 Well, today we're in Genesis chapter 2, and let's begin reading together at verse 18. I'll read to verse 25. We'll get into our study as we're introducing a series on Christian marriage. And so beginning at verse 18, reading to verse 25, we read, the Lord God said, it is not good that man should be alone. I will make him a helper comparable to him. Out of the ground, the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam, there was not found a helper comparable to him. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept. And he took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man, he made into a woman, and he brought her to the man. And Adam said, this is now bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man. And therefore a man shall leave his father and mother, be joined to his wife, they shall become one flesh. They were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. So we're beginning a series on marriage and the family, and as we begin, let me be very quick to state that I speak as a fellow traveler, because obviously I haven't arrived yet. And so what we're looking at is going to be a basic study. It's not something very deep, it's not deeply profound, it's just a basic study that we'll be looking at as it pertains to marriage and as it pertains to the family. Now as we begin, I want to recognize that there are widowed and divorced members present with us today. We have a number of single parents with us, and I don't want you to think that you're considered to be less in any way. I do pray that this portion of our series will in some way be beneficial to you ultimately. We know that marriage as an institution is throughout the world in the process of being redefined. Many of our leaders, both political and spiritual, have rejected the concept of the traditional family. They consider such a concept to be outdated and they think it's unworkable. At one time there was a cultural definition of a traditional family that was accepted by the majority of the people living here in the United States. As a matter of fact, the definition of a traditional family that I'm about to read is what at one time used to be recognized by everybody, and it's the definition that I was raised with as I grew up here. A traditional family was once identified as a unit consisting of a married couple with two or more children where the bread-winning father went to work while the mother stayed home to keep house and care for the children born to her and her husband after marriage. That is the definition of traditional family as I was raised to understand family. So obviously over the years the definition has gone through various revisions and what is being offered in its place is a new definition, a new definition that doesn't even require the estate of marriage. For many to be a family only requires people caring about one another and living together. To be a family for them doesn't require marriage at all. For them family exists because they think that they have one. So many people today find it easier to simply move in together without a ceremony or without a contract. And in doing so, they're part of a trend of redefining what it means to be family. We need to remember that even as we've been going through Ephesians, we noted in chapter 5 verse 3 that living together or having sexual relations together is what Scripture refers to as fornication and it's never been recognized by God as being equal to marriage at all. The Centers for Disease Control and National Center for Health Statistics recently published a report concerning people who are living together. In 1995 34% of unmarried women between 15 and 44 moved in with a man for the first time. In 2002 the percentage went up to 43%. Between 2006 and 2010 the percentage rose to 48%. So almost half of these unmarried women are living with a man in an unmarried estate. That works out to one in four women living with a man by age 20 that also represents almost three and four by the age of 30. Well somebody says, what's wrong with that? Do these unions last and don't these unions living together and all, don't they lead to marriage? There are those who say that living together is like taking a test drive, that they should do so before they commit to something like marriage. One study found that 40% of women living with significant others for the first time between 2006 and 2010, 40% transitioned to marriage within three years, 32% of those relationships remained the same and 27% of those relationships were dissolved. And so what we have today is an attitude concerning marriage and that is that marriage really doesn't matter that much or that it should be redefined because it's outmoded and outdated. Next week we're going to be looking at the subject of same-sex unions from a biblical perspective. Same-sex unions are constantly presented as equal to heterosexual relationships and this arrangement has gained the backing of modern psychology as well as courts of law. What is occurring is the redefinition of marriage and it has been reduced to simply a civil rights matter. We know that homosexual union is being presented as equal to a man and woman relationship in marriage and we'll be looking at that in some detail next time we're together but today I begin a series on the subject of marriage and I'm going to do so from a Christian perspective. So we begin by asking the question, what is a Christian marriage? So let me give a simple definition. A Christian marriage is a total commitment of one man and one woman to the person of Jesus Christ and to one another. A Christian marriage is a commitment in which there is no holding back of anything. So marriage from that perspective is seen as a refining process that God uses to develop us in the person that he wants us to become. Like it