Foundational Principles of Marriage and Family

The title, Foundational Principles of Marriage and Family. The first principle is to recognize that God is the author of male and female. Contrary to what you are hearing today, God is the author of marriage and female. And we're going to discuss here today one of the main reasons why God created us, male and female. If you would, turn to Genesis 1 and verse 26. We'll start in 25. And God said, Let us 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 of the cattle and over the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him. Male and female created he them. Of course, we know that they were not created simultaneously, that Adam was created first, and then, as we read in Genesis chapter 2, that God took a rib from Adam and created Eve. But both were created beings, both having the potential to become spirit-born sons and daughters in the kingdom of God. In recent years, there's been a concerted effort to do away with male and female. The new social order would have you believe that humankind evolved and that sex roles were created by man. And since man was stronger, they put women in a position of servitude. That's what you might hear from some of the feminists. If man evolved, then God did not create male and female. However, God says, as we have just read, that he created them male and female for that great purpose of marriage and family, which we shall see closely parallels what God is doing in the spiritual sense of bringing sons and daughters to glory in his family. God ordained the process for multiplying, and he commanded them to be fruitful, multiply, and replenish the earth. The second key is to know and believe and internalize to the depth of your being that God is the author of marriage. So let's look at Genesis 2. We're at Genesis 1. We look at Genesis 2 and verse 18. Genesis 2, 18, and the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him and help meet for him.

And then God took the rib from Adam after a deep sleep had fallen upon Adam, and he created Eve from that rib. Now we pick it up again in verse 23. 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, clean, unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh. One flesh, a beautiful unity. The third key is to realize that male and female have the same potential for becoming sons and daughters in the kingdom of God. So God is the author of marriage, He created us male and female, and male and female have the same potential. Look at Galatians chapter 2.

I mean 3. Galatians chapter 3. Galatians 3 and verse 26. Male and female have the same God-ordained potential, that of being a glorious, radiant spirit being in the kingdom of God. In Galatians 3 and verse 26, For we are all children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized unto Christ and put on Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond or free, there is neither male nor female, that is in the spiritual sense, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you be in Christ, whether you male, female, bond-free, regardless of your socioeconomic status, your ethnic origin, but if you be in Christ, then are you Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. The fourth key is to realize that the marriage contract or covenant is made with God and man. It is made with God and man. It is a legal contract, as far as the state is concerned, because you have to get a marriage license. As far as God is concerned, it is a covenant.

The UCG marriage ceremony reads, in part, do you covenant with God before these witnesses?

And then later, it is God who is binding you together as husband and wife. Then we pray that God will bind the marriage. We pray that God will bind the marriage, not just a legal contract as far as his state is concerned, but as far as God is concerned, it is he, it is God, who binds the marriage. Look at Matthew 19. Matthew 19, and we'll start in verse 3. During the time of Christ's earthly ministry here, it had come to the point, some of the various Jewish sects, S-A-C-T-S, that they could divorce their wife for almost any cause. And we see here what Christ says about that in Matthew 19 and verse 3.

The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, trying him, testing him, saying unto him, is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? Just about any cause that you can think of, they could come up with a cause they no longer approved of that wife, wanted somebody else.

They could put her away, and he answered and said unto them, Have you not read that which made them at the beginning, made them male and female? And we read that verse from Genesis 1 and 27, and said, For this cause, and we read this verse, quoted from Genesis chapter 2, shall a man leave father and mother, shall cleave to his wife, and they twain shall be one flesh. Wherefore, they are no more twain, there are no not two separate individuals any more, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put us under.

So in the church of God, it is not just a legal contract. It is God who joins you together, and part of the prayer is that God would unite them in holy matrimony. And they said unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement and put her away? And he said unto them, Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to put away your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. It was never God's intent that that be the case.

And I say unto you, whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for Pornea, translated fornication, and Pornea has a wide range of meanings. One of the principal meanings is for sexual immorality. And it's not just fornication, as we might know fornication proper. And you could look up the Greek word for fornication, Pornea, in various meanings, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another commits adultery. And whosoever marries her which is put away commits adultery. His disciples said unto him, If this is the case of the man, if this be so with his wife, it is not good to marry.

