What you and I need is NOT more information - but Transformation. We need a completely new paradigm for living life and living marriage. As valuable as they are, more books, seminars and sermons will not do the trick. Jesus said in John 15 - "...apart from me you can do nothing." Why is it that we keep trying to find a fulfilling marriage without Him? Yes, we may have prayed a salvation prayer once upon a time - but is Jesus really the Lord of our daily, moment-by-moment life and our marriage relationship? This book is NOT about principles for living, or rules for becoming a better husband. This book is about re-connecting you with the Author of marriage, and learning how to once-and-for-all enjoy your wife, and your marriage, as it was intended by God. Most of us as husbands really don't have a marriage problem , - we have a Jesus problem.
"husband"
A User's GuideBy Rob ThorpeAuthorHouse
Copyright © 2010 Marriage Keepers Ministries, Inc.
All right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4520-9604-9Contents
In The Beginning.........................................1The Heart of God—for Man...........................3The Heart of God—for "husband".....................9The Heart of God—for You...........................23What Do I Do with This?..................................29God's Word Specifically to Husbands......................32God's Word—About Relationships.....................56"We Need to Talk"........................................58Words Matter ............................................61No Way, Jose'............................................68How Do I Get There From Here? Part 1.....................76How Do I Get There From Here? Part 2.....................87Welcome to the Front Lines...............................93
Chapter One
In The Beginning Did marriage as an institution just happen, or was it deliberately designed by a loving and wise architect?
It is the foundational premise of this book that marriage is purposely designed by a Creator, Father, God. In order to more fully understand marriage and our role as husbands, it makes good sense to go back and study the original design. And the way to do this is to ask the Designer what he intended when he created the whole thing.
According to the Bible, God is the mastermind behind the entire concept of marriage. The book of Genesis tells us:
Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the animals, all the earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth." So God created man in His own image; He created him in the image of God; He created them male and female. Gen. 1:26, 27
The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the sky, and to every wild animal; but for the man no helper was found who was like him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to come over the man, and he slept. God took one of his ribs and closed the flesh at that place. Then the Lord God made the rib He had taken from the man into a woman and brought her to the man. And the man said: This one, at last, is bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh; this one will be called woman, for she was taken from man. This is why a man leaves his father and mother and bonds with his wife, and they become one flesh. Gen. 2:20 –24
After creating man, and subsequently woman, God brought her to the man, Adam, and the first marriage took place. It is obvious that the Divine Creator of man and woman deliberately brought them together. He had a reason, a plan, and a masterful design for doing such a thing.
Let's explore ...
? Why are man and woman different from the other created animals on earth?
? What was in the heart of God as he personally formed and brought them together?
? What is his divine purpose for marriage?
? How can we enjoy marriage as he intended?
? What uniquely significant role is designed for us as husbands?
The Heart of God—for Man
God created the heavens and the earth. He created all life—animal and human. But there were significant differences in how and why he created man.
1. Unlike anything else he created, God made man in his own image and blessed him.
God said, "Let Us [Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] make mankind in Our image, after Our likeness, and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the beasts, and over all of the earth, and over everything that creeps upon the earth."
So God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created and female He created them. And God blessed them and said to them ... Genesis 1:26–28
That is a profound and awesome truth that we need to understand: God created the first man and woman in his own image! Think of it—God made man to be like him. Your life matters. You are significant. Truly, man is the most important being among all the creatures that God made. Only man was created in the image of God. The next time you look at your wife and are tempted to think she may be an alien from a distant galaxy, remember that she is made in God's image too—and specifically for you to help God in the process of shaping you into his man.
Also, unlike any other being that God created, man is a triune being, because he is created in the image of the triune God. "God said, 'Let us make man in Our image'" (Genesis 1:26). Man has a spiritual nature that is separate and distinct from the body in which it dwells.
The two following passages from the Bible clearly establish the fact that man is a triune being composed of spirit, soul, and body:
I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:23)
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow (body), and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)
2. Unlike anything else he created, God breathed his life into man.
... the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Genesis 2: 7–8
Although we are not told exactly how God "formed the man from dust of the ground," we know from the Creation account that God had primarily created life by speaking. However, when God created man, he "breathed into his nostrils the breath of life" thereby making the man a "living creature." This speaks volumes about the heart of God toward man. No other creation received God's personal, intimate, life-giving breath. God takes dust and earth and forms a man; as if that was not astounding enough, God then breathes into his nostrils. God uses his mouth to exhale his breath of life into man. What a glorious picture!
The same mouth that spoke everything into existence is now breathing man into existence.
Without God speaking, nothing would be. And likewise, without God breathing, man would not be. - Einstein
All creation received its life and being from God. Without it, all mankind and animal kind would just be skin, organs, and bones, like a glove without a hand inside. All creation has life, and that life came from God. Man, however, was personally "crafted" by God and received life directly and personally from God's mouth.
As a triune being, man is unique in that he has a spirit. All creation has life (soul), but only man is spoken of as having a spirit. It is our spirit that can be "reborn" and through which we have the privilege of communing with our creator God.
The lamp of the Lord searches the spirit of a man; it searches out his inmost being. (Proverbs 20:27)
Jesus said: "God is a spirit; and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." (John 4:24)
For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. (1 Corinthians 2:11)
The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and...