says in Proverbs 2717, as iron sharpens iron so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend. So marriage is a refining process. When you look at the book of Genesis, in Genesis within the first nine chapters there are three institutions that are basic to civilization that are established. When you look at the first nine chapters you see the establishment of the church, you see the establishment of human government and you see the establishment of marriage and so we'll be looking at marriage. Now in chapter two in verse 18 notice with me here in Genesis how it says, the Lord God said, it is not good that man should be alone. When you look in Genesis and you begin in chapter one and you look at the days of creation. Note with me that after each day of creation, the first few days of creation, the Bible makes it very clear that God looked upon it and said, it is good. The first time God ever states that something is not good is when he says it is not good that the man should be alone. That emphasizes the need for a companion. God is simply saying that man is incomplete and inadequate. Adam was inadequate, incomplete, without Eve. So what does he do? What does God do about Adam being alone? Well it says here that he made Adam a helper, notice comparable to him. So that gives us some very basic insights and I'll give you four thoughts concerning that. One, even when we have a relationship with the Lord it is still possible to have a sense of being alone. We are created for fellowship with God and we are created for fellowship with other people and marriage is intended to fulfill our need to love others and be loved by someone else. Second, marriage is God's idea and it's not man's invention. God said it is not good that man should be alone. I will make him a helper and so we believers recognize that God is the one who established, he's the one who invented marriage. I heard a woman one time say that marriage was created by men intending to license and enslave women. It's not a bad idea but that's not how it started. Marriage is intended to bring joy. Marriage is intended to bring satisfaction. God wants us to have joy in our marriage. There's a man who said I never knew what true joy was until I got married and then it was too late. But the Bible says in Proverbs 18-22 he who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord. So God's idea not man's invention. Third, God gave Adam a helper, notice comparable to him. He was given to Adam as God's best gift to him. The Bible tells us in Proverbs 19-14 houses and riches are an inheritance from fathers but a wise wife is from the Lord. God gave him a helper comparable to him and that idea is that she should be his compliment to fill up that which is lacking in him, a match for him. She's to be at his side which makes her fit for him and corresponding to him. The woman formed from him was to be a perfect resemblance of the man possessing neither inferiority nor superiority but being in all things like and equal to himself. And so the key is that Eve was not less, Eve was not better, Eve is simply different and Eve corresponds to his exact need. By design our mates will fill in the gaps that we have and our mates will complete us. And I've noticed that that God has a way of bringing people together who while we have more similarities than dissimilarities obviously or else we wouldn't be together. So there are more things that we agree on than that we disagree about. But at the same time there are sometimes things within us that my wife will bring and she'll bring her what it is all about her what she is and it'll unite and will become one in that way. And I see that as being God's design. God has a way to match us up with people who fill in our gaps. You may be a person who's always late, you're always late. I mean you can't help it, you'll be late, you're always late. But you marry somebody who's punctual and that's always fun isn't it? When you've got one last thing to do and that person sitting in the car honking the horn in today there are some of you in second service perhaps we were supposed to be here at first late and punctual. And I've seen that to be very, very true. My wife Marie I'm pretty sure will be the last person up in the rapture. I'm fairly certain she'll have one last thing she needs to do. Or perhaps you're a person who's very, very clean and you end up marrying somebody who is very, very messy or you may be the kind of person who's very, very quiet but you hooked up with somebody who's pretty loud. You might be somebody who's very generous but you married a tight wad. You might be somebody that's very, very cheerful but you married somebody who's very, very grouchy. You ever wake up grumpy in the morning? I used to, I let her sleep now. Actually she's very, very, she wakes up with a smile. How can she help it? You may be somebody who's very lazy for you working out is using your thumb on the remote and you're with somebody who's very active. You may be a very pessimistic person. Everything is always down but you ended up with somebody who sees things differently. They're an optimist. You may be very creative and they may be very predictable. You may be very emotional and they may be very thoughtful. My wife Marie is very friendly and I'm very reserved. It's not that I'm not friendly indeed. I feel that I am and she would say that I am but compared to Marie I'm extremely reserved and she has been a delight. I mean she just amazes me and I've shared this before how that my wife is the kind of person should be going, be going someplace and all when we're traveling I'll sit on the aisle seat in the airplane and she'll have the center seat because I know that Marie is going to visit with whomever it is who is there or I'll have the window seat but she'll always