MARRIAGE

The union of a man and a woman as husband and wife, which becomes the foundation for a home and family.
Origin of Marriage.
Marriage was instituted by God when He declared, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him" (Gen 2:18). So God fashioned woman and brought her to man. On seeing the woman, Adam exclaimed, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man" (Gen 2:23). This passage also emphasizes the truth that "a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh" (Gen 2:24). This suggests that God's ideal is for a man to be the husband of one wife and for the marriage to be permanent.