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul. Uh, somebody once put it this way. What are little boys made of? Snips and snails and puppy dug tails. What are that's what little boys are made of? What are little girls made of? Sugar and spice and everything nice. That's what little girls are made of. And I don't know how true that is, but you know, uh, girls tend to be cleaner and neater than men do.

Not always. Uh, but you know, whatever your husband or whatever your wife is, you've got to learn to live with it. In Proverbs 14:es 1 and 2, it says, "Every wise woman buildeth her house, but the foolish pluckth it down with her hands. He that walketh in his unrighteousness fearth the Lord, and he that is preserved in in his ways despises him." See, when we put our focus on something that that it it becomes a focus in our marriage, it it destroys that relationship. Now, don't get me wrong. I I believe that men ought to try to be cleaner. And I believe that that if you're if you're the wife and you're the one that needs to work better on getting all that clutter picked up, you should do that.

And I believe that we need to work together to get those chores done. But you know what? I I talked to a lady one time that her husband had died. And she said to me, I said, "What do you miss the most?" And she said, "I miss his dirty socks because he never put them in the laundry. He would just take them off and leave them wherever they fell." And every day I would complain and every day I would tell him how I hated it to pick up those socks and and really he should have done took take care of himself. But she said, "You know what? I'd give anything. I would give anything to have those dirty socks back."

See, she spent a lifetime of marriage complaining about something that she missed when it was gone. And we need to remember that there that each of us come in there with problems and things that we have to deal with. And and I do think it's important that we learn how to deal with those things. And what's important to our spouse ought to be important to us. And and we need to make those changes and get involved in that process. But at the same time, we need to realize that that this is a if I want to live with this person, then this is what I'm going to have to put up with. And the other thing is don't air his dirty laundry.

Go over to Proverbs 12. If you're a married couple, don't air your partner's dirty laundry. In Proverbs 12 and:es 6-7, Proverbs 12:es 6-7, the words of the wicked are are to lie and wait for blood, but the mouth of the upright shall deliver them. The wicked are overthrown and are not, but the house of the righteousness will stand. Look at chapter 31, Proverbs chapter 31 and verse number uh 11 and 12. The heart of her husband to safely trust in her so that he shall have no need of spoil. she will do him good and not evil all the days of her life. You know, sometimes when a a spouse gets upset with their wife or with their husband, they they begin to talk to other people about it.

Maybe it's their family or maybe it's their best friends or and and and the more people we talk to, the worse it gets because that's not how God designed it. We don't need to take our dirty laundry and air it for everybody to see. Now, don't get me wrong. I believe there's a place, a time, and a place for counsel in our marriages. And I believe when you're dealing with a problem, whether it's in your marriage or your personal life, I I believe it is good to go and get counsel. I also believe it's good to have people in your life that are your accountability partners. You need somebody in your life that when you go and complain to them, they're not going to say, "Oh, that's okay."

But they're going to stick their finger in the face and say, "Hey, get over yourself." And and and tell you the truth that you may not want to hear. Uh but you know when you start going around and complaining about your spouse and you go around around complaining about your kids or you go around complaining about others that's not of God and we need to be careful that we don't air our dirty laundry. You see if your husband is that dirt bag that we talked about last week then plant some seeds. Galatians chapter 5:es 22- 25. Galatians chapter 5 beginning with verse number 22. But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.

Against such there is no law. And they that are Christ have crucified the affections the the crucified the flesh with the affections of lust. If we live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit. You see, I talked about last week how the the husband the hus the the husband is the husbandman, the farmer of the family. And as husbands, we have a responsibility to cultivate our family, to nourish them and to cherish them, providing what they need in order to flourish and to grow. And and if your family is not producing fruit, then you need to go back out there and say, "What do they need?" Just like with a plant, does it need more sun or less sun?

Does it need more water or less water? Does it need certain type of fertilizer? You got a responsibility as the husband, as the farmer of your family to find out what your spouse and what your children need in order to produce fruit. But it's also important, ladies, understand that God has called you to be fruitful. Go over to Psalms chapter 128. Psalms chapter 128. Psalms 128:es 2-4. Psalms 128 and verses 2 through 4. Psalms 128 and verse number two. The Bible says, "For thou shalt eat the labor of thine hands. Happy shalt thou be if thou shall be well and it shall be well with thee. The wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the signs of thine house.