be in the center seat because she's going to make friends with somebody and I just watch to see how long it takes. We were on our way home from Israel. Israel is a 16 plus hour trip and you break it up into, sometimes you break it up into two segments. So we're flying from Tel Aviv and we're going to fly to New York and then from New York we're going to fly to Los Angeles. And so they seated us on the plane and I'm there on the aisle seat. Marie's in the center and next to her by the window is a woman and I'm just seated there and I'm pretending I'm not noticing but I'm watching my wife because I know that this stranger, this woman Marie has never met. I know that eventually they will be talking. I know that. I also know that before you know it they'll be crying and then they'll be holding each other. I just, I know that's going to happen. I tried that with a woman once, Marie didn't like it. But when Marie does it, it's okay. So I watched her as she turned and spoke to the woman and Marie's the master of the obvious. Oh, are you going to the United States? And the woman turns and speaks to her and says to her in broken English, I don't speak English. And I go, oh, this is great. This is good. How is she, I know my wife. How is she going to make friends with this woman? She doesn't speak English. Oh, this is good. And I'm pretending that I'm reading something but I'm watching her from the corner of my eye. And I'm watching Marie and I'm telling you she's just looking around like, what am I going to do? I've got 16 hours next to a stranger. I've got to cry. She speaks Spanish to the woman. The woman is a Spanish Jew. Hours, hours talking, hours. We get to New York, we go through customs, get back on the plane. We're helping the woman to find her seat on the plane. We get to Los Angeles, Marie's crying with the woman, holding her in her arms. And the woman's, oh, and she's introducing us. You know, this is my husband, my children, oh, cry, oh. Me, I just sat there, hi, how are you? No speak English. I'm sorry. God has a way of filling our gaps. He really does. And some of you have seen that in your relationship. And see what happens in marriage is we have, like I said earlier, we have a lot of things in common. Of course, that's what attracted us to one another in the first place. But we also have areas that that other person just settles in and helps us so much. And that's what God intends to do. We learn from one another. We accept one another. And we grow together. A woman is intended to complete the man. And she is not intended to be one of his competitors. Rabbi's taught that the wife is not a man's shadow, so much as his other self. She is his helper, in a sense which no other creature on earth can be. And so God says it is not good that man should be alone and he creates a woman. Now notice in verses 19 and 20, it says out of the ground, the Lord God formed every beast. And Adam begins to continue what he does, which is to name the animals and all. That's what he was intended to do at that point. But that gave Adam opportunity to realize something as the animals were going by in pairs undoubtedly. It gave to him an understanding that there was nothing like him as he kept looking at these animals, surveying them in pairs. And it made him aware that he's alone. And then at that point, according to verse 21, the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam and he slept. And he took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh in its place. So at that point we see the scripture saying that God intervened and he took the initiative and he did so on behalf of Adam. It says that he fashioned, he made. That word fashioned or made speaks of building. He brought her after he built her to Adam and he did so as a gift. And she wasn't taken from the dirt. Adam was formed from the dirt. She was not, she was taken from his side, which means that she was genetically, perfectly harmonious to him. And then God put Adam into a deep sleep. And so at this point, I'm gonna veer for a moment and speak to those who are unmarried singles. And I would say that at this point, I want to point out that if you're single, that's where you need to be also. You need to be asleep to your desire. If you have a desire, you need to be asleep to your desire for marriage. I want you to notice with me that God knew Adam's need before Adam even realized it. Adam didn't even know he had such a need. And when Jesus was teaching us something of prayer in Matthew chapter six, verse eight, he said something that I think is very important there. Everything he says is important, but in this case, I see it as applicable because it says for your father knows what things you have need of before you ask. So God knows if you're single and desire to be married, God knows what you need before you even ask him. And he knows exactly what it is you need when sometimes you don't. Now we have singles here who may not allow this or see any reason for this portion to apply to them. There are singles who have no desire to be married. My mother was of that stripe. My mom was married to my father for 53, almost 54 years. Dad went home to be with the Lord. My mom never considered remarriage. It was not something that she would have considered. My grandmother, my grandfather, Rosalis, died when he was 50 years old. My grandmother lived on until she was 92 and she lived as an unmarried widow. That's what she did. Maria has told me that should I go home to be with the Lord before her, she's not planning on getting married again. And I say, well, of course, once you've had the best, duh. I tell her I'm gonna marry a 20-year-old woman kind of like King David and she calls me sick, but I think that's a plan. Don't rush into dating relationships. And most certainly do not rush into