Chapter 15—Solemn Promises
God’s Purpose for the Husband and Wife—God made from the
man a woman, to be a companion and helpmeet for him, to be one
with him, to cheer, encourage, and bless him, he in his turn to be
her strong helper. All who enter into matrimonial relations with a
holy purpose—the husband to obtain the pure affections of a woman’s
heart, the wife to soften and improve her husband’s character and give
it completeness—fulfill God’s purpose for them.
Christ came not to destroy this institution, but to restore it to its
original sanctity and elevation. He came to restore the moral image
of God in man, and He began His work by sanctioning the marriage
relation
He who gave Eve to Adam as a helpmeet performed His first
miracle at a marriage festival. In the festal hall where friends and
kindred rejoiced together, Christ began His public ministry. Thus He
sanctioned marriage, recognizing it as an institution that He Himself
had established. He ordained that men and women should be united in
holy wedlock, to rear families whose members, crowned with honor,
should be recognized as members of the family above
Jesus Wants Happy Marriages—The divine love emanating
from Christ never destroys human love, but includes it. By it hu-
man love is refined and purified, elevated and ennobled. Human love
can never bear its precious fruit until it is united with the divine nature
and trained to grow heavenward. Jesus wants to see happy marriages,
happy firesides
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Like every other one of God’s good gifts entrusted to the keeping
of humanity, marriage has been perverted by sin; but it is the purpose
of the gospel to restore its purity and beauty....
The grace of Christ, and this alone, can make this institution what
God designed it should be—an agent for the blessing and uplifting of
1
Manuscript 16, 1899
.
2
The Ministry of Healing, 356
.
3
The Bible Echo, September 4, 1899
.
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