Thy children like olive plants round about thy table. And God wants you to produce fruit. Not just children that the fruit of the womb is is a a blessing of the Lord. But but God wants you to produce the fruit of the spirit. God wants you to be fruitful wives and fruitful mothers. And and and we need to practice. As I said last week, it seems like one of the last places that we practice the fruit of the spirit is is at home. We can be yelling and screaming at each other and the phone rings and we pick it up and say hello. And and and we treat other people, even strangers that we don't know who they are, better than we treat our own family.

And and we need to practice the fruit of the spirit at home in our relationship. But to do that, you've got to plant the seeds of the fruit. And you got to cultivate that seed. Sometimes it takes a while. A a seed does not grow overnight. Sometimes it takes a while and you've got to water that seed and you've got to weed it around it and you've got to dig it a little bit and dung it and whatever else is necessary in order to make that seed to grow it. The Bible calls it a seed of faith. And some of you in your marriage and your relationship with others, you've got to plant some seeds of faith today, but not expect to harvest for weeks and months or even years.

In my counseling with couples, that's one of the things I get very frustrated with is is couples act like, "Well, I I did this one time, so why isn't it changed?" They're kind of like me when I was in seventh grade. You know, you remember that that experiment in seventh grade where they gave you a styrone cup and they gave you some dirt and then they gave you a seed and you were supposed to plant the seed in the dirt and take it home and water it and watch it grow. You remember that experiment? Mine never grew. And I don't know why because I took the seed out every day to check it out. You see, that's the way we are so often in our relationships is we expect it to happen overnight.

We expect to plant the seed, pour the water, and it's like Jack in the Beantock. Boom. It takes right off. But it takes time. It It takes cultivation. It takes working at that to plant those seeds and to cultivate them and to nourish them and to cherish them. But it's also important that you be receptive to that seed. That you receive that seed and let it plant in your heart. And that you you also help it to grow in your own life. Back in Genesis chapter 2, as we look at Adam and Eve's marriage, the very first marriage, the thing that God said to them in Genesis 2 and:es 23-2. And Adam said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.

She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife and they shall be one flesh and they were both naked, the man and his wife and were not ashamed. You see sex in marriage is not dirty. In Hebrews chapter 13 verse4 it says marriage is honorable in all and the bed undeviled but mongers and adulterers God will judge. We live in a world today where sex is is is everywhere. Immoral sex is being shown on TV and on the internet and everywhere you look. One of the greatest advantages that Adam have had, I believe, is this is that Adam never had to struggle with porn.

There wasn't any other woman to look at. He never had a struggle with lust in his heart when he looked upon a woman. You know, it's one of the things that we face today. No matter where you look, no matter what you watch on TV, no matter where you go on the internet, when you walk down the street, when you walk down the mall, especially when you're out in the beach, it's everywhere. And and we struggle with with our eyes and and and we struggle with with seeing others naked or near naked. And and as men, that's a battle that we struggle with. Turn over to 1 Corinthians chapter 1. First Corinthians chapter 6.

1 Corinthians chapter 6. Look at verses 15- 20. 1 Corinthians chapter 6 and beginning with verse verse number 15. Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of the harlot? God forbid. What know ye not that which that which he is he join which is joined to a harlot is one body? For two shall be he shall for two saith he shall be one flesh. But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body. But he that committh fornication sinnth against his own body. What know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is which is in you, which you have of God, and you're not your own?

For you're bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body and your spirit, which are God's. You know, all sin is sin, and all sin has consequences. But the Bible says here that the sin of adultery has a very unique consequence. It it affects you in a way that's ways that no other sin does. And when you allow pornography and when you allow uh looking to yourself to look at other women, when you do that, you're destroying your relationship. It it's affecting you uh and your future together as a husband and wife. And it's something that Adam didn't have to deal with, but you and I have to deal with.

