The Mystery Of Oneness In Marriage

When God created Adam, He observed that it was not good for him to be alone and single-handedly develop the world which He had created. Hence He created Eve (Adam's wife) out of his rib (Gen. 2:18-21). One would ask, "why didn't God create Eve just as He had created Adam; but had to form her out of his rib"? This is the foundation for the mystery of oneness in marriage.

Upon seeing Eve, Adam said that she was the bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh (Gen.2:23). God wanted a helper for Adam, who wouldn't be a stranger to Adam but would form an extension of him. She was to help him accomplish the task of subduing the earth. Hence husbands shouldn't see their wives as their slaves but as an embodiment of themselves who is to help him in everything. God said "It is not good that the man should be alone" (Gen 2:18). Hence husbands should know that they are "incomplete" without their wives and wives "incomplete" without their husbands. This is not to say that one is incomplete if he or she is not married; because Jesus stated in Mt 19:12 that there are some people who may choose not to marry. This does not make them incomplete. But when one does marry, then he or she is "incomplete" without his or her spouse.

"Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. " (Gen. 2:24-25, KJV). So when two people marry, it puts them in the same situation as Adam and Eve. The man's wife then becomes the bone of his bone and the flesh of his flesh. They would not be ashamed of each other's nakedness because the wife forms an extension of the man (i.e. part of the man).

The extent of oneness between Adam and Eve was so intense that they had one mind, even in sinning against God. The devil knew that by convincing one of them (Eve), he would be convincing the other (Adam) as well and hence killing two birds with one stone. Husbands and wives should have this intensive oneness always. One can even joke that husbands and wives would make the "best partners in crime". This oneness should however be utilised positively. Some of these utilisations include: the family's development, economic and social development. This is the reason why high rates of divorce have a lot of negative effects on society as a whole. This is because husbands and wives form the basic units of social development.

By embracing this mystery of oneness in marriage, husbands and wives would be able to complement each other perfectly, cause mutually beneficial development and accelerate social development. Children from homes in which the parents live at peace with each other and are one in everything tend to have a sound development.