I mean, you can't get rid of her. So it shows what the social environment of the day was, that they could put away their wives, and worse, putting away their wives for just any cause. But he said unto them, All men cannot receive this saying, except they to whom it is given. It requires conversion. It requires understanding to be grounded and founded in the foundational principles of marriage and family. For there are some enochs which were so born from their mother's womb, and there are some enochs which were made enochs of man, and there be enochs which have made themselves enochs for the kingdom of heaven's sake.

He that is able to receive it, let him receive it. So we see very clearly that it is God who binds the marriage, and that the contract, the covenant, is with God and your mate. The disciples, as we see here, were amazed and replied, if this is the way it is, there's no way out. Is it better not to be married? And we see what Jesus said.

Once a person begins to entertain the thoughts that there might be some biblically legal way, biblically legal way out of the marriage, they're letting their minds become Satan's workshop. It is amazing what the human mind can do when it looks for loose bricks. It can justify, that is, the human mind, just about anything that you can possibly think of, conceive, and we're familiar with Jeremiah 17.9, the human heart is deceitful above all things, desperately wicked.

Who can know it? Of course, the Scripture lays there the thoughts and the intents of man as we read in Hebrews 4 and verse 12. On the other hand, instead of looking for loose bricks to put away, to get a divorce, where to face our problems.

Mates who do not live by the four C's, conviction, commitment, and courage, look for loose bricks. The fifth key is to understand that marriage and family parallels what God is doing in bringing sons and daughters to glory in his spiritual family. In other words, understanding the purpose of marriage is one of the great keys for understanding why God created human beings in the first place.

The church is about to publish a booklet on grace. One of the few booklets, really the only major booklet on grace that the church has ever published, is about to be published, is going to be almost 100 pages. About anything you can say about grace will be in it. Of course, you can never say everything there is to say about anything. But grace has to do with God's divine favor, so that the reason that we even exist is because of God's divine favor. That he wanted to share who he is, what he is, in a family setting.

He and his son, Jesus Christ. Of course, before the creation of the physical universe and the creation of man, you had two eternal beings, co-eternal and co-essential, that is, of the same essence. And to come up with this great plan of salvation, how then are we going to have a family? We are both uncreated and eternal, and so the creation of humankind and marriage and family was the result of some of this great planning that they did. So understanding that the reason we even exist is because God wanted to share who he is and what he is with humankind.

See, the understanding of the purpose of marriage and family is one of the great keys for understanding why you were born, why you exist, and it is for this great purpose.

Another way to express this key of understanding that marriage and family parallels what God is doing in the spiritual realm is to realize, once again, our first priority. What is the first priority in the Bible? Well, perhaps everyone here could quote Matthew 6.33, seek you first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. And one of the things that I used to harp on over and over again in Bible classes at Ambassador was, keep the big picture burning brightly in your mind. The big picture, what lies before you, what the promises are, the precious promises of a eternal life in the kingdom of God. And God ordained marriage for the greatest purpose in the plan of God, that is, to bring sons and daughters to glory in his spiritual family. The genius of the whole creation and the whole planning of that spiritual family is beyond human comprehension. We see through a glass dimly darkly, but we know enough to know that one of the greatest ways to understand the plan of God is to understand what the Bible says about the foundational principles of marriage and family. Satan is the one who is ultimately behind the various movements designed to destroy the family, the principle movements that parade under the LGBTQ agenda.

The lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer. Mercy. All of these movements oppose the God-ordained structure of Scripture.