And we need to make it a a policy and a habit in our life, especially as men, to not look at others and and not allow ourselves to to commit adultery in our heart and and and to make sure that we do what is the right thing uh before the Lord and and and that's not easy in this this world. I feel sorry for the young people today. And let me say something, young people. Don't think that once you get married, this will no longer be a problem. If you're already starting to look at pornography as a young person, as a single young man or a single young woman, if you're already getting into that, it's not going to be automatically fixed just because you got married.

I deal with a lot of married men who struggle with a habit they started in their youth. That's what the Bible means by the sins of the youth. When you start that habit, it it creates in you problems that you don't even realize. And and don't let it start in your life. And and Adam, he had that he had that unique position that he never never had to look at another woman with lust in his heart. He never had to struggle with pornography, but you and I do. And it will destroy a marriage. In Genesis 1, Genesis chapter 1 and:es 26- 28. Genesis chapter 1 and beginning with verse number 26. And God said, "Let's make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created him, male and female created them he them. And then it goes on in verse 28. And God blessed them and said unto them, be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air and over every living thing and move upon the earth. Then skip down to verse number 31. And God saw everything that he has made. And behold, it was very good. And the evening and morning were the sixth day. Well, what was very good? That includes man's physical relationship with his wife.

Sex is good. God says it is good. And you know what? God says it is a sin not to have sex in your marriage. It's a sin to have sex outside of marriage. And that's clear in the Bible. But it's also a sin not to have sex in your marriage. Go over to 1 Corinthians chapter 7. 1 Corinthians chapter 7 and beginning with verse number one. 1 Corinthians chapter 7 beginning with verse number one. It says, "Now concerning the things whereof you were wrote unto me, it is good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.

Let the husband render unto the wife do benevolence, and likewise also the wife unto the husband, and wife, the wife had no power of her own body, but the husband and likewise also the husband had not power of his own flesh, but the wife. defraud you not one another except to be with consent for a time that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer and come together again that Satan tempt you not with your incontency. You know folks, it's a sin for you to commit adultery. It's a sin and it's just so much a sin for you as a married couple not to have relations together. Now, you can argue with me all you want and you can give me all the excuses, but the Bible says the husband is for the wife and the wife is for the husband, and you're not to come apart except specifically for prayer and fasting.

And when whatever justification you want to give for not having the physical relationship, God said, "The physical relationship, I made it. It's good. I made it for you to enjoy, to rejoice with the wife of thy youth. And when you don't, then you're sinning against God. Now, I realize there's times because of illness or because of separation or other reasons you're not able to fulfill that part of the marriage relationship, but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about denying one another, not meeting each other's needs. And one thing Adam and Eve teach us in that marriage made by God is that it is good in marriage.

young people is not good outside of marriage because it will affect you in ways that you can't even understand. It'll affect you physically. It'll affect you emotionally. It'll affect you spiritually for the rest of your life. We've got people that committed immorality 30, 40, 50 years ago and they're still feeling the consequences of it today. But within marriage, it's blessed of God. In Genesis chapter 2 and verse number 7, the Bible says in Genesis 2:7, "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a soul." God breathed life into both Adam and Eve.

In Job 33 and verse number four, the Bible says, "The spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of Almighty hath given me life." Listen folks, God gave you life, but God also wants to breathe into you new life in Jesus Christ. He wants to give you the breath of eternal life. In 1 John 5:es 12 and 13, the Bible says, "He that hath the son hath life. He that hath not the son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God. Do you have I know you have life because you're sitting here breathing, but do you have eternal life?

God's the one that gave you physical life, and God is also the one who can give you eternal life. He breathed life into Adam and Eve, and he gave life to everybody in this room. But God also wants to give you eternal life through the Holy Spirit. Go over to Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2 and look at verses number 7-10. Ephesians chapter 2 and beginning with verse number 7 down through verse number 10. Ephesians 2:7. The Bible says that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace to in his kindness towards us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are you saved through faith that not of yourselves is a gift of God.

Not of works lest a man should boast. For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God before ordained that we should walk in them. You see God wants to give us life through his spirit. He wants to give us life through his son Jesus Christ. He wants to forgive you of your sins. You know, when I got married and I said I do, I didn't know what I had done. I didn't realize that what that meant 40ome years later now. Maybe if I'd known that, I might not said I'd know. I would have said I do. But you know there was a the work started after we said I do. I didn't have to pay my wife to marry her.