marriage. It ultimately will cost you. There are things that are worse than being alone. It may not seem that way sometimes and indeed sometimes it doesn't seem that anything is worse than simply being alone, but there are things that are worse than being alone and that is being unequally yoked with someone who doesn't love the Lord and doesn't love you. If you're unmarried and you desire marriage, I'd encourage you to hold out, hold out for the best that the Lord has and remember that as a single person, it may be that you're free to serve God without marital distraction. I know that single parents have an especially difficult time and my heart goes out to you, but rushing into a bad marriage makes it even worse even if it is through e-harmony or Christian singles. Be careful. Now, if you are presently dating, evaluate your present relationship and be mature enough to establish dating criteria. That is not unspiritual. That is simply wise. I think that some people are more careful buying cars and clothes than they are about making decisions for their lives and we need to be careful about that. And so at this point, I've got a few questions to give to you who are single to see perhaps this might help you as you make some decisions concerning your future and dating and things of that nature. So these are questions to help you to think about your relationship. They're just basically some questions that I've come up with over the years that maybe will help you. If you're single. And so if you are single and you desire to date, are you a Christian? And if you're dating, is the person that you're dating, well, is that person a Christian also? There are those who say, well, you know what? I'm a missionary. I'm missionary date. Just remember with me that you will ultimately reap what you sow and you will be terribly hurt through such a relationship. Second, if they are believers, then how would you describe their walks with the Lord? Are they solid? Are they growing? Are they mature? Or does that even come to mind? Does that even matter to you? You see, you are going to marry the person that you date. I can remember when my children were of dating age and were dating at that time or wanting to date. I would say that I would say, are they a believer? Do you want to go out with this person? Are they a Christian? Well, they go to church. Well, yeah, I realize that. I'm glad to hear that and that's a good thing. Are they believers? Are they Christians? Well, dad, what does it really matter? They go to church. You know, and that was kind of the attitude that sometimes they would have. And so that's why I would ask, does it even matter to you? You see, they'd say, we're just going to date. And I'd say, but you need to remember that you marry the person you date. And after marriage, you may begin to grow in your faith and they may not want to. You got to be aware of that. Now, when you're looking at your relationship, here's another question. Because of your relationship, is your walk with the Lord improving or is it on the slide? Were you doing better before you started dating? Did you serve? Did you minister in various ways where you're more open with your faith or now that you're together with this person, has it improved? Are you even stronger in your walk or is it on the decrease? When I performed the wedding for my daughter Anna and I was sharing with her husband Gabe, I said to him in the wedding ceremony, I said, Gabe, I love you. I love you like a son and I am so grateful because you have helped my daughter to love Jesus more. And from a father's heart, that's a big thing. Thank you. Because Gabe has helped my daughter to love Jesus more. And that's what a relationship ought to do. Do your friends consider you a Christian couple or are you just a regular dating couple in their eyes? Do you attend the same church? And if you don't, are you willing to change your church? Does that matter to you? Normally what happens, guys, is the men will date the girl and the girl will choose the church. If she wants to go to a church, that's where he's gonna go. And you need to learn, and we'll look at that a little bit later on when we look at the role of the husband and all, but husbands have been called by God to be the leaders in the home. And sometimes that just doesn't work itself out because the man perhaps is reluctant to do so. So consider that. Who's the leader in the relationship? Now, what is it that you like about them the most? When you speak concerning them, what is it that they are or what is it about them that you like the most? You know, is it their looks? Is it their personality? Is it their education? Is it their spirituality? Is it their financial stability? Is it the communication skills? What is it about this person that you like the most? Now, you know, looks are a good thing. I mean, I really appreciate beauty and all of that who doesn't. I think that beauty is a good thing, but I also realize that over time, you know, what at one time may have appeared to be beautiful, it may not stay that way over time. When Marie and I got married, I weighed 155 pounds. You can see I don't weigh 155 pounds now. That changed in about six weeks. I gained 18 pounds. And Marie's asked me, what happened to your small waist? I said, it's there. It's just a little more of it, but it's there. It's there, it's underneath this shirt that I'm wearing now to hide it. It's there. You know, you can still buy pants that say 32 and just wear them a lot lower, you know, it works, you know. One of the things we used to speak about women and years ago, they used to be afraid. Some of you might recognize this. Most of you may not, but they used to say when they were complimenting a woman's figure, they'd say she has an hourglass figure. They'd say an hourglass figure