Let's look at the God-ordained structure of the family. Where would you go? First Corinthians, chapter 11. The God-ordained structure of family. In 1 Corinthians, chapter 11, and verse 3, But I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God. So here Paul listed in inverse order, but in the hierarchical order it would be God, Christ, man, woman, children. That is the God-ordained structure of the family according to the Bible. And then Paul begins to elaborate on the roles. Now we want to go to Ephesians, chapter 5, and we'll be referring to Ephesians 5 and these verses in different ways more than once. So in Ephesians, chapter 5, relations, Ephesians. In Ephesians, chapter 5 and beginning in verse 19, Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father, God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. So submission does work both ways, but we just read the structure. And that structure will be further explained here. Why submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord. And as I said in the announcements, I believe the two greatest problems have to do with submission and the administration of authority. As I said, the researchers talk about communication, sex, and finances, which oftentimes are great problems. But I believe the Bible-mandated admonition instruction is even greater. The husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, for he is the Savior of the body. Remember, the woman was taken from the man. That within itself has to do, to some degree, with submission. Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands love your wives, even as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. That is sacrificial love. What was the sacrifice? He gave his life for the church. He gave everything that he could give. He cannot give more than his life. That he might sanctify and cleanse it with a washing of water by the Word. That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot nor wrinkle nor any such thing, but it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loves his wife loves himself. Why is that the case? Because they are mandated to be one flesh. And so the husband is to have the same care for the wife as he has for his own flesh. And that's why it says a little later, for we are members of his body, of his flesh.

Let me read 29 again. For no man yet ever hated his own flesh, because we are to be one flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, even as the Lord the church. For we are members of his body, of his flesh and of his bones. And for this cause shall a man leave his father and mother. See the second time that this is quoted from Genesis chapter 2. Shall be joined unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless, let every one of you in particular so love his wife, even as himself. No man yet ever hated his own flesh.

And the wife see that she respect her husband. King James says reverence, but it has more to do with respect.

All of these movements, the LGBTQ, seek to destroy the roles of men and women, especially husband and wife. The so-called family planning movement, which endorses abortion, is one of their main strategies. We must never forget that Satan hates humankind, and his mission is to destroy you and I and subvert God's great plan of salvation. So every potential son or daughter of God that he can destroy, he's going to seek to do it.

You know, God could have created each person individually, neuter, and thus had a sexless society. It would be difficult to imagine. In order for a sexless human society to be sustained, God would have to continue creating human beings. This method would not provide any natural bonding elements for society.

Why do we love our parents? We love our parents because they gave us life and they loved us, and we learned to love them as they loved us. And that's one of the reasons why parenting is so critical. Even though children may grow up in a home in which they hate the way that their parents treat them or rear a race, whichever one you want to use them.

They may hate the way that they are reared, but yet at the same time, when they become parents, statistics say that they are generally going to rear their children in the same way that they were reared, even though they may have hated the way it was.

Of course, some can break out of the mold. Some can break that mold and do differently. We should come to love God because He is the author of physical and spiritual life. We love Him because He first loved us, and so parents must love their children. Even in today's world, you can do everything that you can possibly do. And you can have two people reared in the same family under the same parents, and yet one goes in one direction and another goes in the other direction. Let's look at 1 John 4 and 1 John 4.

1 John 4 and verse 8 twice in these verses, we'll see God says that He is love. 1 John 4 and 8, He that loves not knows not God, for God is love. Now we come down to verse 16. 1 John 4 and 16, And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he that dwells in love dwells in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has torment. He that fears is not made perfect in love. We love him because he first loved us. And we love our children, and the children get their cues of how to love and how to rear their children from us. It is through the begettle and birth process, and through the rearing of children, that potential sons and daughters of God are produced. It is through the family unit. That is what God intended. Of course, in today's world, with families being scattered asunder, and the various things that happen to families, of course, some come out of this world, even though they've gone through horrible, horrible circumstances and situations.

Men and women are born with biological and psychological differences. More and more, the research bears us out. Different biological and psychological differences.

Of course, there have been movements we had in the 70s and 80s, sort of the unisex movement, pantsuits for men and women, and all of that kind of stuff. The way the communist Chinese dress for a while, I guess they still are to some degree. Not only are men and women women different biologically, they think differently and behave differently. Remember the word, help me. It's not good for man to be alone, as we read from Genesis 2.18. So I will make him a help-meet. I think that's Genesis 2.20 instead of 2.18. This word, help me, means to help to succor and to aid. To help to succor and to aid.

Men and women were created in such a way that when they are joined together in marriage and truly become one, they complement each other and make each other complete.

