God’s Created Order

God has designed relationships with order and purpose for his glory.

God has created marriage and sovereignly ordains marriage.

God sovereignly blesses some with the gift of singleness.

No status is more important than the other and one’s value is not tied to their relationship status.

God calls us to be faithful to him no matter our relational status.

Understanding God design for our relationships will lead to faithfulness and purity.

Obeying God’s relational boundaries will bring God glory and us blessing.

 

Singleness – 1 Cor 7:25-40

Singleness is a gift, sovereignly granted by God meant to be used for his glory.

God blesses his people with singleness for their benefit and the church’s benefit.

1. Focus on God, not your situation – humbly trust that God’s will is best.
2. Devote your desires to God – you may desire marriage, but desire God first.
3. Devote your time to God – you have more free time to serve God, utilize it.
   1. Study his Word
   2. Spiritually discipline yourself – pray, fast, worship, and confess sin
   3. Serve the Church

(Side Note: On choosing a spouse – Ask yourself if you glorify God better with him/her, or not.)

 

Marriage – Gen 1-2; Eph 5:25-6:4

Marriage is a gift, established by God and meant to be used for his glory.

God designed marriage to be monogamous, faithful, complementary, and heterosexual.

God designed marriage to be the sacred creation of a new family, one flesh for his purposes.

1. Reveal Christ’s love – Your marriage ought to represent God’s love by following God’s roles.
2. Focus on each other’s sanctification – work to present each other as holy before God.
3. Be intimate together – whole being intimacy is exclusive, cultivated, and active.
4. Be fruitful and multiply – as God provides, have children and teach them the gospel.

 

 

For further study – Gary Thomas’ Sacred Marriage; Keller’s The Meaning of Marriage; Kostenberger’s God, Marriage, and Family; Piper’s Sex and the Supremacy of Christ