I didn't have to earn that. I just had to say those two words and we became one and we had a new life together. And salvation is the same way. For God so loved you that he gave his only begotten son. And what you need to do is say yes to him as your savior. Look at Romans chapter five. Romans chapter 5. Probably most of you here in your wedding vows said something along the line of till death do us part. In Romans chapter 5:es 8-11, the Bible says, "But God commendeth his love towards us that while we're yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more than being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

For if when we were yet enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in the Lord through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. You see, God wants to give us eternal life. Death will part me from my wife, but it gives it it brings me to my savior. Death cannot part me from eternal life. It'll take me to heaven. Do you have that promise? Do you have that assurance? You know you have life because there's a day and a time you were born. You know if you're married because there's a day and a place that you were married.

Now, do you know that you're saved? Is there a day and a place when you called upon Jesus Christ and accepted his love for you? Accept him as your savior. You see, God put us together, two sinners. But the best way to say happily married is to be two forgivers, to forgive as he's forgiven us. And that's the example that God gives us for our marriage. Back in Genesis chapter 3 and:es 23 and 24. Genesis chapter 3:es 23 and 24. It says, "Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man he placed at the east of the garden of Eden cherubims and a flaming sword which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of life."

You know, we talked about in the fairy tales messages I preached that we liked this idea of living happily ever after. Adam and Eve was the first marriage made in heaven. And yet they were kicked out of the garden. One of their sons was killed by their other son. That son was sent into exile. They had to toil all their life just to get food on the table. I say that to say this, life doesn't always turn out the way we expect. But Jeremiah chapter 30 29 11-13 says for I know the thoughts that I think toward you sayeth the Lord. Thoughts of peace and not of evil will keep you from expect to keep give you an expected end.

Then shall you call upon me. You should go and pray unto me and I will hearken unto you and you shall seek me and find me when you shall search me with all your heart. Life doesn't always turn out like we expect. Yesterday I had the opportunity to visit one of our former members, guy named Brandon. When he came here, he was in a wheelchair and he could get around pretty good. But today, he's in a bed. He can barely talk. He's got a little thing on his bed which he can push the buttons to move his cursor around in a phone to kind of communicate. He's on a breather. But you know what he told me? He told me, "Pastor, God is good."

And I told Brandon, I said, "How do people that don't have Jesus get through life?" God didn't promise to make everything easy. It would have great if God had performed a miracle and Brandon be able to get out of that chair instead of being in the bed now. But by the grace of God, Brandon got saved. And by the grace of God, God has taken them through those trials in life. And your marriage may not turn out to be everything you thought it was going to be because life happens. Go over to Ecclesiastes chapter 9. We're going to look at two verses and then we're going to close. Two passages. Ecclesiastes chapter 9.

Look at verses 9 through13. Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days thy life. thy vanity which he has given thee unto the son all the days thy vanity for that is thy portion in this life and thy labor which thou takeest unto son whatsoever thy hand findeth to do it with all thy might for there's no work nor device nor knowledge nor wisdom in the grave with thou goest I returned and saw in son that the race is not to the swift not the nor the battle to the strong neither yet bread to the wise nor yet riches to the men of understanding nor yet favored a men of still of skill but time and chance happens at all.

In other words, we can't control everything in life. We just got to do our best to work the hardest we can to make our marriage work and problems will happen and things will happen in your life and and you just need to stay faithful to the Lord and realize that how could I do this without him. I'm so thankful for the grace of God. In Ecclesiastes 4:es 9-12, it says, "Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him that is alone when he falls, for heth not another to help him." Again, if two lie together, and then they have heat, and how can one be warm alone?

If one prevail against him, two shall withstand. The three-fold court is not quickly woken. I'm so thankful that I know that in the years to come, my wife will be there to pick me up. In the years to come, I'll be there to pick her up because that's what marriage is about. As Christians, everything always don't always go perfectly. But you know what? If we're going to live together for the rest of our life, and that ought to be your commitment, then why not live together in joy? Why not live together and help each other? Why not live together and praise God for his blessings even during the challenging times? We can learn a lot from Adam and Eve, the first marriage. We learn a lot to apply in our own marriage as well and our own lives.