Now there are exceptions to what I'm about to read, but I'm speaking in the general sense with regard to some of these differences. And we'll explain some of this as well. Man is dominant. Woman is submissive. We just read it from the Bible of the way we're supposed to be in the structure. Man is aggressive. Woman is passive. Man is strong in conquering. Woman is sensitive and tender. Man is rational. Sometimes you wonder. Woman is emotionally perceptive. We talk about intuition and being able to discern and size up people in a way that men don't. Man is pragmatic. If it works, do it. Woman is idealistic. Let's do it right in the first place. Now perfectly joined in mind and spirit, they complement each other in a beautiful harmonious relationship. However, there is a caveat that we need to understand. This caveat is very important. In the human population, sociologists, psychologists have divided the human population into three categories with regard to dominance. You have one high dominance. About five percent of the population fall into this dominant category, both male and female. There are dominant males. There are dominant females. About five percent of the population fall into this dominant category. From this group comes many of our leaders in government, military, education, religion, economics. So to some degree, leaders are born and not made. It is difficult to make an introverted, low-dominance person into some kind of cheerleading great leader. It's just not the way they're wired. You can obviously teach everyone principles of leadership and thus improve their effectiveness, but it's difficult to change a person's genetic makeup. They're born high dominance, and then the next is mid dominance. You have the mid-dominant segment and the low-dominant segment. In World War II, the Nazis identified the dominant prisoners of war, isolated them, and thus considerably lowered the probability that anyone would lead an escape plan, put the dominant ones together, and the rest separate from them. Now here's what can happen in marriage. Problems can arise when a high-dominance female marries a low-dominance male. Of course, it can work, but it's a greater challenge.

God deeply desires to create his holy righteous character within all of us, regardless of our high, mid, low dominance, whatever it is. In the process of creating his holy righteous character in us, he instituted physical parallels which will allow us to understand more completely his plan of salvation. Now see what human beings don't understand as a whole, and they get their eyes off of, and they really never had their eyes on, the goal and the purpose for human existence. Regardless if you're high-dominant, low-dominance, low-dominance, the reason you were created, the reason you were born, is to become a son or daughter in the family of God. And we can learn more about God and what he's doing through family than we can through most any other aspect of the creation. If it were not for the creation of male and female and the necessity of male and female coming together as one flesh and marriage to reproduce, there'd be no need for family. That's why the roles are under so much pressure from Satan and his agents.

Destroy those roles. Destroy the family. Satan hates to see more potential sons and daughters of God born. Abort them. Get them out of the way. Get them out of the way. Get them out of the way. Abort them. Get them out of the way. Of course, we don't know for sure what's going to happen to a fetus that is aborted at six weeks or six months. Now they're talking about killing those who are already born with a doctor and the mother making a decision whether or not this child lives or dies. How low can we go? Of course, you could go back and read in the minor prophets especially, well even in Vittora, in the first five books, the Pentateuch, about human sacrifice and giving their firstborn to the fire, to Moloch.

If there were no families, there would be no bond to hold society together. No animals are governed by instinct. Their genetic code directs them to behave in a certain way. It's like they don't really have a choice. The birds are going to build their nest in the same way and I've seen them do it for many decades. And I wonder how on earth doves are able to manage. They build the sorriest nest of any bird I know of. Put a few sticks together, lay a couple of eggs, and they're able to hatch them out. On the other hand, humans have free moral agencies and they have the what we call free will, and they can revert back to giving sway to their lusts, resulting in chaos and confusion with the strongest and most immoral ruling over everyone. And we have seen, we've witnessed in our lifetime, some of the brutal dictators that have arisen, that have come and gone, and some still are. But the family, on the other hand, the family unit is the glue of society. You hear it so often, yet you don't hear it much now. How many of the presidential candidates have said anything about marriage and family? How important it is? And how important it is for mother and father to fulfill their role? Let me know when you hear the first one speak about that.

They talk about solving the great social problems of the day.

So the family unit is the glue of society. It is the adhesive element that causes them to stick together. It is the cement, the solidarity of society. The family unit is ordained by God.

He is the one who structured and ordered the way that society should function. The fact that you come out of the loins of your parents ensures a natural bond between you and your parents. At least, it should ensure a natural bond between you and your parents. Intimacy, pregnancy, birth pain, surveil, birth are all designed to bond us together as one. There is an instinctive bonding process in animals, and to a certain degree, especially early on, there is an instinctive bonding process with humans.

