Upfront: God's Creation and Foundational Design

"God's Word confronts us with just two alternatives: either restore family relationships and survive; or let them continue to deteriorate, and perish under God's curse. The issue will be settled by the fathers. It is they whom God holds responsible. ...God's Word promises that when the fathers turn to the children, the children will return to the fathers. The response of the fathers will determine the destiny of the nation." --Derek Prince (See Fatherhood below.)

Genesis 1:1-3 - In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said...

Psalm 33:6-9; 148:5 - By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. He gathered the waters of the sea together as an heap: he lays up the depth in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. For he spoke, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast. ...Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created.

2 Corinthians 4:6 - For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

John 1:1-5 - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made. In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness; and the darkness doesn't comprehend it. 

Hebrews 11:3 - For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. Colossians 1:16-17 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. 

Romans 1:18-20 - For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath showed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse...

1 Corinthians 6:9-11  - Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Stop being deceived: neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor effeminate nor homosexuals nor thieves nor covetous people, nor drunkards, nor abusive people, nor swindlers will inherit the Kingdom of God. And some of you were these things: but you have been washed, but you have been made holy, but you have been made righteous by the name of the Lord Y'shua Messiah and by the Spirit of our God.

Proverbs 17:15 - The one who justifies the wicked and the one who condemns the just, even they both are abomination to the LORD*. 

Proverbs 1:5-7 - A wise man will hear and will increase learning, and a man of understanding will attain to wise counsels to understand a proverb and its interpretation, the words of the wise and their riddles. Reverence of the LORD* is the beginning of knowledge. Fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Genesis 18:17-19 - Then the Lord said, "Should I hide from Abraham what I am doing, since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed in him? I chose him, and he will instruct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He promised him."

We Need More Godly Men - By Rob Pue ... If Americans loved the Lord and revered and feared Him as our ancestors did, even through the most difficult and trying of times, I dare say we wouldn't be seeing any of the filth, nonsense and injustice that is now our "new normal." Who's to blame? All of us, really, but today I want to talk specifically about and to the fathers. "As goes the father, so goes the family; as goes the family, so goes the Church; as goes the Church, so goes the nation.' The Scriptures have a lot to say about the importance of fathers and fatherhood. The first human being God created was a man. The man was created and purposed to protect, lead, provide for and serve his helpmate, his wife. Together, the two were to be "fruitful and multiply" as the two became one flesh in holy matrimony. Together, the two were to bear and raise Godly children, in the fear and admonition of the Lord. And this union of one man and one woman in holy matrimony was the basis for the family, and the family was the foundation of a God-honoring culture and society. If you wonder why our culture and society is such a disaster now, one need only look at what has happened to our families.

Marriage: Made in heaven, not in courts.

Did Eve Come from Adam's "Rib"? - By Dr. Nicholas J. Schaser  Most English translations of Genesis 2:21-22 read, "The Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up flesh in its place. And the rib that the Lord God took from the man he built into a woman." The description of the woman made from the man's "rib" has led to the mistaken conclusion that women are inferior to men because they originate from one small part of the male anatomy. Yet the Hebrew word צלע (tsela) does not mean "rib," but rather "side."

    According to Exodus, for example, God told Moses to make four gold rings for the Ark of the Covenant, "two rings on one side (tsela) of it, and two rings on the other side of it" (Exod. 25:12). Likewise, when God takes one tsela from the man to make the woman, Eve comes from an entire side of Adam's body, not a single rib.

    Adam's own words clarify that Eve comes from one of his sides when he declares of his wife, "Finally, this is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh!" (Gen. 2:23). Had Eve been created from the man's rib alone, Adam would only have been able to say that she was "bone of his bone." As Adam's bone and flesh, the woman is the man's "other half." When man and woman cleave to one another and return to being "one flesh" (2:24), the two equal halves of humanity are brought back together. Therefore, the primordial couple in Genesis represents God's vision of equality and complementarity between the genders.

Genesis 2:24 - Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. 

Matthew 19:4-6 - Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder.

Hebrews 13:4 - Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled; but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.

Benjamin Franklin - "Marriage is...the most natural state of man, and therefore the state in which you are most likely to find solid happiness.... It is the man and woman united that makes the complete human being... man has not nearly the value he would have in the state of union. He is an incomplete animal; he resembles the odd half of a pair of scissors."  

Proverbs 18:22 - Whoso finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor of the LORD.

Ephesians 5:25 - "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the Church, and gave Himself for it."  

1 Thessalonians 4:4-5 - For this is the will of God, the One Who sanctifies you, that you abstain from immorality. Each of you knows to take a wife for himself in holiness and in honor, not in lustful passion like the heathens, the ones who have not known God...  

1 Corinthians 7:1-17 - Now concerning the things whereof you 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 due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband. The wife has not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband has not power of his own body, but the wife. Defraud not one another, except it be with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency. But I speak this by permission, and not of commandment. For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man has his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that. I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I. But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn.

    And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband: But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife. But to the rest speak I, not the Lord: If any brother has a wife that believes not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away. And the woman which has an husband that believes not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him.