because there was sand in an hourglass and it was tall, big at the top and thinner and then big. And we need to remember that the sand does shift to the bottom. Don't forget that. Looks are deceiving and they're not permanent. What is it about that person? What is it really? I mean, it's great if they're beautiful and I think they should be and I think if you're married, you ought to consider your wife or husband to be the most handsome and rugged and beautiful woman you've ever had, but, or man. And, but what is it really? When Marie and I met, there was something I thought about or two things that I was attracted to immediately. One, was her smile, her smile. A beautiful, beautiful smile. And I was attracted to that immediately and two, her personality. There's a sweetness about her. I never even considered her and I do consider my wife to be a beautiful woman, but at that time, that wasn't part of my consideration. What I was really attracted to was her personality, her person and that is something that you need to be aware of when you're considering what is the most attractive thing about when she gave her heart to Christ and we began to date. I was attracted to her spirituality and that to me, I still am to this day, very attracted to her law for Jesus. Another question, are you, in your relationship, are you physically pure? Is there sexual relations going on though you're dating? That's called fornication. Are they pressuring you to have sex? Are you pressuring them too? Are they telling you how much they love you and then pressuring you? Are you living together? Again, that's called fornication. That isn't called engagement. That's a sin. How do your family and friends feel about your relationship? Do you find yourself making excuses for them, to your friends, your family, maybe even to strangers on occasion? Do you feel obligated to stay with them because you've gone with them for so long and frankly you don't think you could get anybody else? Do you think they're the best that you can get? You might as well live with them. Are these, is this person you're with? Are they overly dependent? Are they selfish? Are they jealous? Do they have a hot temper? Are they physical? Do they hurt you? Do they hit you? If you're dating, do you have to ask permission from them to do something, to go someplace, to be with someone, your friends? That's dangerous. That's dangerous. If you've got somebody that you actually have to ask permission, you're dating, you have to ask permission from them, you know, I have two daughters. And as they were growing up, if they would have said, well, my boyfriend won't let me, I had to say, are you kidding me? You know, and what do you mean your boyfriend won't let you? When do they become the person and authority in your life? When do they take over the role of encouraging you to do the right thing? That's my job. And I took it very personally. And if they would have come with that attitude, I would not have appreciated it. And you need to be aware of the fact that, you know, that that's true. There are some women who say, well, we're just practicing. We're gonna be married one day. I'll be doing everything he tells me to do. Oh, is that right? Well, teach Marie that, because we haven't learned that. In relationship, it's give and take. There are authority relationships, of course, but that's in marriage, not in dating. Are you doing the wash? Are you making the meals? Are you pretending to be the wife? What are you doing? Now, if that person has a baby, it has children, can you love the child as if that child is your own? And is there gonna be a problem between you because of that? Can you accept them? How do you feel about, how do they feel about your family? Do they say things about your family to you that are negative? How often do you see them? Do you go with them all day, then spend a long date, then rush home to get on the phone and to call them up? Say hello, how are you? Or you don't have to do that anymore. You've got your cell phone all the way home. You drop them off all the way home. Just wanted to talk to you. Well, will you just drop me off? I know it's been eight hours we've been together. I know that I just want to hear you. Well, I'm sleepy, just breathe, just breathe. And I'll listen on my phone. Crazy, you're crazy. Are they always between jobs? Do they borrow money from you? Borrow money from your friends? Do they like nice things, charge up their cards in order to buy these nice things? Do you end up paying for the dates and excuse it by saying, well, we're going to get married eventually and we're going to have a shared purse? Marie got mad at me when we were dating. She got mad at me because I only spent $10 on a date. That's all she had. If she had more, I'd have spent more. What can I say? What is it that they do that irritates you? Do they do anything that bothers you? If they do, don't plan on changing them. A man will not change for a woman. You know, my gosh, I could talk a long time about this. We just don't, you know, there's just this switch that goes off in your head. It's just like, there's a man I really think of. And he's going, see, you cannot nag a man into changing. You know how a man changes? A man normally changes because something changed in the woman. We have a tendency of responding to one another and adapting to one another and all. So if you have this idea that you're going to change them, the best way to change anybody is first change yourself. But don't plan on changing the things that irritate you because those things are pretty much very often going to stay there. Not all of them, but some of them, many of them. How well do you know them? Are they open? Are they honest? Do they enjoy sharing their hearts? Or are they just quiet? You're always wondering what's