We instinctively bond with our parents when we're children. You've heard of the rooting reflex. Soon as an infant is born almost, he begins to root. He's rooting for nourishment, and he roots till he finds it.

But as we mature, we must choose and learn to bond with our mates and with God. Now let's look at 2 Timothy chapter 3. 2 Timothy chapter 3, because what I've just talked about here is addressed in 2 Timothy chapter 3.

When we are first born, we have this instinctive nature of bonding with mother with child and child with mother. But as time goes on and we mature and we, quote, begin to think for ourselves and develop a mind of our own, and depending on how we have been reared and taught, see, and the fact that we have, quote, free moral agency, we can turn away from natural affection.

In 2 Timothy 3.1, this note that in the last days perilous time shall come, for men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection. Truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure, more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof. From such, turn away.

So animals, as they mature, they keep on following their instincts. With human beings, as they mature, depending on the so many factors that come their way, time, chance, circumstance, how they're reared, the environment, what they're exposed to, the peer group, the education, it just goes on and on, the factors that come into play. If we understand who God is and what he does for us, we will bond with him. A successful marriage requires both male and female to understand these principles and believe that they are of God. This is what God says. It's not what man says, and when it's properly implemented, it will work. Once again, God is bringing sons and daughters to glory. The church is our mother, Galatians 4, 26. The church is a spouse to her husband, 2 Corinthians 11, 2. I have a spouse to you, Paul writes, to one husband. The church is his bride. We want to be invited to the Lamb's supper, to the marriage supper of the Lamb, the Lamb's marriage supper. Now we come to the sixth key. This is one of the most difficult ones and one of the main ones of all the people that I've known that I've counseled with. The sixth key is we must give ourselves up, completely give ourselves up, expecting nothing in return. Most people cannot give up self. They want to cling to, hold on to self, and some element of self, they want to justify to their dying day.

Let's look at Romans chapter 5.

Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. In what condition were we in when God the Father and Christ extended their love to us?

In Romans chapter 5 verse 6, for when we were yet without strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. When we were yet in our sins, he gave himself for us. He gave himself up greater love hath no man than this than he lay down his life for his friends. For scarcely for righteous men will one die, yet for adventure for a good man some would even dare to die, but God commends his love toward us. And while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. So he gave himself up. And we read from Ephesians 5, husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. The sacrificial love that he gave it, he purchased the church with his own blood, and so our relationship and marriage should be the same, that is, willing to give ourselves up. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6, verses 13 through 20, we're not our own that we are purchased with a price. So we have to give up ourselves completely to each other within the structure that God has ordained for us. Now we come to the seventh key. The seventh key is respect. And see that, as we just read from Ephesians 5 a few minutes ago, that last part, which we in the marriage ceremony now translate as respect, see that she reverence her husband or respect her husband. So the seventh key is respect.

It's interesting to note that when I did an internet search on respect, you know, you do the search, and out at the side are all these advertisements. One of the main advertisements, when you Google respect, at least when I did, was divorce lawyers. Respect is quite subjective and somewhat difficult to define. Here's what the dictionary states, esteem for or a sense of worth or excellence of a person, a personal quality or ability or something considered as a manifestation of a personal quality or ability. And you might say, well, I have great respect for her judgment or his judgment.

Deference to a right, privilege, privileged position or something or someone or something considered to have certain rights or privileges. So you respect their office. Proper acceptance or courtesy, acknowledgement, respect for a suspect's right to counsel, to show respect for the elderly, to show respect for an office. You quite often hear, I respect the office, but I don't respect him or her.

You also hear people say that respect has to be earned. So how does one earn respect?

Respect is earned by coming to believe and to understand that this person is faithful, trustworthy, honest, caring, concerned, serving, responsible, dependable, consistent, aware of your needs and feelings, does not try to make you over in his or her image, does not try to control you, and you have the sense that this person will treat you fairly. That is a mighty big mouthful.

There are, of course, other qualities and characteristics that we could add to the list. In short, respect could be equated, of course, with character. It is difficult to develop a meaningful and lasting relationship with a person you don't respect.