    For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy. But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God has called us to peace. For what do you know, O wife, whether you shall save thy husband? or how do you know, O man, whether you shall save thy wife? But as God has distributed to every man, as the Lord has called every one, so let him walk.

Strengthening Marriage (Family Research Council) - Every civilization has been built upon the institution of marriage. It is the foundation. The happiness and success of individuals, the welfare and security of children, and the soundness of society, are all largely dependent upon the stability of marriage according to the divine pattern. According to the Family Research Council's Marriage and Religion Research Institute (MARRI), federal surveys clearly demonstrate that the always-intact married family that worships frequently (weekly or at least monthly) yields the most favorable social outcomes. 

"This is a great mystery..."

The Bible begins with a marriage and the Bible ends with a marriage in Revelation. "This is a great mystery...

Ephesians 5:22-33 - Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head (source) of the wife, even as Christ is the head (source) of the church; and he is the savior of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word. That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that 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. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourishes and cherishes it, even as the Lord the church; For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery; but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.

Enjoy life with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life which He has given you under the sun; because that is your reward in life and in your toil because you have labored under the sun. --Ecclesiastes 9:9

Whoever finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor of the Lord. --Proverbs 18:22

1 Peter 3 - Wives and Husbands: Likewise let the wives be in subjection to their own husbands, so that even if some husbands are disobeying in the Word, through the way of life of the wives they will have been gained without a word, because they watched your pure way of life in reverent fear, for whom your beauty must not be the external things, by the braiding of hair and wearing gold or putting on adorned clothes but the secret person of the heart, in the imperishable quality of the gentle and quiet spirit, which is of surpassing value before God. For so also in former times the holy wives, those who hoped in God, were putting themselves in order by being subject to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, of whom you have become daughters by doing good and not being afraid and not at all in terror. Likewise husbands, because you live together, you know your wife as the weaker feminine vessel. By showing honor to her, as also to fellow heirs of the grace of life, your prayers would not be hindered.

    Finally, all believers be united in spirit, like-minded, loving brothers, compassionate, humble, not paying back evil for evil, or reproach against reproach, but on the contrary blessing because you have been called into this, so that you would inherit a blessing. For "The one who wants to love life and to see good days must immediately stop his tongue from evil and not speak deceitfully, but he must at once turn away from evil and do good, he must immediately seek and pursue peace: because the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and His ears for their appeal, but the face of the Lord is against those who do wickedness." (Psalms 34:13-17)  

   And who is the one who will harm you if you would be eager for moral goodness? But even if you might suffer because of righteousness, you are blessed. And you should not be afraid of them and you should not let yourselves be intimidated, but you must now hold our Lord the Messiah in reverence in your hearts, always prepared with a reply for everyone who questions your report about the hope within you, but with gentleness and respect, because you have a clear conscience, so that while you are being spoken evil of, those who revile you would be put to shame by your good Way of life in Messiah.    It is better to suffer for doing good, if he might want the will of God, rather than for doing wrong. Because Messiah also once suffered concerning sin, the righteous One on behalf of the unjust, so that He could bring you to God when He did indeed die in the flesh, but then was made alive by the Spirit: with Whom also, when He went, He preached to those spirits in prison, to those formerly disobedient. While the patience of God was eagerly awaiting, in the days of Noah a box (ark) was being built for which a few, that is eight lives, were rescued through water. And now immersion, which is a fulfillment of the type, saves you, not in removal of dirt from flesh, but an appeal for a clear conscience toward God, through the resurrection of Y'shua Messiah, Who went into heaven and is on the right hand of God, with angels and authorities and powers being subject to Him.

Have We Been Misinterpreting the Word 'Head' in Ephesians 5? - By Eddie Hyatt - ...[W]hen Paul says in Ephesians 5:23 that the husband is the kephale (head) of the wife, his point is not about authority and leadership. If he had wanted to establish an authoritarian structure for marriage, he could easily have done so by using words such as archon (ruler), despot (master) or timē (one of rank and honor). Any of these would have unambiguously communicated the idea of superior rank and authority. Paul, instead, avoids those words and speaks of the husband as the kephale, or source of the wife. In doing so he is referring back to the Genesis account of creation where, instead of creating a separate creature from the ground to make the woman, God took a side from the person He had already created from the dust, and built the side into the woman. The popular Jewish commentary known as The Chumash says, Unlike man's, the woman's body was not taken from the earth. God built one side of the man into woman. so that the single human being became two, thereby demonstrating irrefutably the equality of man and woman (Hyatt, Paul, Women and Church, 85). While the husband is the "head" of the family, the wife is the "heart" of the family. "Men do that which is difficult while women do that which is impossible." --Lakota Chief Red Cloud ("Next to Last Stand" -- 2020 Walt Longmire book by Craig Johnson)

John 3:27-31 - John (the Baptist) answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven. Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. He that has the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease. He that comes from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaks of the earth: he that comes from heaven is above all.  

Matthew 22:1-14 - "The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage. But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise: And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them. But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Then he said to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests. And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: And he said unto him, Friend, how is it you came in here not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen."

Revelation 19:7-9 - Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife has made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he said unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said unto me, These are the true sayings of God.