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Bible Study: Feb. 10, 2019


NASHVILLE (BP) — This weekly Bible study appears in Baptist Press in a partnership with LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. Through its Leadership and Adult Publishing team, LifeWay publishes Sunday School curricula and additional resources for all age groups.

This week’s Bible study is adapted from the Bible Studies For Life curriculum.

Bible Passage: Genesis 2:18-25

Discussion Questions
— What couple really defines a strong marriage for you?
— When have you seen the benefits of a godly marriage lived out?
— What principles can we learn from this passage about God’s design for marriage?

Food for Thought:

Most of us have attended or participated in at least one especially memorable wedding. Some weddings are “over the top” in cost and extravagance. Others are “bare bones” with just an officiant and a couple of witnesses.

I know of one young boy who was recruited to be the ring bearer, but as he walked alongside the flower girl he started to cry. Asked what was wrong, he said, “I don’t want to get married. I want to keep living with mom and dad!” He questioned marriage!

A lot of people these days question the whole nature of marriage: who can marry whom, what makes a marriage a marriage, or even if marriage is needed at all. Marriage is still a good idea, and it’s a good idea because it originated with God. You likely know couples who are a great “advertisement” for what God intended when He brought the first woman to man. For those who question marriage, God has given us the answer.

We don’t have to read far in God’s Word to see He created us for relationships. Being created in the image of God means that, first and foremost, we’re to live in relationship to Him. But He also made us for relationships with others. A sense of community is part of God’s design for us.

In Genesis 2, we learn about God’s design for marriage. We learn God’s plan for Adam was to live in a special relationship with one person. “I will make a helper corresponding to him” (v. 18). We can rightly conclude God already knew what He was going to do; He was going to create woman. But first, He paraded the animals past Adam.

God allowed Adam to identify and name all the animals, and in the process, Adam discovered what God already knew. “For the man no helper was found corresponding to him” (v. 20). God was setting the stage for Adam to truly value what God was about to do for him. God was going to create Eve.

The Bible doesn’t show marriage as anything but a relationship between a man and a woman, and it’s a covenant relationship. In marriage, the man and woman are dependent on each other and they share a responsibility to spur each other toward Christ. Marriage is distinct from all our other relationships; it is a sacred promise to another person for our whole lives.

Bible Studies for Life

Bible Studies for Life connects the Bible to life for adults, students and kids. Bible Studies for Life helps individuals and groups know God’s Word through trustworthy content, creates biblical community through engaging and conversational group studies, and helps people engage the culture missionally by unpacking what the Bible says about real-life issues. More information can be found on the Internet at www.biblestudiesforlife.com.

Other ongoing Bible study options for all ages offered by LifeWay can be found at LifeWay.com/SundaySchool or ordered at LifeWay Christian Stores.

    About the Author

  • Staff/Lifeway Christian Resources