So if in dating, for those of you who are in that age group, if you don't respect the person, you can be friends and all of that, but you don't want to go beyond an acquaintance. We live in an age in which people are not afraid to speak evil of dignities. People that hold office, husband and wife, are offices in God's governmental structure. Say that again. Husbands and wives are officers in God's governmental structure. There are many things that will destroy one's respect for another person, but when respect goes, the relationship will struggle to survive. Thus, if you're beginning to lose respect for your mate, you need to let them know that you're losing respect for them and explain the reason why. The sooner you do it, the better, because you can work on it. It's so interesting to note that through the years, and we have given, at least I've given, sermons on this point as well, that when there is a problem, generally it is the wife, the woman, the mother, who seeks help first. Because the guy, you know, I'm the man, I can solve this by myself, we don't need anybody's help. And it seems the wife is able to discern this more quickly than the man. You know, it's interesting to note that even in homosexual relationships, one person refers to the other as husband or wife.

One of our Democratic candidates for president, Buttigieg, mayor of what is it, South Bend, Indiana, has referred to his husband.

By the way, he's doing quite well in the polls in recent times and raising a lot of money. But the basis for the distinction is destroyed when persons of the same sex call themselves female when they are male or vice versa. So on the other hand, the person that Mr. Buttigieg might call his husband, he will call him his wife.

The eighth key is the most important key, and it is repentance toward God. The root cause of almost all marital problems that I've ever dealt with is spiritual. We must needs understand that in one sense, marriage is a physical union, but it is founded on spiritual principles and meant to be a deep spiritual relationship that reflects the relationship of Christ and the Church. Just as I read from Ephesians 5, husbands love your wives as Christ loved the Church and gave himself for it. If marriage is going to be what God intended that it should be, we must repent and become converted. It takes two converted persons, generally speaking, and I know that there are people in the audience whose mate is not in the Church, and they marry after or before they were converted. I want to go now to Matthew 18. Matthew 18 and the first four verses there summarize to a large degree what we have been talking about here today. In Matthew 18, the specific topic has to do with children and humbling yourself as a child, but it also has the word conversion. At the same time came the disciples of Jesus saying, who is the greatest in the kingdom of God? And Jesus called a little child unto him and said him in the midst of them and said, verily, verily, I say unto you, except you be converted, except you become converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And of course, that is where our ultimate reward is. You could be the greatest man or woman here on earth. You could be head of the greatest nation here on earth, but it only lasts a short time. What we're looking for is, as Paul writes about in Romans, we're seeking honor, glory, and immortality in the kingdom of God forever and ever.

So we must look to God in Christ, look to the truth, and we must understand our role. We must, if we find anything in examining ourselves, repent. Not just say, forgive me, Father in heaven, for x-act. Now listen to this. Not just forgive me for x-act. I have lied, I have stolen, I've gossiped, whatever the act is. But, as David prayed in Psalm 51.10, create in me a new heart and a right spirit. Renew. See, submission is a state of mind. It's not just a do or don't. The proper administration of authority is a state of mind of understanding who you are, that you are a representative of God in Christ. See, all sin is against God. Some sins are against your own body.

But see, all sins are really against self. Why? Because the wages of sin is death. So, you could sin against God, you could sin against your neighbor, you could sin against your body. If you sin against your body yourself, you're sinning that every sin is against yourself because the wages of sin is death. So, examine yourselves to see whether or not you are in the faith. Have heartfelt repentance toward God. And, of course, repentance usually involves another person as well, the one that you may have sinned against or done the damage to. So, as we dismiss here today, let us consider what we've said here today, the foundational principles of marriage. I've given eight keys. Of course, there are others. It's not a be-all to end-all, but some of the very foundational principles. God created us male-female.

God created marriage for a great purpose.

It parallels what God is doing in bringing sons and daughters to glory. God is the author of marriage and family, and He ordained the structure of government in marriage. Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands. Husbands, love your wives as Christ, love the Church. God has revealed how we should relate to each other. God wants us to become a living sacrifice and communicate.

It says in Hebrews, with such communication, God is well pleased. God wants us to become converted and humble ourselves as little children. To give up self and to repent and live as God in Christ commands us to live. If we can understand these simple, in some ways, yet profound principles, not only shall we have success in marriage, but we'll be in the Kingdom of God, in that eternal family that lives forever and ever.