STORIES OF OUR FAITH part 3 The Marriage Story “We had no idea what we were getting into. That was probably a good thing”.  

1. The Problem: Busy but Lonely

“The Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.’ Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found” (Genesis 2:18-20).  

1. The Solution: A Partner Who Completes

“So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, ‘This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called “woman,” for she was taken out of man’” (Genesis 2:21-23). III. The Design: Intimacy and Transparency “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame” (Genesis 2:24-25). Leaving means breaking away from your parents to establish a home of your own. Cleaving means being glued together so tightly no force can tear you apart. Intimacy involves growing together over the years so that while you are still two people, in a deep way you have become “one flesh.” It includes sexual relations, but it is more than that. Transparency means having a relationship built on such trust that you can let down the barriers and allow another person to know you deeply — body, soul and spirit.