In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of God being first in a marriage. He uses the example of Adam and Eve to illustrate this point. Before God created Eve, Adam had a personal relationship with God, teaching him that God must always be first in our lives. The preacher warns against prioritizing looks, money, or family over God in choosing a spouse, as these factors cannot sustain a marriage. He also cautions against allowing parents or other external influences to interfere in the marriage relationship. The key to a happy marriage, according to the preacher, is putting the Lord first in every situation.

And today we want to think about something very, very important, very, very crucial, and that is God's plan for an excellent marriage. I believe this is very crucial in the days in which we live. The Pharisees once came to Jesus, we read in Matthew chapter 19, to test Him, and asked Him, in verse 3, is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason? And Jesus' reply was, haven't you read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and He went on to say that two shall become one flesh. Consequently there are no more two, but one. And what therefore God has joined together, let no man separate. The point I want you to notice here is that, even though under the Old Testament Moses had permitted divorce, as the Pharisees pointed out in Matthew 19, verse 7, that was only a temporary arrangement. Jesus said, if you want to know God's perfect will, go back to the beginning. That's what He said in verse 4. From the beginning. So if we want to understand what God's will is for a man and a woman, we must go back to Genesis chapter 2. That's what Jesus quoted here in verse 5. A man shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So He said there is no question of divorce. Now, unfortunately, among Christians also, who are supposed to be the light of the world, a lot of marriages are not happy. They are not divorced, in the sense that they have not separated and gone to live in separate homes. But there is a separation in spirit. Though they are not divorced physically, they are divorced in spirit. You can be living in the same house for 20 years and live as two lonely individuals in the same house. And then you are not fulfilling God's purpose for your marriage. Because God's purpose is that two shall become one. That is God's plan. Two should become one. And we need to see why two are not becoming one. If you go back to the beginning, in Genesis chapter 2, we read that it was not Adam who went to God and said, Lord, I am feeling lonely. Can you please give me a wife? Isn't that interesting? That it was God who said, verse 18, when He looked at man, It is not good for man to be alone. I will make him a helper, suitable for him. Now, why didn't God make Adam and Eve simultaneously, at the same time? He could have done it very easily. It says, He took the dust to the ground and He made Adam. At the same time, He could have made Eve and breathed into both of them the breath of lives and so that as soon as their eyes were opened, they would see each other. Why did He make Adam first, alone, and then a little while later put him to sleep and pull out his rib and make a woman? There is a reason. There is something spiritually that God was trying to tell both Adam and Eve, which is the secret of how two can become one. And what was that? When God made Adam and his eyes were opened, He suddenly got life. Who was the first person He saw? You know the answer. God. He met God. He talked to God. He had no wife. It was just Him and God. Much later, He got a wife. So what was God trying to teach Adam through that? He was trying to teach Adam one simple lesson that I must be first in your life at all times. Before you see your wife, you must see Me. More than you value your wife, you must value Me. That's why He made Adam alone and fellowshiped with him before a wife even existed. What shall we learn from this? That throughout our life, even if you are married for 50 years or 75 years, God must always be first every day. Many people start with their wives first if they are fallen in love with each other. In some cases, the parents are first. But let me go into that later. Let me now speak about the creation of Eve. God put Adam to sleep. It says, a deep sleep. It's mentioned in verse 21, so that he couldn't even wake up. And He took one of his ribs, Genesis 2, 21, closed up the flesh and He made a woman out of that rib. Now, as soon as God made a woman out of that rib, when Eve, when God breathed into Eve and she got life and her eyes were opened, whom did she see first? Not Adam. She did not even know of the existence of Adam. She thought she was the only human being created. She didn't know anything about Adam. Her eyes were opened and she saw God. Exactly like when Adam was created. Adam was somewhere else in the garden, fast asleep. He did not know about her existence and she did not know about his existence. She met God. God was the first person to speak to her. And only much later did God bring her to Adam. So what was God trying to teach Eve? The same lesson He was trying to teach Adam. I must be first in your life. You must have fellowship with me before you fellowship with your husband. Do you understand that now? God's plan for an excellent marriage. Adam had to fellowship with God before he fellowshiped with Eve. Eve had to fellowship with God before she fellowshiped with Adam. It is all written there. From the beginning, this is how God intended. And when God Himself is between a husband and wife and where each person in the marriage, each partner, seeks to put the Lord first in their personal life. You know what will happen? They will be glued together. God is the greatest binding force in the universe. When He holds two people together, it is impossible for anybody to separate them. Not the devil, not demons, not the whole world. Not circumstances, not poverty, not even death. When God brings, holds two people together. And if God is not there to hold people together, then people are held together by other forces. And the other forces are not as strong. I don't know whether you have seen an advertisement for this adhesive called fevicol. One of the advertisements, I have seen it and it is pictured in some of the bottles of fevicol that they sell. Where two things are stuck together and on each side an elephant is trying to pull it and they can't separate it. When a husband and wife are joined together by God, it is even greater than that. No elephants can separate them, no demons can separate them, no human beings can separate them. But they must have God in the middle. God is a greater joiner than fevicol or araldite or anything or superglue. God between husband and wife will join you both together in such a way that nothing can separate you. And so you have to be very careful that between both of you as husband and wife or wife and husband, nothing other than God comes. What is the binding force in many marriages? In young people it is very often good looks. A boy likes a girl because she has got good looks. Now good looks are not good enough to hold a marriage together for fifty years. Look at all these marriages where people marry someone for good looks. In three months they are fighting with each other. It can't hold. Now, we are not against good looks. By all means, marry a good looking girl. But that's not the main factor. It will never hold a marriage together. What do many girls choose a boy for? Good job, good family, a lot of money. You think that's going to hold a marriage together? Never. Some boys will marry girls because they get a big dowry. That will never hold a marriage together. It's impossible. The way God did it from the beginning is the way a marriage is held together. Where the Lord is first and where each person has a relationship with God which is greater than their relationship with each other. In other words, if you are a husband, you must not seek to be first in your wife's affections. The Lord must be first in her affections. And if you are a wife, the Lord must be first in your husband's affections. And you must be second. And those who put the Lord first and walk in the light, the Bible says in 1 John 1.7, if we walk in the light as God is in the light, we have fellowship one with another. And the two are held together. Now, what are the things that can come between a husband and wife? It could be parents. It says a man, Genesis 2.24, a man must leave his father and his mother and cleave to his wife. Then only they can become one flesh. Notice there what it says in that verse. You have to leave something and then you can cleave. If you try to cleave without leaving, you'll never become one. Isn't that amazing? That is the one commandment given in scripture for us before sin came into the world. Leave your father and mother. I want to ask you who are married. Have you left your father and mother? I don't mean physically. By all means, care for them, take care of them till their dying day. We should. We have to honor our parents. But don't let them come between you in your married life. You must leave them emotionally. They brought you up for so many years. That's good. But now that you're married, you've got to leave them. And it's because many a husband has not left his emotional attachment to his parents, that there's confusion in his married life. Many a wife has not left her emotional attachment to her parents. They are not united to their husbands. This is the tragedy. The Lord is not first. And there are parents in between, interfering in their life. Sometimes a job. Maybe your job, which is so important for you. But anything other than God. It may be money. It may be being occupied with so many things. Maybe your children. Then come between you as husband and wife. That often happens in India. But it should never be. What is the answer to a happy marriage? Here is the first answer. Put the Lord first. In every situation, walk in the light, judge yourself, and you'll find a binding force between you and your marriage partner, that nothing can destroy.