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speak out to you husbands about
your responsibili ty in marriage!
Man Needs a Help
At the very beginning of the Bible,
God describes the purposes he had
in mind- and responsibilities- in
creating man and woman.
lf
humanity today is ever going to
find the answer to happy marriages,
we had better be willing to accept
instruction from the great God of
creation- the author of marriage
and the one who made us maJe and
female!
Notice what the great God had
in mind: "And God said, Let us
make man in our image, after our
likeness: and let them have domin–
ion over the fish of the sea, and
over the fowl of the air, and over
the cattle, and over all the earth,
and over every creeping thing that
creepeth upon the earth" (Genesis
1:26) .
He said: " Let them have domin–
ion" - he intended that both the
husband and the wife learn to exer–
cise authority and responsibility
over all of the creation under man–
kind.
Verse 27 continues: "So God
created man in bis own image, in the
image of God created he him; male
and female created he them." Here
it is made plain. Both man and
woman were created in the image of
God . They both have the privilege to
share through their minds the bless–
ings, the opportunities, the joys- as
well as the responsibilities--of act–
ing for God on this earth and having
dominion over the rest of the physi–
cal creation.
In Genesis 2:18, God reveals in
detai l why he created woman
after
creat ing the man: "And the Lord
God said,
lt
is not good that the
man should be alone; 1 will make
him an help meet for him."
Man is not the great , all-con–
quering he ro who stand s a lone
against the sky. The fact is that
man
needs
a help! He is not com–
plete! And woman was created to
fill that emotional , menta l and
physical void in his life.
This is something that all men
should deeply appreciate.
A Wlfe Balances a Man
Man without woman is often like a
train without an engine, an ai rplane
24
wi thout wings or a car without
wheels.
Most men- the r e a r e rare
exceptions- simply cannot be com–
plete, cannot be full y happy and
balanced--cannot function as they
ought in the fulfillment of God's
purposes unless each has the help
of a loving, dedicated wife.
This knowledge the world seems
to be losing in its rush toward
material acquisition, false values
and sexual liberation.
The Bible says: " Likewise, ye bus–
bands, dwell with them according to
knowledge, giving honour unto the
wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and
as being heirs together of the grace
of life; that your prayers be not hin–
dered"
(J
Peter 3:7) .
God intended that
both the husband and
the wife learn
to exercise authority
and responsibility
over all of
the creation under
mankind.
Most women rea lize that they
are indeed " the weaker vessel."
They have no quarrel with this.
They are glad to take their place in
life at the side of a strong, balanced
and loving husband and act as bis
help and support. But if a husband
takes advantage of this, crushes bis
wife in his desire to exalt himself
and prove something to himself or
somebody- it is no wonder that her
!ove, respect and trust quickly fade.
Only bate and misunderstand ing
result. (It was out of this kind of
tragedy tbat the women's liberation
movement was born.) lndeed the
prayers of th at househo ld are
greatly hinde red- if there ever
were such prayers.
The wife was created as a belp.
She was created for childbearing
and to assist a nd inspire her hus–
band.
But how does a wife help and
assist an egotist who is so intent on
exalting himself, proving to himself
tbat be is great and powerful and
acting like a little dictator that he
makes life miserable for all others
around him? Or, bow does a wife
help and assist a lazy, spineless
drunk who refuses to support his
wife and fami ly, refuses to earn a
proper living and comes in night
after night in a stupor-evil tem–
pered and slapping and beati ng his
wife and children? Think this prob–
lem through , men.
An lnsplred Example of Marriage
Throughout the inspired Word of
God , the relationship between hus–
bands and wives is sbown to be the
ver y type of tbe relation s hip
between J es us Christ and the
Church. This is particularly em–
phasized in the fifth chapter of
Ephesians. Notice!
" Husba nds, love ·your wives,
even as C hris t also loved t he
church, and gave himself for it"
(verse 25).
"Love your wives"? But what is
" IQve"?
Real love is deep affection, admi–
ration, respect, a feeling of close–
ness and an outgoing concern for
the one loved .
J esus C hrist had an outgoing
concern for the Church and so he
gave himself for it.
When a woman decides to marry
a man, she should have such a
strong affection, admi ration and
outgoing concern for the man she is
to marry that she is willing to for–
sake all others, give up the freedom
of sing leness, and give herself to
this man to be bis sweetheart, bis
help and inspiration, be his nurse
and comforter when beis downcast
or sick, the mother of bis chil–
dren-and who knows how many
other things?
But what are the man's responsi–
bilities toward bis wife in the sight
of the God of the Bible?
If
a man is so weak that he
cannot wholeheartedly embrace
bis basic ma ri tal and potenti al
parental responsibilities, then he is
not man enough to marry!
If
he is
al ready married, he had better–
for bis own sake, for bis wife's
sake, for bis children's and grand–
chi ldren's sake a nd for the sake of
bis eternal life- study and pray
that he will be able to inculcate
the teachings of J esus Christ and
cbaracter of God sufficiently to
carry out-for the most part at
The PLAIN TRUTH