going on. Do they know how to communicate? That's very important. Here's a question that singles really need to ask of themselves, and it's this. Is this person free to date? Are they free to date? Oh, you say, no, no, well, yes they are. They're separated. They're married, but they're separated. Well, that means that they're still married. Listen, if you cannot marry somebody, you are not free to date somebody. If they're married, even if they're calling themselves separated, and though they may be, you are not free to date them. It's not proper to do that. They're still presently married, and yet there are so many people who move from a marriage and they separated, they're living somewhere else, and now they're dating somebody else. That's just not right, and you're not in a proper relationship. Is this really God's best for you, or are you simply getting anxious? The bottom line is learn to serve God first while you wait on him. Again, I wanted to point this out to you in verse 21 where it said, the Lord God caused the deep sleep to fall on Adam and he slept. I've shared this before many times, how that my friend George, and I were speaking on one occasion and George said to me, that he had prayed, he had seen this scripture where God put Adam to sleep and brought Adam a wife. And George said, you know, I have prayed that prayer, that God would put me to sleep to my desire that I might be able to have the woman he brings to me. And I thought that was a great prayer, so I prayed it myself. I went home and I prayed it, and I said, Lord, in Jesus' name, that's a great prayer. You know that I desire to be married. I would like to have a wife and children one day, but I don't want to make the wrong decisions and I think I can through my flesh. And also, Lord, may I be put to sleep to my desire? And then later on I was teaching a Bible study and a young woman walks into the Bible study. It's her first time there and she sits down. I give the study, later on we begin to visit. I like her instantly. I think she's a great gal. I ask her, when did you become a Christian? And she says, I've always been one and I know she's not telling the truth. You aren't born born again. There's a time in your life when you receive Christ. So I know she's not telling the truth. I'm driving home, I'm talking to my sister Madeline and I say to her, I really like Marie. She's sweet. I really like her. I said, and I have to tell you something. I think I met my wife tonight. I think I met my wife. Now, did I date her? No. Did I ask her out? No. She is unbeliever. So what happened? A couple of weeks later, my sister Madeline spent some time with my friend Marie. My sister Madeline brought her to faith in Christ. She prayed with Madeline to give her heart to Jesus Christ at our Bible study. And then a few weeks later, because Marie desperately needed discipling, I asked her out. And Marie literally, literally has sat at my feet. Literally, she would physically sit at my feet. I used to sit in a small chair. She would just lean against it with her Bible. Literally has sat at my feet since 1974, 75. Literally. That's what Marie has done and has learned from me as her boyfriend, husband, pastor for all of those years. And I asked the Lord put me to sleep to my desires and bring the woman for me. And He did. Now, I told that story before, and my son Joseph came to me a while back now and said, dad, do you know that story about how you met mom? And I said, yes. He said, dad, I prayed the same prayer. He said, but I have a problem. I only prayed it a few weeks ago. I have a problem. I said, what's your problem? He said, I met somebody that I really wanted to go out with. But I prayed and I don't want to go back on my prayer. And I started to laugh. I said, son, I said, one of the things I never mentioned when I mentioned that is this. It was only two or three weeks later that I met your mom. What do you think? I went to a mountain, got some granola, stayed there 10 years and met a woman, riding on a yak. I said, it was two or three weeks. I just delighted myself in the Lord. I was teaching a Bible study. He brought the woman and that's how it worked. I said, it's fine, son. You're not going back on anything. You died and at that instant, God is moving. And so he's now married to that young woman that he had prayed for. And she is his Marie and I love her to pieces. And that was an answer of God's prayer. Put me to sleep, Father, to my desires and bring the right one to me. And what happens? Well, let's close very briefly here. It says in verse 22, the rib which the Lord God had taken from man, he made into a woman, he brought her to the man. Adam said, this is now bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh, she shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother, be joined to his wife, they shall become one flesh. They were both naked, the man and his wife and were not ashamed. And he sings, this is a song. This is bone of my bones, flesh my flesh. She's from me. She's like me. She's for me. And that's why it says that we leave and that's why it says we leave. Marriage is like two sheets of plywood being glued together with a strong glue. You allow it to set. It's not to be separated because if you separate that plywood, the insides are ripped apart. God's intent is for marriage in him to be permanent and to be naked. They were both naked, the man and his wife. They weren't ashamed. Nakedness is more than nudity. They were open, vulnerable. They were emotionally, physically, spiritually united. And they were the perfect people in an originally perfect marriage. And then they had children. God's desire for us is to have the best. And we can, in him. And we'll be going through this piece by piece in the next few weeks. That's your foundation for marriage.